Highest Ecosystem Service Value Research Articles

Comparison of the Application of Different Process-Based Models in the Study of Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Ecosystem Service Value

Quantitative assessments of ecosystem service value (ESV) are of great significance for rational allocation of environmental resources and making regional ecological protection decisions. The method of equivalence factor per unit area is widely used for this purpose because of its simple algorithm. However, ESV is also affected by biotic and environmental factors (e.g., net ecosystem productivity (NEP) or precipitation), which are difficult to obtain at the regional scale, leading to uncertainty in ESV estimations. In this study, according to the equivalent factor modified by precipitation and NEP from four state-of-the-art process-based productivity models, i.e., CLM4.0, LPJDGVM, LPJGUESS and ORCHIDEE, we explored the temporal and spatial patterns of ESV of 15 administrative regions in northern China. The results show that the simulation accuracy of different models varied among four representative ecosystem types, i.e., typical steppe in northern China, alpine steppe in northwest China, farmland ecosystem in central China, and forest in northeast China, implying that model-based ESV estimates are ecosystem-specific. The ESV tends to decline from northeast to southwest in northern China. Regions with dense vegetation usually had high ESV due to better hydrological and thermal conditions. Low vegetation coverage areas, such as Qinghai and Xinjiang, had higher ESV because of their large geographical areas. The central and eastern developed regions without abundant natural resources had lower ESV due to their lower NEP. For different categories of ecosystem services, the regulation services (mainly water flow regulation services and climate regulation services) contributed the most to ESV. For the temporal dynamics, the total ESV of the 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities showed an insignificant downward trend over the years. The regions with increasing trends of ESV were distributed in northwestern China, while pixels with decreasing trends of ESV were concentrated in northeastern China. Land use cover change may be the most important factor controlling the temporal dynamics of ESV. Our results can provide support for the enaction of reasonable strategies for ecological protection and economic development in northern China.

Understanding the linkage between ecosystem service values and ecological risk in the Yongding River basin, China

Evaluations of ecosystem services values (ESV) and ecological risk (ER) are crucially important for sustainable ecosystem management and ecological security. While numerous studies have been conducted for ecosystem service values and ecological risk assessment, respectively, few studies have investigated their linkage and correlation, especially from a social-ecological perspective. Additionally, the correlation is inconsistent, varying among studies conducted at different spatial scales, which makes it difficult to apply to a building regional ecological security pattern. Here, taking the Yongding River basin, China as an example, we first quantified the spatiotemporal variation of ecosystem service values and ecological risk from 2000 to 2020 using the evaluation models of ecosystem service and ecological risk. We then explored the spatiotemporal correlation between ecosystem service values and ecological risk by using bivariate spatial autocorrelation model to identify areas where prioritized ecosystem management is required in the process of urbanization and ecological restoration. We found: (1) the total ecosystem service value in the basin decreased first, but then continued to increase. The ecosystem service value in 2020 was 679.27 million yuan lower than that in 2000. The ecosystem service values had large spatial variations, with higher ecosystem service values in mountainous areas along the distribution of the river systems. (2) Ecological risk also varied in space, with most areas having low and medium risk levels in 2020, resulting from an overall continued decrease of the ecological risk, and a shift from medium, high, and extremely high ecological risk to low and extremely low in general. (3) There was a negative spatial correlation between ecosystem service value and ecological risk, showing widely distributed “Low ecological risk vs High ecosystem service value” in non-urbanized areas, and “High ecological risk vs Low ecosystem service value” located in newly constructed land in the southeast corner of the watershed dominated. This is a result of combined effects of urban expansion and ecological restoration. Our findings can provide insights on regulation of ecological risk in the Yongding River basin, help build a regional ecological security pattern, and achieve sustainable development.

Ecosystem Service Value Evolution and Security Pattern Optimization in Huaihai Economic Zone

The ecological and environmental effects caused by land use change have attracted global attention. Huaihai Economic Zone, as the core of the Huaihe River ecological economic belt, has experienced a reciprocal evolution of land use, ecological security and regional economic development. Based on multi-stage land use data extracted by Google Earth Engine (GEE), the spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics of ecosystem service value (ESV) evolution in Huaihai Economic Zone from 1998 to 2018 were analyzed with the help of ESV assessment and a minimum accumulated resistance model (MCR), and the regional ecological security pattern (ESP) was optimized. The results show that ESV intensity has obvious spatial differentiation, which is higher in northeastern China and lower in southwestern China. The median ESV area accounted for the largest proportion, while the high and low ESV areas accounted for a small proportion. The characteristics of EVS temporal and spatial differentiation show decreasing and increasing grades. From the perspective of development period, the ESV grade changes show a positive trend. In the optimization of the ecological security pattern, 26 important ecological sources, 22 main landscape ecological corridors, and 65 ecological strategic nodes were optimized and identified, and the middle-level ecological security zone accounted for the largest proportion. The main reasons for the changes in the ESV and ESP are closely related to the changes in local natural resources and the changes and adjustments in government protection policies. These research results can provide a reference for inter-provincial territorial space protection and the formulation of a sustainable development strategy.

Ecosystem services, landscape pattern, and landscape ecological risk zoning in China.

Ecosystem services represent a bridge between natural ecosystems and human well-being and are closely associated with landscape ecological risk (LER). Delimiting reasonable LER areas is important for ecosystem protection, and it is essential to link ecosystem services to LER zoning. However, only a few studies have achieved this, and the zoning accuracy of LER remains poorly understood. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the ecosystem service value (ESV) and LER index using the equivalent value method and landscape pattern index via the remote sensing of land use data at the county level in China in 2000-2015. We applied bivariate spatial autocorrelation as well as the grey correlation analysis model to analyse the ESV-LER spatial relationships and developed a general framework to improve the accuracy of LER zoning. We found that the average ESV increased from $761.42 thousand/km2 in 2000 to $766.16 thousand/km2 in 2015, while the LER index continuously decreased in China. We also discerned a significant negative correlation between ESV and LER (p < 0.001), whereas approximately 750 counties in China exhibited high ESV and low LER indices during the study period. The final LER zoning revealed that the high-LER areas in China were mainly located in the plain areas, and the proportion of counties with high LER levels increased from 17.97% in 2000 to 26.56% in 2015. Overall, our results have important implications for ecological security, future landscape planning and design, and ecologically sustainable development in China.

What is the spatiotemporal relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services? A case from 110 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Rapid urbanization has altered landscape patterns and ecological functions, causing a decline in ecosystem service and generating many ecological and environmental issues. Studying the spatiotemporal interaction between urbanization and ecosystem service (ES) can provide effective supports for regional sustainability and policy formulation. This research utilizes the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as a case to analyze the spatiotemporal interaction between multi-urbanization indicators and multi-ESs over a large-scale region. The results show that the urbanization process in the YREB evolves from a rapidly growing state to a steady state with a slower rise. The urbanization level of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration is relatively higher than the other regions. The distribution pattern of urbanization shows an overall characteristic of lower urbanization in the west and higher in the east. From 2009 to 2016, ecosystem service value (ESV) in the YREB decreased first and then increased, ESV in 2016 showed a reduction of 12.768 billion yuan compared with the 2009 level. ESV increases gradually from highly urbanized areas to those with lower levels of urbanization. Areas with high ESV levels are distributed at the middle reaches of YREB. There is a U-shaped curve relationship between urbanization and ESV, the ESV sharply increased when the urbanization index exceeded 0.6 in 2012. Land urbanization has the greatest impact on ESV among the four subtypes of urbanization indicators. Urbanization and ESV show the synergy relationship mostly in the eastern region, accounting for 18.18% of the total 110 cities. By contrast, they present the trade-off relationship in northern, southern and central regions, occupying 47.27% of the total observations. This study is helpful to provide scientific suggestions regarding the development of new urbanization, the protection of ESV, and the issue of how to achieve synergistic and sustainable development between them.

Evolutionary characteristics of ecosystem services and ecological risks at highly developed economic region: A case study on Yangtze River Delta, China.

Ecosystem services (ES) can mitigate ecological risks (ER), yet these services can also be affected by ER. Based on land use data, socioeconomic data, landscape index, and spatial analysis techniques such as spatial autocorrelation, we study the spatial and temporal characteristics of ES and ER in the Yangtze River Delta from 2000 to 2019. The conclusions are as follows: (1) During the study period, construction land has been growing rapidly, and the depth, complexity, and intensity of land use have been increasing. The reserve land resources in the Yangtze River Delta are scarce. (2) From 2000 to 2019, the ecosystem service value (ESV) has been declining, with a total loss of 107.562 billion RMB. The area of low ESV continues to grow rapidly, while the area of high ESV continues to shrink. High ecological risk potential exists in rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. (3) Although the ecological environment in economically developed areas is more fragile, the ecological risk potential can be reduced in two ways: strengthening urban clusters, thus improving cooperation and communication among them; and protecting ecosystems with high ES such as water area and forestland. When formulating regional development plans, in addition to socioeconomic benefits, managers and policy makers need to focus on natural benefits as well.

Spatial-Temporal Dynamic Evaluation of Ecosystem Service Value and Its Driving Mechanisms in China

Understanding the spatial differentiation and driving mechanisms of ecosystem service value (ESV) is helpful for the protection and sustainable development of the ecological environment. Despite the fact that various studies on ESV have been conducted in various regions, few studies have discussed the spatial differentiation characteristics of ESV in a long time series at a national scale, and even fewer studies have thoroughly examined the driving mechanism of the spatial differentiation of ESV from the perspective of different regions. On the basis of China’s land use data from 1990 to 2018, this paper used the methods of land use dynamics, the ESV evaluation model, hot spot analysis, the barycenter model, and the geographical detector model to study the temporal and spatial differentiation characteristics of land use and ESV in the study area. Moreover, it analyzes the driving mechanisms of the spatial differentiation of ESV at the national scale and in different regions of China. Our results showed the following: (1) Other land types have increased overall, with the exception of grassland. Obvious differences were observed in the single land use dynamics of each land type, especially the construction land, where farmland was the primary source of construction land. With the passage of time, the dynamic degree of comprehensive land use increased. (2) During the study period, ESV generally showed a decreasing trend, with distinct characteristics in high and low ESV areas. The center of gravity of ESV was constantly in Dingxi County and Pingliang City, Shaanxi Province, and its trajectory was generally “S”-shaped. (3) From the perspective of national scale and different regions, the dominant factors affecting the spatial differentiation of ESV were different, and the interaction among multiple factors was significantly stronger than that of a single factor. The findings of the study can provide more scientific decision-making services for China in order to promote regional environmental protection and develop ecological civilization.

Effect of urbanization on the dynamics of ecosystem services: An analysis for decision making in Kolkata urban agglomeration

Urbanization has profound influence on the changes of land use and land cover, which on the other hand exert significant impact on ecosystem services and their values, especially in the urban agglomerations. Kolkata urban agglomeration of India has been selected to determine the causes in changes of ecosystem services under present and projected land use land cover scenario. Land use land cover maps of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 were prepared by support vector machine method, using LANDSAT satellite imageries and projected up-to 2040 using CA–Markov model. Built-up land was increased by 65.39% during 1990–2020 and will further increase to 76.88% by 2040. Built-up lands are mainly encroaching crop lands and wetlands. During the period of fifty years (1990–2040), the ecosystem service value will decrease from $38,486.49 to $28,060.79, with annual rate of decrement of 0.54%. During the same period, the spatial extent of very low ecosystem service value will be increased from 16.60 to 58.88%; whereas, the area coverage of very high ecosystem service value will be decreased from 2.69 to 2.35%. Water supply contributed highest ecosystem service value followed by disturbance regulation and nutrient cycling; whereas, lacking in soil formation, pollination and biological control services contributed lowest. The study will help in decision making process for sustainable management of natural resources and also provide useful guideline for the quality improvement in urban ecosystems.

Significant reduction of carbon stocks and changes of ecosystem service valuation of Indian Sundarban

The Sundarban mangrove or tidal influenced natural ecosystem is extremely productive and providing multiple goods and services to millions of people. In the last few decades, the quality and quantity of mangrove ecosystem are being deteriorated. The main objectives of this current research are (i) to investigate the ecosystem service values (ESVs) using a time series satellite data (1975, 2000 and 2020) and different unit values (ii) to analyze the dynamic pattern of carbon sequestration through InVEST model and (iii) determination of ESVs change hotspots by Getis-Ord Gi* method. Here, mangrove forest has the highest ecosystem service value and highest carbon sinker. The total loss of ESVs was estimated 3310.79 million USD during last 45 years in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) due to high natural and anthropogenic adversities. InVEST model also revealed that the total static carbon storage over the study area was 48.87, 46.65 and 43.33 Tg for the year 1975, 2000 and 2020 respectively. Total 6313944 mg/6.31Tg loss of carbon has been observed in the case of mangrove forest during the overall study period (1975–2020). So, illegal human encroachment should be strictly (through law and regulations) restricted within Sundarban mangrove ecosystem for the benefits of people.

Impact of Cereal Production Displacement from Urban Expansion on Ecosystem Service Values in China: Based on Three Cropland Supplement Strategies.

The acceleration of global urban expansion constantly occupies high-quality cropland and affects regional food security. The implementation of cropland protection policies has alleviated the pressure of cropland loss worldwide, and thus keeping a dynamic balance of cereal production. Such a displacement of cereal production from the lost cropland to the supplemented cropland has resulted in the massive losses of natural habitats (such as forests, grasslands, and wetlands) as well as ecosystem service values. However, the impact of cereal production displacement caused by different cropland supplement strategies has not been concerned. Therefore, taking China (mainland) as a case, this study used the LANDSCAPE model to simulate cereal production displacement caused by urban expansion and cropland supplement between 2020 and 2040, based on three scales of the Chinese administration system (i.e., the national level, the provincial level, and the municipal level). The natural habitat loss and corresponding ecosystem service value (ESV) loss were assessed. The results show that the national-scale cereal displacement will lead to a large reclamation of cropland in North China, causing the most natural habitat loss (5090 km2), and the least ESV loss (46.53 billion yuan). Cereal production displacement at the provincial and municipal scales will lead to fewer natural habitat losses (4696 km2 and 4954 km2, respectively), but more ESV losses (54.16 billion yuan and 54.02 billion yuan, respectively). Based on the national food security and ecological conservation in China, this study discussed the reasons for the ecological effects of cereal production displacement, direct and indirect natural habitat loss of urban expansion, and cropland protection policies in China. We suggest that China’s cropland protection policy should emphasize avoiding large-scale cropland displacement and occupation of natural habitat with high ESV for cropland supplement.

Disturbances Brought about by Human Activities in Relation to the Eco-Environment of the Main Stream of the Tarim River, 2000–2020

The main stream of the Tarim River in China is typical of ecologically sensitive areas that have been heavily disturbed by human activities; as such, the monitoring of the quality of its eco-environment constitutes an important task for researchers. By using GlobeLand30 data and applying the disturbance degree model and revised ecosystem service value (ESV) model, the study presented in this paper undertook a quantitative estimation of the effects of the disturbance impacts of human activities on the eco-environment of this area in the period of 2000 to 2020. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) disturbance index values, which reflect disturbance to the local ecosystem by human activities, increased over the study period. Further, cultivated land experienced the largest increase, which, in turn, brought about the most significant disturbance to the eco-environment. High disturbance index values presented a patchy distribution in the west of the main stream of the Tarim River and formed bands and dots in the east; the area of land characterized by high and moderate disturbance index values increased, with growth areas taking on a scattered distribution of patches, bands, and dots without significant spatial continuity. (2) The total ESV increased, indicating the quality of the eco-environment improved. The increase of cultivated land offset the increase in ESV, which counteracted the effects of ecological governance measures. Areas with high ESV values were mainly located in the western and central parts of the study area, while low values were found in the middle east and east. Areas with higher increases in ESV were mainly located in the western and the western part of the middle reaches and took on a zonal distribution, while areas of decrease followed a scattered distribution, presenting as dots or patches. Using the quantitative analysis methods and high-resolution remote sensing data to evaluate the changes in the eco-environment was considered as the innovation of this study, and the findings are useful in exploring the influence of human activities on ecosystems and evaluating the eco-environment in the minor watershed of an arid area. This piece of quantitative research contributes to the task of monitoring eco-environmental changes using remote sensing techniques in ecologically sensitive areas.

Spatial autocorrelation in land use type and ecosystem service value in Hainan Tropical Rain Forest National Park

National parks promote the protection of the ecological environment and global biodiversity conservation. However, the changes in land use obviously damages the natural habitat, leading to habitat fragmentation and degradation. Land use changes affect ecosystem service value (ESV) and its spatial distribution. In this study, a framework for the assessment of regional spatial patterns in land use/cover changes (LUCC) and ESV was established; the framework relies on the application of a classical spatial autocorrelation model. Remote sensing data for Hainan Tropical Rain Forest National Park (HNTRFNP) were used as a test case for the autocorrelation model approach to analyzing spatial patterns in ESV. Across HNTRFNP, ESV averaged 6201.44 million USD, with high ESV seen in aquatic and forested areas. Furthermore, land use types in HNTRFNP showed spatial autocorrelation (P < 0.05), though the extent varied among types. Forests and water exhibited the most aggregation. The ESV showed significant spatial autocorrelation (P < 0.05). High ESV clusters occurred in primary tropical rainforests (i.e., Bawangling, Jianfengling, Wuzhishan, and Yinggeling) and aquatic areas (i.e., Changhua river, Daguangba reservoir, Nandu river, Taiping reservoir, Xiaomei reservoir, and Wanquan river tributaries). Low ESV areas occurred in villages and surrounding farmlands. There was a negative correlation (P < 0.05) between land use intensity and ESV. In conclusion, to heighten the ESV of HNTRFNP, we should return farmlands to forest, carry out relocation projects in key areas, and construct migration corridors to expand key species habitat.

Boundary delineation and grading functional zoning of Sanjiangyuan National Park based on biodiversity importance evaluations

Recently, China advanced a policy of establishing a protected area system with national parks as the main body, and so the development of protected areas has entered a transitional period. However, to promote the coordinated development of economic construction and ecological protection of protected areas, their management needs to be more comprehensive and refined. Therefore, a more quantitative and refined spatial planning and management method for protected areas is urgently needed. This study took Sanjiangyuan National Park as the research object and considered the three biodiversity elements of species, ecosystems and landscape. The maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, and Fragstats software were used to determine the areas with highly suitable species habitat, areas of high ecosystem service value and areas of high landscape diversity. Based on these areas, Marxan software was used to calculate the irreplaceability value, identify the boundary of Sanjiangyuan National Park and clarify the gaps of the existing Sanjiangyuan National Park in the space. We suggest that at least 18,569 km2 of the eastern part of the Sanjiangyuan Region with a high irreplaceability value should be included in the existing Sanjiangyuan National Park. Moreover, the first-level zones were also classified based on irreplaceability, and the second-level functional zones were classified by K-means clustering based on the evaluation of ecological vulnerability and economic construction suitability. The first-level zones include “core conservation zones” and “general control zones”, which had areas of 71,758.20 km2 (57.99%) and 51,980.13 km2 (42.01%), respectively. The core conservation zones were further zoned into primary vulnerable zones and secondary vulnerable zones. The subzones of the general control zones are multifunctional and they are tourism-grazing-living zones, grazing-living zones, tourism-living zones, tourism zones and other areas.

河流生态廊道提取方法研究及其应用思路

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 河流生态廊道提取方法研究及其应用思路 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202102090415 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家水体污染控制与治理科技重大专项（2018ZX07110003）；国家自然科学基金（31670467） Research progress on methods of river ecological corridor extraction and their application Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:随着交叉学科的发展和技术手段的进步，将河流及其周边生态环境视为整体的理念和研究逐渐受到重视，然而国内对河流生态廊道的研究较少。总结了河流生态廊道的基础理论和提取方法。河流生态廊道可以依据区域规划、通过实地观测等手段直接提取，也可以采用"源地识别-阻力面构建-廊道提取"的框架间接提取。对直接和间接提取方法进行了详细的总结并分析了他们的优势和劣势，发现间接提取方法更具实践意义，且应用的流域面积更大。根据间接提取方式的特点，提出白洋淀-大清河流域河流生态廊道提取的思路。结合区域流域协同治理理念，逐步形成以白洋淀为中心、向周边辐射的河流生态廊道，实现流域水质提升、生物多样性稳定等目标，全面提升生态环境质量。在河流生态廊道提取科学性提升和提取过程中廊道宽度优化等薄弱环节提出未来研究方向。 Abstract:The over exploitation of natural sources leads to a huge burden on water, air, and other environment, among which the response of water environment is the most direct and rapid. With the interdisciplinary development and technology progress, more and more attention has been paid to rivers and their surrounding ecological environment as an integrated river ecological corridor, but there are few researches on river ecological corridor in China. This article summarizes the fundamental theory and extraction methods of river ecological corridor. The river ecological corridor can be defined as the river itself, the riparian vegetation zone along the river and all the related ecological elements, through which river network and ecological flow connect. The extraction methods of river ecological corridor can be classified to direct or indirect categories. The river ecological corridor can be directly extracted according to regional planning or field observation, or indirectly by the framework of "source identification-resistance surface construction-corridor extraction". The patches with high ecosystem service value are often identified as the source area; the resistance surface is often constructed by different environmental variables, such as land use type, elevation, slope, and others, and these environmental variables are given weight according to experience or expert consultation; then the ecological corridor is extracted by different models combining source area and resistance surface. In this paper, these two extraction methods are summarized in detail, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed as well. The results show that the indirect extraction method has more practical significance, and can more clearly explain the connectivity between patches in a larger watershed. Meanwhile, the indirect extraction method is more time-saving and convenient with the help of RS and GIS technology. With the advantages of indirect extraction method, the extraction idea of river ecological corridor in Baiyangdian-Daqing River Basin is proposed. The area of Baiyangdian-Daqing River Basin is 45000 km2, including Xiong'an New Area and Tianjin Binhai Industrial belt. Different industrial clusters drive the development of whole basin. Incorporated with the ideas of region and watershed collaborative management, a river ecological corridor radiating outwards from the core-Baiyangdian Wetland is gradually formed, thereby realizing the goal of water quality improvement and biodiversity stability in the river basin, and comprehensively improving the quality of reginal ecological environment. At the end, future research directions are proposed in the weak links of scientific improvement of river ecological corridor extraction and width optimization of river ecological corridor. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Spatiotemporal Relationship between Ecosystem Service Value and Ecological Risk in Disaster-Prone Mountainous Areas: Taking the Upper Reaches of the Minjiang River as an Example.

Mountainous areas are susceptible to disasters; the frequent occurrence of disasters drives the changes in ecosystem service value (ESV) and also brings certain ecological risk, which further increases the incidence of disasters. However, few scholars have investigated the spatiotemporal correlation between the ESV of disaster-prone mountainous areas and ecological risk index (ERI) with basin as the unit. This paper aims to clarify the spatial relationship between ESV and ERI under the changes of land use. Taking the upper reaches of the Minjiang River as the study area, the authors collected the land use data of 2000–2020, estimated ESV by the value equivalent factor per unit area method, and constructed the ERI. On this basis, the relationship between ESV and ERI was investigated in details. The results show the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the total ESV exhibited a fluctuating upward trend. The spatial distribution of ESV was greatly affected by slope and altitude; an important reason for the rising ESV in the study area is the increase of forest area and water area. (2) The upper reaches of the Minjiang River had a generally low ERI and relatively good overall ecoenvironment. After 2010, however, the ecological risk continued to rise. Most of the strongly high risk areas are areas with frequent human activities, such as low-altitude areas and river banks. (3) There is a spatial correlation and coupling between ESV and ERI in the study area; i.e., the strongly high ESV areas generally had a low ecological risk. The correlation intensified with the elapse of time. The changes in the service value of regional ecosystems driven by unreasonable land use will have a great impact on the ecoenvironment. By clarifying the spatiotemporal relationship between ESV and ERI, this research provides theoretical basis and data support to the formulation of ecoenvironmental restoration and protection plans for the upper reaches of the Minjiang River and to the coordinated development between society, economy, and ecoenvironment in the region.

Spatial and Temporal Changes of Ecosystem Service Value in Airport Economic Zones in China

With the rapid development of the aviation industry, many negative effects on the local environment have been reported. This study examined the land use and land cover (LULC) and ecosystem service value (ESV) of airport economic zones (AEZs) in China and assessed the changes in LULC and ESV. The results indicate that LULC changed significantly from 1990 to 2015, characterized by the increase in construction land (increase rate, 68.53%) and water bodies (increase rate, 2.32%) and the decrease in cropland (decrease rate, 4.28%), forest (decrease rate, 0.73%), grassland (decrease rate, 4.64%) and unused land (decrease rate, 6.36%). The ESV of AEZs in 1990 and 2015 was RMB 3454 and 3483 million, respectively, with an overall ESV change of RMB 29 million. The ESV of AEZs is characterized by high value in the coastal area of China. From 1990 to 2015, AEZs with a high ESV were located in Inner Mongolia, while those with a high decrease in ESV were located in the southeastern coastal area. From 1990 to 2000, the AEZs with a high increase in ESV were located in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai and the AEZs with decreased ESV were mostly located in central and south China. However, from 2000 to 2010, AEZs with high and low increases in ESV were located in central China and the south coastal area of China, respectively. From 2010 to 2015, AEZs with a high decrease in ESV were located in southeast China.

Impacts of Urbanization on the Ecosystem Services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China

Unprecedented urbanization has occurred globally, which has converted substantial natural landscapes into impervious surfaces and further impacted ecosystem services and functioning. In this study, we quantified the spatiotemporal patterns of urbanization and investigated the impacts of urbanization on the ecosystem service value (ESV) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China from 1980 to 2018. The results show that the GBA has experienced extensive urbanization, with the urban area increasing from 2607.4 to 8243.5 km2 from 1980 to 2018. Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Shenzhen, and Foshan exhibited the top five highest urban expansion rates. Throughout the study period, edge expansion was the most dominant growth mode, with a decreasing trend, while infilling increased in the GBA. The total ESV loss induced by urban expansion in the GBA reached 40.5 billion yuan over the past four decades. The ESV loss due to the water body decrease caused by urbanization was the largest. Our study suggests that decision-makers should control new urban areas and protect water bodies, wetlands, and forests with high ESVs to promote the sustainable development of urban agglomerations.

Establishing Ecological Security Patterns Based on Reconstructed Ecosystem Services Value in Rapidly Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study in Zhuhai City, China

Rapid urbanization has caused a reduction in green lands, negatively affecting the functions of ecosystem services (ESs). The 11th goal and other goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have highlighted the importance of the balanced development of cities and the environment. ESs are essential for human well-being, so their application in sustainable development study is indispensable. The ecological security pattern (ESP) provides an integrated strategy for maintaining a balance between a sustainable supply of ESs and urbanization. However, establishing an ESP with the goal of satisfying human requirements for ESs in a rapidly urbanizing area has not been well studied. Thus, it is necessary to build an ESP based on ecosystem service value (ESV) reconstruction to manage urban ecosystems sustainably. Based on land use data and field data, this study approached the research gap by related analyses. The first analysis involved dynamic reconstruction of ESVs using the static ESV and importance indices of ESs from 1999–2013. The second analysis involved using hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi * statistics) to distinguish heterogeneous units of the dynamic ESV to identify ecological sources. The third analysis involved establishing the ESP in Zhuhai city, using the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. The results indicated that the ESV of Zhuhai city displayed an upward trend. The functions of water conservation and waste treatment contributed most to the total ESV, while grain production and raw material contributed least in the study area. In the restructuring of ESVs in 2005, 2009, and 2013, the per unit area of the ESV decreased slightly. The areas with high ESVs continued to shrink, while the areas with low ESVs gradually expanded. The ESP of Zhuhai city exhibits great connectivity and strong plasticity, which specifically provides a reliable and visual way to build sustainable cities from a quantitative perspective, generally consistent with the urban ecological planning of Zhuhai city. This study provides an important reference for the application of ESs to achieve SDGs in coastal, rapidly urbanizing regions.

Spatial autocorrelation analysis of land use and ecosystem service value in Maduo County, Qinghai Province, China at the grid scale

Research on the spatial quantitative evaluation of land use and ecosystem service value in the source region of the Yellow River is of great significance for ensuring the ecological security of the river basin. Taking Maduo County in the source region of the Yellow River as an example, based on a 3 km × 3 km grid unit, the spatial autocorrelation method was applied to construct an evaluation model of ecosystem service value. The spatial autocorrelation pattern characteristics of Maduo County in 2015 was quantitatively evaluated, and the spatial information of ecosystem service value was visually expressed. The results showed that, at the examined grid scale, the area of grasslands with different coverages was large, and water grid area accounted for 42.9% of the total grids and was mainly distributed in the northwest of Maduo County. The construction land showed a "line-like" distribution from northeast to southwest, while the unutilized land was more distributed in southwest and less in northeast. In space, different land use type grids interacted with each other, with positive correlation and cluster distribution. The values of global Moran I and local Moran I of water area was the largest, with strongest spatial aggregation and high local connectivity. The global Moran I and local Moran I values of the construction land were 0.293 and 0.127, respectively, with the weakest spatial autocorrelation and clustering characteristics in a small range. In 2015, ecosystem service value (ESV) of Maduo County was 93.887 billion yuan, the mean ESV across all the grids was 3.20×107 yuan, with a maximum of 19.96×107 yuan. The water distribution grid had high ESV. On the whole, the ESV distribution pattern in Maduo County had a significant spatial positive correlation, with clustered ESV grids. The ESV grids of different land use types generally showed high-high cluster and low-low cluster, with the spatial pattern of high-low cluster and low-high cluster being sporadic. We proposed several possible strategies of land space planning and use control. First, the water and unused land should adopt a "centralized continuum" protection mode that emphasize the value of ecological spillovers. Second, grasslands with different coverage levels should adopt a "group-type" eco-governance model of primary and secondary division and zoning management. Third, construction land should adopt a small-scale intensive development and utilization model in a "corridor " distribution pattern.

Spatial differences of ecosystem services and their driving factors: A comparation analysis among three urban agglomerations in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt

Understanding the spatial distribution characteristics of ecosystem service value (ESV) and their underlying driving factors is critical for ecosystem service management. Using three national-level urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Cheng-Yu (CY), Middle-Reach Yangtze River (MRYR), and Yangtze River Delta (YRD), as a case study, this paper quantifies the ESVs and the spatial distribution characteristics, analyzes the driving factors of ESVs using the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology model (STIRPAT). The results specify that: (1) Over the study period 2009–2016, the total ESV of the three urban agglomerations decreases by 5498.70 million USD. The regulating, supporting, and cultural service decrease by 4607.60, 2648.01, and 1182.25 million USD, respectively, while the provisioning service increases by 2795.15 million USD. (2) ESV in MRYR undergoes the largest reduction of 4269.70 million USD, followed by CY and YRD with 1015.66 and 213.35 million USD from 2009 to 2016. (3) In 2016, among the 70 cities at the prefecture level or above, the cities with high total ESV, per unit area ESV, and per capita EVS are mainly distributed to the areas of the south Yangtze River of MRYR and YRD, MRYR, and MRYR and YRD, respectively. (4) In general, land use and cover, population are the main factors affecting ESVs, followed by economic, social and political factors. Among the three urban agglomerations, population, land use and cover basically have the equally important impacts on ESV in CY; land use and cover, especially the proportion of urban construction land has the greatest impact on ESV in MRYR; population, especially the urbanization rate has the greatest impact in YRD. The comparative analysis of the driving factors of ESVs in different regions is helpful to propose differentiated ecological protection policies and promote the increase of ESV accordingly.