A Review of Empirical Studies of Cultural Ecosystem Services in National Parks: Current Status and Future Research

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by national parks (NP) have been increasingly recognized and appreciated by the public and researchers. However, they are often under-represented in ecosystem services evaluations due to their intangible nature. As a result, their application in supporting NP conservation and management remains limited. To map the knowledge generated by CES within NP and to support NP practices, this study conducted a review of 199 empirical studies to identify the geographic distribution of research, specific NP habitats/ecosystems that supply CES, frequently addressed CES subcategories, CES evaluation methods, and challenges and prospects for future studies. The results revealed the following: a disparity exists in the global distribution of studies, and the majority of research is conducted in Europe and the USA, with limited knowledge about CES in developing countries. Studies on CES derived from specific NP habitats/ecosystems are limited, and not all the services have received equal attention. Multiple evaluation methods have been employed to assess CES, primarily relying on non-monetary approaches. Among these, participatory mapping-related methods and social-media-based methods are widely favored by researchers. Based on those findings, this study makes the following recommendations: (1) further research is needed in order to investigate a wider range of NP habitats/ecosystems worldwide, especially in developing countries; (2) comprehensive evaluation methods should be employed, considering all services, especially those less addressed; (3) more diverse methods for evaluating CES should be developed, with a particular emphasis on combining various methods to enhance evaluation accuracy; (4) the use of diverse techniques, such as machine learning for social-media-based methods, is encouraged to support data collection and processing to improve the efficacy of evaluation; (5) further studies on the relationships between CES and NP features can assist stakeholders in more effectively addressing CES by enabling the management and adjustment of these features; (6) future studies should integrate CES evaluation into an ecosystem services framework to support application in NP conservation and sustainable management.