Abstract
ContextFrom 1999 onwards, China has initiated a large-scale landscape restoration project in the Chinese Loess Plateau, which has had profound but variable impacts on the local ecosystem services supply. The dynamics of ecosystem services throughout the restoration process remain poorly understood.ObjectivesTo analyze the spatial and temporal dynamics in ecosystem services before and after the implementation of the land restoration project, and to understand trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem services.MethodsWe used the InVEST model and statistical yearbook data to quantify the ecosystem services over the period 1990–2018 for the Yan’an area and applied the concept of ecosystem service bundles to understand the dynamics of 11 ecosystem services over its 13 constituent counties.ResultsA significant increase of fruit production, sediment retention, habitat quality, aesthetic landscape value, and learning and inspiration value was found over time in the Yan’an area, while a decrease of timber production and water yield was also observed. The majority of the county-level ecosystem service bundles were transformed from having a focus on timber production to aesthetic landscape value. The dynamics of ecosystem services change induced by land restoration was discovered to start with increasing regulating services at the expense of provisioning services, while cultural services exceeded regulating services and occupied the main proportion subsequently.ConclusionBoth trade-offs and synergies were found between provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Implementation of the large-scale restoration project is recognized as a key driving force inducing change of ecosystem services, starting with an improvement of regulating services followed by a gradually evolving prominence of cultural services.
Highlights
Over 40% of the world’s land surface are arid and semi-arid areas, which are ecologically vulnerable, sensitive to erosion and facing deterioration risks (Allan et al 2013)
The dynamics of 11 ecosystem services in 13 counties from Yan’an area were quantified within a time range from 1990 to 2018 in order to assess the impact of the large-scale Grain for Green project (GGP) land restoration project implemented from 2000
An increasing trend was found in the majority of the provisioning, regulating and cultural services including fruit production, livestock production, sediment retention, carbon sequestration, habitat quality, aesthetic landscape value, learning and inspiration and outdoor recreation while seasonal water yield and timber production showed decreasing trends
Summary
Over 40% of the world’s land surface are arid and semi-arid areas, which are ecologically vulnerable, sensitive to erosion and facing deterioration risks (Allan et al 2013). In order to manage and address land degradation and ecological deterioration issues, a number of large-scale land restoration programs have been implemented worldwide, which have significantly altered land use and ecosystem services (Benayas et al 2009). Starting from the 1970s, the Chinese government has implemented several small-scale land restoration programs in the Chinese Loess Plateau to rehabilitate vegetation cover, combat desertification and reduce soil and water loss (Chen et al 2015). In 1998, Wuqi county in the Yan’an area in the Chinese Loess Plateau started a pioneer land restoration program to reverse the ecological degradation by stopping cultivation of steep slopes and converting cropland and bare land to forest and grassland. The GGP brought a dramatic alteration of land use and a transformation in ecosystem services delivery (Chen et al 2015)
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