Abstract
Ecosystem services are important foundations to realize the sustainable development of economy and society. The question of how to quantitatively evaluate ecosystem services in a scientific way is a hot topic among international researchers. Studying the spatial characteristics of ecosystem services in arid regions can provide the theoretical and practical basis for coordinating a sustainable man-land relationship. Altay Prefecture of China, a typical arid region in Central Asia, was taken as the study area. It is on the Silk Road economic belt, which is a key region in the program of developing Western China. Three ecosystem services: water yield, soil conservation, and net primary productivity were quantitatively evaluated. The results show that (1) the spatial distribution pattern has a distinct characteristic of zonality; (2) mountain zone and mountain-oasis ecotone are the hotspots of ecosystem services; and (3) the correlation between water yield and net primary productivity shows a gradual increasing trend as altitude decreases. Objective analysis from the aspect of mechanism is given by discussing the causes of this particular pattern. It is found that altitude and slope have great influence on spatial distributions of ecosystem services, zones with the most amount of services are distributed in 1.5–2 km-altitude and 15–25°-slope. Different human activities in different regions and spatial distance decay of ecosystem services also contribute to the formation of spatial pattern. Thus, overgrazing, logging and mining are prohibited in mountain zones and mountain-oasis ecotones. Scholars are encouraged to focus on desert-ecosystem services in the future.
Highlights
Prolonged destructive resource development has, in recent years, continuously diminished environmental quality due to insufficient knowledge of the ecosystem and its importance
Our research aims at proposing suitable suggestions for sustainable development and ecological conservation in Central Asia’s arid regions
High vegetation coverage and low evaporation are the main reasons leading to such spatial distribution patterns
Summary
Prolonged destructive resource development has, in recent years, continuously diminished environmental quality due to insufficient knowledge of the ecosystem and its importance. Throughout the world, a large number of studies have been conducted in regard to the definition [4,5,6], classification [7,8], and evaluation of ecosystem services [9,10,11]. Ecosystem services were regarded as the first key issues of ecology in “Ecological Research in the 21st Century” by the ESA (Ecological Society of America) in 2004 [12]. In 2006, the BES (British Ecological Society) organized scientists and government policy-makers, putting forward 100 ecosystem issues related to policy (14 themes), and the first theme is the study of ecosystem services [13]. In 2013, scientific evaluation of ecosystem services and their relationship with sustainable development were discussed at the 11th
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