Conservation Of Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Response and resilience to drought in northern forests revealed by Sentinel-2

ABSTRACT Enhancing forest drought resilience is important for preserving ecosystem services in the face of climate change, but operational management methods for boreal forests aiming to preserve ecosystem services under drought are still largely missing. This study explores the use of satellite remote sensing to monitor vegetation stress phases related to drought progression and to quantify both short- and long-term impacts on forest growth. Data from the Sentinel-2 satellite mission were used to calculate the response of vegetation indices across six forest types, using the time period from 2015 to 2017 as a reference dataset. The percentual difference between the drought year of 2018 and the reference period was used to represent disturbance intensity and the system’s capability to resist it. Additionally, the recovery time was taken into consideration. Breakpoint detection with daily temporal resolution was used to quantify the response time of each forest type in relation to the onset date of meteorological drought. Results indicate that Sentinel-2 data can be used to monitor vegetation stress associated with drought progression and estimate the characteristics of forest resilience. High temporal resolution observations should be prioritized over annual maximum vegetation index values to determine the intensity of disturbance. Consistent severe impacts were observed in areas with limited soil moisture availability. The recovery time of forests took up to 4 years. Drought exposure during consecutive years could be especially damaging for species requiring a longer recovery time than a single growing season. Sentinel-2-based monitoring approach could benefit decision-support systems for forest management aiming to enhance drought resilience.

Spatio-Temporal Assessment and Prediction of Wetlands: Examining the Changes in Ecosystem Service Value of RAJUK DAP Area using Artificial Neural Network and Geospatial Techniques

Wetlands are a crucial component of the earth's socio-ecological structure, providing significant ecosystem services to people. Changes in wetlands, driven by both natural and manmade causes, are altering these ecosystem services. Although Bangladesh is developing, natural resources like wetlands are changing in the country at different scales, with urban areas experiencing significant impacts. This study intends to evaluate the past, present, and future scenarios of wetlands and examine the changes in ecosystem service value (ESV) of the RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha or Capital Development Authority) Detailed Area Plan (DAP) region. This research examined the effects of five different Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) classes on ESVs for 27 years from 1995 to 2022. Findings reveal that the current wetland area is 80.16 km2 in the post-monsoon season and 306.67 km2 in the pre-monsoon season. Composite post-monsoon wetland map from 1995 to 2015 that 19.48 km2 of wetlands are classified as hydro-ecologically consistent wetlands. Wetland area has decreased by 140.926 km2 between 1995 and 2022, according to simulations, and is predicted to do so by another 27.11 km2 during the following eight years. The total ESV of wetlands dropped by about 26.72 percent between 1995 and 2022, primarily due to conversion to habitation and agricultural use. Also, the projection of LULC and associated ESV for the year 2030 demonstrates how ESV evolves throughout this period and which LULC classes are more susceptible to change, while the kappa coefficient was used to compare the simulated models to the actual wetland area. The current study will undoubtedly be helpful to decision-makers who make a substantial contribution to preserving ecosystem services and the wetland landscape.

Spatio-temporal assessment and prediction of wetlands: Examining the changes in ecosystem service value of RAJUK DAP area using Artificial Neural Network and Geospatial Techniques

Wetlands are a crucial component of the earth's socio-ecological structure, providing significant ecosystem services to people. Changes in wetlands, driven by both natural and manmade causes, are altering these ecosystem services. Although Bangladesh is developing, natural resources like wetlands are changing in the country at different scales, with urban areas experiencing significant impacts. This study intends to evaluate the past, present, and future scenarios of wetlands and examine the changes in ecosystem service value (ESV) of the RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha or Capital Development Authority) Detailed Area Plan (DAP) region. This research examined the effects of five different Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) classes on ESVs for 27 years from 1995 to 2022. Findings reveal that the current wetland area is 80.16 km2 in the post-monsoon season and 306.67 km2 in the pre-monsoon season. Composite post-monsoon wetland map from 1995 to 2015 that 19.48 km2 of wetlands are classified as hydro-ecologically consistent wetlands. Wetland area has decreased by 140.926 km2 between 1995 and 2022, according to simulations, and is predicted to do so by another 27.11 km2 during the following eight years. The total ESV of wetlands dropped by about 26.72 percent between 1995 and 2022, primarily due to conversion to habitation and agricultural use. Also, the projection of LULC and associated ESV for the year 2030 demonstrates how ESV evolves throughout this period and which LULC classes are more susceptible to change, while the kappa coefficient was used to compare the simulated models to the actual wetland area. The current study will undoubtedly be helpful to decision-makers who make a substantial contribution to preserving ecosystem services and the wetland landscape.

CONSERVATION OF THE DIVERSITY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS WITH APPLICABILITY DENTAL MEDICINE AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF PLANT RESOURCES

The high incidence of oro-dental pathologies correlated with the significant increase in antibiotic resistance has led to the urgent need to develop alternative treatments, using as natural sources the active principles present in medicinal plants. Thus, at the border between traditional and modern, the use of therapeutic effects of various medicinal plants seems to be a way of preventing and treating oro-dental diseases. Along with this use of plant resources, there is therefore also an awareness of the need to conserve species affected, over time, by overharvesting or even mass extinctions. The sustainable use of these resources leads to maintaining the dynamic balance of ecosystems, maintaining and preserving ecosystem services vital to the development of life on Earth.

Conservation of Sacred Groves of Rajasthan through Folkloric Beliefs

Sacred groves or sacred woods are groves of trees, related to traditional, religious & cultural beliefs & these areas are dedicated to local deities & ancestor spirits. They can be found as a section of a forest. They are excellent illustrations of in-situ conservation. These groves, which are around the nation in villages & cities, plains, and mountain areas, represent a priceless genetic diversity that helps to preserve our environment in many ways. Many extinct species that could have perished otherwise have been saved because of these virgin forest regions. Besides protecting biological diversity, the entire ecosystem aids in water & soil conservation. In the case of Rajasthan, sacred woods can be considered as one of the preservers of priceless ancient religious practices & traditional beliefs. Therefore, sacred forests offer humanity certain crucial ecological functions. In recent times, drastic changes around the globe have also impacted both religious practices and biological integrity. The destruction of the historic heritage has several causes, some of which need to be investigated, including changes in social beliefs, modernity, and the eroding of cultural practices. It becomes important to spread awareness of the management and conservation of various ecosystem services as well as to suggest management and conservation as an alternative strategy for the sustainability of forestry around human settlements.

Evaluation and valuation of tajan river basin ecosystem services

Rivers as a blue ecosystem have a lot of ecosystem services that awareness of the value of their services will protect them as much as possible and communities will benefit from their environmental services. In this study, Tajan river basin ecosystem services in the north of Iran was valuated. To valuate, the choice experiment method was used to estimate willingness to pay. Tajan river basin ecosystem services attributes including regulating, supporting, provisioning and cultural services and a price attribute at three levels were determined. Data from 239 resident households of Mazandaran province were used in 2017. The empirical analysis did by the conditional logit model and mixed logit model. Also, multi criteria decision making including techniques Entropy, TOPSIS and SAW used for evaluating the role and importance of the Tajan river basin ecosystem services. The findings indicated that residents were willing to pay for the conservation of Tajan river basin ecosystem services, 13.77 USD per year. It was for regulating, supporting, provisioning and cultural services of Tajan river basin, 2.62, 6.30, 2.50 and 2.35 USD per year to move away from the status quo to the improvement status respectively. Also, findings of weighting and prioritization of Tajan river basin ecosystem services with TOPSIS and SAW methods showed that supporting and provisioning services had the highest weight for the evaluation Tajan river basin ecosystem services. In other words, the residents prefer the services as the most important Tajan river basin ecosystem services. Results showed that willingness to pay can be introduced as a useful tool to investigated people's preference for conservation of river basin ecosystem services under various activities. Therefore, by determining the value of river ecosystem services, community will understand that river services are of great importance, and the application of its value in calculations related to comprehensive management of basin water resources will provide a suitable economic solution to increase user utility the river.

Empirical assessments of small-scale ecosystem service flows in rural mosaic landscapes in the Ethiopian highlands

Human activities have rapidly altered natural ecosystems worldwide, resulting in fragmented ecosystems that are either culturally or formally protected. These ecosystem patches can be critical for ecosystem services (ES) that support human well-being. In the Ethiopian highlands, the remaining church forests and wetlands have a unique conservation status and are part of the global priority areas for biodiversity conservation. ES flows from these ecosystems to surrounding benefiting areas lack local-scale field evidence data and are not well-understood. Here, we empirically quantify the distance-dependent flows for four ES: grass biomass, microclimate regulation, crop pollination, and soil erosion retention since they exhibit considerable variation in spatial scales and processes of ES flows. The effect of spatial distance on each ES benefit flow was analysed using spatially explicit empirical models. The key findings are as follows: (1) The benefit of ES varies significantly with distance to the source ecosystems. (2) ES supply is determined by the extent (fragmentation) and condition of ecosystems, together with ecosystem type. (3) The quantity and number of ES provided decreases with distance from the source, and beneficiaries up to 3 km of the source only receive one type of ES (grass biomass). Approximately 80 % of the benefiting areas are within a radius of 200 m from forests and wetlands. Bundles of multiple ES types are received at the frontiers of service-providing ecosystems, where number of benefits are compared at particular locations from the source point. The investigated ecosystems (440 km2) provided benefits to 8,770 km2 for the four types of ES. Our findings imply that non-linear effects of key ecosystem variables need to be considered when mapping the distance-dependent ES flows. This study helps to understand the spatial connectivity between ecosystems and beneficiaries in the human-nature interdependency, which is useful for developing different strategies for ES conservation.

Monitoring spatiotemporal changes in land use/land cover and its impacts on ecosystem services in southern Zambia

Ecosystems play a vital role in human well-being, yet the widespread loss of ecosystem services due to human activities, including agricultural expansion and deforestation, remains a significant concern. Despite the wealth of research highlighting the importance of ecosystem conservation in Zambia, a critical gap exists in understanding the interplay between the conservation of ecosystem services and the socio-economic needs of local communities. This study presents a comparative analysis of ecosystem services in two distinct landscapes within southern Zambia: the protected area of Kafue National Park (KNP) and the agricultural landscape of Kalomo district between 2000–2020. Employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, we evaluate the impacts of land/use and land cover (LULC) changes on selected ecosystem services, with a particular focus on carbon storage and the habitat quality of the trumpeter hornbill. The results of the comparison indicate that: (1) the Kalomo district has suffered from extensive land conversion, with forest changing to cropland, while KNP was well protected from encroachment, with forest area increasing over time; (2) carbon stocks and the habitat quality of trumpeter hornbills continually decreased in the Kalomo district but improved in KNP; (3) Kalomo district has suffered rapid environmental degradation due to an imbalance between economic development and environmental conservation, while strict enforcement in KNP has preserved ecosystems. The findings underscore the importance of integrated and inclusive land-use planning and natural resource governance for maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services in Zambia. To progress towards landscape management that is both sustainable and equitable, aligning with the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework, it is proposed that a comprehensive approach be adopted in the region. This approach should encompass a more thorough consideration of local livelihood requirements, as well as the wider political-economic and social factors at play.

Evidence of the potential benefits of digital technology integration in Asian agronomy and forestry: A systematic review

CONTEXTThe agronomy–livestock–forestry nexus is critical as it influences ecosystem services, food production, and land use. Asia, a diverse and technologically dynamic region, faces disparities in agronomy tech adoption. Studies emphasize agronomy and forestry's pivotal role in determining livelihoods in the region. Challenges like rising food demand, land scarcity, climate change, and biodiversity loss require innovative solutions. Digital technologies offer enhanced productivity, sustainability, and resource management opportunities, defining the era of smart agriculture and forestry. OBJECTIVESThis work presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), which examines the potential for using digital technology in agronomy and forestry across Asian countries and evaluates evidence of the potential benefits for practitioners and the environment. METHODSThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method guided the choice of relevant publications. Of the 375 papers located in Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases, only 24 were considered relevant to the research questions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSIn the agronomy and forestry sectors in Asia, the adoption of digital technologies has the potential to contribute toward the promotion of biodiversity, the preservation of ecosystem services, improved labor efficiency, risk reduction, and the promotion of climate change resilience. Geospatial tools, modeling tools, decision support systems, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), and the Internet of Things (IoT) have emerged as prominent technologies driving these positive outcomes. The study lists evidence from various articles supporting these benefits, although most demonstrate indirect causation. This underscores the need for more direct experiments to establish the broader contribution of digital technologies as well as provide evidence showing farmer uptake and the potential negative impacts of implementation. SIGNIFICANCEThe findings from this study offer a comprehensive view of the potential use of digital technologies for agronomy and forestry in Asia, as well as evidence of their potential benefits. It gives stakeholders valuable information on digital technologies and provides a springboard for future studies regarding the application of digital technology in agronomy, animal husbandry, and forestry.

Assessing preferences for forest carbon credit and co-benefits: A choice experiment case study in Japan

This study investigated corporate preferences for forest carbon credit offsets. The preferences were elicited through a choice experiment by administering a questionnaire to determine the price of credit, location of forest sequestration project offset, social development on local employment, preservation of ecosystem services, and unit of sustainable development goals (SDGs). We also examined stated preferences for credit offset and the willingness to pay. The analysis employed multinomial logit and random parameter logit (RPL) models to account for heterogeneity in preferences. The results showed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) held a neutral stance regarding offsetting their emissions and were categorized as being in the early stages of engagement with carbon offsetting. As SMEs can decide whether to purchase credit, we assessed their preferences for the type of credit-based forest carbon sequestration. SMEs had a significant preference for the location of the project, SDGs, and credit price when deciding to purchase credit based on the RPL model estimates. They were willing to pay JPY 6,191 (approximately USD 41) for the location of a project to be local rather than overseas, JPY 933 for a higher number of unit SDGs, and JPY 131 for an increase in the number of jobs. These results suggest that SMEs prefer purchasing local credit generated within their prefecture as a carbon offset alternative.

Conservation Planning of Multiple Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin by Quantifying Trade-Offs and Synergies

The importance of protecting ecosystem services has been increasingly recognized due to their substantial benefits for human beings. Traditional conservation planning methods for locating and designing prioritized areas focus on high-value areas. However, ecosystem services have an intrinsic correlation of trade-offs and synergies among them; thus, solely selecting high-value areas cannot ensure efficiency in the conservation of multiple ecosystem services. Pursuing the protection of one ecosystem service may compromise the effectiveness of conserving others. Therefore, this study aims to develop a method for identifying the optimal ecosystem service protected areas in more efficient ways by quantifying the spatial relationships of ecosystem services on a local scale. We examined the correlations between all possible paired combinations of four ecosystem services using the Local Moran’s I and classified them into five cluster types in the Yangtze River Basin. To address conflicting solutions for multiple ecosystem service goals, we employed systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas for ecosystem service protection, following the principles of representativeness, complementarity, and persistence. By establishing scenarios that optimize each and all ecosystem services at target levels of 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%, we observed that any two of the four services were positively correlated, occupying vast areas in the Yangtze River Basin. However, the high-value areas of each ecosystem service did not coincide in their spatial distributions. Under the same target, more high-value areas could be selected as the best solutions by only optimizing a single ecosystem service. The degree of overlap between priority areas varied considerably across optimizations for individual ecosystem services, particularly when setting lower targets. Our findings suggest that integrated conservation planning for all ecosystem services is more efficient than layering multiple single plans. Understanding the correlations between ecosystem services can lead to more effective management and sustainable decision making.

Current status and trends in island ecosystem services research: A bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2023

With the continuous development of the social economy, ecosystem services are very important for human production and living ecology, and human activities also affect the health of ecosystem services. However, there has yet to be a systematic review of sea island ecosystem services worldwide. This study aimed to use bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive review of the progress of research on island ecosystem services from 2000 to 2023 and an outlook on future research directions. This paper analyzed 730 publications that were related to island ecosystems during this period, covering 42 countries, 1252 institutions, and 3160 authors. The results showed that the country with the most research contributions in this field was the United States, which was followed by China and the United Kingdom. Among the research institutions, the cooperation among institutions was relatively single and fixed, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences had the highest number of publications and citations. Keyword clustering and emergence analysis showed that “ecosystem services”, “urban heat island”, and “climate change” were the main themes, while “InVEST model”, “ecological vulnerability model”, and “GEE (google earth engine)” were the most commonly used research techniques and tools. The results showed that the relationship between human drivers and island ecosystem services is a hot topic in current research, and nature-based solutions and the conservation of island ecosystem services may be the direction for future research. This study provides valuable insights and future research directions in the field of island ecosystem services to better define research topics and identify appropriate research partners.

Resource selection by Sarda cattle in a Mediterranean silvopastoral system.

Knowledge of how grazing cattle utilize heterogeneous landscapes in Mediterranean silvopastoral areas is scarce. Global positioning systems (GPS) to track animals, together with geographic information systems (GIS), can relate animal distribution to landscape features. With the aim to develop a general spatial model that provides accurate prediction of cattle resource selection patterns within a Mediterranean mountainous silvopastoral area, free-roaming Sarda cows were fitted with GPS collars to track their spatial behaviors. Resource selection function models (RSF) were developed to estimate the probability of resource use as a function of environmental variables. A set of over 500 candidate RSF models, composed of up to five environmental predictor variables, were fitted to data. To identify a final model providing a robust prediction of cattle resource selection pattern across the different seasons, the 10 best models (ranked on the basis of the AIC score) were fitted to seasonal data. Prediction performance of the models was evaluated with a Spearman correlation analysis using the GPS position data sets previously reserved for model validation. The final model emphasized that watering point, elevation, and distance to fences were important factors affecting cattle resource-selection patterns. The prediction performances (as Spearman rank correlation scores) of the final model, when fitted to each season, ranged between 0.7 and 0.94. The cows were more likely to select areas lower in elevation and farther from the watering point in winter than in summer (693 ± 1 m and 847 ± 13 m vs. 707 ± 1 m and 635 ± 21 m, respectively), and in spring opted for the areas furthest from the water (963 ± 12). Although caution should be exercised in generalizing to other silvopastoral areas, the satisfactory Spearman correlations scores from the final RSF model applied to different seasons indicate resource selection function is a powerful predictive model. The relative importance of the individual predictors within the model varied among the different seasons, demonstrating the RSF model's ability to interpret changes in animal behavior at different times of the year. The RSF model has proven to be a useful tool to interpret the spatial behaviors of cows grazing in Mediterranean silvopastoral areas and could therefore be helpful in managing and preserving ecosystem services of these areas.

Cetacean presence and ambient sound level analysis in Bermuda: A comparison to historical records

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are established to conserve nature while also preserving ecosystem services and cultural values. Many ongoing MPA discussions are centered on offshore islands, including Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean, which is currently assessing a management plan to protect 20% of its EEZ. Marine mammals are essential targets to monitor as part of effective MPA management because they are keystone species. In addition, as human activities raise ocean noise levels worldwide, monitoring ambient sound levels is essential to evaluating impacts on marine ecosystems. We collected nine months of passive acoustic data (at 250 kHz sampling rate and with 24-bit resolution) between December 2021 and September 2022, approximately 24 nm south of Bermuda, close to a location where previous studies were conducted in 1966 and 2013–2014. The cetacean presence and ambient sound levels derived from our dataset will be compared to these historical datasets. Our comparative analysis focused on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis), and beaked whales (family Ziphiidae). Results will illustrate how Bermuda’s offshore underwater soundscape has changed over nearly six decades.

Evolution of ecosystem services under the impact of urbanization using the InVEST model in the xiongan new area, China

Abstract Understanding the impact of land use on ecosystem service functions is crucial for guiding land management and ecological environment protection in Xiongan New Area (XANA), China. This paper employs the InVEST model to assess the temporal and spatial characteristics of water yield, carbon storage, water purification, and soil conservation ecosystem services in XANA from 1980 to 2020, analyzing geographical and spatial variations in ecosystem service capabilities. Through correlation analysis and the grid Moran’s I index, we explored the mechanisms of ecosystem action and the trade-offs and synergies among these services. Our results revealed that urban land use in XANA increased throughout the 1980–2020 period, with the fastest growth occurring from 2010 to 2020, primarily due to cultivated land conversion. Prior to 2010, cultivated land expanded rapidly, consuming significant amounts of water resources. Changes in land use structure drove increases in water yield and nitrogen output in the XANA ecosystem while decreasing carbon storage and soil erosion. Urban land area change was the primary factor influencing water yield and nitrogen output, while reduced water area was the main driver behind decreased carbon storage in the region. Cultivated land was identified as the primary contributor to soil erosion. The synergy between carbon storage and water conservation is closely tied to water area and urban land, while the synergies between carbon storage and water quality purification, soil conservation and water quality purification hinge on water areas and cultivated land areas. To ensure the sustainable development of XANA, it is essential to protect the wetland ecosystem in the Baiyangdian Lake basin, enhance forest and grassland coverage, and monitor temporal and spatial changes in different ecosystem services and their interrelationships closely.

Seasonal and habitat dependence of plant species, functional and phylogenetic diversity in agricultural landscapes

The biodiversity of agricultural landscapes is under significant threat, while non-agricultural habitats within these landscapes play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation. There has been limited investigation into how plant species, functional and phylogenetic diversity varies across different seasons and habitats in agricultural landscapes. Thus, we carried out a survey of the plant communities in non-agricultural habitats in China's lower Yellow River plain. We investigated the diversity features of plant functionality, phylogeny, and plant species. We compared differences in plant community structure using non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis and tested phylogenetic signal using phylogenetic methods. Our analysis of plant community and diversity characteristics revealed significant differences in plant community structure between seasons and habitats, with the season having a more significant impact. The levels of plant species, functional, and phylogenetic diversity followed a seasonal pattern, with spring seeing the highest values and autumn seeing the lowest. Woodland and hedgerow habitats had the highest levels of diversity, while field roads had the lowest. The community phylogenetic structure of non-agricultural habitats was relatively concentrated and mainly influenced by human interference and environmental filtering. These findings offer scientific support for the preservation of ecosystem services and biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Exploring Sustainability Concerns and Ecosystem Services: The Role of the New Ecological Paradigm Scale in Understanding Public Opinion

This study mainly explores people’s environmental attitudes and perceptions and their motivations for protecting and improving ecosystem services in Italy. The environmental perceptions of people were explored through the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, a tool for gauging environmental consciousness and perceptions, especially in the context of ecological sustainability. Data were collected from a sample of more than 1500 respondents residing in Italy using computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). The results showed that respondents have a high level of environmental concern for most scale issues. The application of principal component analysis (PCA) to the respondents’ responses revealed the multidimensionality of the NEP scale: anti-anthropocentrism (pro-NEP items), human domination (pro-dominant social paradigm (DSP) items), and limits of nature. The results also showed that socio-demographic characteristics and people’s knowledge and beliefs are associated with a strong concern for nature, which can support ecosystem service conservation. Different cultural backgrounds may place varying emphasis on sustainability, conservation, or economic development.

Environmental, social, and management aspects in a hotspot: Interaction networks between marine protected areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are territorial management instruments aimed at conserving ecosystem services, natural resources, protecting habitats, recovering degraded areas and safeguarding associated cultural values. Integrating MPAs into networks has been increasingly recognized as a more effective and successful approach to achieve their goals. In this study, we use social network analysis to assess the interaction networks of environmental, social and management aspects of the MPAs in the Atlantic Forest Central Corridor (Brazil), one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots. Two hypotheses were tested: (i) geographically close MPAs are more likely to interact in certain aspects, and (ii) networks consist of densely connected subgroups of federal and state MPAs (managed by institutions with a broader geographic focus), which interact more among themselves and occupy central positions in the network, while municipal MPAs (managed by institutions with a local geographic focus) occupy a more peripheral or isolated positions. The results support the first hypothesis, indicating how central MPAs exert influence on geographically close areas, increasing their interaction capacities. The second hypothesis was partially supported, with municipal MPAs isolated in the environmental and management networks, but active in the social network. The environmental network showed the greatest number of interactions and was characterized by the formation of four groupings between MPAs, while the social network presented the greatest number of social actors, reaching the greatest strength of interaction between the MPA-actors and presented six groupings. The management network exhibited the formation of three groupings of MPAs and presented the greatest isolation between actors from different groups. Network analysis highlights the central role that some MPAs play in marine conservation and suggests that interactions between MPA managers form organically, but are influenced by homophily and historical components.

The role of forest plantations for the native vegetation conservation in the protected areas surroundings

Protected areas are essential for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the conservation of these areas depends on the management of their surroundings to promote landscape connectivity. In agricultural landscapes, the preservation of native vegetation in rural properties is one of the main strategies to promote the connectivity of the protected area. Forest certifications that require compliance with environmental laws can work as an important instrument to maintain native vegetation in forest plantation areas. In Brazil, most commercial plantations consist of exotic species, predominantly eucalyptus, pine, and teak. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use/land-cover (LULC) and the landscape connectivity changes in the surrounding area of a protected area between 1986 and 2019 and understand if commercial forest plantations have contributed to maintaining native vegetation on private lands. For this, we evaluated LULC in 1986, 2008 and 2019, focusing on the application of the so-called New Forest Act (NFA). We compared LULC change with agricultural land suitability to check for trends. The landscape connectivity and the importance of the surrounding native vegetation fragments were verified based on the Graph Theory. Property boundaries were extracted from a land tenure model based on the Rural Environmental Registry. To verify the perception of landowners and planted forest industries, we sent a questionnaire with open and closed questions. Our results showed that pasture was the main LULC in the area but has decreased giving space to native vegetation regeneration and mostly to forest plantation and soybean expansion. Pasture with lower agricultural suitability is converted to forest plantation and native vegetation, while pasture with higher agricultural suitability becomes soybean crops. At the rural property level, forest plantations presented the largest area and the largest native vegetation cover compared to other agricultural sectors but still presented a significant riparian vegetation deficit, according to the NFA. Forest fragmentation has increased over the years, even with the increase in native vegetation in 2019 compared to 2008. Regarding the landowner’s perception, farmers and industries have demonstrated knowledge and intent to comply with the NFA, but most do not know the Capão Bonito Nacional Forest (CBNF). Our results show that forest plantations have an important role in protecting native vegetation in the protected area surroundings, and the forest certification helps environmental legislation compliance. However, the conservation strategies between landowners, planted forest industries, and the protected area must be improved, mainly the Permanent Preservation Area deficits (riparian zones) inherited from pastures and which were converted into forest plantations. Furthermore, strategies to engage the local population in conserving the protected area, such as through agroforestry systems promotion, are fundamental.

Soil conservation ecosystem service supply-demand and multi scenario simulation in the Loess Plateau, China

Ecosystem services are an essential foundation for sustainable human development. In view of the severe soil erosion on the Loess Plateau (LP), it is important to explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of the supply-demand balance of soil conservation services (SCSs). In this study, the soil conservation ecosystem service supply-demand ratio was innovatively proposed to quantitatively assess the supply and demand balance of soil conservation. First, the InVEST model was used to spatially quantify the supply (soil retention) and demand (soil erosion) of soil conservation services (SCS) in the LP from 2005 to 2020. Meanwhile, the spatial variation characteristics of supply-demand matching were analyzed. Second, to predict the soil conservation ecosystem service supply-demand in the future, the InVEST-PLUS model was used to simulate the supply-demand balance under multiple scenarios in 2030. The natural development (NDS), ecological protection (EPS) and economic development scenarios (EDS) were coupled with shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The results showed that: (1) from 2005 to 2020, the annual average soil erosion modulus of LP increased by 60.58 (t/(hm²·a)); soil retention per unit area increased by 12.89 t/hm2; both increased from northwest to southeast, and the spatial matching pattern of supply-demand was mainly low-low and shifted to low-high each year; and (2) based on the LULC of LP simulated by the PLUS model, the kappa coefficient and overall accuracy were 86.29% and 91.14%, respectively. A total of 19.8% and 22.97% of the built-up land was expanded under the NDS and EDS scenarios, respectively, and a total of 17,515.65 km2 of forestland and grassland was expanded under the EPS scenario; (3) 2030. NDS-SSP245, 2030. EPS-SSP126 and 2030. EDS-SSP585 scenarios, moderate and high surpluses accounted for 11.40%, 14.34% and 10.80% of the total surplus area, respectively; compared to 2020, the high deficit increased by 49.67%, 43.29% and 56.65% respectively. The study provided innovations for the coupling degree of future ecosystem services simulated by the InVEST-PLUS model.