Analysis of cultural ecosystem services of rock climbing settings in Mexico City: the case of Los Dinamos Recreational Park

Figures & data

Figure 1. Los Dinamos Recreational Park, showing sub-polygons, climbing sites, and points of interest

Table 1. Social value definitions (adapted from Brown and Reed 2000) used in the survey

Type of social value	This park is valuable to me because it …
Aesthetic	is beautiful and includes attractive landscapes.
Cultural-historic	allows me to transmit the wisdom, knowledge and traditions of the ancestors, as well as the history of the place.
Educational	provides places where we can learn about the environment.
Future	allows future generations to know and experience the area as it is now.
Natural	is wild and provides a variety of wildlife, plants, or other living organisms.
Productive	provides wood, fishery, and other productive opportunities, such as tourism.
Recreational	provides places for my favorite outdoor recreational activities.
Spiritual	is a sacred, religious or spiritual place.

Figure 2. Geo-referenced photographs within the sub-polygons. The Magdalena River Watershed is rotated 90° to the left (east) to highlight visually the steepness of the valley and display the photographs from right (lowest elevation point) to left (highest elevation point)

Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics of visitors. N_A represents number of rock climbers (A), and N_B number of non-rock climbers (B). Within both groups, origin, gender, marital status, and having children were extrapolated to 100%, whereas age group, educational level, occupation, and income group present the most frequent answer. A Chi-square test of independence with an alpha level of .05 was used

Item	A (NA = 34)	B (NB = 66)	N	χ^2	df	p-value
Origen of visitors (%)
Mexico City	79	71
Other states of Mexico	9	21
Non-Mexican visitors	12	0	95	9.199	2	.010
Proportion of women (%)	38	39	95	.174	1	.677
Married people (%)	9	29	95	10,273	2	.006
People with children (%)	18	35	92	4.810	1	.028
Most frequent age group (years)	31–40	21–30	95	19.666	5	.001
Average years of education (years)	16	14	92	15.909	11	.145
Most frequent employment situation	employee	employee	79	18.911	6	.004
Most frequent income group (Pesos MX)	12,000–20,000	< 8,000	83	6.287	4	.179

Table 3. Cross-tabulations of visitor characteristics. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests

Most frequent answers and frequency of answers per group in %							N	χ^2	df	p-value
Items	Rock climbers	n	%	Non-rock climbers	n	%
Frequency of visits (times per year)	more than 10 times	34	76	1–2 times	65	59	99	39.622	4	.000
Type of companionship	friends	33	88	family	54	70	87	46.047	4	.000
Average time of visit (hours)	more than 6 hours	34	76	2–4 hours	65	61	99	53.08	2	.000
Purpose of visit	doing sports	24	83	enjoy nature	49	70	76	36.185	4	.000

Figure 3. Visitors´ opinion on activities performed in Los Dinamos Recreational Park. ‘A’ represents the visitor group of rock climbers, ‘B’ those of non-rock climbers

Table 4. Social values ascribed to photographs were counted and calculated through a chi-square test with an alpha level of .05

	Photograph	aesthetic	cultural-historic	educational	future	natural	productive	recreational	spiritual	Total count of all SV = N	χ^2	df	p-value
First Dinamo	1	9	12	3	7	8	65	38	1	143	6.247	7	.511
	2	11	8	15	12	28	14	88	8	184	10.64	7	.155
	3	7	24	15	19	26	56	4	8	159	12.31	7	.091
Second Dinamo	4	3	34	7	6	3	78	14	0	145	8.96	6	.176
	5	5	10	7	15	18	80	14	1	150	16.31	7	.022
	6	21	14	11	15	51	11	67	17	207	19.59	7	.007
	7	15	8	18	9	27	20	68	3	168	18.01	7	.012
Fourth Dinamo	8	6	28	8	6	7	4	4	83	146	9.648	7	.209
	9	27	13	16	24	88	2	16	25	211	5.554	7	.593
	10	39	21	14	24	84	5	31	15	233	3.881	7	.793

Table 5. Relation between landscape characteristics and social values (Source: ¹Google Earth Pro 2019, ²GDF (2012), and ³self-generated data)

	First Dinamo	Second Dinamo	Forth Dinamo
General information and social value perception about polygons
Size in ha^2	136	215	187
Distance from urban area in meters^1	0	2,100	5,400
Range of altitude in meters^1, 3	2,540–2,750	2,750–3,100	3,100–3,350
Slop in grades^1	10.1	16.1	16.4
Average number of all multiple response answers of SV ascribed to photographs per polygon^3	164	168	199
Forest cover and perception of natural value and conservation
Forest cover in hectares^2 Forest cover in % due to polygon size^2	53 39	179 83	180 96
Priority of the natural value interviewees give to the park in %^3	25	37	52
Proportion of allocations of money interviewees would give for the conservation of the park in %^3	27	33	38
Geomorphological characteristic and perception of aesthetic value
Visible dominant rocky walls^3	None	Northside of watershed	Northside of watershed
% of visitors who ascribed an aesthetic value to rocky walls^3	-	21	39

Figure 4. Perception of social values in the three sub-polygons based on a photograph-based analysis. Each map shows one social value and location of ten photographs

Brown G, Reed P. 2000. Validation of a forest values typology for use in national forest planning. For Sci. 46(2):240–247.

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GDF, Gobierno del Distrito Federal. 2012. Atlas geográfico del suelo de conservación del Distrito Federal. México (D.F): Secretaria del Medio Ambiente, Procuraduría Ambiental y del Ordenamiento Territorial del Distrito Federal.

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