Integrated Valuation Of Environmental Services And Tradeoffs Research Articles

Response of habitat quality to land use changes in The Johor River Estuary

ABSTRACT Rich resources and fragile ecosystems of estuaries are increasingly impacted by land use and land cover (LULC). However, previous studies of habitat quality (HQ) typically do not model the impact of LULC in Southeast Asian estuaries. Here, we used the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model and the Patch-generating Land-Use Simulation (PLUS) model to assess and predict HQ and habitat degradation in the Johor River Estuary (JRE) from 1989 to 2047. Habitat quality contribution rate (HQCR) was used to quantify the impact of land-use changes on HQ. We analyzed the correlation and spatio-temporal changes in LULC and HQ, respectively. Our forecasts show (1) Construction land expanding more than 10 times from 1989 to 2047. (2) HQ increases slightly followed by a continuous decrease in the habitat quality index (HQI). (3) Degradation of HQI was from forests, agricultural land, residential land expansion and land reclamation. (4) Population growth, economic development, and national development policies may pose significant future threats to water, land, and marine traffic in the Johor River. Our results show that land-use changes affect HQ and future development of the JRE should integrate the impacts of natural and human factors on LULC changes.

Effects of Restoration and Conservation of Riparian Vegetation on Sediment Retention in the Catchment Area of Corumbá IV Hydroelectric Power Plant, Brazil

Vegetation cover and land use are important factors related to the capacity of ecosystems to provide soil loss regulation and sediment retention services, which are highly relevant for sediment management in watersheds draining into reservoirs with multiple water uses. One way to ensure the protection and recovery of vegetation by landowners in Brazil is the implementation of the federal Native Vegetation Protection Law (NVPL), which designates environmentally sensitive areas as Areas of Permanent Preservation (APPs), aiming to conserve water resources and prevent soil erosion. The benefits of riparian vegetation in the catchment of Corumbá IV Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), located in the Brazilian Cerrado, were analyzed considering landscape reconfigurations from a baseline condition (year 2011) in order to account for the recovery of riparian vegetation by the agricultural sector, as foreseen in the NVPL. The Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) model from the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) package was used to map and quantify variations in sediment export and sediment retention throughout the catchment. The reduction in annual sediment export in the drainage basin of the Corumbá IV reservoir reached −27% in the scenario where the total deficit of riparian APPs occupied by pasture or agriculture in the baseline map (41.000 ha) are recovered. While 14% of riparian APP are occupied by crops versus 86% occupied by pasture in the drainage basin of the Corumbá IV HPP, the recovery of riparian zones occupied by agricultural activities resulted in the greatest benefits in sediment retention for the reservoir. The methodology employed in this study can support the prioritization of sectoral efforts for the restoration and conservation of native vegetation, considering the highest returns in benefits perceived by water users affected by sediment input in reservoirs. The study’s results reinforce the importance of conserving vegetation in riparian areas and their surroundings for sediment retention, highlighting the role of these areas as assets in providing water-related ecosystem services. For future developments, it is suggested to assess the interconnections among the energy, water, and food sectors to better understand the barriers and challenges to the maintenance and improvement of water-related ecosystem services in the catchment area of Corumbá IV HPP.

Maintaining key ecosystem services under multiple development scenarios: A case study in Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao greater bay Area, China

Effective land use management can better maintain ecosystem services, especially in urban agglomerations. However, rational urban scale systems and landscape patterns to maintain key ecosystem services (ESs) in highly urbanized areas remain poorly understood. Taking the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a study area, we quantified the spatio-temporal change of key ESs from 2000 to 2020 by the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, and simulated land use change prior considering ES conservation priority areas under different multiple development scenarios in 2050 by adopting the future land use simulation (FLUS) model. The main findings were as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, natural habitat, water retention and carbon sequestration decreased by 5.5%, 7.9%, and 3.9%, respectively, while the soil conservation increased by 63.7%. (2) The proportion of different conservation priority areas ranged from 10.6% to 22.6%, which were mainly located in the mountainous region. (3) The urban land area would increase from 4286.00 km2 to 4802.25 km2 between 2020 and 2050 in the GBA, with a growth rate of 12.05%. Under the simulation scenarios, the new urban land was mainly distributed in megacities and supercities. (4) Under the integrative conservation scenario, the habitat quality index, water conservation, soil conservation and carbon sequestration would increase by 0.036, 7 × 104 t, 5.11 × 106 t and 0.93 × 106 t, respectively. To maintain the key ESs, we recommend optimizing the urban scale system, making it compact at the city scale and scattered at the regional scale, and strictly restricting the conversion of forestland and farmland adjacent to megacities into urban land. These findings were beneficial to achieve regional high-quality development and sustainable development via rational urban system and landscape management.

Lake and Stream Buffer Zone Widths' Effects on Nutrient Export to Lake Rawapening, Central Java, Indonesia: A Simple Simulation Study

Lake ecosystems in Indonesia face serious environmental problems. One of those problems is eutrophication caused by excessive plant nutrients, particularly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Water quality degradation and biodiversity loss are the effects of eutrophication. The government of Indonesia (GoI) has issued a regulation on determining lake and stream buffer zones, but it has not been fully implemented in the field. Additionally, the data related to the effects of each buffer zone width is not available. This study aims to begin to fill this gap. It simulates the effect of lake and stream buffer zone widths on nutrient export to Rawapening Lake. The Nutrient Retention sub-model, which is part of InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) software, has been used for this research to analyse information from several data sources, including a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and measurements of soil depth, annual rainfall, land cover/use, watershed/sub-watershed boundaries, and biophysical conditions. Several studies of eutrophication in Rawapening Lake have measured the magnitude of eutrophication but have not discussed the effects of buffer zone widths. Therefore, this study accommodates the updated data on how much effect of buffer zone widths on the reduction of nutrient export. Five scenarios of buffer zone width are considered: 30 m., 90 m., and 150 m, where the lake buffer zone widths and the stream buffer zone width are 30 m. The results indicated that the maximum nutrient export reduction of lake buffer zones was only 2.63% (for N) and 3.56% (for P). On the other hand, the 30 m stream buffer zone width reduced the nutrient export to Rawapening Lake by up to 43.05% for N and by 44.90% for P. A 30 m combined lake and stream buffer zone width slightly increases the nutrient export reduction effectiveness, i.e., 0.41% and 0.56% for N and P, respectively.

Economic Valuation of Auctioned Tourist Hunting Blocks in Tanzania

Economic valuation of ecosystems is increasingly being recognized as an important exercise to inform sustainable utilization and conservation of natural assets. It helps in planning and establishing fair profit margins that accrue either directly or indirectly from the consumptive and non-consumptive uses of ecosystem goods and services. This paper is based on a study which estimated the economic values of tourist hunting blocks (HBs) in Tanzania using the Analytic Multicriteria Valuation Method (AMUVAM). The study used a sample size of 12 out of 24 vacant hunting blocks which were to be auctioned to potential hunting companies in December 2022. The economic values of HBs were estimated using the time horizon of 10 years (the mean tenure for winning company). The results show that the economic values ranged from USD 6,215,588 to USD 653,470,695 per hunting block and the Existence Value (EV) constituted about 19% of the Total Economic Value (TEV). EV ranged from USD 632,210 to USD 125,147,285. The study underscores the need for decisions to allocate ecosystems, such as HBs, to both direct and indirect uses, to be guided by a though understanding of their values. We further recommend building the capacity of staff charged with the role of managing and allocating uses of these ecosystems to enable them undertake economic valuation of ecosystems using both simple and more robust analytical tools, such as the GIS, relational databases, and worldwide websites based tools, like InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs), ARIES (Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services), and Co$ting Nature.

The protective role of mangroves in safeguarding coastal populations through hazard risk reduction: A case study in northeast Brazil

Coastal and estuarine ecosystems such as mangroves provide coastal protection services, safeguarding coastal communities and economies. However, sea-level rise can affect mangroves' protective role by increasing exposure to coastal hazards and economic costs. To better understand the role of mangroves as coastal protective barriers against hazards and their importance for conservation planning in the face of sea-level rise, we first analyzed temporal changes in the coastal landscape by measuring the erosion/accretion rates on the shoreline. We assessed coastal exposure to hazards with the presence and absence of mangroves. Finally, we estimated the economic losses and costs from the long-term retreat in the shoreline and mangrove loss. This study was carried out along the western coast of the South Atlantic, in the northeast Brazilian region. Coastal exposure indices were estimated using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) software, and the multitemporal analysis of shoreline was developed using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) software. Finally, the economic losses produced by those shoreline changes and social costs were estimated by predicting economic losses in terms of private property and by calculating societal costs in mangrove restoration and rockfill building. The results show that nearly a third of the shoreline is experiencing erosion and the coast could lose an additional 118 ha by 2030. In terms of the value of property loss, this translates to US$38,800 and would increase to US$72,000 under the maximum erosion rate scenario. Based on our coastal vulnerability assessment, almost 50 km of the coastline (20%) would transition to intermediate-high exposure levels if the current distribution of mangroves were to be lost. It is expected to cost about US$145 million in rockfill works and US$21 million in forest restoration to mitigate the impacts from human activities and sea-level rise on mangroves ecosystem services. At the national level, a total loss of mangroves in Brazil could mean mangrove forest restoration costs of nearly US$4000 million. More robust conservation policies are needed to conserve mangrove forests and safeguard the ecosystem-service co-benefits they provide. The latter is essential in low- and middle-income nations where the economic and welfare losses from coastal hazards are more challenging due to dependence on nature for livelihoods and well-being.

Multi-Scenario Simulation of Land Use and Habitat Quality in the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration, China.

Regional habitat quality is a proxy of biodiversity. Simulating changes in land use and habitat quality in urban agglomerations is the scientific basis for promoting the optimal allocation of land resources and building ecological civilizations in urban agglomerations. Therefore, we established a research framework mainly consisting of the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model with the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model to predict the spatial and temporal distribution of habitat quality. In addition, we set three scenarios which were a natural development scenario, a cultivated land protection scenario, and an ecological protection scenario to analyze the changes of habitat quality in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration in 2035. The results showed that: (1) the FLUS model had an excellent effect on the simulation of land-use change in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, with an overall accuracy of 0.952 and a kappa coefficient of 0.924. (2) From 2000 to 2035, the cultivated land area of the study area, which was mainly transferred into construction land and grassland, shrank due to the process of urbanization. (3) The habitat quality score of this region gradually decreased from 2000 to 2020, and it continued to decrease to 0.6921 in 2035 under the natural development scenario, while it increased under the other two scenarios. The low-value areas of habitat quality were mainly located in the middle of this region with Xi’an as the core, whereas the high-value areas were mainly distributed in the southern Qinling Mountains and the northern Loess Plateau. (4) Of the different scenarios, the ecological protection scenario had the highest habitat quality, while the natural development scenario had the lowest. Besides this, we also found that the cultivated protection scenario had high habitat quality, which was mainly because the rate of occupation of ecological land was controlled. The results are expected to provide a scientific basis for optimizing the spatial allocation of land resources and promoting the sustainable use of land space in other ecologically fragile urban agglomerations.

Annual Water Yield Analysis with InVEST Model in Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau Province

One of the problems in Tesso Nilo National Park is deforestation through the opening of oil palm plantations. This can affect the ecosystem services of Tesso Nilo National Park, one of which is as a producer of water. Water yield is a key component of the attributes and processes that produce water-related ecosystem services. The importance of Tesso Nilo National Park ecosystem services as water producers needs to be assessed quantitatively and visualized to explain changes in land cover to changes in these services. The purpose of this study was to analyze the annual water yield in Tesso Nilo National Park. The model used is the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) water yield model. InVEST is a spatially explicit tool for exploring how changes in ecosystems tend to lead to changes in benefits flowing to people. The annual water yield in Tesso Nilo National Park in 2018 was 5731528155.86 m3 or 2729.52 mm. Water yield is strongly influenced by actual evapotranspiration (AET), mean annual rainfall (MAP), and land cover (LC). The land cover that produced the lowest to the highest water yield was mixed acacia, forest, oil palm plantations, bare land and shrubs.

Importance of Protection Service Against Erosion and Storm Events Provided by Coastal Ecosystems Under Climate Change Scenarios

Increasing sea level rise (SLR), and frequency and intensity of storms, paired with degrading ecosystems, are exposing coastal areas to higher risks of damage by storm events. Coastal natural habitats, such as dunes or saltmarshes, can reduce exposure of coastlines to these events and help to reduce the impacts and the potential damage to coastal property. The goal of our study was to evaluate the current vulnerability of the Portuguese northern coast to erosion and flooding caused by extreme events and to assess the contribution of natural habitats in reducing both vulnerability and property damages considering SLR scenarios. The Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) Coastal Vulnerability model was used to produce an Exposure Index (EI) for the northern Portuguese coastline, for the current situation, and for future International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5, considering the presence and absence of coastal habitats. Results showed an increase in exposure with rising sea levels and expansion of high vulnerability areas. Coastal habitats contributed to a 28% reduction of high exposed segments for the Current scenario, corresponding to a potential reduction of coastal property damage of 105 M€ during extreme events. For the SLR scenarios, coastal habitats could potentially reduce the amount of property damage by 190 M€ in 2050 and 285 M€ in 2100, considering RCP8.5 projections. This study highlighted the importance of natural habitats in protecting vulnerable coastlines and reducing the potential damages to properties from flooding. Such results can be incorporated in management plans and support decision-making toward implementing an ecosystem-based approach to increase the resilience of coastal communities to cope with future environmental changes.

Designing Ecological Security Patterns Based on the Framework of Ecological Quality and Ecological Sensitivity: A Case Study of Jianghan Plain, China.

Researchers and managers of natural resource conservation have increasingly emphasized the importance of maintaining a connected network of important ecological patches to mitigate landscape fragmentation, reduce the decline of biodiversity, and sustain ecological services. This research aimed to guide landscape management and decision-making by developing an evaluation framework to construct ecological security patterns. Taking the Jianghan Plain as the study area, we identified key ecological sources by overlaying the spatial patterns of ecological quality (biodiversity, carbon storage, and water yield) and ecological sensitivity (habitat sensitivity, soil erosion sensitivity, and water sensitivity) using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and the Chinese Soil Loss Equation Function. Ecological corridors were obtained by the least-cost path analysis method and circuit theory. A total of 48 ecological sources (3812.95 km2), primarily consisting of water area, forestland, and cropland, were identified. Ninety-one ecological corridors were derived, with a total length of 2036.28 km. Forty barriers and 40 pinch points with the highest improvement coefficient scores or priority scores were selected. There were 11 priority corridors with very high levels of connectivity improvement potential and conservation priority, occupying 16.15% of the total length of corridors. The overall potential for ecological connectivity is high on the Jianghan Plain. Our framework offers a valuable reference for constructing ecological security patterns and identifying sites for ecological restoration at the regional scale.

Spatio-Temporal Changes in Wildlife Habitat Quality in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River from 1980 to 2100 Based on the InVEST Model

The Yangtze River (YZR) regions have experienced rapid changes after opening up to economic reforms, and human activities have changed the land cover, ecology, and wildlife habitat quality. However, the specific ways in which those influencing factors changed the habitat quality during different periods remain unknown. This study assessed the wildlife habitat quality of the middle and lower YZR in the past (1980–2018) and in future scenarios (2050, 2100). We analyzed the relationships between habitat quality and various topological social-economic factors, and then mapped and evaluated the changes in habitat quality by using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. The results show that the slope (R = 0.502, P < 0.01, in 2015), elevation (R = 0.003, P < 0.05, in 2015), population density (R = –0.299, P < 0.01, in 2015), and NDVI (R = 0.366, P < 0.01, in 2015) in the study area were significantly correlated with habitat quality from 2000 to 2015. During the period of 1980–2018, 61.93% of the study area experienced habitat degradation and 38.07% of the study area had improved habitat quality. In the future, the habitat quality of the study area will decline under either the A2 scenario (high level of population density, low environmental technology input, and high traditional energy cost) or the B2 scenario (medium level of population density, medium green technology and lack of cooperation of regional governments). The results also showed that habitat in the lower reaches or north of the YZR had degraded more than in the middle reaches or the south of YZR. Therefore, regional development should put more effort into environmental protection, curb population growth, and encourage green technology innovation. Inter-province cooperation is necessary when dealing with ecological problems. This study can serve as a scientific reference for regional wildlife protection and similar investigations in different areas.

Carbon sequestration benefits of the grain for Green Program in the hilly red soil region of southern China

Soil erosion disturbs not only the global carbon cycle, but it is a complex environmental problem. Revegetation could reduce carbon emission by controlling soil erosion and increase carbon sequestration and accumulation by fixing carbon in vegetation and soil. The Grain for Green Program (GFGP) of China is the largest ecological restoration program in the world closely related to land-use/land-cover change (LUCC). Systematically assessing the carbon sequestration benefit of GFGP is crucial for a better understanding of the effects of implementing GFGP and providing reasonable vegetation management. Therefore, we selected the hilly red soil region (HRSR) of southern China as a study area, which is one of the main ecologically vulnerable areas in China. We assessed the carbon sequestration in the GFGP area of the HRSR using the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) model based on land-use/land-cover datasets during 2000–2015. Our results show that implementing GFGP is conducive to the enhancement of carbon sequestration services. Total carbon sequestration showed an increasing trend at a rate of 15.43% from 2000 to 2015. The most significant change mainly happened in Hunan Province with the shortest implementation time. The carbon sequestration of each carbon pool (namely aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, soil, and dead organic matter) also increased slightly. Additionally, for carbon sequestration, unused land converted to forest land is the most effective LUCC. This study can provide scientific support for the management and implementation of GFGP in the HRSR of China.

Effects of land-use and climate change on sediment and nutrient retention in Guizhou, China

ABSTRACT Introduction Sediment and nutrient retention have significant impacts on agricultural productivity and water quality. Obvious changes of climate and land-use have deeply affected freshwater ecosystem services in the last several decades. Nevertheless, it is unclear what the differences are in the impact of climate and land-use changes on freshwater ecosystem services. Outcomes The impacts of climate and land-use change on sediment and nutrient retention (two essential freshwater ecosystem services) were evaluated with the help of the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. The results from the study area suggest a decreasing trend in sediment and nutrient retention from 1995 to 2015 when climate and land-use were changed simultaneously. A decreasing trend in sediment retention and an increasing trend in nutrient retention were presented under scenario A (climate change from 1995 to 2015 with land-use unchanged), while the sediment exported and nutrient retention exhibited a decreasing trend except sediment retained under scenario B (land-use change from 1995 to 2015 with unchanged climate). Rainfall erosivity and soil erodibility were more sensitive to the output of sediment retention, while retention efficiency produced more of an effect on nutrient retention. Discussion and Conclusion Climate change played a dominant role in the change in sediment retention, while land-use change had a more significant effect on nutrient retention change than climate change. The results of this study provide explicitinformation for land-use managers to reduce the negative effects associated with sediment and nutrient retention.

Assessing the hidden impacts of hypothetical eruption events at Mount Etna

We estimate how the value and the spatial distribution of carbon storage, water yield and wild pollination services are expected to change with potential expansion of lava flow inundation at Mount Etna volcano (Sicily, Italy). We rely on a hazard map lava by flow inundation to simulate a set of three future land use/land cover (LU/LC) scenarios related to different hazard levels with a specific probability of occurrence. Our assessment used the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) tool and GIS spatial analysis and indicates that changes in the delivery of all three ecosystem services are biophysically and economically sizeable. The variation between scenarios demonstrates that the carbon storage and wild pollination services will decrease because of the loss of woods and natural habitats. In contrast, the water yield capacity will increase for the creation of new naked land surfaces characterised by high permeability values. In the worst-case scenario, we estimate a loss of 17% and 10% for carbon storage and wild pollination services respectively, and an increase of approximately 10% for water yield. • We assess how potential lava flow could impact carbon storage, water yield and wild pollination services at Mount Etna. • Variation between scenarios shows that carbon storage and wild pollination decrease, and water yield capacity increase. • In the worst-case, we find a loss of 17% for carbon storage and 10% for wild pollination and a gain of 10% for water yield.

Decision scenarios using ecosystem services for land allocation optimization across Gharehsoo watershed in northern Iran

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to use ecosystem services in land allocation across Gharehsoo watershed in Golestan Province, north of Iran. Hence, land suitability was assessed using multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) methods to develop forestry, agriculture, range management, construction, and conservation land uses. Ecosystem services including water yield, habitat quality, and aesthetic quality were also quantified using integrated valuation of environmental services and tradeoffs (InVEST) and MCE methods. Next, the land allocation was investigated under five scenarios developed based on the land suitability and ecosystem services, namely land suitability, water yield, habitat quality, aesthetic quality and integration scenarios. The scenarios were then implemented using particle swarm optimization algorithm and compared to each other, based on the spatial land use variability and land use fragmentation. The results revealed that there is an obvious difference between the northern and southern parts of the region in terms of their land suitability and ecosystem services. An almost increasing trend was also observed for the allocated area to forestry, range management, and conservation land uses in the following order of scenarios: land suitability, aesthetic quality, water yield, integration, and habitat quality. However, an almost decreasing trend was obtained for agriculture and construction land uses in the same order of scenarios. Besides, range management and agriculture land uses had the highest and lowest spatial variability in all the scenarios, respectively. The results also clarified that the land use fragmentation decreased more in the water yield scenario than the other scenarios. This study indicated that using ecosystem services in land allocation can improve land use pattern and arrangement, consequently, helping take into account the ecosystem conditions in land use planning. In conclusion, this approach can help land managers to make appropriate decisions for maintaining ecosystem services in any region.

Dynamic mechanism between human activities and ecosystem services: A case study of Qinghai lake watershed, China

Abstract Human activities seriously threaten the structure and function of ecosystems. Therefore, to establish a bridge between requirements of humans and provision of ecosystem services is crucial for regional ecological security, sustainable development and human well-being. In this study, the human footprint index of Qinghai lake watershed (QHLW) from 2010 to 2018 was calculated. Subsequently, five ecosystem services including carbon storage, habitat quality, nitrogen and phosphorus load, soil erosion and water yield were simulated and analyzed using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. Finally, the impact of human footprint on ecosystem services is discussed. The results show that human activity was increasing in the QHLW from 2010 to 2018, with significant spatial heterogeneity. Carbon storage remained unchanged in the area of 90% of the total. The area of habitat quality variation accounted for 4.29% of the total area. Nitrogen load, phosphorus load and water yield presented an upward trend from 2010 to 2018. Approximately 10.38% of the total area experienced the reduction of soil erosion. Anthropogenic variables do affect the provisioning of ecosystem services. Nitrogen and phosphorus load increased with the enhancement of human activities. However, carbon storage, habitat quality and soil erosion were decreasing with the increase of human activities. Human activities affected water yield by increasing water consumption and modifying surface permeability.

A Conceptual Approach to Modeling the Geospatial Impact of Typical Urban Threats on the Habitat Quality of River Corridors

While for most of a landscape, urbanization leads to a significant habitat loss, rivers in urban areas are usually maintained or developed for their drainage function. Rivers are often the most important biophysical and ecological connection of cities with their surrounding ecosystems, although usually heavily altered due to urban impacts. For the conservation of urban rivers as ecological corridors, it is important to assess the impact of typical urban threats on habitat quality. In this study, we used the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offs) habitat quality model to assess the individual and combined impacts of built-up areas, first- and second-order road and water pollution from urban drainage, and wastewater discharge on habitat quality within a 200 m wide river corridor. The Pochote River in León, Nicaragua, was used as a case study. Our results show the spatial distribution and magnitude of the individual threat impacts, as well as the respective contribution of each threat to the overall impact of urbanization on the habitat quality within the river corridor. While close to the city center, all threats almost equally contributed to severe habitat degradation, while further downstream, an individual threat influence became more distinct with only water pollution having a consistent negative impact. We concluded that the InVEST habitat quality model can be used to assess the impact of typical urban threats on habitat quality in river corridors at a high spatial resolution. The results can help to improve urban planning and development to improve habitat conservation along urban rivers.

Partitioning the impacts of land use/land cover change and climate variability on water supply over the source region of the Blue Nile Basin

AbstractWater plays a vital role in sustaining the natural functioning of the entire ecosystem that supports life on Earth. It plays key roles in the well‐being of society in numerous ways. However, climate variability and land use land cover (LULC) change have caused spatiotemporal water supply variation. Disentangling the effects of climate variability from LULC change on water supply is crucial for sustainable water resource management. The main purpose of this study is, therefore, to disentangle the relative contribution of LULC change and climate variability to the overall average annual water supply variation. Residual trends analysis combined with Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) annual water yield model was adopted to perform simulations and disentangle the relative impacts of climate variability and LULC change. Ground and satellite data were used in this study. The study area has experienced a significant increasing wetness trend and significant LULC dynamics between 2003 and 2017. As a result, an increasing water supply was observed due to the joint effects of climate variability and LULC change in the watershed (203 mm). The contribution of climate variability was 94%, whereas LULC contributes only 6% from 2003 to 2017. Climate variability negatively led to water supply variation while LULC change contributed positively from 2010 to 2017. Although the ongoing soil and water conservation (SWC) practices improved vegetation cover and water retention of the watershed, climate variability is the main driver of water supply variation. Therefore, SWC practices should incorporate ecosystem‐based climate change adaptation strategies and scale up to community‐based integrated watershed management to sustain water supply.

Spatio-Temporal Changes in Wildlife Habitat Quality in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem

Understanding habitat quality and its dynamics is imperative for maintaining healthy wildlife populations and ecosystems. We mapped and evaluated changes in habitat quality (1975–2015) in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem of northern Tanzania using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. This is the first habitat quality assessment of its kind for this ecosystem. We characterized changes in habitat quality in the ecosystem and in a 30 kilometer buffer area. Four habitat quality classes (poor, low, medium and high) were identified and their coverage quantified. Overall (1975–2015), habitat quality declined over time but at rates that were higher for habitats with lower protection level or lower initial quality. As a result, habitat quality deteriorated the most in the unprotected and human-dominated buffer area surrounding the ecosystem, at intermediate rates in the less heavily protected Wildlife Management Areas, Game Controlled Areas, Game Reserves and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the least in the most heavily protected Serengeti National Park. The deterioration in habitat quality over time was attributed primarily to anthropogenic activities and major land use policy changes. Effective implementation of land use plans, robust and far-sighted institutional arrangements, adaptive legal and policy instruments are essential to sustaining high habitat quality in contexts of rapid human population growth.

Exploring the impacts of urban growth on carbon storage under integrated spatial regulation: A case study of Wuhan, China

Abstract The increasing demand for natural resources due to urban growth has led to sharp conflicts between urban land demand and environmental protection, causing problems such as decrease in the carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystems. To achieve sustainable urban development, China has implemented spatial regulation to restrict urban growth, but there have been various conflicts among multiple spatial regulation plans. In this study, we explored the impact of urban growth on carbon storage under integrated spatial regulation in Wuhan, China by combining the SLEUTH and InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) models. Firstly, the SLEUTH model was adopted to simulate the urban growth under different scenarios from 2015 to 2030. Then, the InVEST model was employed to explore the impacts of urban growth on regional carbon storage. The results showed that the integrated spatial regulation can reduce the growth rate of urban areas, decrease the use of natural resources by urban land, and alleviate the conflicts between the construction needs of urban development and environmental protection. Besides, under integrated spatial regulation, the encroachment rate of high carbon density land by urban growth is gradually slowed down, effectively reducing the loss of regional carbon storage. These findings indicate that the implementation of urban development strategies under integrated spatial regulation will better facilitate regional sustainable development than traditional urban planning.