Over one-fourth of the world’s land area is dedicated to agriculture, and these lands provide important ecosystem services (ES). Trees are a key component of agricultural ecosystems’ ability to provide ES, especially in tropical regions. Agricultural landowners’ evaluation of the ES provided by trees influences management decisions, impacting tree cover at large scales. Using a case study approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with four types of agricultural landowners in southern Costa Rica to better understand how they value ES provided by trees. We used a socio-cultural valuation method, which revealed that landowners highly valued regulating and provisioning ES provided by trees and that the number and type of ES identified was influenced by the principle economic activity. Those farmers with larger amounts of forests on their properties more often identified cultural ES. The socio-cultural valuation methods revealed that respondents valued trees as wildlife habitat, coupling supporting and cultural services with both material (e.g., tourism) and non-material benefits (e.g., beauty). Few farmers in the study benefited from payment for ecosystem services programs, but the high value farmers placed on trees indicates there are other opportunities to increase tree cover on farms, such as promotion of live fencing and expanded riparian corridors. Results from this work can help improve conservation outcomes by shifting the focus of ecosystem service valuation to the needs and concerns of small-scale farmers in the development of outreach programs, management plans, and policies aimed at increasing tree cover on private lands in agricultural landscapes.

世界上有超过四分之一的土地专用于农业，这些土地提供了重要的生态系统服务（ES）。树木是农业生态系统提供生态系统服务能力的关键组成部分，特别是在热带地区。农业土地所有者对树木提供的生态系统服务的评估会影响管理决策，从而大规模影响树木的覆盖率。通过案例研究，我们对哥斯达黎加南部的四种农业土地所有者进行了半结构化访谈，以更好地了解他们如何看重树木提供的生态系统服务。我们使用了一种社会文化评估方法，该方法揭示了土地所有者高度重视树木提供的ES的调节和供应，并且所确定的ES的数量和类型受主要经济活动的影响。那些拥有大量森林的农民更常使用文化ES。社会文化评估方法表明，受访者认为树木是野生动植物的栖息地，将支持和文化服务与物质（例如旅游）和非物质利益（例如美丽）结合在一起。这项研究中很少有农民从生态系统服务计划的付款中受益，但是安置在树木上的高价值农民表示还有其他机会可以增加农场的树木覆盖率，例如推广活动围栏和扩大河岸走廊。这项工作的结果可通过将生态系统服务评估的重点转移到外展计划，管理计划，