Changes In Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Effect of the Belt and Road Initiatives on Trade and Its Related LUCC and Ecosystem Services of Central Asian Nations

Economic development and trade activities are some of the main driving forces leading to land use and land cover changes (LUCC) with impacts on ecosystem services (ESs) functions. As the origin of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) initiated by China, Central Asia nations (CANs) provide a prism to examine the impact of LUCC and ESs changes brought by the BRI. The impacts of LUCC and ecological influences were evaluated. The land use transfer matrix and dynamic index, the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST), the Carnegie Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model, and the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) model were used to evaluate the impact of export trade from the CANs to China (ETCC) on LUCC and ESs in the CANs before and after the BRI. Results showed that before and after BRI (2001–2020), agricultural land and construction land increased by 59,120 km2 and 7617 km2, respectively, while ecological land decreased by 66,737 km2. The annual growth rate of agricultural land and the annual reduction rate of ecological land after the BRI were higher than that before the BRI, while the annual growth rate of construction slowed down. Among the ecological land, the forestland increased by 5828 km2 continuously, while the grassland increased by 12,719 km2 and then decreased of 13,132 km2. The trends for LUCC spatial variation were similar. The development of ETCC positively affected the changes in agricultural and construction land in the CANs and negatively affected the changes in ecological land. The average contribution rates of the ETCC to changes in agriculture, construction, and ecological lands after the BRI were higher than those before the BRI. They increased by 5.01%, 3.33% and 5.01%, respectively. The ESs after the BRI improved compared with those before the BRI, indicating that, during short-term implementation of the BRI, ETCC growth also ensures the ecological protection of CANs. This study provides a reference for dealing with trade, land management and environmental protection relations between member countries of international economic alliances worldwide.

Enhancing Ecosystem Services in the Agro-Pastoral Transitional Zone Based on Local Sustainable Management: Insights from Duolun County in Northern China

Ecosystem and associated ecosystem services (ESs) in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern China (APTZNC) are sensitive to climate change and human activities. Essential to designing targeted policy interventions toward achieving sustainability in the APTZNC is a comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal changes in ESs and their drivers. This study identified the spatiotemporal changes in six ESs in Duolun County from 2000 to 2017. The impacts of drivers—temperature, precipitation, wind speed, vegetation cover (FVC), land use/cover (LULC), soil type, altitude, and slope—on the changes in the ESs in the county and its ecological production zones were then explored. The results indicated that the six ESs improved during the study period. The drivers influencing changes in ESs over time exhibited similarities across regions. Although FVC contributed to improvements in the food supply, grass production, carbon sequestration, and soil wind erosion (SLwind), it also reduced water yield, which may exacerbate the water shortage in arid and semi-arid areas. In regions where the ecology was in the recovery phase, especially in slope farmland, the inhibition of soil water erosion (SLwater) by FVC was easily offset by the higher SLwater potential from increased precipitation. The decrease in wind speed improved the regional ESs, whereas the increase in temperature posed a threat to SLwind. The drivers affecting the spatial patterns of ESs varied among zones. Across the three zones, the greater influential drivers of ESs were FVC and LULC. The impacts of topographic drivers and soil type on the distribution of ESs should also be noted in the agro-zone and agro-pastoral zone, respectively. Our study advocated that ES management should be adjusted to local conditions, and differentiated planning policies should be implemented in line with the ecological characteristics in the APTZNC, which will contribute to regional ecological sustainable development.

Hurricane driven changes in vegetation structure and ecosystem services in tropical urban yards: a study case in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Urban forests are valuable spaces for species conservation, protection of local biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services. However, they are also vulnerable to the impact of extreme climate events like hurricanes. Understanding how urban forests are responding to hurricane disturbances is crucial to improve their design, management, and resilience. Here we analyzed pre-and post-hurricane vegetation surveys in 52 residential yards in San Juan to assess urban forest responses after Hurricanes Irma and María impacted Puerto Rico in 2017. We used these surveys to compare vegetation structure and composition (including species-specific mortality and damage rates) and to quantify changes in the ecosystem services provided by these yards. We found that hurricane disturbances significantly altered the structure but not the composition of yard vegetation. We detected a 27% reduction and 31% mortality of standing stems, and a significant reduction in plants health. Yard species composition was dominated by non-native species and this trend did not change with hurricane disturbance. Changes in vegetation structure translated into substantial reductions in ecosystem services. Food provision, an important service provided by a large proportion of yards before the hurricane, reported the highest reduction (41.9%) while carbon storage was the service that changed the least (9%). Our combined results emphasize the key role played by residential yards providing ecosystem services in tropical cities and call for further efforts to manage private and public urban forests in ways that may ensure their resilience to mitigate extreme climate events, provide multiple ecosystem services, and promote long-term urban sustainability.

High-precision monitoring of urban structures to understand changes in multiple ecosystem services

To safeguard the well-being of urban dwellers, it is vital to restore, protect and enhance urban green infrastructures (uGI), their related ecosystem services (ES) and the associated benefits for a large number of inhabitants. This study maps and monitors land cover between 2012 and 2018 in the fast-growing German city of Leipzig to produce precise information using OBIA and very high-resolution digital orthophotos. Based on this, this research pinpoints spatially differentiated multiple ES. Research has revealed that essential ES, which comprise regulating, socio-cultural and cultural-aesthetic services, have a multifunctional impact on the human urban habitat. The study provides insight into each ES type by evaluating specific classes of objects within the urban environment in a spatially explicit way and at a very high scale of resolution. In doing so, it illustrates variations in the provision of ES and renders visible disparities in the accessibility to uGI in Leipzig. By analysing the number and stands of trees and their respective height development, the study confirms that intensive management is successfully rejuvenating the urban forest, but also that foliage in this forest is suffering from drought. The mapping procedure reveals a high spatial and temporal variation in the rates of carbon storage. This is also the case for the provision of recreation areas which has an impact on the equitable distribution of ES to Leipzig’s inhabitants. Residential areas with a relatively high uGI on the outskirts of the city actually register lower market rents and rent growth rates than in those districts which lie closer to the city centre and have a comparably lower uGI. Thus, market rents and uGI have become decoupled in the fast growing city. In order to ensure and maintain the well-being of all residents in a fair way, fast growing cities like Leipzig must make even greater efforts in urban planning.

Assessing Ecosystem Services of Rice–Fish Co-Culture and Rice Monoculture in Thailand

Increasing production costs for rice monoculture and concerns about farming households’ food security have motivated farmers to adopt integrated rice–fish farming. To date, there has been little research that comparatively assesses the ecosystem services (ESVs) of both rice–fish co-culture and the rice monoculture system in Thailand. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the ESV values of these systems based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. A total of 19 rice–fish co-culture farms were investigated, covering three regions of Thailand (northern, northeastern, and central regions) and consisting of 13 sub-districts, 13 districts, and 11 provinces. For a fair comparison, 19 conventional rice farms were selected as comparison sites. Rice–fish co-culture had a higher net ESV value of 48,450,968.4 THB ha−1 year−1 than rice monoculture with a net ESV value of 42,422,598.5 THB ha−1 year−1. Rice–fish co-culture generated average economic values 25.40% higher than in rice monoculture farming. The most positive change in ESV was found in the regulation of temperature and humidity, with 3,160,862.9 THB ha−1 year−1. Moreover, agrotourism can generate revenue and increase the ESV in rice–fish co-culture. Our findings showed that rice–fish co-culture gives more economic and ecological benefits compared to the rice monoculture system. Further studies are recommended to explore and analyze the potential advantages of the rice–fish system in more detail.

Using near-term forecasts and uncertainty partitioning to inform prediction of oligotrophic lake cyanobacterial density.

Near‐term ecological forecasts provide resource managers advance notice of changes in ecosystem services, such as fisheries stocks, timber yields, or water quality. Importantly, ecological forecasts can identify where there is uncertainty in the forecasting system, which is necessary to improve forecast skill and guide interpretation of forecast results. Uncertainty partitioning identifies the relative contributions to total forecast variance introduced by different sources, including specification of the model structure, errors in driver data, and estimation of current states (initial conditions). Uncertainty partitioning could be particularly useful in improving forecasts of highly variable cyanobacterial densities, which are difficult to predict and present a persistent challenge for lake managers. As cyanobacteria can produce toxic and unsightly surface scums, advance warning when cyanobacterial densities are increasing could help managers mitigate water quality issues. Here, we fit 13 Bayesian state‐space models to evaluate different hypotheses about cyanobacterial densities in a low nutrient lake that experiences sporadic surface scums of the toxin‐producing cyanobacterium, Gloeotrichia echinulata. We used data from several summers of weekly cyanobacteria samples to identify dominant sources of uncertainty for near‐term (1‐ to 4‐week) forecasts of G. echinulata densities. Water temperature was an important predictor of cyanobacterial densities during model fitting and at the 4‐week forecast horizon. However, no physical covariates improved model performance over a simple model including the previous week's densities in 1‐week‐ahead forecasts. Even the best fit models exhibited large variance in forecasted cyanobacterial densities and did not capture rare peak occurrences, indicating that significant explanatory variables when fitting models to historical data are not always effective for forecasting. Uncertainty partitioning revealed that model process specification and initial conditions dominated forecast uncertainty. These findings indicate that long‐term studies of different cyanobacterial life stages and movement in the water column as well as measurements of drivers relevant to different life stages could improve model process representation of cyanobacteria abundance. In addition, improved observation protocols could better define initial conditions and reduce spatial misalignment of environmental data and cyanobacteria observations. Our results emphasize the importance of ecological forecasting principles and uncertainty partitioning to refine and understand predictive capacity across ecosystems.

Estimating the effects of driving forces on ecosystem services and their responses to environmental conditions.

Understanding the factors driving ecosystem service (ES) change is essential for maintaining ES functions and achieving sustainable development. Although research on the spatial variations in the effects of driving forces on ESs provides guidance for regional ecological management, the responses of driving forces to environmental conditions have not been adequately investigated, especially in regions with high spatial heterogeneity. By using remote sensing images and socioeconomic data, this paper aims to fill this gap by estimating the spatial distribution characteristics of the effects of driving forces on ESs and their responses to different environmental conditions in Sichuan Province, China. First, the biophysical values of soil conservation (SC) and water yield (WY) were evaluated using ecological simulation models. Second, the spatial distribution of the effects of four driving forces on two services was explored using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. Finally, the responses of driving forces to environmental conditions were quantified by using scatter plots. The results revealed that the spatial patterns of SC and WY showed spatial heterogeneity. The effects of driving forces on ESs varied with space. Both positive and negative effects of driving forces were observed in Sichuan Province. Under different biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, the effects of driving forces on ESs showed different change trends, characterized by fluctuating trends and obvious thresholds. In our study area, urban sprawl, impervious surfaces, agricultural expansion, intensive human activities, and complex topographic features contributed to the variations in the effects of driving forces. Our results suggest that the responses of driving forces to different land-use coverage, topographical, NDVI, and socioeconomic conditions should be considered in ecological decision-making. Such research results are expected to manage the driving forces of ESs and serve as a practical reference for local management in order to maintain the functions of ESs and attain sustainable development.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Ecosystem Services and the Driving Factors in Urban Agglomerations: Evidence From 12 National Urban Agglomerations in China

The natural environment provides multiple ecosystem services for urban development and human quality of life. Given that current cities interact with each other and form urban agglomerations, understanding the spatiotemporal changes in ecosystem services and the driving forces is crucial for sustainable urban development. Using 12 national-level urban agglomerations as a case study, this paper quantifies the spatial patterns of multiple ecosystem service values from 2000 to 2015 and assesses how natural and socioeconomic factors contribute to such changes by using ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results show the following: (1) spatial discrepancies of ecosystem services exist both in and between urban agglomerations, and ecosystem service values are reduced in more than 70% of urban agglomerations at a rate ranging from 0.02 to 4.27%; (2) elevation, precipitation, and fraction of woodland have positive impacts on ecosystem service values in urban agglomerations; while gross domestic product (GDP), population, and proportion of built-up area have negative effects; (3) both natural and social driving factors impact the ecosystem services of different urban agglomeration in different ways, according to the differences in their driving degrees. We categorized 12 urban agglomerations in China into six typical types: natural-factor dominated, socioeconomic-factor dominated, policy dominated, balanced, natural-factor inclined, and socioeconomic-factor inclined. Our results can be used to inform decision makers and urban planners to propose explicit location strategies to balance natural protection and socioeconomic development and ultimately promote sustainable urbanization across the nation.

The effect of urban–rural construction land transition on ecosystem services: A theoretical framework and empirical evidence for China

Urban-rural construction land transition (URCLT) is one of the main manifestations of global urban-rural transition development, which has caused many negative effects on local landscape ecosystem. Better understanding of the ecosystem services (ES) changes due to URCLT is of great significance to achieve sustainable urban development. This study proposes a theoretical framework elucidating the dynamic effect of URCLT on ES, and summarizes two effects to support the framework, namely scale and structural effects. Subsequently, a series of econometric models are built to meticulously verify the proposed framework and two supposed effects. Taking China's prefectural-level city as case study, the results show that URCLT exerted an inverted N-shaped effect on ES during 2000–2015, and this cubic relationship mainly occurred in the Midwest. Followed tests demonstrate the existence of scale and structural effects, and both jointly determined the magnitude and direction of the effect of URCLT on ES at different transition stages. A major finding is that China's unique urban-rural dual system has seriously hindered the sustainability, especially in central and western areas. Finally, specific policy recommendations for sustainable urban development were proposed for the regions in China. In addition, the proposed framework can also provide effective guidance for urban planning in other rapidly urbanizing cities across the world.

Impacts of urbanization on ecosystem services in the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration: Changes and trade-offs

The urban–rural transitional areas in southwestern China are crucial in the creation of sustainable ecosystems, which have the characteristics of mountain–plain transitions. Herein, we developed a framework to assess the changes in multiple ecosystem services in the transition zone which is the product of urbanization. We explored the interactions between the ecosystem services from 2000 to 2015 in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration (CCUA) in southwestern China and quantified their relationships across the entire study area in 2015. All of the interactions and relationships between five critical ecosystem services were analyzed to develop new strategies for optimizing land use. Our results reveal that the rural–urban fringe exhibited high proportions (17.2–91.1% of the region) of significant correlations in all 10 pairs of ecosystem services. In the rural area, high proportion (>96%) with nonsignificant relationships made up 4 for the 10 pairs. However, there were fewer areas with significant correlations in the urban areas, and only one high proportion of positive synergy occurred (water yield vs. soil conservation, 81.2%). Moreover, in the urban area, almost all of the pairs of interactions were weaker than those in other areas. Many pairs of interactions were stronger in the urban–rural fringe than in other areas. In particular, the synergy correlation (R2 = 0.81, P < 0.01) between habitat quality and carbon storage was stronger than any of the other pairs of interactions anywhere throughout the entire study area. The areas surrounding the core cities were prone to development priority. These findings provide an opportunity to perform explicit trade-offs between ecosystem services, to understand the coupling between the evolutionary process of socioeconomics and natural elements, and to assist in guiding regional sustainability with respect to ecosystem service use, crucial area identification, and urban development.

Bundling evaluating changes in ecosystem service under karst rocky desertification restoration: projects a case study of Huajiang-Guanling, Guizhou province, Southwest China

Bundling evaluating changes in ecosystem service under karst rocky desertification restoration: projects a case study of Huajiang-Guanling, Guizhou province, Southwest China

Modelling regional ecological security pattern and restoration priorities after long-term intensive open-pit coal mining

Long-term intensive open-pit mining can have huge impacts on ecosystems and the services they provide, affecting the integrity of ecosystem structures, functions and process and thus the “ecological security” of a whole mining region. The indirect and direct impacts of mining are spatially and temporally complex and therefore ecological security patterns need to be considered. However, to date there has been little research focusing on ecological security patterns in mining regions. This study aims to model and map ecological security and restoration priorities in an intensive open-cut coal mining region accounting for spatio-temporal changes of multiple ecosystem services. Four ecosystem services including habitat quality, carbon sequestration, water yield, and sediment retention were assessed and mapped in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. Next ecological security patterns and restoration priorities were modelled and characterized using the Self-Organizing Feature Map to identify ecological sources, and circuit theory in Linkage Mapper to characterize connectivity and flows. The results showed that habitat quality, carbon sequestration, and water yield services were most affected by vegetation cover changes due to mining exploitation, while sediment retention was influenced by multiple natural factors, especially topography. Ecological sources, corridors, pinch-points and barriers showed various changing trends due to mined and built-up land expansion over time. Ecological source area declined from 1355.08km2 in 2000 to 584.92 km2 in 2020, while the number of corridors increased from 17 in 2000 to 25 in 2010 and then decreased to 21 in 2020. Although restoration has been conducted on some mine sites, regional-scale restoration needs greater consideration. This study provides decision-makers and stakeholders with a method for assessing regional-scale ecological security and restoration in a holistic and systematic way moving beyond a single mine, which is critical for balancing ecological security protection with minerals production in intensive mining regions.

Identifying intrinsic drivers to changes in riparian ecosystem services by using PSR framework: A case study of the Grand Canal in Jiangsu, China

The interaction between water and land greatly affected the change of the riparian ecosystem service value (ESV) under the background of rapid regional development. In order to analyze the change of ESV, this study combined the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) and the P (pressure)-S (state)-R (response) framework to exploring its driving factors based on the ESV accounting method improved by the catastrophe progression. Taking the riparian zone of the Grand Canal within Jiangsu Province as the study case, this study measured ESV changes and analyzed their driving forces to evaluate the sustainable level of the riparian zone since the construction of the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (ERSNWDP) from 2002 to 2018. The results indicate that: (1) The ecosystem structure of the riparian zone changed significantly during the study period as the total ESV showed a V-shaped trend which increased from 782,339,400 yuan to 827,822,600 yuan generally, indicating that the sustainable capacity of riparian zone ecosystem decreased first and then increased. (2) The pressure and response of the riparian zone ecosystem in the study area have a good synergistic effect, that is, along with the bearing pressure, the response can also make the riparian ecosystem have a good supporting effect. (3) The economic factors are the greatest and stablest influence on the ESV, which means that the economic factors play a dominant role in the riparian ESV. The overall impact of population factors and urbanization on ESV is slight and positive. The purpose of this study is to help stakeholders assess the ecological sustainability level and development trend of riparian zone, provide an analytical framework to discover the drivers of ESV changes and their relationships to guide the regional planning formulation and implementation.

Models for Assessing Urban Ecosystem Services: Status and Outlooks

Urban ecosystem services provide many benefits for human beings. Given the dramatic increase of urbanization, maintaining sustainability of cities relies heavily on ecosystem services, and it is crucial for quantifying, managing, and optimizing urban ecosystem services to promote social and ecological sustainable development. This study presents the review of models for assessing urban ecosystem services through gathering the pertinent literatures which were published recent years. The main types of approaches for assessing urban ecosystem services were summarized, and the model simulation approach was detailed. From modelling techniques to the existing models, it was found that a process-based model is, relatively, a better way to detect the mechanism of urban ecological processes and simulate the future dynamic changes of urban ecosystem services. Three key limitations of existing products and frameworks were identified: (1) lacking understanding of multiple urban ecosystem services interactions, (2) ignoring accounting the socioeconomic factors into dynamics of urban ecosystem, and (3) lacking considerations of feedback effects between social system and urban ecosystem. The study concludes with outlooks that a comprehensive social-ecosystem model based on the social-ecological framework is helpful to reveal the relationships and interactions among various urban ecosystem services, and can better assess how human-induced urban growth affects ecosystem services, and better describe the feedback effect between the social environment and urban ecosystem services, as well as dynamically predict the changes of urban ecosystem services under different scenarios in future long time series.

An expanded framing of ecosystem services is needed for a sustainable urban future

Urban activities are an important driver of ecosystem services decline. Sustainable urbanisation necessitates anticipating and mitigating these negative socio-ecological impacts, both within and beyond city boundaries. There is a lack of scalable, dynamic models of changes to ecosystems wrought by urban processes. We developed a system dynamics model, ESTIMUM, to predict locations, types, and magnitude of changes in ecosystem services. We tested the model in Lisbon (Portugal) under four specific urban development scenarios – a base case scenario and three local sustainability-driven scenarios – to the year 2050. Our results show that urban sustainability policies focused on reducing impacts within Lisbon can be undermined by increased impacts in the extended regions that supply resources to the city. In particular, carbon sequestration from urban greening pales in comparison to growing greenhouse gases from the consumption of food, energy and construction materials. We also find that policies targeted at these extended environmental impacts can be much more effective than those with a limited focus on the urban form. For example, dietary shifts could support positive changes outside that city to increase global climate regulation by 54% compared to a mere 1% increase through intensive urban greening. This highlights the urgent need for a reframing of urban sustainability in policy and scholarly circles from city-centric focus towards an expanded multi-scalar conceptualisation of urban sustainability that accounts for urban impacts beyond the city boundaries.

Analyzing spatio-temporal changes and trade-offs/synergies among ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin, China

Global changes have significant impacts on changes in ecosystem services (ESs) and their interrelationships. The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an important ecological barrier in China, and it is important for ecological decision-making and management in the basin by quantitatively assessing the trends and drivers of ESs and analyzing the trade-offs and synergies among them. In this study, the food production model, InVEST model, and RUSLE model were used to quantitatively assess three ESs (food production, water yield, and soil conservation) in the YRB from 2000 to 2018. The spatio-temporal trends and future trends were quantified using Theil-Sen Median trend analysis and Hurst exponent. Correlation analysis was used to determine the main influencing factors of the spatio-temporal changes of ESs and analyze the trade-offs and synergies among ESs. The research results show that during 2000–2018, in terms of spatial distribution, food production in the YRB gradually decreases from east to west, water yield gradually decreases from south to north, and the dominant areas of soil conservation are mainly distributed in the plateau areas in the upper and middle reaches of the basin; in terms of temporal changes, food production shows a continuous increase, while water yield and soil conservation generally show an increasing trend in fluctuation. Excluding areas with no significant change and random change, food production will mainly show improvement in the future, and water yield and soil conservation will show some degree of decline in the future. Food production is mainly influenced by the type of land use, water yield is mainly influenced by precipitation, and soil conservation is influenced by a combination of slope and land use type. ESs in the YRB were generally dominated by synergy but locally dominated by trade-offs. Our results will provide reference for policymakers in ecological construction, and analyze trade-offs and synergies of regional ESs in a holistic and local context based on the assessment results and change trends of ESs, thus providing a basis for formulating scientific and reasonable ecological protection policies, and will promote the high-quality development of the YRB.

Spatial-temporal evolution of ecosystem services and its potential drivers: A geospatial perspective from Bairin Left Banner, China

Ecosystem services (ESs) declines have been widely recognized due to natural and human drivers and in turn negatively affected human well-beings, particularly in semi-arid regions. However, in which way and to what extent these drivers influence ESs spatially remains to be further demonstrated. This work aims to address this gap by capturing variations of geographic scales in this process. In this study, the CA-Markov and InVEST () model were combined to assess four key ESs and ecosystem service index (ESI) from 2000 to 2035, and spatial pattern of ESI were identified under different development scenarios. The Spearman correlation was conducted to analyze the tradeoffs and synergies of ESs changes among their historical associations. The multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) was adopted to explore the spatial heterogeneity of responses on ESI from various drivers. The results are as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, ESI decreased significantly in the north resulted from the deforestation, while there was a growing tendency of emergence for ESI hotspots in the south due to the implementation of ecological management measures. Compared to other scenarios, fewer cold spots of ESI variation were observed in the ecological preservation scenario from 2020 to 2035 especially in northern forests. (2) The significant positive correlations between habitat quality, soil conservation and carbon storage were strengthened while negative correlations between habitat quality, carbon storage and water yield had decreased over time. (3) The geographic scales at which different drivers interacted with ESI varied remarkably. The process of elevation and GDP were modeled at global scales, indicating their spatially homogeneous effects on ESI. However, effects of slope and vegetation on ESI were operated at local scales, with the spatial correlation coefficients varied greatly. (4) There existed apparent spatial heterogeneity of responses on ESI from natural and human drivers. The combined effects of vegetation and precipitation played a significant role in driving ESI among natural drivers. The effects of geomorphological drivers were closely related to vegetation types and anthropogenic drivers. A method was provided in this study to intuitively reveal the spatial relationships between ESI and various drivers in view of their different geographic scales. We suggest that ecological measures such as forestation shall be implemented prudently according to local water resources based on our results. These findings could provide more practical and feasible measures for the ecological sustainability in semi-arid regions and offer a reference for other similar regions in the world.

Idea paper: How are ecosystem services related to biodiversity and ecological integrity in each site under climate change?

AbstractConventional nature conservation has attempted to protect biodiversity, ecological integrity (i.e., composition and biomass/abundance of native species), and ecosystem services in parallel, assuming generally positive relationships among them. However, many native species are potentially weakened by and maladapted to a new, warmer climate. Such native species may not be able to offer ecosystem services at previous levels. If the relationship between ecosystem services and native species is no longer positive due to climate change, pursuing ecological integrity could be ineffective for maximizing ecosystem services. Hence, there is room to investigate future relationships among biodiversity, ecological integrity, and ecosystem services. This investigation can be done by describing the changes in ecosystem services as a function of biodiversity and ecological integrity. Herein, biodiversity and ecological integrity can be expressed by phylogenetic diversity and species intactness indices based on abundance, respectively. According to my hypothetical figure, the metrics of biodiversity and ecological integrity are potentially not positively but rather negatively related to ecosystem services. The hypothetical figure can be examined and improved using three different approaches: computer simulations (e.g., the LANDIS‐II forest simulation model), collection of actual data (e.g., measuring ecosystem services of some sites with psychrophilic and thermophilic species), and questionnaire surveys about cultural services (e.g., using digitally manipulated photographs and generative adversarial networks). Thus, we can successfully enable practitioners to understand new relationships, which will be relevant to ecosystem management under changing climates.

Farmers’ Attitudes and Perceptions and the Effects of the Grain for Green Project in China: A Case Study in the Loess Plateau

The Grain for Green Project (GGP) aims to protect and improve the ecological environment, end farming on sloping farmland, and plant trees and restore forest vegetation. China’s GGP has been widely implemented, but its impact on the environment is rarely evaluated from farmers’ perspectives. This study took place in Zhidan and Yanchang Counties, Shaanxi Province. Farmers’ attitudes towards the GGP were investigated through semi-structured interviews to understand their perceptions of changes in ecosystem services and their level of ecological awareness, as well as analyzing which factors had the greatest impact on them. Our results indicate that some farmers are not satisfied with the GGP and are unwilling to participate in future GGPs, which is not only due to the dissatisfaction with subsidies offered but also because the needs of the farmers have been ignored. From the perspective of farmers, the GGP has greatly reduced soil erosion and air pollution but has had no effect on improving water quality and protecting biodiversity. More male farmers are willing to participate, and farmers with higher levels of education are more satisfied with the GGP. We also found that the level of understanding of ecological cognition affected farmers’ attitudes, and farmers with different levels of knowledge differ in their willingness to participate. Our research found that many farmers were dissatisfied with the GGP. To improve this situation, it is necessary to improve the ecological awareness of farmers. At the same time, policy makers should also further understand the needs of farmers in order to make reasonable management strategies.

Species diversity is a strong predictor of ecosystem multifunctionality under altered precipitation in desert steppes

With the intensification of global climate change, the precipitation patterns are altered and grassland ecosystem is facing biodiversity loss and ecosystem services decline. It is of ecological significance to explore the underlying mechanisms of change in multiple ecosystem functions and services (multifunctionality) under altered precipitation. Plant community diversity (species, functional and phylogenetic diversity) has been proposed inducing links between ecosystem multifunctionality and environmental changes. However, which facet of plant community diversity can predict ecosystem function better remains controversial. Here, species, functional and phylogenetic diversity were investigated along precipitation gradients (−60%, −40%, −20%, CK, +20%, +40% and +60%) in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia. In addition, ecosystem multifunctionality indices (averaging multifunctionality and threshold multifunctionality) were determined by eleven functions to assess the relationship between plant community diversity and multifunctionality under altered precipitation. We found that +40% and +60% precipitation significantly increased species richness by 52% and 33% and increased averaging multifunctionality by 20% and 46%. Functional and phylogenetic diversity at +60% precipitation were significantly higher than that at −60% treatment. Multifunctionality indices were positively correlated with precipitation gradients and plant community diversity. Importantly, species diversity possessed stronger predictive power of averaging multifunctionality than functional and phylogenetic diversity, which explained averaging multifunctionality of more than 38%. These results indicate that altered precipitation can change species composition of plant community and functions of ecosystem, further resulting in the closed relationship between species diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. Our results highlight the critical role of species diversity in predicting multifunctionality of the altered precipitation conditions in desert steppes.