Latin America exhibits one of the highest rates of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) loss worldwide along with a remarkable asymmetry in the access to ES benefits (ecosystem services inequality, ESI hereafter). The objective of this manuscript is to propose and validate a conceptual model to understand the links between ESI and ecosystem services supply. First, previous ES frameworks were expanded to acknowledge the role of the unequal access to ES on socio-ecological system dynamics. Second an ESI conceptual model was posed to testing feed-back mechanisms between ESI and natural capital. Finally, independent information and expert opinions on ten case studies of five Latin American countries were used to quali-quantitatively validate the ESI model. The most rated ESI impacts were landscape and seascape transformations driven by the markets, overuse of natural capital, ecosystems degradation, and biodiversity loss. This study highlights that ESI may enhance the vulnerability of the socio-ecological systems, describing a self-reinforcing mechanism that differentially affects the well-being of the most economically disadvantaged beneficiaries (ESI traps). However, while the occurrence of ESI traps was inferred for half of the examined cases, remaining cases suggest that potential ESI traps did not operate, or that they were dampened by governance mechanisms.

拉丁美洲是全球范围内生物多样性和生态系统服务（ES）损失率最高的国家之一，并且在获得ES利益方面存在显着的不对称性（生态系统服务不平等，此后称为ESI）。该手稿的目的是提出并验证一个概念模型，以理解ESI与生态系统服务供应之间的联系。首先，扩展了先前的ES框架，以承认不平等获得ES对社会生态系统动力学的作用。其次，提出了一个ESI概念模型来测试ESI和自然资本之间的反馈机制。最后，利用有关五个拉丁美洲国家的十个案例研究的独立信息和专家意见，对ESI模型进行了定性定量验证。对ESI的评价最高的是市场驱动的景观和海景转换，自然资本的过度使用，生态系统退化和生物多样性丧失。这项研究强调，ESI可能会增强社会生态系统的脆弱性，描述了一种自我增强机制，该机制有区别地影响最经济弱势受益人（ESI陷阱）的福祉。但是，虽然在检查的案例中有一半推断出ESI陷阱的发生，但其余案例表明潜在的ESI陷阱没有运行，或者被治理机制抑制了。