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As the mapping and assessment of ecosystem services (MAES) becomes a widely used tool in environmental governance, there is an increasing need for structure and standardization. In this study we present a systematic review of European MAES studies focussing on two important, but rarely documented aspects of ecosystem service (ES) indicators: (1) their ‘position’ with respect to the ecosystem service cascade model, and (2) their ‘position’ in geographical space, i.e. whether the maps are ‘anchored’ at the locations of their supply or their demand.

From the 82 papers reviewed we found 427 ES indicators, which represented 33 ES. Among these indicators there were 108 (25%) that were mapped. ES are quite different in terms of their relationship with the main conceptual model of ES assessment studies. Most ES are typically measured at a specific point in the cascade, which is more or less the same across …