Combining landscape patterns and ecosystem services to disclose ecosystem changes in tropical cropland-forest shifting zones: Inspiration from Mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract

With forest degradation and Grain to Green Program in the tropics, cropland and forest zones underwent frequent changes, becoming more vulnerable. However, the ecosystem changes are complex in cropland-forest shifting zones, which need to take different variables to reveal ecosystem situations. We offer the systemic way with landscape patterns and ecosystem services, from the perspective of structure and function, to know ecosystems situations in cropland-forest shifting zones. In cropland-forest shifts of Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), we further revealed the change of landscape patterns and ecosystem services from 1985 to 2015. The findings showed the following: conversion area of forest into cropland (F&C, 12.3 × 104 km2) was slightly higher cropland into forests (C&F, 9.2 × 104 km2) in MSEA during 1985–2015. Although cropland-forest shifts were relieved after 2000, the landscape patterns and ESs still suffered complex influence in cropland-forest shifting zones. Specifically, nearly 14% of the total land use change led to holistic landscape patterns with fragmentation, shape complexity, connection decline. Landscape patterns intensities relieved after 2000, but it had more small patches comparing with before 2000. For ESs, the mean water yield and soil retention have fluctuated during 30 years, while the mean habitat quality and carbon fixation have decreased by 0.10 and 30.8 g C/m2 in cropland-forest shifting zones. Furthermore, the C&F cannot necessarily lead to increase in all ESs in MSEA. Our study revealed that land use dynamic and potential land development problems from multiple perspectives containing landscape patterns and ecosystem services to establish reasonable land use management strategies in tropics.