Ecosystem services appreciation of urban lakes in Romania. Synergies and trade-offs between multiple users

Urban lakes are important freshwater resources for people and can have enormous ecological values. Understanding how different users perceive such benefits and what kind of conflicts can emerge from the multiple perceptions around the values of urban lakes can improve their management and maintain the provision of ecosystem services (ES). In this research we explore users’ preferences toward different ES provided by urban lakes, focusing on the synergies and trade-offs between them. 318 web-based and face-to-face written surveys were collected from residents, visitors and experts in three Romanian cities. Our results show that the three user groups express a strong preference for cultural as well as regulating and maintenance ES over the provisioning services. Cultural ES were identified in each synergy and trade-off. A variability in synergies between distinct categories of ES arose in residents and visitors’ assessments while the experts’ assessment involved synergies between the three ES above categories. Furthermore, trade-offs were recorded more often in experts than residents and visitors’ assessments. Users’ preferences and their synergies and trade-offs, which are often overlooked in the planning and management of urban lakes and their proximities, can help in ensuring the provision of ES from urban lakes.