Total Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Ecosystem services values and changes across the Atlantic coastal zone: Considerations and implications

The mapping and assessment of ecosystem services supplied by Atlantic coastal zone biomes provide a highly valuable source of information for understanding their current and potential benefits to society. The main objective of this research is to map and assess the values provided by Provisioning, Regulating & maintenance and Cultural ecosystem services on the Atlantic coastal zone over the period 2005–2015. Global ecosystem service value (ESV) functions were applied to a 100 km coastal zone of countries on the Atlantic coastal zone, using land use and socio-economic data for 2005, 2010 and 2015. Results show that total Cultural ecosystem service values (ESVCult) are largest along the Atlantic coastal zone (50 % of ESVTotal), that Tropical Forest is the biome that provides the largest total ecosystem service value (33 % of ESVTotal) and that Latin America & Caribbean is the Atlantic coastal zone with highest ecosystem service values (55 % of ESVTotal). Results also show a decrease in natural areas, mainly due to the increase in urban areas along the Atlantic coastal zone. Despite this process, there is an increase in unit ecosystem service values over time (+21 %) due to an increase in income (+13 %) and population (+15 %) over the period 2005–2015. These trends in ESV over the years deserve careful attention by policy makers. A decrease in the supply of (due to land use conversion) and the increase in demand for (due to income and population growth) ecosystem services could, potentially, lead to jeopardizing ecosystem services over time.

Impacts of ecological programs on land use and ecosystem services since the 1980s: A case‐study of a typical catchment on the Loess Plateau, China

AbstractChina' Loess Plateau, which was once dominated by sloping fields with poor farming conditions and serious soil erosion, has experienced a series of ecological programs. This article sought to explore the impacts of ecological programs on land use and ecosystem services in a typical catchment of China's Loess Plateau from 1984 to 2017, and thus understand what needs to be improved for future ecological programs. The findings showed that: (a) Due to the implementation of various ecological programs, the land use structure was optimized, and vegetation coverage was significantly increased, especially with the implement of the Grain for Green (GFG) Program. (b) The change of the total ecosystem service value (ESV) presented a U‐shaped curve. The total ESV decreased under the Comprehensive Management of Small Catchments Program, and increased significantly since the implementation of the GFG. The rapid increase stage can be traced to the effects of the Gully Land Consolidation Program, reflecting the time lag effect of ecological programs on the improvement of ecosystem services. (c) The various ecosystem services were improved significantly, except for the food provisioning value (FPV). The abandonment of croplands without consolidation determined the decline of the FPV, implying the necessity for a land‐use efficiency boost. Our research proposed to build up an actor network to integrate local governments, rural cadres, villagers, enterprises, and natural resources, especially land resources, into ecological programs to ensure ecological restoration and activate the factors of production, thus securing the sustainable development of China' Loess Plateau.

Surface coal mining impacts on land use change and ecological service value: a case study in Shengli coalfield, Inner Mongolia

Coal plays a crucial role in global economic development and remains the most common and widely distributed fossil fuel worldwide. As the world's largest developing country, China's mining and utilization of coal resources have contributed significantly to the country’s rapid economic growth. Inner Mongolia is an ecologically fragile arid and semi-arid area of China. The exploitation of opencast mining has seriously hindered the sustainable use of regional land and the residents' well-being. Using ENVI-based remote sensing images from 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, this study employed a random forest algorithm to divide land utilization types into construction land, vegetation, cultivated land, bare land, and water areas and analyzed the characteristics of land use and ecosystem service value changes over the past 20 years. The results were as follows: (1) Construction land in the mining area changed minimally from 2000 to 2020; vegetation and water bodies showed a decreasing trend, whereas bare and cultivated lands showed an increasing trend. Bare land exhibited the largest change in area proportion and water bodies the smallest. (2) The total ecosystem service value of the mining area declined from 10.939 to 9.527 billion Yuan. Vegetation ecosystem service value was the highest, followed by cultivated land and water, with the bare land ecosystem service value the lowest. (3) On a spatial scale, the total ecosystem service value of the Shengli mining area decreased year by year, indicating that land use changes in the mining area do have an impact on ecosystem service value.

Inter-regional ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin based on the value of ecosystem services

Ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin aims to improve its ecological and environmental management capacity. Based on data on land-use changes in the Yellow River Basin from 2010 to 2020, this study used the equivalent factor method to assess the value of ecosystem services in the basin. This was measured at three spatial scales in the upper, middle, and lower reaches, encompassing; nine provinces and 72 cities. The priority and amount of ecological compensation were determined for the Yellow River Basin regions. Results show that (1) The total value of ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin increased from 1798.317 billion yuan in 2010 to 1838.259 billion yuan in 2020. Grasslands had the highest total ecosystem service value in 2020, accounting for 46.11%. (2) The value of ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin region is upstream > midstream > downstream. Qinghai Province has the highest value of ecosystem services among the nine provinces, and the level of economic development in each region is inversely correlated with the value of ecosystem services. (3) The ecosystem service value and the economic development level of the cities in the Yellow River Basin are positively and negatively correlated with the priority of ecological compensation, respectively. Among them, the cities in the upper reaches are the most urgent targets for national ecological compensation. (4) The total ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin in 2020 was approximately 122.63 billion yuan. Further, the amount of vertical ecological compensation to be paid by the state was approximately 114.673 billion yuan, and the horizontal compensation to be borne between provinces was approximately 7.957 billion yuan. The findings of this study provide novel insights into improving ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin regions.

Assessing the impacts of human disturbance on ecosystem services under multiple scenarios in karst areas of China: Insight from ecological conservation red lines effectiveness

Exploring the impacts of human disturbance on ecosystem services (ESs) in karst areas is crucial for regional sustainable management, and China’s ecological conservation red lines (ECRLs) could provide innovative solutions for global biodiversity conservation. However, it remains unclear how the implementation of ECRLs policies will change the mechanism of human disturbance on ESs. Based on the Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small Region Extent (CLUE-S) model, we projected land use changes in 2035 under a Business as Usual (BAU) scenario, Ecological Protection (ELP) scenario, and Future City Plan (FCP) scenario in Weining County, China. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-off (InVEST) model was used to quantify six ESs—crop production, water yield, soil conservation, carbon storage, nitrogen export, habitat quality—and total ecosystem services (TES). Then, we analyzed the impacts of human disturbance changes on ESs. Our research showed that under the ELP scenario, the human disturbance index would decrease by 6.18% and increase in soil conservation (0.34%), carbon storage (21.27%), and habitat quality (9.14%) compared with 2015. A greater area of forest and grassland would lead to a reduction in cropland area, which would lower crop production by 20.76%, with water yield and nitrogen export decreasing by 6.63% and 19.91%, respectively, from 2015 to 2035. The ELP scenario would lessen trade-offs between water yield and carbon storage and habitat quality, such that water yield and nitrogen export would be similar. Meanwhile, to ensure future crop production, more attention should be given to the increase in water yield and nitrogen export caused by cropland expansion, especially in its non-karst areas. TES would increase by 9.27%, which is higher than that obtained under either the BAU or FCP scenario. Eco-environmental conservation and restoration policies were proposed to help its regional high-quality development. Our research provides a decision-making basis to evaluate the implementation effects of ECRLs policies in karst areas and inform the directed management of ecosystems by the government.

Spatial patterns in ecosystem services supply and demand in the Jing-Jin-Ji region, China

Spatial patterns in ecosystem services (ES) supply and demand can provide useful visual information for eco-economic management policy. For assessing ES supply and demand on a regional scale, we coupled natural elements with socioeconomic factors and built an integration model involving five types of ES supply, i.e., water conservation, soil conservation, carbon fixation/oxygen release, sand fixation, and air purification , and three types of ES demand, i.e., water resource demand, carbon emission/oxygen consumption, and air pollution control demand. For the case of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the patterns of ES supply and demand were analyzed by assessing the multi-year average of 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2017. The main results were: (1) An apparent spatial mismatch between ES supply and demand in the study area. Areas with high ES supply capacity were located in the Yanshan Mountains and the Taihang Mountains, and the eastern Bashang Plateau. Areas with high ES demand were mainly located in large and medium-sized cities in the Hebei Plain. (2) The total ES supply capacity could not meet the needs of the study area. The surplus area accounted for 32.93% of the total area and the deficit area for 67.07%. The total ES demand was 2.05 times the total ES supply in the study area. Chengde was the only region with an ES surplus per unit area, and Tianjin had the largest deficit. The ES deficit in the Jing-Jin-Ji region was severe. (3) Based on the surplus-deficit patterns of ES supply-demand, three environmental management zones were suggested, i.e., environmental conservation, restoration, and control zones, and some concrete suggestions and solutions on environmental protection or restoration were elaborated for each zone to mitigate conflicts of ES supply and demand. Key findings will provide a scientific basis for constructing regional ecological compensation mechanisms and the coordinated development of the Jing-Jin-Ji region. • We designed a comprehensive method for assessing ES supply and demand. • There was a spatial mismatch of ES supply and demand among and within geographical units. • The total ES demand was 2.05 times ES supply in the study area. • We propose environmental restoration strategies for different management zones.

The non-significant correlation between landscape ecological risk and ecosystem services in Xi'an Metropolitan Area, China

As critical prerequisite for sustainable development research of social ecosystem (SDSE), the relationship between landscape security pattern and ecosystem services should be explicitly evaluated to support SDSE research. However, the existing evaluation system lacking of integrating analysts of the factors led to vague knowledge of the SDSE mechanism. To tackle this issue, this study, therefore, explored the relationship between landscape ecological risk and ecosystem services (e.g. carbon sequestration, soil conservation, water yield, crop production and residential support) at Xi’an Metropolitan Area using remote sensing data in 2010 and 2020. The results show that the overall landscape ecological risk decreased from 0.2618 to 0.2479. Although the rapid development of urban leading improvement for landscape ecological security and residential support, the total ecosystem services has declined due to the decline in water yield and crop production. Preventing the landscape ecological risk on landscape fragmentation cannot improve the level of ecosystem services. Notably, the stronger interference of human activities overwhelmingly caused a single advantageous ecosystem services with extreme risk, while the less caused multiple advantageous ecosystem services of ecological regulation with medium–low level ecological risk. Additionally, the competitive relationship between the crop production and residential support would not produce higher risk led by the intervention of human activity. The integrating of crop production and carbon sequestration (or soil conservation) resulted in high risk. Using these results, a potential spatial plan of Xi'an Metropolitan Area is then made based on multiple advantageous areas of ecosystem services. This study benefits decision-making for regional comprehensive risk prevention, future spatial pattern planning and development orientation, and sustainable development research of social ecosystem.

Spatial assessment of ecosystem services provisioning changes in a forest-dominated protected area in NE Turkey.

Forested landscapes offer high provisioning capacities for many ecosystem services (ES), yet their capabilities may change in time due to multifaceted ES drivers. Therefore, assessing the changes in individual ES is critical for ecosystem-based management. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal changes in ES provided by a forest-dominated protected area in NE, Turkey. To this end, 18 ES were quantified and mapped using the ES matrix approach for 1985 and 2021. Then, the status of the ES and potential drivers of landscape changes were revealed through the assessment of demographic and management structure changes. The results showed that the multiple ES provisioning capacity of the landscape increased by 7% over 35years. The capacities for "crops" and "livestock" ES decreased for the same period. The most prominent ES were "wild foods," "erosion regulation," and "knowledge systems." Spatially, ES hotspots accumulated in the northern parts and the core zone of the protected area. The most significant changes occurred in the lowlands, mostly composed of degraded forests and coppices as of 1985 after their transformation into productive forests. The spatio-temporal changes in many ES can be attributed to the declaration of the landscape as a protected area in 1994. The removal of anthropogenic pressure and the impact of conservation management can be evaluated as the main drivers for the positive changes in the total ES capacity. Thus, sound policy structures and effective conservation strategies should be further encouraged for increasing protected areas' capacities to provide the large array of ES.

Estimating the total ecosystem services value of Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspots in response to landscape dynamics

Ecosystem Service value (ESV) is a technique of assigning monetary value to the services and goods of an ecosystem. The rapid change in land-use land cover (LULC) is a major factor for the change in the capacity of Ecosystem Services (ES). Understanding LULC change and its impact on ESV is vital for decision-making processes. We quantify the spatiotemporal variation of ESV of the Kaffa biosphere reserve in association with LULC dynamics, which is part of the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot areas. Eight LULC types were identified following a supervised classification using a maximum likelihood technique in ArcGIS 10.5. The ES coefficients published by Costanza and others in 2014 were used to estimate the monetary value through the benefit transfer method. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to control the effect of coefficients on the estimated ESV. The results showed declining of ESV from US$ 5818 million to US$ 5536.9 million from 1986 to 2019 and are expected to decline to US$ 5222.8 million in 2049. The change in ESV revealed a total loss of 4.8%. The reasons for the decline in ESV of the biosphere reserve were the conversion of forestland, grassland, and wetland to settlement and agricultural areas. From the land-use types, the contribution of wetland, forest, and agriculture was the most dominant land use in ESV. Genetic resources, climate regulation, water regulation, and recreation were the highest contributors to the total ESV. We conclude that the cause for the decline of ESV is a land-use change that caused ecosystem degradation.

CALCULATING AND ANALYZING OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICE VALUE WITH BIG DATA BASED ON HIGH RESOLUTION LAND COVER INFORMATION

Abstract. With the development of economics and society, the degradation of natural resources and environment is aggravated globally. The values of ecological environment and ecosystem service have been paid more and more attention popularly. However, the spatial-temporal changes in ecosystem service value (ESV) and their hotspots in China are not well understood. Chinese government has integrated the construction of ecological civilization into all aspects and processes of economic construction, political construction, culture construction and social construction, and clearly puts forward that we should establish the concept of natural value and natural capital, also natural ecosystem is valuable. During 2012 to 2021, an important project of China's First National Geographic Conditions Census and Continuously Monitoring had been completed by Chinese government. In this project, high resolution land cover product all over the country had been generated, and would be updated continuously every year. This achievement had received more and more attention, which brought the possibility of big data computing. A calculating method of land’s ecosystem service value was proposed by using this achievement. The characters of data type, data time phase, and data structure for all the remote sensing information was analyzed. Based on this, a revised ecosystem service value assessment model was used for calculating. Combining the standard of terrestrial ecosystem in China and the equivalent value factor per unit ecosystem area, the specific calculating algorithm based on the big data was designed. Wuhan city, Hubei province, China was selected as the study area for validating the calculating method. The results showed that the total ecosystem service value in Wuhan city in 2015 was 9.42×1010 CNY, and the per capita ecosystem service value was 1.15×104 CNY. Specially, water supplied the most ecosystem service value which accounted for 79.95%, followed by forest, grassland, farmland, and desert. The research shows that high-precision quantification and spatialization ecosystem service value can be calculated and obtained by using the high resolution land cover product obtained in the project of China's First National Geographic Conditions Census and Continuously Monitoring; the independent research and development software has solved the problem of software requirements, and the operational efficiency and performance can meet the calculating needs; the big data calculating algorithm has solved the problems of design and computation of structured and unstructured big data computing models; The results of this study will help to maintain the sustainable development of an area, and supporting more effective decision-making around the implementation of ecological conservation policies.

Ecosystem Service Valuation along Landscape Transformation in Central Ethiopia

Land degradation and discontinuation of ecosystem services (ES) are a common phenomenon that causes socio-economic and environmental problems in Ethiopia. However, a dearth of information is known about how ES are changing from the past to the future with regard to land use land cover (LULC) changes. This study aimed at estimating the values of ES based on the past and future LULC changes in central Ethiopia. Maximum likelihood classifier and cellular automata-artificial neuron network (CA-ANN) models that integrate the module for land use change evaluation (MOLUSE) were used to classify and predict LULC. The CA-ANN model learning and validation was employed to predict LULC of 2031 and 2051. Following LULC change detection and prediction, the total ES values were estimated using the benefit transfer method. Results revealed that forests, wetlands, grazing lands, shrub-bush-woodlands, and water bodies were reduced by 9755 ha (37%), 4092 ha (38.4%), 21,263 ha (81%), 63,161 ha (25.7%), and 905 ha (1%), respectively, between 1986 and 2021. Similarly, forests, wetlands, grazing lands, shrub-bush lands, and water bodies will experience a decline of 1.5%, 0.5%, 2.6%, 19.6%, and 0.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, cultivated lands, bare-lands, and built-up areas will experience an increase between 1986 and 2051. The estimated total ES values were reduced by US$58.3 and 85.4 million in the period 1986–2021 and 1986–2051. Food production and biological control value increased while 15 other ES decreased throughout the study periods. Proper land use policy with strategic actions, including enforcement laws for natural ecosystems protection, afforestation, ecosystems restoration, and conservation practices, are recommended to be undertaken to enhance multiple ES provision.

Coupling and coordination analysis of urbanization and ecosystem service value in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration

Urbanization has an important impact on the regional ecological security pattern, and clarifying the relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services can provide a reference for the regional high-quality sustainable development. Under the background of global economic integration, urban agglomerations have become the main driving force leading economy development in the world. As one of the three major urban agglomerations in China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (BTHUA) plays an irreplaceable role in China's social and economic development. This study employed the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to explore the change characteristics between the two integrated systems and subsystems of urbanization and ecosystem service value (ESV). Results showed that, from 2000 to 2018, the urbanization level of BTHUA has gradually increased, with change trend from the early state dominated by population and land urbanization to the state dominated by population and economic urbanization; the total ecosystem service value (TESV) and per ecosystem service value (PESV) of Chengde were higher than other cities such as Beijing obviously. CCD of urbanization and ESV in BTHUA showed the trend of ‘high in the middle and low on both sides in the north–south direction, high in east and low in west in east–west direction’, and the CCD at the subsystem scale presented a more coordinated trend. However, there is a gradual degradation of some functions of ecosystem services, and soil conservation and food production functions are urgent concerns in the future.

Evaluation for values of ecosystem service functions of cultivated seaweeds in Guangdong Province, China

Based on the yields of cultivated seaweeds of Guangdong Province in the past 20 years, this study evaluated the values of ecosystem service functions, including carbon sink and oxygen release, removal of N and Pi nutrients, and absorption of heavy metals. The results indicated that all the ecological values of cultivated seaweeds showed a rising trend from 2000 to 2019. The total ecosystem service value increased from $2.50 million in 2000 to $10.36 million in 2019 at an average annual growth rate of 8.41%. The values of carbon sink and oxygen release, removal of N and Pi nutrients and absorption of heavy metals increased from $10.71 million, $12.98 million and $1.25 million in 2000 to $41.76 million, $56.64 million and $5.25 million in 2019 respectively. Besides, the value of carbon sink and oxygen release and removing N and Pi nutrients contributed significantly to the total ecosystem service value, accounting for 41.36% and 53.15%, while the annual average value of absorption of heavy metals only accounted for 5.49%. In addition, since the market price of Saccharina japonica, Gracilaria spp. and Eucheuma denticulaturn is low, their economic profits are less than the ecological services. They should be given ecological compensations of $1.39/kg, $1.50/kg, and $1.27/kg respectively based on the market price in China. This study illustrates clearly huge ecological values of cultivated seaweeds in carbon emission reduction and improving coastal eutrophication. On the other hand, ecological compensations can promote the healthy development of seaweed cultivation industry and maximize the ecosystem service functions of seaweeds.

Impacts and Projections of Land Use and Demographic Changes on Ecosystem Services: A Case Study in the Guanzhong Region, China

Land use change and demographic factors directly or indirectly affect ecosystem services value, and the analysis of ecosystem services contributes to optimization of land planning, which is essential for regional sustainable development. In this study, ArcGIS 10.2, IDRISI 17.0 Selva and MATLAB software, value coefficient method, CA-Markov prediction model and population growth model were applied to analyze the spatial and temporal changes of land use trends and ecosystem service values in Guanzhong region, and further predict the impacts of land type changes and population changes on ecosystem services in the context of urbanization. Results showed that the expansion of construction land was the most intense, and the transfer process mainly crowded out arable land; the total ecosystem services value grew spatially in a “low center-high periphery” ring with large differences at the bottom, and forest land was the most important value provider. The total ecosystem services value was estimated to decline in the future, with low-value areas spreading northward and differences in the per capita ecosystem services value increasing. This study provides a reference for optimal simulation of urban expansion and ecological conservation.

Evolution of landscape pattern and the association with ecosystem services in the Ili-Balkhash Basin.

The Ili-Balkhash Basin in Central Asia is an arid endorheic basin shared by China and Kazakhstan. Population growth, socio-economic development, ecological conservation measures, and climate change have spurred land use and land cover changes and ecosystem services variations. This study used the long-term dataset from 1992 to 2018 to detect the landscape pattern evolution and its association with ecosystem services. The landscape pattern was quantified using landscape metrics, and the GeoDetector model quantified the driving factors of landscape pattern evolution. The ecosystem service value was assessed using the benefit transfer method. The time series trend was identified by the linear regression analysis combined with the Mann-Kendall algorithm, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to confirm the correlation. The temporal dynamics of the landscape pattern indicated the significant conversion of bare land to grassland. Cropland and urban land expanded significantly at the expense of forestland, grassland, and bare land. Various landscape elements tended to be more uniformly distributed across the basin with more regular shape and higher aggregation. The ecosystem service value increased significantly, and its correlation with the landscape pattern varied according to land use and land cover (LULC) types. The weakened shape complexity, the strengthened aggregation degree, and the more uniform distribution of different LULC types helped elevate total ecosystem service value. The results advanced the understanding of landscape pattern evolution and provided the scientific reference for land management regarding ecosystem services. Given the watershed ecosystem's integrity, transboundary cooperation between China and Kazakhstan was suggested to reinforce watershed sustainability through integrated watershed land resource planning and the joint adaptive strategies to climate change.

Uncertainty analysis of ecosystem services and implications for environmental management – An experiment in the Heihe River Basin, China

Integrating the economic values of ecosystem services provided by different land uses into decision analysis is critical to achieving effective environmental management in endorheic basins. However, policymaking often ignores the uncertainty related to the variability of parameters in ecosystem service values. To this end, we identified sensitive parameters in the ecosystem service values under four land uses using the global sensitivity analysis method and quantified the potential monetary outcomes based on the Monte Carlo method. The results indicated that only a few sensitive parameters, such as water yield (Qi) and treatment costs per unit of nitrogen (Cost_N), were the primary sources of uncertainty. Therefore, we suggest that improving the precision of sensitive parameters is essential for reducing uncertainty in the total ecosystem service value. Additionally, the overall monetary outcomes for cropland exhibited negative values and had higher risk and lower benefits than those for forest from the standpoint of ecosystem services. In addition, the nonmarketed service of landscape aesthetic made the monetary outcomes of water bodies higher than those of cropland, yet the value of landscape aesthetic was highly uncertain. Therefore, efforts should be made to improve total monetary outcomes by decreasing the negative values in food provisioning of cropland and the uncertainty in landscape aesthetic for water bodies. The sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis provide important guidelines for quantifying and reducing the related uncertainty and provide policy information for environmental management based on a comprehensive consideration of the potential ecosystem service values for various land uses.

Assessing the temporal-spatial dynamic reduction in ecosystem services caused by air pollution: A near-real-time data perspective

Air pollution is impacting ecosystem services (ES). This paper proposes an emergy-based method framework to assess the dynamic impacts of near-real-time air pollution on ES at different temporal-spatial scales. The paper presents the cases of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Baoding, China, investigates the impacts of air pollution on the ES in 2020. In particular, we compared the reduction in ES evaluated using either average (R1) or near-real-time (R2) air pollution data. The results indicate that the differences between R1 and R2 range from about 9% (for Baoding) to almost 45% (for Shenzhen), thus implying the underestimation of the impacts of air pollution on ES based on average data. The ratios of the reduction in ES to the average ES per hour are near-real-time dynamic, with the values of 0–231.62%, 0–59.42%, 0–50.51%, and 0–35.26% in Shanghai, Baoding, Beijing and Shenzhen respectively. Although the air quality in Shanghai is aggregately better than that in Baoding in 2020, the reduction in ES caused by air pollution in Shanghai is more than twice as that of in Baoding, emphasizing the necessity of investigating the impacts of near-real-time air pollution to properly reveal and assess the potential ecological risks. The ratio of the annual total reduction in ES to the annual total ES, near-real-time reduction in ES to the average ES per hour, and near-real-time reduction in ES to the near-real-time ES in Beijing are 7.22%, 0–50.51% and 0–219.27% respectively, highlighting the significance of near-real-time monitoring of air pollution and ES to reveal the potential or hidden impacts of air pollution on ES, and further to facilitate more high time-efficient and fine ecosystem management and conservation.

Evaluation of ecosystem services of rooftop gardens in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Urbanization is continually taking place in the cities. Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital and the world's 11th largest megacity, is no exception to this trend. Cities relying on natural ecosystems outside the city boundaries also benefit from internal urban ecosystems as well. Rooftop gardens have the potential to be excellent urban ecosystem stimulators and play a significant role in urban landscape planning and management. An experimental survey was conducted on twenty rooftop gardens from two metropolitan areas (Mohammadpur and Dhanmondi) of Dhaka city. The goal was to examine the four categories of ecosystem services: Provisioning, supporting, regulating and cultural, supplied by ecosystems within the Rooftop Gardens (RTGs) and to evaluate their performances by examining through a Rapid Assessment Checklist (RAC) tool. The RAC was consisted of 47 proxy indicators (33 qualitative and 14 quantitative indicators) directly or indirectly representing various dimensions of ecosystem services. From a maximum of 100, the average score of total ecosystem services was 50 ± 12 which could be considered as an intermediate performance in ecosystem services provision. The highest score 60 ± 14 was obtained from the cultural services and the lowest score 41 ± 13 was from provisioning services. The assessment of RTGES would allow stakeholders to identify the weak and strong points of the existing rooftop gardens for their management and improvement. A proper understanding of RTGES and integrated participation of gardeners and urban planners could contribute to designing ecosystem service based roof gardens for making human settlements ecologically sustainable.

基于生态系统服务的浙江省水生态环境分区分类管控

水环境综合管理被普遍认为是促进流域可持续发展的基本手段。生态系统服务是生态系统对人类福祉和生存的直接和间接贡献, 是维持与影响流域水生态环境的重要因素。随着流域空间管控日益受到重视, 基于生态特征的"分区分类"管控已成为流域精细化管理的重要内容。论文基于生态系统服务功能与水质关联性, 采用典型对应分析(CCA)选取了土壤类型、土地利用、归一化植被指数和人口密度等4种生态特征作为水生态功能分区指标。结合流域生态特征、汇水区域和行政管理单元的空间分布, 通过聚类分析及空间叠置法, 将浙江省划分了10个水生态功能区和510个水环境控制单元。采用当量因子法对各控制单元的生态系统服务价值进行系统评估。结果表明2015年浙江省生态系统服务总价值为5123.7亿元, 其中控制单元的生态系统服务价值范围为59.8-136.5亿元。利用K-means聚类方法得到了4类生态服务簇, 并探讨了各类生态服务簇的服务类型、空间分布特征以及与各单元水质的关系。研究结果表明, Ⅰ类簇主要分布在西部及西南部的山地丘陵区, 其面积占了全省面积的52.68%;Ⅱ类簇的占地面积最小但水域面积相对较高, 主要覆盖千岛湖和钱塘江河口; Ⅲ类簇分布相对分散, 主要分布在丘陵平原地区; 而Ⅳ类簇主要分布在城镇较集中的平原地区。不同生态服务簇的主要生态服务类型存在明显差异, 如Ⅰ类簇以原料生产、水土保持、生物多样性保护、气体调节和气候调节为主; Ⅱ类簇的主要生态服务类型为调节功能, 包括气体调节、水文调节和废物处理; Ⅲ类簇和Ⅳ类簇以食物生产为主要的生态服务类型。水质特征与生态服务功能密切相关, 生态服务价值越高, 水体水质越好。因此根据各个生态服务簇的水质特征, 将各类生态服务簇划分为保护、维持、改善、整治4种类型, 并提出了不同生态服务簇内水环境控制单元的差异化管控措施, 以推进浙江省水生态环境的差异化管理。;Integrated water environmental management has been world widely treated as a fundamental means to support sustainable watershed development. Ecosystem Services (ESs), which refer to the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being and subsistence, are important factors for water quality maintenance and improvement. With increasing attention paid to the spatial management and control, zoning classification based on the ecosystem characteristics has become an important content of integrated watershed management. Based on the relationships between ecosystem characteristics and water quality, four ecological features including soil type, land usage, normalized vegetation index and population density were selected for aquatic ecoregion zoning using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Combining the spatial distribution of ecological features, catchments and administrative management units, Zhejiang Province was divided into ten aquatic ecoregions and 510 water environmental control units through cluster analysis and spatial overlap. The ES value of each unit was evaluated with the method of equivalent factor. The results showed that in 2015, the total ES value in Zhejiang Province reached 512.37 billion RMB, and those of individual units ranged from 5.98 to 13.65 billion RMB. Four ES bundles were obtained by K-means clustering method, and the service types and spatial distribution characteristics of the bundles were analyzed. Subsequently, the relationships between water quality and ecosystem services were analyzed for each unit. The results showed that Bundle I covered most of the mountain and hilly areas mainly located in the west and southwest, accounting for 52.68% of the province's total area, while Bundle Ⅱ had the smallest area but a relatively high water occupation ratio, mainly covering the Qiandao Lake and the estuary of the Qiantang River. Bundle Ⅲ was distributed relatively scattered, mostly in hilly and plain areas, while Bundle Ⅳ was primarily distributed in plain areas where cities and towns were located. The dominant ESs varied significantly in different ES bundles. For example, ESs such as raw material production, soil conservation, biodiversity protection, gas regulation, and climate regulation dominated in the Bundle I, while the regulatory services were the dominant ESs in Bundle Ⅱ, including gas regulation, water regulation and waste treatment. Food production contributed significantly to both Bundles Ⅲ and Ⅳ. The results also indicated that the characteristics of water quality are closely related to the ecological service, i.e., the higher the ES value, the better the water quality. As a result, the units were classified into four types, including protection, maintenance, improvement and remediation according to the characteristics of the water quality of each ES bundle. The differentiated water quality control and improvement approaches were proposed for the units in the four types of ES bundle, to support the water eco-environment management of Zhejiang Province.

Perceived Economic Value of Ecosystem Services in the US Rio Grande Basin

In recent decades, the US Rio Grande Basin has experienced serious ecosystem degradation as a result of recurring severe droughts and a growing population. Monetary valuation of ecosystem services is essential for encouraging conservation where natural resources such as freshwater are limited. Research in this field is still very limited, and economic estimations of ecosystem services in the US Rio Grande Basin have not been undertaken extensively. This study adds to the existing contemporary literature by means of the willingness-to-pay evaluation. We found the mean household wiliness to pay of total ecosystem services across the Rio Grande Basin to amount to USD 62/year, and the average perceived economic value was estimated to be USD 26.2, USD 19.7, USD 8.1, and USD 7.1 yearly for conservation of habitat for wildlife, provision of freshwater supplies, recreational activities, and cultural heritage, respectively. The income and perceptions about the importance of various ecosystem services in the Rio Grande Basin were among the main determinants of respondents’ assessments. The findings provide an appropriate foundation for incorporating perceived economic value into watershed management and conservation.