A lack of shade-tolerant plant species in the species-pool of urban parks results in degradation of ecosystem services under tree canopies

Recurrent forest fires, emission of atmospheric pollutants (GHGs) and degradation of tropical dry deciduous forest ecosystem services

As stressed in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, over the last 50 years, human beings have modified the ecosystems to an unpreceded point in humankind history, in order to meet the increasing world demand in food, drinking water, wood, fibers and energy (Tilman 1999). Such changes much contributed to improving humankind well-being, but this was achieved at the expense of a degradation of numerous ecosystem services and increasing poverty of the poorest populations. Prediction models forecast further degradation of ecosystem services in the coming 50 years,

Ecological risk assessment and identification of risk control priority areas based on degradation of ecosystem services: A case study in the Tibetan Plateau

面向多重生态保护目标的广东省生态系统服务退化风险情景模拟

СЕКЦІЯ 2 ПРИРОДНИЧО-ГЕОГРАФІЧНІ ТА ГЕОЕКОЛОГІЧНІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ

In June 1992, Rio de Janeiro welcomed what was the largest intergovernmental gathering on the environment up to that point in time. A total of 172 governments—108 of which were represented by the head of state or government—convened at the Rio Earth Summit to discuss our common future on the planet. Since then the world has become more globalized, urbanized, and interconnected. Geopolitical power balances have shifted as several countries have moved into the group of middle-income states. Flows of goods and services, capital and technology, information and labor have fueled a growing global population. Social and environmental challenges have also increased as the degradation of ecosystem services—the “dividend” that humanity receives from natural capital—narrows down development opportunities. The recent food and financial crises combined with the pressures of climate change demonstrate the inherently global nature of contemporary problems and the need for more effective global solutions.

The adaptive capacity (AC) of social systems to degradation of ecosystem services is defined as the response capacity of the system to a threat, such as changes in supply and delivery of ecosystem services (ES). In this paper, we propose an adaptive capacity composite indicator vis-a-vis the loss or degradation of ecosystem services that can be evaluated at household level in rural areas. For the estimation of the AC composite indicator, we evaluated 16 variables grouped into six categories that were previously validated with a group of experts in the area. The variables were evaluated in ten types of household profiles identified in relation with the services of water provision and erosion control in the Riogrande Basin in Colombia. The composite indicator is built both through experts' focus groups to find weights of the variables and categories and principal component analysis. In both methods, variables such as institutional efficiency, distribution and availability of information, technology and innovation, as well as local ecological knowledge were the main determinants of AC of the households.

Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes caused by climate change cause enormous damage to the social-ecological system and result in the degradation of ecosystem services. This has suggested the necessity of considering the concept of resilience along with the limitations of existing methods in disaster management and has been linked to restoration plans connected to nature-based solutions. The Republic of Korea suffers from natural disasters caused by typhoons and torrential rains every summer and the damage is worsened because of insufficient spatial management and the failure to predict disasters. Therefore, to cope with these damages and maintain ecosystem services, a nature-based restoration plan should be presented using the concept of resilience. In the process, it is necessary to understand the changes that have happened in ecosystem services over time and plan a space that can respond to natural disasters. The purpose of this study is to simulate changes in ecosystem services for natural disaster damage through spatial-temporal models and present the improvement effects of ecosystem services through nature-based restoration scenarios. Accordingly, we first searched for areas to which the resilient ecosystem service restoration planning could be applied within Pohang, which suffered significant flood damage throughout 2022. Then, a spatial-temporal model of the target area was constructed to simulate changes in the ecosystem services due to floods. Finally, the ecosystem service improvement effect of the spatial-temporal simulation model was analyzed by constructing and applying a nature-based restoration scenario. Based on the results of this study, a nature-based restoration plan was conceived of as a method to improve ecosystem services for the long term by simulating changes in the target area affected by natural disasters in terms of time and space. In addition, by presenting the preceding process as a nature-based restoration plan, it is possible to maintain resilience to the damage caused by natural disasters in terms of the social-ecological system.This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education(NRF-2021R1A6A3A01087973). This research was also supported by OJEong Resilience Institute (OJERI).

Framing global biodiversity: IPBES between mother earth and ecosystem services

Agricultural ecosystem is one of the most important ecosystems in the world, which provides multiple ecosystem services such as grain production, climate regulation, water conservation and biodiversity. The degradation of ecosystem services has become an important factor that severely restricts the sustainable development of agriculture. Agroecosystem services have become the core and hot topic of ecological research. In recent years, countries and related institutions have been increasing their research on agricultural ecosystem service. Based on Web of Science(WoS) and China Knowledge Resource Integrated (CNKI) databases, the development characteristics and trends of agroecosystem services research were analyzed by bibliometric methods. The results show that: (1) The number of papers on agroecosystem services is increasing, which shows that the research on it is developing. (2) Developed countries are the main research forces in the field of ecosystem services, and the developed countries in Europe and the United States occupy the absolute leading position; China Agricultural University and the University of California in the United States are the main research institutions. (3) At present, eight research hotspots in this field are the study of ecosystem services mechanism, protection management and sustainability, sustainable development, biodiversity, land use and landscape change, value assessment, climate change, sustainable development of agriculture, ecological compensation. From the overall distribution of research hotspots in each period, the international research focuses more on the interdependence between ecosystem services and ecosystem services and human well-being, while the research in China focuses more on ecosystem services assessment. (4) In recent years, there is a big gap between China and foreign countries in the field of ecosystem services research. It is necessary to strengthen cooperation with research institutions in developed countries in Europe and the United States, and further improve the research content, research vision and research methods

In developing and emerging countries, rapid urbanization at an unprecedented pace and degradation of ecosystem services at an alarming rate have caused many regions, especially those in environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs), to encounter the “regional development dilemma” (RDD), in which regions can hardly divert their current development pattern to achieve a transition to sustainability. The main research focus of this study is to introduce—by means of a case study—a payments for ecosystem service (PES) scheme as a policy instrument that incorporates an ecosystem services (ES)-based baseline for payments and a spatial-targeting-based allocation plan to address that dilemma and to bridge, as well as achieve, sustainable development goals simultaneously at a regional scale. The water source areas of the Middle Route Project in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China were used as the case study. Land Use/Land Cover Change (LUCC) of this area between 2002 and 2010 was detected by adopting remote sensing and spatial analysis technologies. The ecosystem services value (ESV) variation was then estimated and the eco-compensation plan was determined through comprehensively applying equivalent weighting factors of the ecosystem service of terrestrial ecosystems in China and the adjustment coefficient of the ecosystem service based on the notion of willingness to pay for ecosystem services. Results show that rapid urbanization has substantial impacts on the spatial dynamics and quality of ecosystems in the research area. From 2002 to 2010, the total ESV declined by CNY 6 billion. Therefore, the baseline eco-compensation from the benefit zone to the research area was CNY 1.1 billion under the assumption of commensurability. Responsibility ought to be shared by Henan and Hebei provinces, and Beijing and Tianjin, with payment of CNY 422.3, 388.5, 110.9, and 133 million, respectively. We drafted the allocation plan of eco-compensation based on the spatial pattern of ESV variation, and suggested policy tools tailored for subregions in the research area defined by LUCC change categories. Such an integrated study can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of regional PES schemes and provide a set of policy instruments with upgraded spatial-targeting and better cost-efficiency, particularly as blueprints for regional governments in developing and emerging countries that aim at leveraging regional sustainability through bridging and achieving SDGs.

 Establishment of nature reserves (NRs) is a common method to avoid biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystem services (ESs). The evaluation of the ESs in NRs and the exploration of associated influencing factors are the basis to improving the ESs and management. However, the ESs effectiveness of NRs over time remains questionable, namely due to the heterogeneity of landscape characteristics inside and outside the NRs. This study (i) quantifies the role of 75 NRs in China to maintaining ESs (i.e., net primary production (NPP), soil conservation, sandstorm prevention and water yield) from 2000 to 2020; and (ii) reveals the trade-offs/synergies; (iii) identifies the main influencing factors of ESs effectiveness of NRs. Results show that more than 80% of NRs had positive ESs effectiveness, and higher ESs effectiveness in older rather than recent NRs. For different ESs, effectiveness over time increases for NPP (E_NPP) and soil conservation (E_SC), but decreases for sandstorm prevention (E_SP) and water yield (E_WY). There is a clear synergy relationship between E_NPP and E_SC. Moreover, the ESs effectiveness are closely correlated with elevation, precipitation, and perimeter area ratio. Our findings can provide valuable information for supporting management, improvement of ESs effectiveness and site selection planning of NRs.

Global climate change, combined with socio-economic issues such as conflicts, inflation, energy crises, and inequality, is reshaping urban governance. Cities, which host most of the global population, are highly exposed to climate-related risks, especially those associated with the degradation of ecosystem services. These risks are manifested, among other factors, as the alteration and degradation of the habitat quality, heightened hydraulic vulnerability, and intensified urban heat islands phenomena. Addressing these challenges requires innovative planning tools to integrate ecosystem-based strategies to enhance urban resilience and support sustainable transformation processes. This paper attempts to do this by introducing ecosystem zoning, an experimental tool designed to integrate ecosystem services into urban planning and its regulatory framework. Applied to the city of Torino, this approach offers a biophysical classification of municipal territory through a mapping of habitat quality, cooling capacity, carbon sequestration, and stormwater retention. The resulting classification provides an overview of the different ecosystem characterizations of the urban fabric and informs site-specific interventions to maintain or enhance ecosystem services and guide urban regeneration processes. By embedding ecosystem services into planning regulations, the project supports sustainable urban development while mitigating climate impacts. The proposed tool contributes to the broader discourse on creating resilient, ecologically sustainable cities and demonstrates the potential of integrating scientific research into urban decision-making processes.

The role of nature reserves in conservation effectiveness of ecosystem services in China

This study examines the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation on ecosystems and its direct relationship to species extinction. Habitat loss and fragmentation lead to the degradation of ecosystem services and a decrease in biological equality. This process leads to the shrinkage and isolation of species' habitats, thereby accelerating their extinction. The study examines not only the direct environmental impacts of habitat fragmentation but also its impacts on food and health systems. The decline in species diversity poses a threat to food security and public health through the degradation of ecosystem services, impacting agriculture, water resources, air quality, and the spread of diseases. It is emphasized that habitat protection and habitat fragmentation must be prevented for the sustainability of ecosystems. Consequently, biodiversity conservation is critical for maintaining human health and food security. This article analyzes the environmental and human health impacts of habitat fragmentation and discusses the necessary steps to address this problem.