Using Twitter geotagged posts to map the cultural ecosystem services of freshwater landscapes

Abstract

Social media has become an important source of information in recent years to explore humannature relationships. The reasons are that obtaining this data is cost-efficient and its spatially explicit

nature allows for the application of different kinds of spatial analysis. Twitter is one of the most

popular social media platforms, and the Twitter API is a very interesting tool for analysing large

volumes of data and evaluating (CES).

In this study, we analysed Twitter geotagged posts related to river landscapes using the Twitter API

and spatial and non-spatial filters (keywords) to refine the identification of freshwater-related CES

posts. This analysis was conducted in the Ter River basin, a medium-sized basin located in northeastern Spain.

The automatically obtained Tweets were manually filtered to obtain only those that were related to

freshwater-related CES and then classified into different categories (Aesthetic values, Recreation

and ecotourism, Educational values, Cultural heritage, Stewardship, Nature fascination, and

Information). Once classified, a spatial analysis was applied to identify the social and biophysical

spatial variables that significantly explained their distribution.

The results show that 25% of the analysed geotagged posts (2.730 out of 10.601) were related to

CES. The most popular have been Aesthetic values (50%), and Recreation and ecotourism (33%).

Population density and distance to urban core were significantly related to the concentration of CES.

However, there is also a significant number of CES located in less urbanised areas, due to the

appreciated natural value of these landscapes.

Results demonstrate the efficacy of using Twitter geotagged posts through the Twitter API to map

water-related CES and thus conduct a non-monetary valuation of these ecosystem services. A

greater understanding of the social and biophysical variables that explain the concentration of CES

posts could help to support the evaluation of river restoration projects in relation to the provision of CES