## 5 Conclusions  
The proposed methodology to evaluate spatiotemporal changes in land use and EV of the paramo has proven to be adequate for the purpose of this work. It was determined that temporal monitoring of vegetation cover is essential to recognize the areas of greatest vulnerability to EV degradation. The thresholds, functions and interrelationships determined in the Multilayer Perception (MLP), Markov Chains (MC) and Automata Cells (AC) models for land cover recognition were good; the models had a performance of 80%. The hybridization of the MC and AC models is appropriate for predicting future land cover changes in the Andean zones in relation to their EV, the methods achieved an acceptable accuracy to recognize the land uses of the paramo. The variables chosen for land cover classification were adequate to identify the particularities of the land covers.  
The mapping generated allowed us to determine that the paramo decreased by 13% between 2000-2010 and 19% between 2010-2020. It was estimated that the loss of the ecosystem from 2000 to 2030 will increase to 28%. From the first year of the study to the last year considered in the work, the paramo will go from occupying 92% to 64% of the area studied.  
The predicted results of the EV revealed that the categories with anthropogenic activity analyzed maintain a constant growth that directly impacts the EV of the paramo. The most affected areas are those up to 3500 m.a.s.l. The EV of the Chambo sub-basin from 2000 to 2020 will go from $2.86 \(\times\) 10\({}^{8}\) to $2.59 \(\times\) 10\({}^{8}\) and it is estimated that by 2030 the EV will decrease to $2.48 \(\times\) 10\({}^{8}\), which leads us to recognize that although the loss of the EV of the natural resource is not critical, its degradation is on the rise.  
The ES decrease their capacity as the EV of the paramo degrades. Soil production capacity decreased throughout the study period, mainly affecting the cantons of Riobambaand Guamote. The concentration of carbon and EV was higher at higher altitudinal levels, perhaps because of the climate and topography at that altitude.  
Economic indicators from a spatial approach related to paramo cover are useful for quantifying opportunity costs and undertaking management actions, such as ecological restoration and sustainable planning of Andean landscapes.  
Conceptualization, Y.C.P., M.V. and J.J.d.F.; methodology, Y.C.P., J.J.d.F., M.V., F.C. and Y.P.; software, Y.C.P., M.V. and F.C.; validation, Y.C.P., M.V. and J.J.d.F.; formal analysis, Y.C.P., M.V., J.J.d.F., Y.P. and F.C.; investigation, Y.C.P., F.C. and M.V.; resources, Y.C.P., Y.P., F.C. and M.V.; data curation, Y.C.P., Y.P. and J.J.d.F.; writing--original draft preparation, Y.C.P. and J.J.d.F.; writing--review and editing, Y.C.P., J.J.d.F., M.V., F.C. and Y.P.; visualization, Y.C.P. and Y.P.; supervision, Y.C.P., Y.P. and F.C; project administration, J.J.d.F. and Y.C.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no external funding.  
Not applicable.  
The data presented in this study are available in article.  
We thank [PERSON] for his academic support in this research and the Sustainability PhD Program of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.