Priority habitats of a Pacific coastal wetland: Proposal for an index based on ecosystem services

One way to value wetlands is to identify their ecosystem services (ES) and use this information for their conservation. Here we proposed an index based on potential ES to prioritize the conservation of habitats and apply it as a case study in the Santa Rosa wetland (Lima, Perú). Habitat inventories and records of the vascular plants and wetland birds were used and confirmed by field visits. Using the information found in the literature, the potential ES of these species were determined and their number was calculated for each habitat. We used the number of potential ES and the extension of each habitat to determine the prioritization index (PI), and we determined the correlation among area, richness, number of potential ES, and PI. The main water body and the shrub zone presented the highest number of potential ES (25) and the highest PI (6.87 potential ES/ha). The lowest values were recorded in the beach area (7 potential ES: 0.88 potential ES/ha) and the zone with no vegetation (7 potential ES: 0.60 potential ES/ha). We observed that the richness of species was directly proportional to the number of potential ES (p<0.05, Spearman’s test); the other variables did not show correlation. Activities such as land clearing reduce species richness generating habitats with few potential ES. The proposed index identified the shrub zone as a priority conservation habitat in the evaluated wetland. The strengths and limitations of using this index are discussed.