Although wetlands are among the most valuable ecosystems, the condition and extent of wetlands is declining worldwide, to the detriment of ecosystem service delivery. This study assessed the ecosystem services delivered by the Afromontane palustrine wetlands of Lesotho using the WET-EcoServices tool and explored the relationships of the services with environmental factors and plant functional traits using ordination techniques. Higher-altitude wetlands differed from the lower-altitude wetlands in the spectrum of services they deliver. These wetlands were mostly valued for carbon storage, provision of natural resources, streamflow regulation, maintenance of biodiversity and erosion control. Lower-altitude wetlands were valued for natural resources, cultivated foods, nitrate removal, phosphate trapping and streamflow regulation. The environmental factors affecting the delivery of ecosystem services most were altitude, longitude (directly correlated with rainfall in the context of Lesotho), landscape, soil parent material, slope and soil depth. The delivery of several services was also correlated with plant functional traits, for example, carbon storage and maintenance of biodiversity were positively correlated with plant shoot mass, total plant biomass and rooting depth. The location and environmental characteristics of a given wetland within a catchment and the functional characteristics of the wetland’s dominant plant species have an influence on the ecosystem services that it delivers. However, the level of threat to ecosystem services is high, especially in the lower-altitude wetlands. The threats, which are mainly anthropogenic, are mostly associated with crop cultivation, overgrazing and trampling by livestock and economic development. Thus, for sustainable provision of wetland ecosystem services, these Afromontane palustrine wetlands require urgent attention and up-scaling of the conservation efforts.

尽管湿地是最有价值的生态系统之一，但湿地的状况和范围在全世界范围内都在下降，从而损害了生态系统服务的提供。这项研究使用WET-EcoServices工具评估了莱索托Afromontane palustrine湿地提供的生态系统服务，并使用协调技术探讨了服务与环境因素和植物功能性状之间的关系。高海拔湿地在提供服务方面不同于低海拔湿地。这些湿地的价值主要在于碳储存，自然资源的提供，流量调节，生物多样性的维持和侵蚀控制。低海拔湿地在自然资源，栽培食品，硝酸盐去除，磷酸盐捕获和水流调节方面得到了重视。影响生态系统服务提供的大多数环境因素是海拔，经度（在莱索托范围内与降雨直接相关），景观，土壤母质，坡度和土壤深度。几种服务的提供还与植物的功能性状相关，例如，碳的储存和生物多样性的维持与植物的枝条质量，植物总生物量和生根深度呈正相关。流域内特定湿地的位置和环境特征以及该湿地优势植物物种的功能特征对其提供的生态系统服务有影响。但是，对生态系统服务的威胁程度很高，尤其是在低海拔湿地中。这些威胁主要是人为的，与农作物种植，牲畜过度放牧和践踏以及经济发展有关。因此，为了可持续地提供湿地生态系统服务，这些Afromontane palustrine湿地需要紧急关注并扩大保护工作。