Abstract

AGUIRRE PADILLA, Nathalie; GAONA OCHOA, Telmo  and  SAMANIEGO ROJAS, Carlos. Ecological and economic valuation of the Francisco Vivar Castro University Park, Loja, Ecuador. Arnaldoa [online]. 2019, vol.26, n.1, pp.305-324. ISSN 1815-8242.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22497/arnaldoa.261.26114.

The research was conducted in the Francisco Vivar Castro University Park (PUFVC), owned by the National University of Loja, located in the canton and province of Loja; with the objective of valuing their environmental goods and services ecologically and economically. For ecological assessment, we considered: flow, leaf litter thickness, floristic and faunal diversity, physical and chemical properties of the soil, ecological functions assigning an excellent, good and bad rating considering the current status and attributes of each function. For the total economic assessment, the value of direct use was considered, using the market price of wood, seeds, ornamental and medicinal plants; and the values of indirect use, option and existence, through the contingent valuation by applying 100 surveys to visitors on weekends. The ecological assessment indicates that flow for León Huayco is 5.14 l/s and Los Nogales 2.16 l/s; the leaf litter thickness is 9.1 cm; the floristic diversity with 137 species; 80 species of birds, 9 species of mammals and 5 of reptiles; the soil is clayey loam, extremely acid pH, organic matter varies from medium to high, nitrogen is medium, phosphorus and potassium low. Eight ecological functions were identified. The total economic valuation is $ 641 259.50; and the contributions are: direct value $ 626 359.5, indirect value $ 700, option value $ 1720 and existence value $ 12 480. The ecological-economic valuation allowed to have an integral vision on the value and importance of the natural resources and generated arguments that support the management of the Francisco Vivar Castro University Park

Keywords : economic valuation; ecological valuation; direct use value; indirect use value; existence value; option value.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )