Changes In Ecosystem Health Research Articles

Spatiotemporal evolution of ecosystem health and its driving factors in the southwestern karst regions of China

As one of the most typical karst landscapes globally, the karst regions in southwestern China are characterized by prominent rocky desertification and fragile ecological conditions. Consequently, exploring the spatiotemporal evolution and driving influences on ecosystem health (EH) in this region is of great significance for the improvement of ecosystems and green development. This study focuses on assessing EH in these regions from 2000 to 2020 using the “vitality-organization-recovery-service” (VORS) framework. Spatiotemporal changes in EH are analyzed through hotspot analysis, and the functional relationship between driving factors and EH is quantified using XGBoost and SHAP models. Key findings include: (1) Over the past two decades, the proportion of cities experiencing enhanced EH has generally improved in 73% of cities compared to 27% experiencing deterioration. (2) Spatial analysis reveals EH clustering in three regions. One cold spot cluster in the central north and two hot spot clusters in the southwest and southeast. (3) Urbanization level exhibits an inverse logarithmic relationship with EH. Precipitation affects EH in a cubic polynomial pattern—initial decrease, subsequent increase, and final decrease. Temperature impacts EH through a quartic polynomial function with fluctuating increases and decreases. PM2.5 shows a monotonically decreasing relationship with EH, while the normalized difference vegetation index demonstrates a monotonically increasing association. This research contributes to understanding EH dynamics in southwestern China’s karst landscapes, crucial for advancing ecosystem management and sustainable development efforts.

Ecosystem health assessment of the largest lake wetland in the Yellow River basin using an improved vigor-organization-resilience-services model

Wuliangsu Lake is the largest lake wetland in the Yellow River basin, it is the Northern Sand Belt of China, which is essential to maintaining ecological security in northern China and the areas downstream. With the increasing environmental problems, the basin has become a sensitive and complex geographical unit, and a better understanding of the level of ecosystem health in the basin is helpful for policymakers in developing measures for ecological restoration and eco-space management. In this study, we proposed an improved VORS model containing ecosystem vigor, organization, resilience and services to assess the ecosystem health in the Wuliangsu Lake Basin in 2000, 2011, and 2022. To improve spatial precision, the study area was partitioned into grids measuring 2 km × 2 km each. The results indicated that: (1) the ecosystem health showed a slight increase trend, which indicated by the increase level grids reached 94 % in 2000–2022 change. (2) The reduction in vegetation cover decreased the ecosystem vigor, which was indicated by the weak level increased from 22 % in 2000 to 73 % in 2022. Ecosystem structure becomes more complex enhanced the ecosystem organization, the value increased from 0.3 to 0.6 in 2000 to 0.6–0.8 in 2022. Ecosystem resilience slightly declined in 2011 and 2022, ecosystem services were relatively stable but were dominated by weak levels. (3) The majority land use type in the study area is farmland, and the ecosystem vigor decreases as the area of grassland decreases to farmland in these 22 years. The ecosystem’s structure was enhanced and the land use structure was progressively brought into balance. Changes in all four parameters of ecosystem health assessment are related to land use, and changes in ecosystem health are likewise related to land use changes. The improved VORS model constructed for the Wuliangsu Lake Basin objectively reflect the basin’s state of ecosystem health, and provide a reference for ecological restoration and basin regional planning.

Exploring the evolution of ecosystem health and sustainable zoning: A perspective based on the contributions of climate change and human activities

Maintaining ecosystem health (EH) in watersheds is crucial for building a national pattern of ecological security. However, a comprehensive diagnosis of watershed EH and an exploration of its driving mechanisms are still lacking. This study proposed an EH assessment model from a vitality-organization-resilience-service-environment (VORSE) perspective. Taking the Yellow River Basin of Shaanxi Province (YRBS), China, as a research object, the spatiotemporal evolution trend of EH from 2000 to 2020 was quantified. At the same time, we also quantified the respective contributions of climate change (CC) and human activities (HA) to the EH dynamics based on residual analysis. The results showed that EH in the YRBS increased by 11.80 % from 2000 to 2020, and the spatial distribution of the EH was higher in the southern region than in the northern part. At the pixel scale, areas with improving trends accounted for 90.57 % of the YRBS, while 9.43 % deteriorated, with the improving areas mainly in northern Shaanxi and the deteriorating areas in the Guanzhong region. The correlation between the EH and precipitation was primarily positive, while the correlation between the EH and temperature was mainly negative. The residual analysis showed that the contribution rate of CC to EH changes was 78.54 %, while that of HA was 21.46 %, indicating that CC was the dominant driver of EH changes in the YRBS. Specifically, 82.64 % of the improvement in EH was attributed to CC and 17.36 % to HA. Conversely, 65.30 % of the deterioration in EH was attributed to CC and 34.70 % to HA. Furthermore, CC, HA, and CC&HA dominated EH changes in 26.85 %, 3.77 %, and 69.38 % of the YRBS area, respectively. In addition, the Hurst exponent analysis identified six types of future EH development scenarios, each requiring different restoration strategies. This study provides valuable insights for future EH diagnosis, EH restoration efforts, and the formulation of sustainable development goals in other watersheds.

Seasonal changes in ecosystem health and their spatial relationship with landscape structure in china's Loess plateau

Environmental managers have sought to optimize landscape structure to maintain regional ecosystem health (EH). However, we still lack a full understanding of the effects of changing landscape structure on EH, especially in terms of shorter time scales (e.g., monthly or seasonal scales) and spatial heterogeneity. To address this gap, this study used the vigor-organization-resilience-services (VORS) model to assess the annual and seasonal variation of EH in the Loess Plateau (LP) during 2000–2015, and then applied the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to investigate the spatial effects of different aspects (i.e., landscape composition and configuration) of the landscape structure change on EH over time. Our results showed that the EH level in the LP from 2000 to 2015 displayed temporal non-stationarity at annual and seasonal scales, and a spatial pattern of decreasing from southeast to northwest. The effects of landscape structure on EH had obvious spatial and temporal heterogeneity, depending on the local landscape composition and configuration. In general, landscape configuration exerted a greater impact on EH than landscape composition apart from Shannon’s diversity index and percentage of forestland area, but the intensity and direction of the impact displayed higher temporally instability and therefore should receive more attention. Furthermore, regulation of the dominant patch size, landscape connectivity and forest spatial spacing is the optimal choice for regional ecosystem management. The results suggest that EH responses to changes in landscape structure in the LP vary by time and place, and that the integrating temporal variation and spatial characteristics can help decision-makers make precise spatial arrangements and temporal adjustments to keep the negative ecological impacts within reasonable limits.

Evaluating the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystem service values in response to land use/land cover change in Goang watershed, Northwest Ethiopia

Evaluating the impacts of land use/land cover (LULC) change on ecosystem service values (ESVs) is critical for understanding the implications of land use change on human well-being, identifying trade-offs and synergies between different ecosystem services, monitoring changes in ecosystem health, and informing decisions for land use planning and conservation efforts. As a result, this study aimed to examine the effects of these changes on ESVs during the last four decades (1984–2022) and predicted periods of 2040 and 2060 by utilizing a combination of geoinformation, and economic evaluation approaches. The modified ecosystem service value (ESV) coefficients were used to estimate the influence of LULC change on ESVs. The result revealed that overall ESV has declined from US$390 × 106 in 1984 to US$273.21 × 106 in 2060. However, the effects on various ecosystem services varied, with certain services, such as crop production, pollination, and biological control, increasing in value. These findings also emphasized the necessity of evaluating the implications of land use decisions on ecosystem services and it depicted that it may be possible to retain or improve certain services even in the face of overall declines in total ESVs. Subsequently, the findings of this study, therefore, give important insights for policymakers, land managers, and local people for devising appropriate land use policies and land use plans as well as realizing, and implementing sustainable land use practices that ensure the provision of essential ecosystem services for future generations.

Ecological health assessment of Tibetan alpine grasslands in Gannan using remote sensed ecological indicators

ABSTRACT Ecosystem health assessments are crucial to protect the ecological environment and ensure the sustainable ecological functions of alpine ecoregions. At present, few studies evaluating the ecosystem health of the Gannan alpine grassland, China, an ecologically fragile area, based on a remote sensing theoretical framework exist. As such, this study assessed the ecosystem health of the Gannan alpine grassland based on the Remote Sensing-based Ecological Index (RSEI) and provided a comparative analysis of the RSEI and Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), extending the study of their spatiotemporal patterns and influencing factors. The results suggested that RSEI and GPP showed strong comparability in an ecological sense, with the RSEI better reflecting changes in ecosystem health of the Gannan alpine grassland than the GPP. Overall, the health of the Gannan alpine grassland ecosystem was good (RSEI of 0.61–0.76) and a slow, fluctuating upward trend was seen from 2000 (RSEI = 0.66) to 2020 (RSEI = 0.72). Notably, the RSEI was high in the south and low in the north of the region. Over the past 21 years, 43.92% of the ecologically healthy grassland in the southwest of Gannan has been degrading, while the poor ecological health of 39.04% of the grasslands in the southeast and northeast improved. The model test results show that RSEI could reasonably evaluate the ecosystem health of Gannan alpine grassland. Our assessment results provide important scientific data and information on health monitoring and targeted ecological restoration efforts in the Gannan region.

Prediction of ecological security patterns based on urban expansion: A case study of Chengdu

Urbanisation affects the health and stability of ecosystem significantly. Constructing a scientific ecological security pattern (ESP) is of paramount importance for safeguarding the health of ecosystems within a region, optimising ecological spaces, and ensuring sustainability. To investigate the effect of urbanisation on the ESP, we utilised the Vigour–Organisation–Resilience-Services (VORS) model to analyse the changes in ecosystem health (EH) and identify degraded areas in the city of Chengdu. In this case study. We used the Patch-generating Land Use Simulation (PLUS) Model to predict the urban expansion trends in 2035 and evaluate the changing ESP. Additionally, we used the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and circuit theory to construct an ecological network to facilitate multilayer planning of ESP. We identified an ecological source area of approximately 4484.29 km2 and a recovery zone of 1608.35 km2 for managing EH degradation within the ecological source. An ecological conservation zone of 987.48 km2 with restricted development outside the ecological source, and a restoration zone of 71.66 km2 to mitigate the impact of urban expansion on ecological security were also identified. Seven stable corridors with consistent spatial patterns and pressure levels and six potential corridors await restoration. Based on the analysis of changes in ecosystem health and dynamic ESPs, different scenarios were simulated for 2035. The findings suggested significant variations in EH and ESP around 2010 despite rapid expansion in Chengdu. The ecological environment was partially restored by increasing the land area and controlling its contraction. Therefore, scientific planning of ESPs, limiting the boundaries of urban expansion, and accurately assessing the health of ecosystems are crucial for ensuring ecological security.

Dynamic assessment of restored ecosystem health based on pressure‐state‐response subsystem‐system model in a karst trough valley

AbstractLimited soil and water resources in a sloping karst trough valley have negatively affected the local population and ecosystem health. A deeper understanding of karst ecosystem health and its driving mechanism are important for ecosystem management and restoration. In recent decades, the karst trough valley has been exposed to multiple threats from various natural and anthropogenic factors. Assessment of which is essential to understand the state of the karst ecosystem and to develop a suitable, scientifically proven management strategy. Based on the pressure‐state‐response‐subsystem‐system (PSR‐SS) model, the restored ecosystem health of karst trough valley was assessed from 2000 to 2015 at the grid scale. The principal component analysis (PCA) method was adopted to explore the factors driving ecosystem health change. It is found that from the years of 2000 to 2015, there was an improvement in ecosystem health in karst trough valley ecosystem. Land use analysis maps indicate a slight decrease in woodland and grassland and increase in cropland and urban buildup, and the Land coverage increased from 84.87% to 87.64%. The area of karst rock desertification decreased by 75.3 km2 from 2000 to 2015. The AEH indices of 0.27 (2000), 0.45 (2005), 0.46 (2010) and 0.68 (2015), which indicate moderate warning, pre‐warning, early warning and generally healthy, respectively. The 17 selected driving factors were grouped into two broad categories by PCA, one is national policy, and the other one is natural condition and local activities. National policy was to be found the most important influence on ecosystem health. Our findings emphasize the key role of government in ecosystem health change, which would give directions to the sustainable development of karst trough valley areas.

Planktonic ecological networks support quantification of changes in ecosystem health and functioning

Plankton communities are the foundation of marine food webs and have a large effect on the dynamics of entire ecosystems. Changes in physicochemical factors strongly influence planktonic organisms and their turnover rates, making their communities useful for monitoring ecosystem health. We studied and compared the planktonic food webs of Palude della Rosa (Venice Lagoon, Italy) in 2005 and 2007. The food webs were developed using a novel approach based on the Monte Carlo random sampling of parameters within specific and realistic ranges to derive 1000 food webs for July of each year. The consumption flows involving Strombididae, Evadne spp. and Podon spp. were identified as the most important in splitting food webs of the July of the two years. Although functional nodes (FNs) differed both in presence and abundance in July of the two years, the whole system indicators showed very similar results. Sediment resuspension acted as a source of stress for the Venice Lagoon, being the most used resource by consumers while inhibiting primary producers by increasing water turbidity. Primary production in the water column was mainly generated by benthic FNs. Although the system was near an equilibrium point, it tended to increase its resilience at the expense of efficiency due to stress. This study highlights the role of plankton communities, which can serve to assess ecosystem health.

How does urban landscape pattern affect ecosystem health? Insights from a spatiotemporal analysis of 212 major cities in China

Healthy ecosystems are the foundation of sustainable urbanization. While scientists have long understood the ecological benefits of healthy landscapes, there is still limited understanding of how urban landscape patterns affect ecosystem health. To fill this gap, we systematically investigated the spatiotemporal relationships between different urban landscape patterns and ecosystem health in 212 major cities in China from 2000 to 2020 using Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression. Results show that cities with poor ecosystem health are mainly concentrated in central-eastern China and show a long-term trend of degradation. There is spatial and temporal variability in how landscape patterns drive ecosystem health changes. The size, density, and perimeter of urban patches, along with the degree of interspersion between urban land covers with other land covers, are more important for ecosystem health than other spatial pattern measures, but these patterns also have greater temporal variation. Over the past two decades, the negative impacts of urban area growth have diminished in cities in lower-lying plains areas, but remain a major cause of local ecological degradation. The ecological health of mountain cities is more sensitive to changes in the shape and spatial arrangement of urban patches because of the intertwined distribution of natural ecosystems and urban land that often characterize these cities. This work not only confirms the advantages of spatiotemporal analytical thinking in the study of driving mechanisms of ecosystem health but also provides important guidelines for creating desirable landscape patterns for sustainable urban development.

The role of diseases in unifying the health of global estuaries

Establishing a universal indicator of estuary health is an ongoing challenge for coastal ecology that is made more pressing due to the threat that climate change and anthropogenic activity pose to them. Historically, estuarine health was measured through basic physical, chemical, and biological traits, which have been used to routinely monitor estuaries for more than 30 years. However, it is unclear if they are dynamic enough to accurately assess ecosystem health changes driven by the pressures of climate change and anthropogenic activity. Measuring estuarine health indicators and noting incipient indicators relevant to the evolving threats of climate- and anthropogenic-related stressors on estuarine ecosystems is vital for safeguarding them into the future. Monitoring the presence and vitality of disease in estuarine ecosystems may prove to be a significant indicator of estuarine health. Here we review 22 years of literature (354 papers) to identify the role of marine diseases as critical indicators of long-term estuary health compared to traditional methods, with the goal of identifying a key indicator and underlying unifier of other health metrics. As indicators of both general ecosystem health and of multiple other stressors, diseases play a disproportionately significant role in estuary health in the face of climate- and anthropogenic-related stressors. Marine diseases are a unifier of structural and functional estuary health indicators and must be observed and modeled further.

Distinguishing the relative contributions of landscape composition and configuration change on ecosystem health from a geospatial perspective

Understanding the impact mechanisms of landscape composition and configuration change on ecosystem health (EH) is critical to ecosystem conservation and human well-being. However, existing studies mainly focused on EH changes due to combined effects of landscape composition and configuration change, while the individual impacts and spatial heterogeneity of these factors on EH remain unclear. Thus, taking Chongqing as an example, this study distinguished the relative contributions of landscape configuration and composition on EH based on scenario analysis method, and further explored how these impacts change between and within different topographic, geological and urbanization zones. The results showed that EH displayed an improving trend during 2000–2020, with the increasing areas distributed in the mountainous of southeast and northeast in Chongqing, largely influenced by increased forest landscape cohesion and their synergistic effects with forest expansion, accounting for 91.05 % and 87.86 % of the study area respectively, while the decreasing areas were mostly located in urban cores, dominated by changes in landscape composition (e.g. farmland reclamation and urban sprawl), accounting for 50.95 % of area proportion. The scenario analysis of EH showed that the areas dominated by landscape configuration were 5.39 times greater than the landscape composition under the same climate scenario. In terms of zoning comparison, the influence of landscape composition change on EH displayed the greatest difference within urbanization zones, while topographic zones for landscape configuration change. This paper provides a novel perspective to explore the impact of landscape pattern on EH, which is important to regional ecosystem conservation and land use management.

Long‐term coastal macrobenthic Community Trajectory Analysis reveals habitat‐dependent stability patterns

Long‐term monitoring programs are fundamental to detect changes in ecosystem health and understand ecological processes. In the current context of increasing anthropogenic threats on marine ecosystems, understanding the dynamics and response of communities becomes essential. We used data collected over 14 years in the REBENT benthic coastal invertebrates monitoring program, at a regional scale in the North‐East Atlantic, covering a total of 26 sites and 979 taxa. Four distinct habitats were studied: two biogenic habitats associated with foundation species in the intertidal and subtidal zones and two bare sedimentary habitats in the same respective tidal zones. We used community trajectory analysis (CTA), a statistical approach that allows for quantitative measures and comparisons of temporal trajectories of ecosystems. We compared observed community trajectories to trajectories simulated under a non‐directional null model in order to better understand the dynamics of the communities, their potential drivers, and the role of the studied habitats in these dynamics. Despite strong differences in the community compositions between sites and habitats, the communities followed non‐directional dynamics during the 14 years monitored, which suggested stability at the regional scale. However, the shape, size, and direction of the trajectories of benthic communities were more similar within than among habitats, also suggesting the influence of the nature of the habitat on community dynamics. Results showed a higher variability in community composition the first years of the monitoring in the intertidal bare habitat and confirmed the role of biogenic habitats in maintaining temporal stability. They also highlighted the need to apprehend the role of transient and rare species and the scale of observation in temporal beta diversity analyses. Finally, our study confirmed the usefulness of CTA to link observed trajectory patterns to fundamental ecological processes.

Multi-indicator ‘state space’ approach to assessing changes in shallow urban reef ecosystem health

Tracking changes in ecosystem health is an important objective for environmental managers, but is often limited by an understanding of what constitutes a “healthy” system and how to aggregate a range of health indicators into a single meaningful metric. We used a multi-indicator ‘state space’ approach to quantify changes over 13 years in reef ecosystem health in an urban area that has undergone intense housing development. Based on nine health indicators (macroalgal canopy length and biomass, macroalgal canopy and habitat functional diversity, mobile and predatory invertebrate density and size, total species and non-indigenous species richness), we found that the overall health of the reef community declined at five of the ten study sites. This decline was associated with a large collapse in the gastropod community, a shortening of macroalgal canopies and an increase in the number of non-indigenous species. While the cause of this decline and mechanisms responsible are not fully understood, the decline correlated with an increase in sediment cover on the reefs and warming ocean temperatures over the monitoring period. The proposed approach provides an objective and multifaceted quantitative assessment of ecosystem health that can be easily interpreted and communicated. These methods could be adapted to other ecosystem types to inform management decisions regarding future monitoring, conservation and restoration priorities to achieve greater ecosystem health.

Construction of ecological security pattern of national ecological barriers for ecosystem health maintenance

The National Ecological Barrier Zones are an important part of China’s ecological security strategy. The construction of a scientific and reasonable ecological security pattern (ESP) is important for the healthy development of national ecological barrier zones. The existing literature does not consider the impact of the potential changes in ecosystem health and land use on ESP construction. In this study, we considered a typical composite national ecological barrier area, the Sichuan-Yunnan ecological barrier, to analyze the ecosystem health of such areas; we considered the probability of future land growth change, circuit theory, and ecosystem service trade-off and synergy, to construct a sustainable ESP. Spatial heterogeneity was observed in the ecosystem health level of the Sichuan-Yunnan ecological barrier; the high-value areas of ecosystem health were mostly distributed in the central and southern parts of the study area, but the low-value areas were mostly distributed in the northeastern and western regions. The ESP contained 246 ecological sources (distributed in the forest and grassland contiguous areas in the south, central, and northeast regions), 563 ecological corridors that portrayed obvious differences in spatial distribution, 123 ecological pinchpoints, 231 ecological barriers, and topographic gradient characteristics. Based on this data, we proposed the relevant policy opinions on zoning control. The results show that incorporating trade-offs for ecosystem services into ecosystem health assessments can lead to a more effective selection of ecological sources. Meanwhile, the ESP constructed by using the probability of land growth changes to correct the resistance surface can more truly reflect the need for ESP construction under the future development trend. The research framework of “ecosystem health assessment that incorporates ecosystem service trade-offs - the probability of future land growth changes - circuit theory” could address the technical issues in constructing the ESP of compound large regional/national ecological barrier regions and key ecological function areas.

Impact of urbanization on ecosystem health in Chinese urban agglomerations

With rapid economic growth, urbanization has interfered with regional ecosystems and seriously threatens ecosystem health (EH) in urban agglomerations (UAs) in China. Exploring the impact of urbanization on the EH of UAs in China can provide insights into formulating new policies regarding EH protection and high-quality development. However, investigations on this issue are primarily concentrated on single UAs, and only a few have been conducted on all UAs in China. Therefore, this study measured the urbanization and EH of 19 UAs in China in 2000, 2010, and 2020, and explored the impact of urbanization on EH using Getis-Ord Gi* and multiscale spatial regression models. The results indicated that EH presented a moderate growth trend, with mean values of EH increasing from 0.72 to 0.73 during the study period. The EH of UAs in northern China was significantly lower than that in southern China. Global Moran’s I values of EH changes between 2000 and 2010 and between 2010 and 2020 were 0.511 and 0.283, respectively; the Z-scores were 47.308 and 26.377, respectively (p = 0.001), thus indicating that EH changes in China’s UAs had strong spatial concentrations. Moreover, cold spots of EH changes primarily appeared in UAs in southeast China, whereas hot spots were mostly distributed in northwest China. Furthermore, on a global scale, the proportion of construction land and population density had a negative impact on EH, and the regression coefficients in 2020 were −0.637 and −0.276, respectively; GDP density had a positive effect, and its regression coefficient in 2020 was 0.051. However, the impact of urbanization on EH greatly varied at the local scale. These results provide a scientific reference basis to coordinate construction land expansion, economy, population, and EH, and provide support for the formulation of high-quality development policies for UAs in China.

Environmental Impact of Triclopyr on Habitat Quality in Boreal Rights-of-Way.

The indirect effects of herbicides on habitat quality in boreal ecoregions remain poorly understood. Herbicides are commonly applied on boreal rights-of-way to control vegetation below power lines, where they can indirectly enter the soil ecosystem after leaf abscission. Key soil processes such as litter decomposition and soil nutrient cycling can be influenced by altering litter chemistry and/or impacting decomposer species. Disruption of these soil processes could lead to changes in ecosystem health of boreal systems. The indirect impacts of triclopyr on habitat quality of treated boreal rights-of-way were examined through litter mass loss and quality (carbon-to-nitrogen ratios) and the response of boreal invertebrates (Folsomia candida and Oppia nitens) in microcosms and avoidance tests. Litter breakdown rates were not significantly different within a year of treatment. However, we did observe nitrogen profile differences between field-treated and untreated samples, which likely resulted from triclopyr-induced repression of natural leaf senescence processes. At field application rates, there were no differences in survival and reproduction rates of F. candida, which is key in litter breakdown. The triclopyr concentrations that caused 50% of tested F. candida and O. nitens to avoid treated litter were above field application rates. Therefore, field application rates of triclopyr are not expected to impair habitat quality and ecosystem services of boreal ecoregions based on the parameters we evaluated. Our study improves understanding of the effects of herbicide application on habitat quality and is critical for responsible herbicide use on boreal rights-of-way. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:2955-2967. © 2022 SETAC.

Response of Ecosystem Health to Land Use Changes and Landscape Patterns in the Karst Mountainous Regions of Southwest China.

The quantitative assessment of ecosystem health is important for interpreting the ecological effects of land use changes and formulating effective measures of sustainable ecological development by policymakers. This study investigated the response of ecosystem health to land use changes and landscape patterns in the karst mountainous regions of southwest China by taking Guiyang City as a case study area and assessing the spatial and temporal changes in ecosystem health from 2008 to 2017 using the vigor–organization–resilience model; it analyzed the influence of land use changes and landscape patterns on ecosystem health using spatial overlay analysis, the Dunnett’s T3 test, and the Spearman correlation analysis. The results show that the land use structure dramatically changed, with a trend of a sharp decrement of farmland and rapid increment of forestland and construction land due to rapid urbanization and ecologization. The overall ecosystem health was at a relatively strong level, with the average value greater than 0.6. The deterioration of ecosystem health was attributed to the expansion of construction land and farmland and the degradation of forestland, while the increment of forestland was the major contributor to the improvement of ecosystem health. The ecosystem health of the forestland + farmland landscape was significantly superior to that of forestland + construction land and construction land + farmland landscapes. Moreover, each landscape configurations had a significant positive or negative correlation with the ecosystem health. This study provides a valuable reference for formulating sustainable environmental management strategies in karst mountainous regions in China.

Spatiotemporal variation characteristics of ecosystem health and its driving mechanism in the mountains of southwest China

A deeper understanding of the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of ecosystem health and its driving mechanism are important for ecosystem management and restoration. Under the complex environment in the southwestern mountainous area of China, various natural and anthropogenic factors interact with each other, complicating the mechanism driving ecosystem health. Quantitatively exploring the interaction among driving factors is challengeable but worthwhile. Based on the pressure–state–response (PSR) framework, the ecosystem health value of the study area was computed for the years of 2000 and 2018 at the grid scale. A geographical detector model was adopted to explore the factors driving ecosystem health change. We found that, compared to the year of 2000, there was an improvement in ecosystem health in 2018. The most significant improvement occurred in ample rural areas scattered in remote mountain areas. Nevertheless, there were grids experiencing ecosystem health deterioration. The appearance of a “deterioration ring” surrounding the metropolis region was the typical representative. Among the 10 selected driving factors, in-migrant population, out-migrant population, population density, elevation, and slope were found to be the most important factors. There were obvious impact thresholds of elevation, slope, distance to towns and distance to road on ecosystem health change. The out-migrant population in rural areas strongly promoted the local ecosystem health improvement by alleviating the pressure of human activity. In contrast, the in-migrant population presented the opposite effects on ecosystem health. All driving factors produced enhanced effects on the ecosystem health change through interaction effects. The largest enhanced effects occurred between the migrant population (in- and out-migrant) and the other eight driving factors. Our findings emphasize the key role of migrant population in ecosystem health change, which has not been considered in previous studies.

Responses of benthic calcifying algae to ocean acidification differ between laboratory and field settings

Abstract Accurately predicting the effects of ocean and coastal acidification on marine ecosystems requires understanding how responses scale from laboratory experiments to the natural world. Using benthic calcifying macroalgae as a model system, we performed a semi-quantitative synthesis to compare directional responses between laboratory experiments and field studies. Variability in ecological, spatial, and temporal scales across studies, and the disparity in the number of responses documented in laboratory and field settings, make direct comparisons difficult. Despite these differences, some responses, including community-level measurements, were consistent across laboratory and field studies. However, there were also mismatches in the directionality of many responses with more negative acidification impacts reported in laboratory experiments. Recommendations to improve our ability to scale responses include: (i) developing novel approaches to allow measurements of the same responses in laboratory and field settings, and (ii) researching understudied calcifying benthic macroalgal species and responses. Incorporating these guidelines into research programs will yield data more suitable for robust meta-analyses and will facilitate the development of ecosystem models that incorporate proper scaling of organismal responses to in situ acidification. This, in turn, will allow for more accurate predictions of future changes in ecosystem health and function in a rapidly changing natural climate.