Demand For Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Spatial Correlation between the Changes in Supply and Demand for Water-Related Ecosystem Services

Clarifying the spatiotemporal changes in the supply and demand of water-related ecosystem services (WESs) can provide comprehensive support information for ecological governance decisions. However, the spatial mismatch between the supply and demand of WESs is often overlooked, resulting in a lack of targeted decision-making. At the grid scale, while preserving both natural and social attributes, this study quantitatively analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in the supply and demand of WESs in the Southern River Basin from 2000 to 2020. Ecological zoning was performed based on the temporal changes in WESs supply and demand. The OPGD model was used to investigate the impacts of socio-economic and natural factors on different WESs supply factors and further explore the spatial correlation of WESs supply and demand changes in different zones. The results show that there is significant spatial heterogeneity in the changes in WESs supply and demand. Economic belts and megacities have experienced remarkable changes, with WESs supply decreasing and WESs demand increasing. WESs demand changes significantly affect WESs supply changes. The supply of WESs in all zones is influenced by WESs demand. In the high supply–low demand zone, WY has the highest explanatory power for WESs demand changes. From the high supply–middle demand zone to the low supply–middle demand zone and then to the high supply–high demand zone, the explanatory power of PE for WESs demand changes gradually increases. As WESs demand starts from the middle level, HAI gradually dominates WESs demand changes. The increase in land use changes may promote the impact of WESs demand changes on WESs supply changes. This study contributes to incorporating the supply and demand changes of WESs and their correlations into the ecological protection and restoration system, providing a new perspective and method for regional sustainable management.

Investigation of the long-term supply–demand relationships of ecosystem services at multiple scales under SSP–RCP scenarios to promote ecological sustainability in China's largest city cluster

Ensuring ecological sustainability in urbanizing mega-regions like the Yangtze River Middle Reaches (YRMR) city cluster is crucial. Distinct dynamics in ecosystem service supply and demand (ESSD) have emerged due to land use changes, climate shifts, and policy drivers. Addressing potential imbalances and mismatches necessitates strategic ESSD regulation. However, it remains unclear how the future ESSD relationship will evolve under the combined impact of climate change and rapid urbanization. To improve demand simulation, this study examined causal links between socio-economic factors, land use, and ES demands from 2000 to 2018 using a system dynamics model. Six ES supplies and demands were simulated under the SSP-RCP scenarios in 2018–2050. Imbalances and mismatches in ESSD were assessed at grid, city, and sub-city cluster scales. The results showed sizable deficits in crop production (CP) and nature access (NA) services at three scales. A synergistic relationship between CP supply and water yield (WY) demand suggested that increased agricultural production could strain water resources. Growing demand for carbon storage (CS) and WY would worsen ESSD imbalance. To maintain long-term ESSD balance, strict carbon policies, land-use restrictions, cross-scale collaboration are needed. A tiered zoning approach based on supply-demand bundles can enhance ecosystem management in a socio-ecological context.

Ecological redline delineation based on the supply and demand of ecosystem services

As the bottom line of safeguarding ecological security, the term “ecological redline”, which was proposed in China, has important guidance and management value for maintaining ecological stability. The relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (SDES) is a game between the supply side and the demand side of ecosystem services, reflecting the sustainability of ecosystem service functions and the harmony between the ecology and economy. Ecological redline is closely related to SDES. However, at present, the theoretical relationship between ecological redline and SDES has not been analyzed in depth, and the explanation in the “Technical Guidelines for the delineation of ecological protection redlines” (hereinafter referred to as “Guideline”) is vague. This paper analyzes the relationship between ecological redline and SDES, and further emphasizes that the delineation of ecological redlines includes the consideration of the relationship between supply and demand of ecosystem services. The difference between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESr) was used to represent SDES. A systematic method called “ecological redline delineation based on the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ERDBESs)” was proposed, including the calculation of ESr, the analysis of land use conversion, the identification of the scope of ecological protection, and the map of the ecological redline with ArcGIS. Urumqi was taken as the case city to conduct ERDBESs. The results showed that the total area of the ecological redline of Urumqi is 1826.23 square kilometers (km2), accounting for about 12.9% of the total area, in consistent with the announced ecological redline of Urumqi. The results show that the ecological redline delineation method in the Guideline actually includes the consideration of SDES, and this study provides a demonstration for it. This study regarded the ERDBESs as a feasible and rational method to delineate ecological redline and can be used as the theoretical support for the Guideline to practise ecological redline delineation based on SDES, enhancing the policy implications of the Guidance regarding the implicit logic between ecological redline and SDES.

A new framework for assessing ecosystem health with consideration of the sustainable supply of ecosystem services

ContextThe establishment of an ecosystem health assessment framework from a human–environment view is vital to landscape sustainability. Although several studies have improved the assessment framework by integrating ecosystem services (ESs) supply or demand, consideration of the sustainable supply of ESs is lacking.ObjectivesThe objective of this paper is to improve the current methodological framework by integrating ecological integrity and the sustainable supply of ESs to establish an ecosystem health assessment framework.MethodsAn improved assessment framework, including four indicators, vigor, organization, resilience, and ecosystem services supply rate, was established from the perspective of human–environment systems. Then, the performance of the improved assessment framework was demonstrated in a case study in China from 2000 to 2020.ResultsFrom 2000 to 2020, the overall spatial pattern of ecosystem health values in China was high in the southern and southeastern coastal regions, and low health values were mostly located in the western region, parts of Inner Mongolia, and metropolitan areas, with a descending trend from southeast to northwest. The imbalance between the potential and actual supply of ESs greatly contributed to the deterioration of regional ecosystem health. During the study period, the regional ecosystem in China was found to be in a more unhealthy state than in traditional Vigor-Organization-Resilience-Ecosystem services (VORES) evaluation.ConclusionsThe improved assessment framework that incorporates the ecological integrity and sustainable supply of ESs provides a new perspective for understanding the complex inherent characteristics of ecosystems and the regional human-nature connectedness in coupled human–environment systems. Our results could serve as a scientific reference for practical landscape governance in a changing world to achieve landscape sustainability.

Understanding residents’ perspectives on cultural ecosystem service supply, demand and subjective well-being in rapidly urbanizing landscapes: a case study of peri-urban Shanghai

ContextCultural ecosystem services (CESs) play a critical role in maintaining and improving human well-being in rapidly urbanizing landscapes. Few empirical studies, however, have comprehensively identified and revealed the interactions between urbanization, CES supply, CES demand, and subjective well-being (SWB).ObjectivesThe study aimed to understand human–ecosystem interactions from a bottom-up perspective through an analysis of residents’ perceived supply and demand of CESs and SWB at different urbanization levels.MethodsQuestionnaire surveys including public participation GIS were adopted to obtain residents’ perceived provision of CESs, importance of CESs and SWB in a peri-urban area of Shanghai. Multiple statistical and spatial analyses were performed to uncover their relationships.ResultsResidents identified cultural heritage and education as the highest supply of CES, whereas aesthetic and recreation were of the highest demand. Urbanization had a significant negative correlation with the supply of recreation, aesthetic, education and social interaction but had a significant positive correlation with the supply of cultural heritage. The demands of recreation and social interaction were significantly lower in areas with moderate urbanization level. In these areas, CESs were dominated by high supply–low demand and low-degree matches, whereas residents’ SWB was lower.ConclusionsThe variations of the CES–SWB relationship in our study indicate the development trajectory of social–ecological systems in the context of urbanization. Thus, policies adapted to local conditions are needed to foster landscape sustainability in rapidly urbanizing areas.

Research on the Optimization of Urban Ecological Infrastructure Based on Ecosystem Service Supply, Demand, and Flow

Ecological infrastructure plays a crucial role in strengthening the relationship between humans and the environment by optimizing ecological space and resource allocation in urban environments. However, there are few studies on the functional assessment and spatial and temporal evolution of ecological infrastructure and its layout optimization. In this study, we developed an ecological infrastructure optimization method based on ecosystem service supply, demand, and flow in Yantai City as the study area; identified the spatial extent of urban ecological infrastructure and its spatial and temporal changes based on the spatial quantification of multiple ecosystem services; assessed whether the existing ecological infrastructure could satisfy the needs of the urban residents by calculating the ecosystem service supply and demand indexes; and used the spatial quantification of ecosystem service flows to optimize the spatial layout of urban ecological infrastructure. This study shows that, from 2010 to 2018, ecological infrastructure in Longkou, Zhaoyuan, and Laiyang decreased, contrasting with the growth in the existing peripheral areas. The study found a clear spatial mismatch between the supply and demand of ecosystem services, especially in the central urban areas, suggesting that the existing infrastructure was unable to satisfy the needs of high-demand areas. This study assessed the peripheral areas of the city using comparative ecological radiation force (CERF), including 314.64 km2 of environmentally beautiful village units as key components of ecological infrastructure in Yantai City. These findings are crucial for sustainable environmental management and urban development strategies.

Factors Explaining the Willingness of Small-Scale Private Forest Owners to Engage in Forestry—A German Case Study

In Germany, 24% of the forest area is owned by small-scale private forest owners, whose property is affected by a societal demand for forest-related ecosystem services. In the inhomogeneous group of small-scale private forest owners, different living conditions and lifestyles exist, which are affecting the management of the forest ownership. To support the management activities of small-scale private forest owners, institutional instruments exist, but these are only used by a small proportion of forest owners. In order to gain insights into the accessibility and activation of small-scale private forest owners for management, and to draw conclusions for appropriate support instruments, a large number of studies have analyzed the factors influencing the management activities of forest owners. Some studies identify socio-demographic and socio-economic variables as important influencing factors, but do not take into account their complex interdependencies, which have developed as a result of the pluralization of lifestyles and individualization of forest owners. For this reason, in addition to the influencing factors identified in the literature as relevant for forest management activities of small-scale private forest owners, the lifestyle segmentation approach of Sinus milieus established in German market research was applied in this study. This approach allocates forest owners based on their complex lifestyles into ten different milieu groups. A logistic regression analysis was used to determine the parameters influencing the willingness to engage in eight different forest management activities. The results show that the willingness to engage in forest management activities in the future is higher compared to actions in the past. In addition to timber harvesting-related activities, the small-scale private forest owners show a high action potential for non-commodity-related activities. Non-commodity-related activities can primarily be explained by the Sinus milieu affiliation of the small-scale private forest owners. This result underlines the usefulness of a lifestyle segmentation approach such as the Sinus milieus to address small-scale private forest owners in a target group specific way in line with their willingness to engage in specific forest management activities. Institutional instruments such as the membership in a forest owners association or subsidies do not play a significant role for non-commodity-related activities and seem to be inappropriate for targeting small-scale private forest owners for these activities. Timber harvesting-related activities are primarily influenced by the presence of professional foresters, socio-demographic factors or institutional instruments. Based on these empirical findings, implications can be drawn for the target group-specific addressing of forest owners based on different management activities. In this way, forest owners can be motivated to engage in forest management and the provision of forest-related ecosystem services.

A study on matching supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Hexi region of China based on multi-source data.

To achieve the best management of the ecosystem and sustainable socioeconomic development, it is crucial to clarify the matching relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESs). Four types of ESs were chosen for the Hexi region in this study: food supply, carbon sequestration, water yield, wind erosion control and sediment retention. We assessed the supply-demand and matching relationships of different ESs using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Service and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, the ESs supply-demand ratio and the four-quadrant model. Moreover, we also analyzed the supply-demand ratio of integrated ESs and their cold spots. The findings suggest that (1) from 2000 to 2020, the average supply of food supply, carbon sequestration, water yield, wind erosion control and sediment retention increased by 44.31t/km2, 128.44t/hm2, 14,545.94m3/km2 and 0.14kg/m2 respectively, which showed a spatial pattern of "high in the southeast and low in the northwest". The average demand for food supply and carbon sequestration increased by 1.33t/km2 and 0.32t/hm2 respectively, while the average demand for water yield and wind erosion control and sediment retention decreased by 2997.25m3/km2 and 1.19kg/km2 respectively. The spatial distribution is consistent with the layout of population density, production and residential areas, and fragile ecological areas. (2) The supply-demand ratio of food supply, carbon sequestration and water yield is greater than 0.095, which is in a state of oversupply, and the supply-demand ratio of wind erosion control and sediment retention is less than 0, which is in a state of shortage; all ESs are mainly in low-low spatial matching areas, mainly concentrated in the desert areas of the northwest in the Hexi region. (3) The supply-demand ratio of integrated ESs increased by 0.024, and the proportion of cold spots and sub-cold spots was more than 50% and concentrated in the northwest, while hot spots and sub-hot spots accounted for only about 16%, mainly distributed in the southern Qilian Mountains and some oasis areas.

Guiding and constraining reclamation for coastal zone through identification of response thresholds for ecosystem services supply–demand relationships

AbstractEnhancing the understanding and management of ecosystem services (ESs) supply and demand under the influence of global change is crucial for sustaining human well‐being and promoting sustainable development. However, the comprehension of changes in ecosystem service dynamics in the face of complex human disturbances remains limited. This study focuses on four representative ESs in the northern Liaodong Bay, a typical global estuary wetland, to elucidate alterations in the supply and demand of these ESs and comprehend the impact mechanisms arising from reclamation activities. The findings reveal the following key insights: between 1993 and 2020, the supply and demand for water yield disparity became increasingly pronounced, while the equilibrium between supply and demand for carbon storage shifted from surplus to balance. In contrast, the excess supply–demand of food supply and landscape esthetics remained relatively consistent. This study delves deeper into the non‐linear relationship between reclamation activities and ESs supply–demand relationships, with each ecosystem service exhibiting distinct patterns. As reclamation intensity rises, the supply–demand ratio of ESs exhibits varying trends: food supply and carbon storage demonstrate an inverted U‐shaped relationship, water yield follows a U‐shaped pattern, and landscape esthetics progressively decline. By identifying reclamation thresholds, different management strategies should be applied to areas exceeding and falling below these thresholds, with constraints and guidance being necessary for the former and the latter, respectively. These findings advance our understanding of ESs dynamics in the context of human‐driven changes and provide practical implications for sustainable ecosystem management in coastal areas.

Understanding the role of innovation systems in PES development: A survey of stakeholder perspectives

Water-related ecosystem services of forest land are essential for human well-being. Their provision is related to forest management practices that forest owners and managers apply. When these preferential management practices increase the operating costs, they should be paid/compensated by users of these services. The research focused on identifying the prerequisites of the innovation systems to support payments for ecosystem services (PES) in Slovakia. We analysed the structure, relationships, and functions of the innovation system as monetary and non-monetary incentives, cooperation support and risk mitigation. We collected data using a standardised questionnaire sent out to stakeholders from forestry, nature protection, water management and civil society. The data was processed with simple descriptive methods commonly used in social studies and survey data processing. The information about the potential supply and demand of water-related ecosystem services were obtained from forest owners and managers makes the PES development in the future more feasible. Results revealed that when developing PES schemes, the coordination of stakeholders should follow settled legislation rules at the national level, which still need to be included. Furthermore, the innovation system should provide mainly monetary incentives to providers of ecosystem services.

Interactions of socioecological factors on the supply–demand balance of ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

A comprehensive understanding of how socioecological factors influence multiple ecosystem services (ESs) may provide stakeholders with a management tool to coordinate economic development and environmental protection. However, previous studies have focused more on the supply side compared with the demand of ESs. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms for the changes in the supply–demand balance of ESs and their multiple drivers remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, an integrated theoretical framework was developed to assess the interactions of socioecological factors, including land use and cover, the social economy, climate, and topography, with the variations in ES supply, demand, and balance, which were mapped at the city scale in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). A variance inflation factor (VIF) was employed to detect the multicollinearity of the factors, and the sum of Akaike weights was used to simplify the driving factors and identify essential driving factors. We employed variation partitioning analysis (VPA) to reveal the effects of unique and combined drivers on ES supply, demand and balance. The results revealed that undersupply cities (11.93% of the area) were concentrated within the three national urban agglomerations and increased in area from upstream to downstream, whereas oversupply cities (88.07%) were distributed mainly in the surroundings of the urban agglomerations. According to the VPA, the essential driving factors effectively explain the variation in the ES supply, demand, and balance in the YREB. More importantly, these driving factors were simplified with no significant decrease in explanatory power. In oversupply cities, the ES changes were determined based on socioeconomic factors (urbanization rate and population density), land use/land cover (cropland, woodland, and unused land), and their interactions. In undersupply cities, population density (PD) explained the majority of the variation in ESs. However, the effects of climate and topography on ESs were more prominent at the scale of all cities in the YREB. In addition, PD displayed a significant negative correlation with ES supply and balance, but was positively related to ES demand in the undersupply cities. These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the effects of the interactions among socioecological factors on the supply–demand balance of ESs. This study is informative for human well-being and sustainable socioeconomic development in the region.

Seasonal variations in ecosystem service supply and demand based on the SWAT model: A case study in the Guanting Reservoir Basin, China

The match and mismatch between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESs) are closely related to watershed sustainable development. Previous studies have mainly focused on annual or interdecadal matching relationships, and little is known about the seasonal variations of the ES supply–demand relationship. Based on the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model and statistical data, we took the Guanting Reservoir Basin, a transitional ecosystem from semi-arid areas to arid areas, as the study area to analyze the supply and demand of water provisioning services and soil conservation services and identified their matching relationship on the seasonal scale. The results showed that the water provisioning services was in short supply, with a supply–demand ratio of 0.81, whereas the supply of soil conservation services was in excess of demand. In terms of seasonal variation, the mismatch of water provisioning services was particularly severe in winter, followed by that in spring. The mismatch of soil conservation services was relatively severe in winter, followed by that in summer. Such mismatches imply that we must pay attention to the misallocation of resources caused by seasonal variations. It is crucial that policy-makers consider the role of reservoirs and water transfer in providing seasonal water sources for sustaining water resources in transitional areas, and optimize land management to prevent the aggravation of soil erosion in winter.

Социологический опрос как инструмент планирования зеленой инфраструктуры городов

The article analyzes the Russian and foreign experience of conducting socio-logical surveys on the state and development of green infrastructure (GI) on the exam-ple of St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Nizhnevartovsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Arkhangelsk, Ye-revan, Berlin and US cities in the context of growing need to improve the state of the environment. An overview of experts' sources on the state of green spaces in Arkhan-gelsk and the results of a sociological survey conducted in 2023 of residents of the cities of the Arkhangelsk region (Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, Kotlas, etc.) on the attitude to the state of environment and GI of their settlements with the preparation of a list of the most problematic green areas are presented. The opinion of citizens on measures for the care of green spaces, ways of developing GI and the demand for ecosystem ser-vices has been studied. Recommendations on the application of the survey results in the implementation of the concept of GI are formulated. Conclusions are drawn about the importance of conducting long-term sociological research to obtain objective in-formation about the quality of landscaping, as well as the formation of an ecological culture of citizens in order to involve them in the management of GI and, in particular, the development of urban planning documentation within the framework of an envi-ronmental approach.

The optimization of territorial spatial resources allocation based on the balance of supply and demand of ecosystem services

The optimization of territorial spatial resources allocation based on the balance of supply and demand of ecosystem services

Linear and non-linear dynamics of ecosystem services supply, demand, and mismatches across a rapidly urbanizing region

Achieving the sustainability of coupled human-nature systems requires matching the ecosystem services (ES) provided by nature to the needs of society. However, most of the current studies on ES supply–demand relationships focus on spatial mismatches and rarely consider their temporal dynamics. In this study, the year-by-year dynamics (2001–2020) of 12 ESs at multiple spatial scales were investigated by using space–time interaction (STI) analysis, fuzzy C-mean clustering, and emerging hotspot analysis. We found that (1) three forms of temporal dynamics of ES indicators can be identified, including linear dynamics, fluctuating dynamics, and regime shift dynamics. (2) Temporal dynamic patterns of the same ES were not consistent across all counties, showing great spatial heterogeneity. The temporal dynamics of each ES type at each county were spatially explicitly clustered into linear dynamics, fluctuating dynamics, and regime shift dynamics with different means. (3) The ES supply–demand relationships can shift between supply–demand balance, excess supply, and excess demand when the temporal dynamics of ES supply do not match with that of ES demand. Our results suggest that temporal dynamic analysis in ecological restoration effectiveness assessment can help to avoid erroneous results compared to considering only pre- and post-policy ES changes. The identified emerging hotspots of excess supply and excess demand can help decision-makers more accurately identify priority locations for management.

Evaluation of flow, supply, and demand for noise reduction in urban area, Hamadan in Iran.

Noise pollution is one of the consequences of urbanization that can cause environmental disturbances in urban areas. Urban ecosystems provide noise reduction services through Urban Green infrastructures (UGIs). Many studies have been conducted to evaluate and model traffic noise, but none have addressed the flow, supply, and demand of noise reduction ecosystem services. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new methodology for estimating flow, supply, and demand for noise reduction in Hamadan city that has not been mentioned in any paper so far. UGIs were classified into six main categories: agricultural lands, gardens, parks, abandoned lands, single trees, and street trees. A total of 57 sampling stations for sound measurement were made in August 2018. The current map of noise pollution (flow) was created using the Kriging method. The amount of supply was measured up to a distance of 50 meters from the main roads based on two approaches (the distance effect and the sound barrier effect). To quantify the demand, the current sound intensity level in the noise-sensitive land uses was compared with standards. Zonal statistics was used for spatial analysis of supply-demand in the urban neighborhood as a working unit. Results showed that at distances of 5m, 10m, 15m, and 20m, the average noise reduction was found to be 1.61, 2.83, 3.92, and 5.33 dB, respectively. Sound barriers at distances of 5m and 10m resulted in an average sound reduction of 1.61 and 2.83 dB, respectively. Individual trees, strip trees, abandoned lands, parks, and gardens led to a decrease in traffic noise by 0.3, 1, 0.1, 3.5, and 4.5 dB, respectively. The clustering analysis revealed a significant spatial clustering of noise pollution in Hamedan. The results and new methodology of this research can be used in similar areas to estimate the supply and demand of noise reduction and also for decision-makers to take management actions to increase supply and meet the demand for noise reduction service.

Resources time footprint for assessment of human influence on ecosystem service from a sustainability standpoint

Nature provides diverse services to humanity, known as ecosystem services (ES), yet certain services, such as food and timber, are geographically distant from human settlements. This spatial separation of ES from supply area to demand site fosters transfer through human-made carrier as ES flow, resulting in social and ecological impacts. This study delves into this complex ES supply, flow, and demand relation. While the conventional ES assessment approach mainly quantifies ES supply potential, Resources Time Footprint (RTF) is introduced as a new indicator to evaluate human intervention part of ES supply and flow. RTF examines intergenerational sustainability of ES by evaluating material, land, labor, and pollutant resource utilization in relation to individual allocations. The efficacy of this integration is evaluated through a case study covering 17 ESs dynamics in central Bhutan for 2010 and 2020, and RTF is applied to potato-ES, given its higher human intervention in the area. This is finally validated against commonly used emergy analysis and its derivatives. The study observed a 3.5% increase in 17 ESs, with minor intergenerational implications associated with supply and flow of potato-ES. The average per capita RTF values were 0.81 and 0.52 years, or 2 and 1.3 years per 100 kg of potatoes for the 2010 and 2020 base case, respectively. This smaller RTF value for 2020 indicates reduced resource occupancy rates with higher intergenerational sustainability. This replicable indicator effectively evaluated human related impacts on ES supply and flow and identified land and labor as underperforming aspects with higher occupancy rates. The comparative validation showed inadequateness of emergy-derivatives in examining human intervention in ES flow, and limitations of ES-RTF in evaluating nature's contribution. This underscores the complementary nature of two methodologies. Overall, this study contributes to a telecoupling framework for a sustainable society, enhancing coherence and consistency in analyzing ES supply and flow.

Fundamentals of the landscape diversity conservation strategy in the regional environmental policy

The need to preserve natural systems is determined by the adaptive demand for ecosystem services in a worsening geo-ecological situation. These services are provided by natural systems preserved in a natural or close to natural state. The quality of services depends on the diversity of the environment, including the landscape diversity (LD). The study aims to develop principles the natural resources conservation strategy relies on in developing the regional environmental policy (REP). The article shows that some of the principles are based on the landscape approach, and some of them - on the conditions and requirements for the application of parameters and criteria for assessing human resource management. The principles were considered using the example of Northern Sikhote-Alin in Khabarovsk region. The landscape-ecological zoning was based on the landscape approach. Geosystems of high regional environment-forming significance were identified to adjust the goals and objectives of strategic territory planning. It is more appropriate to reflect the effectiveness of measures intended to preserve human resources in regional program-target documents, tracking spatial development indicators recorded in the regional economic policy of a territory.

РАЗРАБОТКА СЦЕНАРИЕВ ДЛЯ ИМИТАЦИОННОГО МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЯ ЭКОСИСТЕМНЫХ УСЛУГ ЛЕСОВ

Sustainable forest management implies the necessity to maintain and uphold the balance between the growing demand for forest ecosystem services and the capabilities present. This issue motivates the development of ways to include various ecosystem services in the forest ecosystem planning and management system, taking into account social, political, environmental, and economic contexts. One of the effective tools for ecosystem service management is imitation modelling, which allows assessing the decision-making risks and consequences. This raises the scientific problem of substantiating possible alternative scenarios for future forested area development for subsequent simulation. This article is aimed at analysing the approaches to creating scenarios for the development of a forest area for local-level imitation modelling and testing a new method based on the development of the existing approaches to solving this problem. In its first part, modern research analysis in the field of imitation scenario development is presented; the second one proposes a new method for compiling scenarios, created within the framework of the POLYFORES project, and also presents the results of its testing at three model sites located in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Republic of Karelia, and the Moscow Region. For the forest plots of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, four scenarios for forest area development have been created, aimed at obtaining benefits: 1 – from timber harvesting, 2 – from recreational ecosystem services and food forest resources, 3 – from regulating ecosystem services, 4 – both from timber harvesting, under the conditions of intensified forest growing, and from regulating ecosystem services. For forest plots in the Republic of Karelia, the first scenario describes the situation of meeting the demand for wood, while also preserving the biodiversity and regulating ecosystem services; the second and third scenarios take into account the increased demand for wood, with low and high priorities for environmental conservation. For the forest plots of the Moscow Region, only two scenarios were relevant, with the increasing need of citizens for recreational ecosystem services, and the biodiversity preservation priority in management decision-making either remaining low or increasing. For each scenario, forestry activities corresponding to the management objectives have been developed. The proposed scenarios can be used to obtain information about the impact of various management decisions on providing forest ecosystem services.

Spatio-temporal evolution of provincial ecological footprint and its determinants in China: A spatial econometric approach

The increasing demand for ecosystem services in regional development has presented significant challenges to environmental sustainability. To alleviate environmental pressure, it is crucial to employ the provincial ecological footprint to gauge regional ecological pressure and research the determinants that contribute to reducing environmental pressure. This underscores the significance of examining and addressing the intricate relationships between ecological resources and regional development. While prior studies often focus on national data, provincial ecological footprints have been relatively ignored. Moreover, scant research exists on the influence of variables such as resource rents and industrial structures. This study employs the ecological footprint model to assess the per capita ecological footprint of Chinese provinces from 1990 to 2020, intending to gauge escalating ecological pressures and pinpoint their drivers. We use spatial panel data analysis to investigate the association among economic growth, natural resource rents, industrial structures and ecological footprint. Leveraging spatial weight matrices, we detected provincial footprint spatial autocorrelation and further analyzed it using the spatial Durbin model. Results underscore that economic growth profoundly shapes the ecological footprint, but an explicit Environmental Kuznets Curve remains elusive. Both natural resource rents and industrial shifts considerably influence the ecological footprint. Distinguishing from earlier non-spatial studies, our research merges spatial panel data analysis, emphasizing the regulatory role of juxtaposing natural resource rents with industrial structure adjustment can decrease the impact of economic growth on the ecological footprint. Advocating robust policies that favor renewables over non-renewables is pivotal, emphasizing the imperative for rigorous environmental standards in sectors shifting to renewables.