Implications For Ecosystem Services Research Articles

A global meta-analysis on the drivers of salt marsh planting success and implications for ecosystem services

Planting has been widely adopted to battle the loss of salt marshes and to establish living shorelines. However, the drivers of success in salt marsh planting and their ecological effects are poorly understood at the global scale. Here, we assemble a global database, encompassing 22,074 observations reported in 210 studies, to examine the drivers and impacts of salt marsh planting. We show that, on average, 53% of plantings survived globally, and plant survival and growth can be enhanced by careful design of sites, species selection, and novel planted technologies. Planting enhances shoreline protection, primary productivity, soil carbon storage, biodiversity conservation and fishery production (effect sizes = 0.61, 1.55, 0.21, 0.10 and 1.01, respectively), compared with degraded wetlands. However, the ecosystem services of planted marshes, except for shoreline protection, have not yet fully recovered compared with natural wetlands (effect size = −0.25, 95% CI −0.29, −0.22). Fortunately, the levels of most ecological functions related to climate change mitigation and biodiversity increase with plantation age when compared with natural wetlands, and achieve equivalence to natural wetlands after 5–25 years. Overall, our results suggest that salt marsh planting could be used as a strategy to enhance shoreline protection, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration.

Substantial urbanization-driven declines of larval and adult moths in a subtropical environment.

Recent work has shown the decline of insect abundance, diversity and biomass, with potential implications for ecosystem services. These declines are especially pronounced in regions with high human activity, and urbanization is emerging as a significant contributing factor. However, the scale of these declines and the traits that determine variation in species-specific responses remain less well understood, especially in subtropical and tropical regions, where insect diversity is high and urban footprints are rapidly expanding. Here, we surveyed moths across an entire year in protected forested sites across an urbanization gradient to test how caterpillar and adult life stages of subtropical moths (Lepidoptera) are impacted by urbanization. Specifically, we assess how urban development affects the total biomass of caterpillars, abundance of adult moths and quantify how richness and phylogenetic diversity of macro-moths are impacted by urban development. Additionally, we explore how life-history traits condition species' responses to urban development. At the community level, we find that urban development decreases caterpillar biomass and adult moth abundance. We also find sharp declines of adult macro-moths in response to urban development across the phylogeny, leading to a decrease in species richness and phylogenetic diversity in more urban sites. Finally, our study found that smaller macro-moths are less impacted by urban development than larger macro-moths in subtropical environments, perhaps highlighting the tradeoffs of metabolic costs of urban heat favoring smaller moths over the relative benefits of dispersal for larger moths. In summary, our research underscores the far-reaching consequences of urbanization on moths and provides compelling evidence that urban forests alone may not be sufficient to safeguard biodiversity in cities.

Unravelling blue landscape fragmentation effects on ecosystem services in urban agglomerations

The blue landscape (BL), which refers to the wetlands, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, is of immense importance for a sustainable environment. It provides a variety of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, water purification, soil fertility, and habitat for diverse flora and fauna. These services are crucial for sustaining the livelihoods of local communities and maintaining the health of the environment. In megacities like Kolkata, India, the BL is often subjected to fragmentation and degradation due to rapid urbanisation, industrialization, and other human activities. This has serious implications for ecosystem services and the overall health of the environment. This study is intended to value ecosystem service losses over the last 25 years and assess the influence of blue landscape fragmentation on ecosystem services in Kolkata, India. To accomplish this goal, satellite data was collected from 1994 to 2019 for both pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The results of the study showed that significant losses in ecosystem services were observed over this time period, primarily due to the decline of the East Kolkata Wetland and its conversion for settlement and agricultural purposes. Despite the existence of some policies aimed at protecting the wetland, more robust restrictions and remedial strategies are required to conserve and restore the blue landscape in Kolkata. This work adds to the corpus of research on the value of blue landscapes (BLs) and the environmental services they provide. The findings of this study highlight the need for increased attention to the conservation and management of BLs in India and provide a valuable foundation for future research and policy development. Furthermore, this research introduces the innovative concept of urban BLs as a nature-based framework for understanding urban landscape fragmentation, a novel contribution that fills a gap in the existing literature on this topic.

Landscape features, garden management, and microhabitats influence prey removal and predator composition in urban agroecosystems

Agroecosystem management at microhabitat, habitat, and landscape scales shapes natural enemy communities, with critical implications for ecosystem services. Yet few studies examine the impacts of small to large scale habitat management features on predator communities, abundance of predator species, or removal of prey items from urban agroecosystems. In this study, we used observations and a sentinel prey removal experiment to examine the impact of substrate (prey placed on the ground vs. on kale plants), microhabitat (prey placed under vegetation, on bare soil in open areas, or on mulch in open areas), local garden management features, and landscape features on predator species composition and removal of two prey species in urban gardens in the California central coast. We found that both microhabitat characteristics and substrate type shaped prey removal rates within urban gardens, and microhabitat, but not substrate, impacted predator species composition. In addition, both garden management (floral abundance, herbaceous plant richness, and tree and shrub abundance) and landscape features (urban land cover within 2 km) influenced prey removal and predator composition. Nearly all prey removal of eggs was accomplished by ants; larvae predators were more diverse and included ants, birds, lizards, wasps, and spiders. Although predator composition was mediated by many habitat features, prey removal was greater under vegetation, from the ground, when floral abundance in gardens was high, and in gardens with fewer trees and shrubs. Considering how these different management features affect predator foraging behavior and interactions will be a promising next step in this field.

Land Cover Implications on Ecosystem Service Delivery: a Multi-Scenario Study of Trade-offs and Synergies in River Basins.

Land cover change scenarios hold far-reaching implications for ecosystem services (ES), highlighting the need for understanding the trade-offs and synergies underlying the provision of multiple ES. The insufficient knowledge of the mechanisms governing the relationships among multiple ES, along with the lack of information on trade-offs among ES under different scenarios, restricts the ability to provide effective information for decision-makers. To fill this gap, we assessed the interplay among six ES: climate regulation, habitat creating and maintaining species diversity, cultivated crops, regulation of the chemical condition of freshwaters by living processes (water quality), water yield, and control of erosion rates, within three river basins in northwest Portugal. We employed the InVEST to map the state of these ES in 2018, along with three projected land cover scenarios for 2050: business-as-usual, farmland return, and afforestation. Our findings indicated the business-as-usual scenario could lead to detrimental impacts on climate regulation, habitat creating and maintaining species diversity, and control of erosion rates. In contrast, the farmland return scenario showed less drastic decreases in habitat-creating and maintaining species diversity and control of erosion rates compared to the business-as-usual scenario. Afforestation emerged as the most favorable scenario, with a 13.6% increase in climate regulation and a 1.3% improvement in habitat-creating and maintaining species diversity. Cluster analysis allowed the identification of six levels of spatial synergies between ES, with regions of high forest cover showing extreme synergy and populated areas exhibiting the lowest levels of synergy, suggesting that a well-planned combination of these practices could yield substantial benefits for future ES provision. These results provide crucial insights for decision-makers to enhance ecosystem management and promote societal well-being. Importantly, our findings underscore the significance of considering multiple ES and their interrelationships in land use planning to achieve sustainable development objectives.

Silvopastoral systems benefit invertebrate biodiversity on tropical livestock farms in Caquetá, Colombia.

In the Colombian Amazon, there has been long-term and sustained loss of primary forest threatening biodiversity and climate change mitigation. Silvopastoral practices that integrate trees into livestock production could help address both local economic and wider environmental challenges.We aimed to assess the effects of silvopastoral practices on invertebrate communities on smallholder farms in Caquetá, Colombia. Using sweep nets and malaise trapping, invertebrate communities were compared between traditional pasture, silvopasture and forest edge habitats.Invertebrate communities collected using sweep nets were contrasting among habitat types, communities were significantly different between traditional pasture and forest edge habitats and diversity and evenness were greatest in forest edges compared to traditional pastures. It appears that silvopasture areas, by supporting similar invertebrate assemblages to both traditional pasture and forest edges, may be acting as an intermediate habitat.When individual invertebrate orders were compared, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera were found in greater abundance in the forest edge habitats, while Hemiptera were more abundant in traditional pasture. Hemipterans are often pests of forage plants in pasture systems and these differences in abundance may have implications for ecosystem services and disservices.Silvopastoral approaches cannot replace the unique biodiversity supported by native forests but could deliver benefits for invertebrate conservation and ecosystem services if integrated into landscapes.

Implications of ecosystem services and ecological network coupling for ecological planning in karst regions of China

Since the beginning of the 21st century, recognizing the need for sustainable development and the protection of ecosystems, the United Nations and international agencies have been actively promoting the protection of the natural environment. The construction of ecological networks (EN), as one of these efforts, emphasizes the connectivity between natural patches and their ability to support ecosystem services (ES). Currently, constructing ecological networks using ecosystem services as a comprehensive evaluation criterion has become one of the important ways to maintain sustainable ecosystems. Karst regions have received much attention due to their fragile ecosystems, and this paper reviews articles from around the world that have studied ecosystem services and ecological networks in these regions. It found that this research is gradually maturing, although the number of published articles on research related to ecological networks is relatively small, with the largest number of papers taking the Chinese Karst region as a study area. Indicator factors for the construction of ecological networks in this region are usually based on ecosystem services, but they are usually not considered comprehensive enough, e.g., the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services are rarely considered. At the same time, the construction of ecological networks requires dynamic monitoring and optimization on a larger scale in order to provide assistance for longer-term environmental protection.

Life satisfaction in coastal Kenya and Mozambique reflects culture, gendered relationships and security of basic needs: Implications for ecosystem services

Life satisfaction is both a desirable ‘end’ for sustainable development, and a means to understand the priorities, and behaviour of people towards local ecosystems. Ecosystem-services research on life satisfaction has focused on cultural services in wealthy, Western contexts, although ecosystem services are essential for poor people’s livelihoods in the Global South. We examined reported life satisfaction from a survey of over 2000 people in rural and urban settings of coastal Kenya and Mozambique. We coded respondents’ open-ended reasons for their reported satisfaction, and used multiple correspondence analysis to explore the characteristics of people who mentioned different reasons. We tested associations between satisfaction and the meeting of basic needs and income, with binary logistic regression, accounting for site and gender.Life satisfaction was lower in Kenya, for men, and in the most urbanised site. Respondents explained high, and low, satisfaction in terms of social relationships, basic needs, money and employment. They rarely mentioned the ecosystem services and related livelihoods that underpin those, suggesting an instrumental relation to nature. Meeting basic needs, including economic security better predicted satisfaction than household income. Life satisfaction reflected material differences in people’s lives but also different evaluative criteria and national cultures. For example, family reasons more commonly explained women’s satisfaction, while money was more important for urban-dwelling men. We propose that the holistic perspective offered by life-satisfaction research can inform environmental management alongside more focused ecosystem-service research. For example, our results suggest that a) interventions should recognise immediate needs and social relationships, b) the role of ecosystem services for subjective wellbeing varies by local culture and individual identities and c) secure and fair access to ecosystem services may support life satisfaction better than high incomes that are insecure or inequitably distributed.

Comparing Insect Predation by Birds and Insects in an Apple Orchard and Neighboring Unmanaged Habitat: Implications for Ecosystem Services.

Preserving ecosystem services, such as natural enemies that can provide pest control, can positively impact crops without compromising agricultural yield. Even though controlling pests by natural enemies has been suggested to reduce pests in agriculture, growers continue using conventional pesticides that kill beneficial predators. Here we studied whether the predation of avian and insect-beneficial predators varies in an apple orchard with conventional insecticide use compared to a bordering tree stand without insecticides. We studied the predation rates of mealworm pupae as a proxy to coddling moth pupae at 42 stations in both an apple orchard and a Eucalyptus stand at three distances (0 m, 50 m, and 100 m) from the border. Half of the stations were netted to prevent bird predation but were accessible to insects. The other half were non-netted and accessible to birds. We conducted six trials, each lasting two weeks, during which we recorded the predation of 504 stations with 5040 pupae. To validate which species predated the pupae, we added video cameras that took RGB videos during the day and IR videos at night in 45 stations and found that in net-free stations, birds preyed in 94.1% of stations in the orchard and 81.8% in the Eucalyptus stand. However, ants predated 70% of the pupae in stations with nets in the orchards and 100% in stations in the Eucalyptus strands. In addition, we found a significant rise in predation by birds as the distance into the orchard increased. Conversely, insect predation declined within the orchard but escalated in the adjacent unmanaged area. These findings suggest that the orchard's environment negatively affects beneficial insect activity, specifically predatory ants. This study demonstrates that birds can play an essential role in predating insect pests inside the orchard. In addition, we believe that the decreased predation of ants within the orchard was due to intense insecticide use.

Impacts of polyethylene microplastics on the microalga, Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis)

Microalgae play a critical role in the food web and biogeochemical cycling and produce compounds that are commercially exploited. However, their reactions and responses to microplastic contamination are not well understood. In this study, the widely distributed and commercially important cyanobacterium, Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), was exposed to different concentrations (1–100 mg L−1) of low-density polyethylene microplastics (<5 μm) over a 20-d period. Various end-points were combined with different microscopic techniques in order to examine physiological and biochemical effects and interactions between the plastic and microalga. Growth rate and photosynthetic activity decreased with increasing microplastic concentration, and a maximum inhibition ratio of about 9% was calculated from optical density measurements. Plastic concentrations above 10 mg L−1 resulted in oxidative stress and the intracellular production of proline. Fragmentation and swelling of trichomes and attachment of microplastics was observed in the exposures, and microplastics appeared to adhere or aggregate around fragmented or fragmenting regions. The latter effect may indicate trichome weakening by microplastics or their concentration around cytosolic debris; nevertheless, it provides a potential mechanism for internalisation of small particles. Although unrealistically high concentrations of well-defined microplastics have been employed, relatively small disruptions at the population level incurred by lower concentrations could have more serious implications for ecosystem services and functioning.

Behavioral toxicity, histopathological alterations and oxidative stress in Tubifex tubifex exposed to aromatic carboxylic acids- acetic acid and benzoic acid: A comparative time-dependent toxicity assessment

This study evaluated Acetic acid (AA) and Benzoic acid's (BA) acute and sublethal toxicity by observing mortality, behavioral responses, and changes in the levels of oxidative stress enzymes in Tubifex tubifex. Exposure-induced changes in antioxidant activity (Catalase, Superoxide dismutase), oxidative stress (Malondialdehyde concentrations), and histopathological alterations in the tubificid worms were also noted across exposure intervals. The 96 h LC50 values of AA and BA to T. tubifex were 74.99 and 37.15 mg/l, respectively. Severity in behavioral alterations (including increased mucus production, wrinkling, and reduction in clumping) and autotomy showed concentration-dependent trends for both toxicants. Although histopathological effects also showed marked degeneration in the alimentary and integumentary systems in highest exposure groups (worms exposed to 14.99 mg/l for AA and 7.42 mg/l for BA) for both toxicants. Antioxidant enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) also showed a marked increase of up to 8-fold and 10-fold for the highest exposure group of AA and BA respectively. While species sensitivity distribution analysis revealed T. tubifex as most sensitive to AA and BA compared to other freshwater vertebrates and invertebrates, General Unified Threshold model of Survival (GUTS) predicted individual tolerance effects (GUTS-IT), with slower potential for toxicodynamic recovery, as a more likely pathway for population mortality. Study findings demonstrate BA with greater potential for ecological effects compared to AA within 24 h of exposure. Furthermore, ecological risks to critical detritus feeders like T. tubifex may have severe implications for ecosystem services and nutrient availability within freshwater habitats.

Land Planning, Agro-forest Systems, and Implications for Ecosystem Services: Insights from Northern Italy

Negative environmental changes generally addressed as ‘syndromes’ areevaluated in the context of Soil Degradation (SD) and interpreted by usinga ‘Land-Use/Land Cover Changes’ (LULCCs) framework in order to dis-entangle ‘past trajectories’, ‘present patterns’, and ‘future changes’. Thisapproach allows to discuss the potential impact on SD processes and itrepresents an informed basis for identifying measurable outcomes of SD.This study focuses on the case of Emilia Romagna, a region located inthe North of Italy with high-value added agricultural productions. A multi-temporal analysis of land-use changes between 1954 and 2008 has been proposed, discussing the evolution of associated SD syndromes in EmiliaRomagna. The contributing information have been used as a baseline forSustainable Land Management (SLM) strategies. This framework of analysisprovides useful tools to investigate and to monitor the effects of SD in theMediterranean basin where several regions underwent common developmentpatterns yelding global pathological symptoms of environmental degradation.

From sodium-vapour to LEDs: how an outdoor lighting retrofit affects insects in Singapore

Abstract In the Anthropocene, the planet is warming and global biodiversity, including of insects, is being lost at an unprecedented rate. One largely urban sustainability solution, shifting to energy-efficient, light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs on outdoor lighting, has impacts on insects that are inadequately understood, especially in the tropics and brightly lit cities. Working in Singapore—a highly urbanised and light-polluted tropical city-state—we performed a field experiment to test the hypothesis that newly retrofitted LED lights are more attractive (i.e., detrimental) to insects compared to the high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps they replace. Instead, our sticky traps, which we mounted on both light types, caught statistically equal numbers of arthropods (individuals and families). Traps on LED lamps also attracted proportionally fewer dipterans and more hemipterans and hymenopterans, but these effects were site-specific. Overall, we found no support for our hypothesis—our findings may reflect differential emissions of ultraviolet wavelengths by both light types and/or the possibility that urban insect assemblages with historic exposure to light pollution may not respond as expected to the retrofit. We caution against extrapolating findings from impact studies to untested contexts and highlight the need for (1) more studies in the rapidly urbanising tropics and (2) field tests of the effectiveness of measures to limit any negative ecological impacts of LED lighting, including other lethal and sublethal effects that we did not assess. We also discuss possible implications for ecosystem services and insect conservation.

Phenology of grassland plants responds to urbanization

Understanding phenological responses of plants to changing temperatures is important because of multiple associated ecological consequences. Cities with their urban heat island can be used as laboratories to study phenological adaptation to climate change. However, previous phenology studies focused on trees and did not disentangle the role of micro-climate and urban structures.We studied reproductive phenology of dry grassland species in response to micro-climate and urbanization in Berlin, Germany. Phenological stages were recorded weekly at the individual plant level for five native grassland species across 30 dry grassland sites along an urbanization and temperature gradient. We estimated 50% onset probabilities for flowering and seed maturation of populations, and analysed variation in onset dates using regression models.Early flowering species significantly advanced flowering phenology with increasing mean air temperature but were little influenced by urbanization. By contrast, late-flowering species showed significant phenological responses to both air temperature and urbanization, possibly because micro-climate was most affected by urbanization in late summer. Surprisingly, not all grassland species showed an advanced phenology with increasing intensity of urbanization.This contradicts observed patterns for urban trees, indicating that phenological shifts in urban areas cannot be generalized from the observation of one growth form or taxonomic group. Growth form appears as a possible determinant of phenological responses. Results suggest that the phenology of dry grassland species may directly respond to the urban heat island, albeit with variable direction and magnitude. This has implications for ecosystem services, shifted allergy seasons, changes of biogeochemical cycles and potential ecological mismatches.

Rocky Mountain forests are poised to recover following bark beetle outbreaks but with altered composition

AbstractAmplified by warming temperatures and drought, recent outbreaks of native bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) have caused extensive tree mortality throughout Europe and North America. Despite their ubiquitous nature and important effects on ecosystems, forest recovery following such disturbances is poorly understood, particularly across regions with varying abiotic conditions and outbreak effects.To better understand post‐outbreak recovery across a topographically complex region, we synthesized data from 16 field studies spanning subalpine forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA. From 1997 to 2019, these forests were heavily affected by outbreaks of three native bark beetle species (Dendroctonus ponderosae,Dendroctonus rufipennisandDryocoetes confusus). We compared pre‐ and post‐outbreak forest conditions and developed region‐wide predictive maps of post‐outbreak (1) live basal areas, (2) juvenile densities and (3) height growth rates for the most abundant tree species – aspen (Populus tremuloides), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa).Beetle‐caused tree mortality reduced the average diameter of live trees by 28.4% (5.6 cm), and species dominance was altered on 27.8% of field plots with shifts away from pine and spruce. However, most plots (82.1%) were likely to recover towards pre‐outbreak tree densities without additional regeneration. Region‐wide maps indicated that fir and aspen, non‐host species for bark beetle species with the most severe effects (i.e.Dendroctonusspp.), will benefit from outbreaks through increased compositional dominance. After accounting for individual size, height growth for all conifer species was more rapid in sites with low winter precipitation, high winter temperatures and severe outbreaks.Synthesis. In subalpine forests of the US Rocky Mountains, recent bark beetle outbreaks have reduced tree size and altered species composition. While eventual recovery of the pre‐outbreakforest structureis likely in most places, changes inspecies compositionmay persist for decades. Still, forest communities following bark beetle outbreaks are widely variable due to differences in pre‐outbreak conditions, outbreak severity and abiotic gradients. This regional variability has critical implications for ecosystem services and susceptibility to future disturbances.

Climate induced phenological shifts in pears – A crop of economic importance in the UK

Phenological advancements in flowering have been well documented in many food crop, ornamental, and native plant species. However, there is lack of information on how flowering times in crop species, especially fruit trees will react to future climate scenarios. This is important as changes in phenology could have significant implications for ecosystem services and function, biological interactions and agronomic outputs. Using 60 years of data from pear (Pyrus communis L.) orchards in two research organisations in Kent, UK we explored temporal changes in flowering phenology, identified the weather variables driving this change, and predicted how flowering times may be altered by 2080 with respect to future emissions scenarios. We show pear flowering (1990–2020) in the last 30 years has advanced 11.44 days compared to historical data (1960–1989). Furthermore, we highlight this advancement is apparent in all twelve pear cultivars and the four phenological stages analysed, including Conference, the most common UK pear cultivar. Our results indicate that this advancement in flowering began after 1982; that air temperature and frost days significantly impact pear flowering; and this change in flowering phenology is likely to continue under future climate scenarios. Four Representative Concentration Pathways from the UK Climate Projections 2018 report were used to model the impact of future climate, including low, medium, medium-high and high emission scenarios. Under all scenarios a phenological advancement in flowering time was predicted by 2080 with the greatest advancement in flowering time observed under the high emission scenario. Earlier flowering and budburst could result in phenological mismatches between plant and pollinators, alter agricultural spraying regimes, increase risk of frost exposure and exacerbate impacts of pest populations within an agroecosystem, thus it is vital to monitor advancements in flowering phenology.

Sediment Infill of Tropical Floodplain Lakes: Rates, Controls, and Implications for Ecosystem Services

Shallow lakes in tropical floodplains provide significant ecosystem services that can be altered by natural and anthropogenic forces. Despite their importance, little is known about the infill patterns and timescales and the magnitude of these changes in tropical floodplain lakes. Here, we present a global meta-analysis of sediment core-derived accumulation rate data for shallow floodplain lakes in tropical lowlands to quantify the timescales of basin infill. Environmental variables (e.g., sediment accumulation rates, bathymetry, surface area) were compiled from the literature or derived from remote sensing imagery, resulting in a database (n = 76 lakes) that includes various lake morphologies. Our results show an exponential increase in sediment accumulation rates in many of these lakes over the past 50 years, which we interpret as a response to growing human populations and deforestation, particularly in topographically steep watersheds with pronounced seasonal rainfall. Over centennial periods, tropical floodplain lakes accumulate sediment faster than many other extratropical lakes. The dataset suggests that complete infill of some tropical floodplain lakes will occur in as little as a few centuries. Our findings also reveal the critical environmental and human factors that influence sediment accumulation patterns and affect ecosystem services in shallow tropical floodplain lakes. These findings have important implications for water and sediment management in low latitude watersheds, many of which are located in densely populated and/or developing nations.

Investigating the spatiotemporal changes of land use/land cover and its implications for ecosystem services between 1972 and 2015 in Yuvacık.

This study aims to determine the spatiotemporal changes of land use/land cover and ecosystem services in a 12,092.1ha of Yuvacık planning unit (PU), by focusing on carbon storage, soil loss, water production, biodiversity, and forest fire vulnerability. Stand type maps and forest management plans designed in 1972, 2004, and 2015 were used to reveal the changes over 43years. The results pointed out obvious changes in terms of the occurrence of private and cadastral forests as new types of land use, disappearance of coppice and pure oak stands, and the transformation of 99% of open lands into residential areas. Furthermore, degraded forests decreased considerably and mixed forests rose sharply by 117.2%. The outputs were highly related to the increase by 42% (5194.9ha) of dense forest and shifting of 2548ha from thinner development stage to mature stages during the period. With respect to ecosystem services, carbon storage in forest ecosystems went up by 19.3 Gg over 43years. Moreover, soil loss declined significantly from 1.1 billion tons year-1 to 108,549 tons year-1, and water production decreased considerably from 1.8 billion to 2.7 million m3 year-1. According to the Shannon evenness index, there was an increase by 0.3 and 0.2 successively. Biodiversity parameters such as tree density jumped from 18 to 46ha-1 in thicker development classes (more than 36cm dbh) and positive developments in biodiversity chain noticed. Afterward, Yuvacık PU was classed in 2nd class of high wildfire vulnerability due to range of fire sensitivity index (5.22-6.88).

The dynamics of vegetation and implications for ecosystem services in the context of urbanisation: An example from Huangyan-Taizhou, China

Urban sprawl and associated land use changes have been referred as primary drivers of environmental change. Yet it is unclear in detail how land use changes impact vegetative structures or ecosystem services and what the specific drivers of change are, especially in urban-rural interfaces in medium-sized Chinese cities. Our future contribution is intended to highlight the importance of urban-rural interfaces for sustainable land use and the development of ecosystem services. To this end, we mapped the dynamics of land cover and the condition of vegetation as well as ecosystem services based on remote sensing data for the period of 1992–2020, to quantify these changes in Huangyan district, Taizhou, China. The results show a dramatic increase in urban area over the 28-year timeframe, i.e. 265% growth in Huangyan district. This rise was particularly evident in the period of 2015–2020. The huge expansion in urban area came at the cost of arable land. To compensate the resulting loss of farmland, large-scale natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and wetlands were continuously transformed into arable (as well as urbanized) land. Despite the dramatic reduction in green space as a result of urbanisation, we found a slight increase in the overall mean NDVI value for Huangyan, mainly due to the improved condition and density of remaining forest area in the western countryside. Further, we evaluated the provision of ecosystem services (ESS) by adapting an existing assessment methodology elaborated by Burkhard et al. (2012). The results show that ESS supply continually fell in Huangyan since 1992, reflecting a reduction of green space. The highest ecosystem capacity is seen in recreation and biodiversity due to the large proportion of forested area. Our findings serve as an important basis for further investigations in the region of Huangyan by framing the general issue of green space dynamics and highlighting specific developments of ecosystem distribution and change as well as ESS supply.

Vegetation-type conversion of evergreen chaparral shrublands to savannahs dominated by exotic annual herbs: causes and consequences for ecosystem function.

Woody, evergreen shrublands are the archetypal community in mediterranean-type ecosystems, and these communities are profoundly changed when they undergo vegetation-type conversion (VTC) to become annual, herb-dominated communities. Recently, VTC has occurred throughout southern California chaparral shrublands, likely with changes in important ecosystem functions. The mechanisms that lead to VTC and subsequent changes to ecosystem processes are important to understand as they have regional and global implications for ecosystem services, climate change, land management, and policy. The main drivers of VTC are altered fire regimes, aridity, and anthropogenic disturbance. Some changes to ecosystem function are certain to occur with VTC, but their magnitudes are unclear, whereas other changes are unpredictable. I present two hypotheses: (1) VTC leads to warming that creates a positive feedback promoting additional VTC, and (2) altered nitrogen dynamics create negative feedbacks and promote an alternative stable state in which communities are dominated by herbs. The patterns described for California are mostly relevant to the other mediterranean-type shrublands of the globe, which are biodiversity hotspots and threatened by VTC. This review examines the extent and causes of VTC, ecosystem effects, and future research priorities.