Cultural ecosystem services as revealed through short stories from residents of the Swabian Alb (Germany)

• Short stories are used to elicit an inductive view on nonmaterial ecosystem benefits.
• Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are the prime benefits local people attach to the area.
• CES are actively created in the course of human practices and sense perceptions.
• At the same time, CES are explicitly connected to biophysical features.
• Recommendations for the further development of the CES framework are made.

Nonmaterial benefits related to ecosystems, termed cultural ecosystem services (CES), are the least understood element of the now widely applied ecosystem services framework. Providing an inductive view on CES, this paper presents a hermeneutical in-depth analysis of 14 short stories in which local residents articulate their thoughts on life in the Swabian Alb biosphere reserve (Germany).The stories reveal rich evidence regarding connections to identity, heritage values, inspiration, esthetic values and recreation. They underline, most importantly, that nonmaterial benefits are actively created by people. This engagement with place involves a broad range of practices and sense experiences. Simultaneously, the study highlights that CES are explicitly connected to specific biophysical features. Therefore, as an outcome of human perception and valuation attached to attributes of the material world, CES equally depend on human and biophysical variables. These findings have several implications for possible reconceptualization, investigation and management of CES in cultural landscapes.