Abstract
Grassland is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in China, and its ecological environment is currently facing several challenges. The service assessment of scientific and effective grassland ecosystem and in-depth analysis of its change mechanism is of great significance to clarify its protection demand and spatial optimization layout. This study used a set of quantitative surrogate biophysical indicators to evaluate the capability of grassland ecosystem services (i.e., carbon fixation, soil protection, water purification and provision, and biodiversity conservation) in the Hulunbuir grassland from 2000 to 2015 and use econometric models to explore their dynamic change mechanism. The results showed that from 2009 to 2012, the grassland ecosystem service value significantly declined, and from 2013 to 2015, its value significantly improved, but the overall level was still lower than that of 2000. The factor that has the highest degree of impact on grassland ecosystem services is the soil potassium content, and there is a significant positive correlation. This is mainly due to the important role of potassium in the photosynthesis of grassland plants; the least influential factors are social economic factors such as population and gross domestic product (GDP). It shows that the sparsely populated grassland ecosystem is not sensitive to these factors. In addition, climate, topography, and grassland management policies all have a significant impact on grassland ecosystem services. Against the backdrop of intensified pressure on ecological grassland protection and surging market demand for livestock products based on grassland resource input, the sustainable development of grassland areas needs to improve the supply capacity of grassland while ensuring its ecological security, so as to realize a win-win situation for its ecological and production functions.
Highlights
With population growth and economic and social development, the human use and transformation of Earth surface ecosystems have reached unprecedented levels, with net primary productivity taking up more than 20% of the net primary productivity of the global ecosystem; this expression is highly heterogeneous, with some areas reaching even more than 60%Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Services (Zhang et al, 2017)
Analysis of the Driving Mechanism To deeply explore the change mechanism of grassland ecosystem services (ESs), we introduced a multiple regression model used in the economic analysis, and the key indicators were determined on the basis of relevant research, which is shown as: ESit = β0 + β1slopeit + β2temit + β3preit + β4sunit
This study used a set of quantitative surrogate biophysical indicators to evaluate the capability of grassland ESs in the Hulunbuir grassland in
Summary
With population growth and economic and social development, the human use and transformation of Earth surface ecosystems have reached unprecedented levels, with net primary productivity taking up more than 20% of the net primary productivity of the global ecosystem; this expression is highly heterogeneous, with some areas reaching even more than 60%Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Services (Zhang et al, 2017). The quantitative assessment of ESs is an important basis for supporting decisions for the rational utilization of regional resources, ecological protection, and sustainable social and economic development and an important index for investigating the supply capacity of ecosystems and identifying the status quo of their ecological functions and production functions (Burkhard et al, 2013; Woodruff and Bendor, 2016). Grassland plays an important role in windbreak and sand fixation, soil and water conservation, biodiversity, and carbon fixation. In this context, the scientific and effective assessment of ES was carried out for the grassland ecosystem, and its change mechanism was analyzed in depth. It is of great significance to clarify the needs of grassland protection, optimize the spatial layout, and realize the harmonious development between humans and nature
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