Abstract
Land use/land cover (LULC) change driven by land use policy always leads to dramatic change in carbon storage and sequestration, especially in a rapidly urbanizing region. However, few studies explored the influences of land use polices on carbon storage and sequestration in a rapidly urbanizing region. Through Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, the spatial-temporal pattern of carbon storage altered by LULC transformation and its linkage with land use policies were analyzed in five periods (1990–1995, 1995–2000, 2000–2005, 2000–2010, 2010–2015) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region. The results indicated that: (1) the carbon storage in the YRD was substantially altered by continuous LULC transformation, totally decreased by 1.49 × 107 Mg during 1990–2015. (2) The total amount of carbon storage increased from 2.91 × 109 Mg in 1990 to 2.95 × 109 Mg in 1995, and then decreased to 2.90 × 109 Mg in 1995–2015. Thus, the total economic value of carbon storage increased approximately from 467.42 million dollars in 1990 to 472.99 million dollars in 1995, and then decreased to 465.01 million dollars in 2015. (3) The carbon storage and sequestration were influenced by LULC transformation driven by land use policies in five periods: large areas of grassland converted to woodland in 1990–1995 led by Forest Law, then clustered areas of cropland converted to built-up land in 1995–2015 around large cities of YRD Region led by Land Management Law and Development Plans, and finally, the conversion of cropland to built-up land was decreased and scattered in the entire region influenced by land use polices led by early stage of ecocivilization construction. The study can facilitate to develop regional land use policy for carbon storage conservation and carbon neutrality in a rapidly urbanizing region.
Highlights
(3) The carbon storage and sequestration were influenced by land use/land cover (LULC) transformation driven by land use policies in five periods: large areas of grassland converted to woodland in 1990–1995 led by Forest Law, clustered areas of cropland converted to built-up land in 1995–2015 around large cities of Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region led by Land Management Law and Development Plans, and the conversion of cropland to built-up land was decreased and scattered in the entire region influenced by land use polices led by early stage of ecocivilization construction
The world is experiencing significant urban expansion, which is likely to continue in the future [1,2], that had caused global land landscape alteration resulting from land use/land cover (LULC) change
And effective assessment of regional carbon storage impacted by urban expansion is essential to maintain carbon storages service while enhancing other ecosystem services [5,6,7], and to improve regional sustainable development through informing regional land management decision-making [1,3,4,8,9]
Summary
The world is experiencing significant urban expansion, which is likely to continue in the future [1,2], that had caused global land landscape alteration resulting from land use/land cover (LULC) change. Urbanizing regions with deforestation largely reduce the provision of ecosystem service, especially service related to carbon that LULC change is one of the most important source of CO2 emissions [1,3,4]. Regional carbon storage was greatly affected due to the increase of built-up land and the loss of natural vegetation, which seriously threatens the provision of regional ecosystem services and sustainability. And effective assessment of regional carbon storage impacted by urban expansion is essential to maintain carbon storages service while enhancing other ecosystem services [5,6,7], and to improve regional sustainable development through informing regional land management decision-making [1,3,4,8,9]. The expansion of built-up land damaged ecosystems such as forest, grassland, that decrease the storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide taking up by trees, grasses, and other plants through photosynthesis [13], thereby reducing the value of ecosystem carbon sequestration services
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
