Simulating land-use change and its effect on biodiversity conservation in a watershed in northwest China

Youjia Liang,Lijun Liu

doi:10.1080/20964129.2017.1335933

Youjia Liang, Lijun Liu

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1335933

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Abstract

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Land-use management strategies play a major role in biodiversity change. In many parts of the world, local governments are under increasing pressure to regulate human activity to mitigate negative impacts on ecosystems.Outcomes/other: This study aimed to analyze the effects of different land-use patterns on biodiversity change across a typical artificial desert watershed. We first analyzed land-cover change based on past and future management scenarios in a watershed spanning Gaotai, Linze, and Ganzhou counties in northwest China. We then analyzed the effect of different land-use patterns on biodiversity change in the watershed. We found that the crucial land-cover changes are likely to occur in the wetland reserves and areas established for the Grain for Green Project around the oases, and such changes could affect biodiversity throughout the entire watershed landscape.Discussion: The use of spatial analysis to illustrate explicit changes in ecosystems is useful in fostering biodiversity awareness and the need for decision-making at different scales.Conclusion: Thus, these findings indicate that land-use management strategies for the middle and southeast parts of the watershed are particularly important for future management of biodiversity and the integrated ecosystem services of the entire watershed landscape.

Highlights

Land-use management strategies play a major role in biodiversity change
Rapid economic development has led to reductions in strict land-use management in watershed landscapes, which has resulted in changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functions
This study combined different Land Use and Coverage Change (LUCC) with biodiversity assessment models in the GIS-based tool Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) to determine the patterns of land-use change from 2000 to 2009 and under two potential land-use management scenarios

Summary

Introduction

Land-use management strategies play a major role in biodiversity change. In many parts of the world, local governments are under increasing pressure to regulate human activity to mitigate negative impacts on ecosystems. We analyzed the effect of different land-use patterns on biodiversity change in the watershed. In China, biodiversity continues to decline in spite of efforts by the Chinese government to manage different threats and prevent ecosystem degradation (Xiao et al, 2005; Xie et al, 2005; Xie et al, 2010). Rapid economic development has led to reductions in strict land-use management in watershed landscapes, which has resulted in changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The main identified threats to biodiversity in the watershed landscape include land fragmentation, degradation of specific habitats or land-cover types (Baral et al, 2014), unsustainable use of natural resources (e.g., rapid decline of forest and grassland), inappropriate cropping systems, climate change, and natural loss. Predicting land-use change and its effects on biodiversity conservation is crucial in regional land-use management and planning (Geneletti, 2013)

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