Abstract
Accurately identifying the spatiotemporal variations and driving factors of ecosystem services (ES) in ecological restoration is important for ecosystem management and the sustainability of nature conservation strategies. As the Green for Grain project proceeds, food provision, water regulation and climate regulation services in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau (NSLP) are changing and have caused broad attention. In this study, the dynamic pattern of the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) and the main drivers of grain production (GP), water yield (WY) and net primary production (NPP) in the NSLP from 2000–2013 are identified by incorporating multiple data and methods, in order to provide a better understanding of how and why ES change during ecological restoration. WY was simulated by hydrological modeling, and NPP was estimated with the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model. The results show that vegetation restoration continued from 2000–2013, but fluctuated because of the comprehensive influence of climate and human activity. GP and NPP both exhibited significantly increasing trends, while changes in WY occurred in two stages: decline (2000–2006) and growth (2007–2013). Spatially, significantly increasing trends in NPP and WY were detected in 52.73% and 24.76% of the region, respectively, in areas that correspond with the Green for Grain project and high precipitation growth. Correlation and partial correlation analyses show that there were different dominant factors (i.e., natural vs. anthropogenic) driving ES change in the NSLP from 2000–2013. The change in WY was mainly driven by precipitation, while the improvements in GP and NPP can be attributed to investments in natural capital (i.e., chemical fertilizer, agricultural machinery power and afforestation). We also found that vegetation restoration can produce positive effects on NPP, but negative effects on WY by using response analyses of WY or NPP change to NDVI change, demonstrating that additional research on the role of water in vegetation restoration is needed. Our results provide support for ES management and the sustainable development of ecological restoration in the NSLP.
Highlights
China has been the world’s second largest economy by the pursuit of rapid economic development, but the costs of this success are reflected in high levels of ecological degradation [1]
To better understand the change trends and driving factors of the ecosystem services (ES) in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau (NSLP) from 2000–2013, this study quantified the changes in normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI)/grain production (GP)/water yield (WY)/net primary production (NPP) and analyzed the relationships between GP/WY/NPP and different factors during the study period
The changes in WY occurred in two stages: decline (2000–2006) and growth (2007–2013)
Summary
China has been the world’s second largest economy by the pursuit of rapid economic development, but the costs of this success are reflected in high levels of ecological degradation [1]. The Ecosystem Services Partnership, the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES), ecoSERVICES (a core project of Future Earth investigating the impact of biodiversity change on ecosystem functioning and services, and human well-being) and the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO-BON) have been established. One objective of these scientific programs is to assess ES comprehensively and promote the management and application of ES [18], and this requires knowledge of their dynamic features and driving factors
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