Total Ecosystem Service Value Research Articles

Research on the Response of Ecosystem Service Function to Landscape Pattern Changes Caused by Land Use Transition: A Case Study of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

Land use transitions cause reconfigurations of regional landscape patterns which can further change the regional ecosystem service functions and its values, especially in environmentally fragile regions. Firstly, this paper theoretically examines the relationships between land use transitions, landscape pattern evolution and the responses of ecosystem service functions in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi). Then, it explores the spatio-temporal evolution features of land use transition by using land use change matrices, examines landscape patterns by using the landscape pattern index, and studies ecosystem service value (ESV) by revising the coefficients of ESV per unit area. Finally, focus is placed on the empirical analysis of ESV responses to landscape pattern evolution caused by land use transitions in Guangxi. The results show that: (1) Guangxi has undergone an overall intensity-changing process of land use transition at a moderate rate during 1990–2010 and at a drastic rate during 2010–2018. In general, the area of construction land and waterbodies has increased, while forested land, grassland and farmland have decreased. Landscape fragmentation and heterogeneity are higher in the central area than that in the surrounding areas, while patch aggregation and connectivity show an opposite trend. Forested land patches are highly clustered, while grassland and farmland are fragmented and scattered and construction land patches tend to have aggregated. (2) The total loss of ESV has reached 20.56 billion RMB in Guangxi, and all areas’ single ESVs have decreased to different degrees during the past 28 years. Spatially, the ESV distribution shows a differentiated pattern of low in the central plain and high in the surrounding mountain regions which are mainly dominated by high-value zones. (3) The total ESV has significant positive correlations with the largest patch index (LPI), COHESION and the Aggregation Index (AI), and significant negative correlations with the Number of Patches (NP) and the Shannon Diversity Index (SHDI), while the correlation with the Landscape Shape Index (LSI) is not significant, indicating that the influence on ESV caused by landscape pattern evolution varies greatly. (4) The change of land area and multi-directional shifts among different land use types caused by land use transitions in Guangxi could both lead to the evolution of landscape patterns. Further, ecological service function responded obviously to the landscape pattern evolution in Guangxi, causing significant changes in strengthening or weakening of the ecological service function and its value. This systematic analysis should help coordinate the relationship of regional land use regulation, landscape pattern optimization and ecosystem operation in Guangxi or even China.

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.

Integrating Ecosystem Services Into Assessments of Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, China

Trade-offs between eco-environment protection and socioeconomic development hinder the success of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Solutions based on ecosystem services (ESs) provide the co-benefits and pathways for fulfilling the SDGs. However, assessing the progress towards SDGs based on the contribution of ESs to SDGs is lacking. Here we assessed the spatial-temporal changes of ecosystem service values (ESV) and the SDG scores in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH) over the past 20 years using “ES-SDG linkages.” The total ESV and ES-SDG Index score in the BTH showed a spatial pattern of high values in the northern plateau and low values in the southern plain. The total ESV increased from 25,335 yuan ha−1 in 2000 to 27,344 yuan ha−1 in 2020, mainly attributed to water provision and water regulation. The decrease of cropland, grassland, and wetland in the BTH between 2000 and 2010 caused a decrease in the value of nine ESs, whereas the increase of forestland, waterbodies and wetland between 2010 and 2020 contributed to an increase in the value of seven ESs. The ES-SDG Index score decreased slightly from 36.8 in 2000 to 35.5 in 2010, and then increased to 36.0 in 2020 due to the control of rapid urbanization and strengthen of ecological restoration. Our study indicates that the changes of ES-SDG Index score mainly depended on food provision, water provision, climate regulation, nutrient cycling, habitat & biodiversity, and cultural services. The assessment of SDGs suggests that SDG6, SDG11, and SDG12 should be prioritized to advance the synergistic development of SDGs in the BTH, which will also enhance the understanding of stakeholders about the progress of achieving SDGs.

Landscape pattern simulation for ecosystem service value regulation of Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Landscape pattern regulation would alter regional ecosystem structure, thus affecting ecosystem function and service provision. We analyzed the impact of landscape pattern change on ecosystem service value (ESV) of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA). The CA-Markov model was used to map three future (ecological, economic, and eco-economic) scenarios of the TGRA in 2030, then we predicted and compared ESV changes among three scenarios. Our results documented that the total forestland area increased significantly in the ecological scenario, but decreased in the economic scenario. Meanwhile, the construction land area increased in the economic scenario. For the eco-economic scenario, the forestland area change was consistent with the ecological scenario, while the construction land area change was similar to the economic scenario. The ESV of TGRA in 2030 is the highest in the ecological scenario, followed by the eco-economic scenario. Compared to 2015, the total ESV increased in 2030 for both the ecological and eco-economic scenarios, while decreased in the economic scenario. Eco-economic scenario focuses on the coordinated development of ecological protection and economic construction, meeting the needs of economic construction in ecologically fragile areas. This development model will be greatly welcomed by policy makers and effectively promotes sustainable land use in the region. So, we proposed a landscape planning scheme for ecological restoration and economic construction of the TGRA, providing valuable information for decision and policy making and minimizing negative impacts through targeted management measures. Our findings can provide a scientific basis and theoretical practice for environmentally friendly land management.

Land use trade-offs in China's protected areas from the perspective of accounting values of ecosystem services

“Accounting values” (quantity * unit value), assessed with an assumption of a constant unit value, are often used in creating macroeconomic aggregates like Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This approach has also been used to estimate the total value of ecosystem services (ES) - the benefits humans receive from functioning ecosystems. In China, this has been referred to as Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP). While the concepts of value and ES may be understood from multiple perspectives, ESs' accounting values contribute important information to the discussion of land use trade-offs in China's protected areas (PAs). These trade-offs include (1) whether additional conserved lands should be opened to tourism development, since tourism brings both positive and negative impacts; (2) whether PAs should be reduced, maintained, or expanded, since PAs safeguard sustainable wellbeing but also require maintenance; and (3) how to undertake conservation on lands traditionally used for human livelihood development, since conservation and livelihood may conflict. Previous studies have suggested (1) joint evaluation based on both GDP and ESs' values may lead to more sustainable decision-making than solely GDP-oriented evaluation; (2) the benefits of maintaining terrestrial PAs in China is $2.64 trillion/yr, over 14 times greater than the costs; (3) integrating ES valuation into environmental impact assessment helps link environmental impacts with human wellbeing and financial costs (e.g., land encroachment of a tourism highway in the Wulingyaun Scenic Area was estimated to cause permanent loss of ES values at $0.5 million/yr); and (4) integrating non-marketable cultural ESs into payment for ESs schemes can further balance conservation with livelihood development. Future research should consider (1) option and non-use values to present a more comprehensive picture of PAs' contributions to sustainable wellbeing and human interdependence with the rest of nature (2) both PAs' quantity (e.g., optimal coverage of PAs); and quality (e.g., management effectiveness, connectivity); (3) more sophisticated and feasible valuation methods (e.g., more cost-effective and engaged deliberation) to improve the credibility of aggregate values over large spatial scales; and (4) interaction between environmental components and ESs.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Simulation Prediction of Ecosystem Service Function in the Western Sichuan Plateau Based on Land Use Changes

Being closely related to ecosystem services, land use changes can affect ecosystem service functions by acting on ecosystem patterns and its processes, thus having impact on regional sustainable development. Taking the Western Sichuan Plateau as the study area based on land use data from 1990 to 2020, the CA-Markov model was employed to predict the land use pattern under natural change scenarios, and the improved InVEST model and equivalent method were used to evaluate the ecosystem services in the study area from two different perspectives, as to analyze the evolution trend. The results show that: 1) From 1990 to 2020, the carbon storage in the Western Sichuan Plateau showed a fluctuating increase, with an average annual increase of 3.17 × 107 t, of which the total contribution rate of woodland and grassland to the total carbon storage exceeded 95%. In recent 30 years, the carbon storage of the Western Sichuan Plateau has little spatial variation, with the increase and decrease regions accounting for less than 5% with overall sporadically dots-like distribution. 2) Ecosystem Service Value (ESV) increased by 1.36 × 1010 yuan in the past 30 years, which was similar to carbon storage and showed a wave-like increase; the contribution rate of woodland to the total ESV of the study area was more than 68%, occupying the dominant position. ESV was generally stable in the past 30 years, and the area with significant changes accounted for less than 9%, mainly located in the northeast and southwest of the study area. 3) In the next 10 years, under the current ecological protection measures, the carbon storage and ESV of the Western Sichuan Plateau will increase by 5.3980 × 107 t and 2.4087 × 109 yuan compared with that of 2020, indicating a positive development of ecosystem service function. This study results provides a scientific basis for the adjustment of land use structure and the management decision of ecological environment protection in the Western Sichuan Plateau.

Assessing the Value of Ecosystem Services From an Indigenous Estate: Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, Australia

The value of ecological systems to human well-being and the economy is often not estimated in contemporary economic and policy decision making processes. Estimating non-marketable and marketable values of ecosystem services from Indigenous managed land provides significant information about the role that the natural environment plays in maintaining the well-being of people. This research investigates the value of ecosystem services from an Indigenous Protected Area, the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area—an estate managed by Indigenous people in northern Australia. It provides valuable insights for policy makers, land managers, and future development programs while informing the importance of managing Indigenous lands for the local and wider public benefits. Additionally, applying the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework and the standard ecological economic valuation techniques, this study presents ‘realistic’ values of marketable and non-marketable ecosystem services identified from the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area. The total value of ecosystem services was estimated at $32.6 million per year, which are largely non-marketable (such as climate and water regulation) and these values flow to the local and wider public. This research further argues that investing in managing Indigenous estates helps in reducing welfare costs for the Australian Government worth, in the case of the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, $8 million per year. Overall, the value of ecosystem services and cost savings demonstrate the real benefits that Indigenous people obtain for working on their land, termed as “Country.” In addition, Indigenous land management delivers offsite ecological, social, and cultural ecosystem services (value estimated at $29 million per year for the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area) which are typically ignored in policy decision making regarding Indigenous matters in Australia. This study highlights the importance of land managed by Indigenous people in Australia and worldwide to comprehend the real value of benefits and suggests developing appropriate stewardship arrangements to support people’s efforts.

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

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

The ecosystem service values simulation and driving force analysis based on land use/land cover: A case study in inland rivers in arid areas of the Aksu River Basin, China

The ecosystem of inland river basin is of great significance to the socio-economic stability in arid area. Therefore, to evaluate the ecosystem service values (ESVs) is necessary for monitor ecosystem changes. In this paper, the response of land use/land cover (LULC) during 1990 to 2020 in Aksu River Basin (ARB) to ESV was explored. The advanced equivalent factor which modified by biomass factor and socio-economic was used to evaluate the ESVs of the ARB. A patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) was used to simulate the ESV spatial distribution considering the influences of temperature (TEM), precipitation (PRE), NDVI, DEM, Soil organic matter content (SOMC) and Human Activity Intensity of Land Surface (HAILS) of the ARB in 2030. The results show that the total ESV in the study area showed an increasing trend (1.63 × 1010 yuan to 5.64 × 1010 yuan) from 1990 to 2020. The grassland had the highest ESV, accounting for nearly 50% of the total ESV for the ARB. The factor detection results showed that q value had the following explanatory power to ESV: HAILS (0.332) > NDVI (0.126) > TEM (0.125) > PRE (0.108) > DEM(0.096) > SOMC(0.089)and the interaction between HAILS and PRE had an effect of 0.493 on ESV. The shape index (SI) was negatively correlated with the ESV, and the correlation coefficient was −0.794. The aggregation index (AI) and Shannon's Diversity Index (SHDI) were positively correlated with the ESV, and the correlation coefficients were 0.872 and 0.878, respectively. The simulation results showed a rapid increase in ESVs in 2030, the ESV of grassland would still be the largest, and the per unit ESV of plowland, forestland, unused land and water area would be 20131.07 yuan/km2, 64743.29 yuan/km2, 3054.21 yuan/km2, 41398.54 yuan/km2, respectively. This paper can help decision-makers achieve sustainable ecosystem service management and develop land-use strategies in inland river basins in arid oases.

Assessment of spatiotemporal variations of ecosystem service values and hotspots in a dryland: A case‐study in Pakistan

AbstractEcosystem services (ES) provided by dryland ecosystems store nearly half and one‐third of the Earth's terrestrial biomass and biodiversity, respectively. Pakistan is a typical dryland region with significant land degradation and dramatic changes in ES in recent decades, which has not been sufficiently investigated. This study explored the spatiotemporal variations in ecosystem service values (ESV) over Pakistan (2001–2018) by combining land use/cover data, economic modeling, and hotspot analysis. From the achieved results, the total ESV indicated an improvement in ES before 2012 and then showed a declining trend. The largest contribution was attributed to the increase in forest/shrubland by 16.17% (2001–2006) and 10.36% (2006–2012). However, the ESV decreased to 7.76% from 2012 to 2018, which was mainly attributed to the decrease in cropland and grassland. Heterogeneous changes were observed in ESV. The hotspot of ESV change (approximately an area of 32,578 km2) was mainly located in the southern and southeastern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), the northeastern part of Balochistan and the central and western parts of Sindh Province. The cold spot (approximately an area of 24,491 km2) showed a distribution in the northern part of KPK and Gilgit Baltistan, northeastern Punjab, coastal regions, and southeastern Sindh Province. We also found that although the total ESV and gross domestic product (GDP) indicated growth, the proportion of ESV from the total ESV and GDP (%ESV) exhibited a negative trend. The Provinces of Punjab and Balochistan retained the highest value of %ESV, while Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan were much lower. These results reflected the spatial imbalance of ecosystem protection and economic development in Pakistan. We recommend that necessary actions for conserving ES are important to strengthen ecological conservation in Pakistan. Additionally, further interdisciplinary research is needed to fully explore synergies in conserving ES and economical conservation.

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.

Prediction and valuation of ecosystem service based on land use/land cover change: A case study of the Pearl River Delta

In recent decades, land use/land cover change caused by rapid economic development has led to a sharp decline in the values of ecosystem service. Based on the land use/land cover change images of the PRD in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, the land use change was analyzed and the corresponding Ecosystem Service Values (ESVs) were evaluated. In addition, a future land use simulation model was developed to simulate multiple scenarios in 2030. The results show that the area of construction land increased nearly 166.05% from 1990 to 2020, and the total ESVs decreased by 11.20 billion yuan. The contribution order of the four types ecosystem service to ESVs is regulating services > supporting services > provisioning services > cultural services. Compared with 2020, the values of ecosystem service of all the five scenarios shows a downward trend, and the order is the Ecological protection scenario (EPS) > the Natural development Scenario (NDS) > the Carbon neutral scenario (CNS) > the Production priority scenario (PPS) > the Economic development scenario (EDS). The CNS may be the most suitable scenario for the PRD region among the five scenarios.

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.

Interactive influences of meteorological and socioeconomic factors on ecosystem service values in a river basin with different geomorphic features

Ecosystem service value (ESV) is influenced by land use and land cover (LULC), and is closely related to natural conditions and human activities. However, the interactions between human and natural systems and ESV remain unclear, especially concerning widely discussed meteorological and socioeconomic factors. In this study, three periods of LULC patterns (2000, 2010, and 2020) in the Haihe River Basin, northern China, were collected to determine the relationship between changes in LULC and ESV over time. Natural and socioeconomic data associated with ESV were obtained and the structural equation model was used to decouple interactions between these factors. Results showed that the total value of regional ecosystem services has decreased as cultivated land shrunk and artificial surfaces increased over the past two decades. The ESV was significantly decreased in the middle of the basin. The direct effects of meteorological factors and socioeconomic factors on ESV were positive (0.094) and negative (−0.203), respectively. The indirect effect of socioeconomic factors on ESV through meteorological and LULC factors was 0.149. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that under the dominance of LULC, interactions between natural and socioeconomic factors affected ESV in a complex manner. These results implied that identifying the direct and indirect effects of economic development and human activities on ESV could guide and implement effective land management policies.

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

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

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.

Unraveling the Spatio-Temporal Relationship between Ecosystem Services and Socioeconomic Development in Dabie Mountain Area over the Last 10 years

The Dabie Mountain area is a typical poverty-stricken area in China. It is of great significance to evaluate the ecosystem service value and its impact mechanism toward optimizing the ecological structure and coordinating ecological protection and economic development. This study determined the ecosystem service value coefficient and calculated the ecosystem service value (ESV) according to the regional economic development in the past ten years, and the ESV was spatialized based on NPP, which is closely related to ecological function. The temporal and spatial variation of ESV was then analyzed, and an RDE index was proposed to describe its response to land cover change. Further, the relationship between ESV and several parameters that reflect socioeconomic development was researched and analyzed. The results show that the total ESV in the study area first decreased and then increased, with an overall increase of CNY 3.895 billion. Among the land cover types, forest land had the greatest impact, contributing more than 70%. In the ecosystem service functions, the contribution of regulation function exceeded 50%. ESV was found to be sensitive to land cover change. On average, every 1 km2 change leads to an ESV change of about CNY 1 million. Socioeconomic-related parameters were negatively correlated with ESV, among which the correlation with per capita disposable income was the weakest, indicating that there was no obvious contradiction between human well-being and ESV. Therefore, a path for harmonious symbiotic development can be found between man and nature.

Threshold effect of ecosystem services in response to climate change, human activity and landscape pattern in the upper and middle Yellow River of China

Identifying spatiotemporal heterogeneity and impact mechanism of ecosystem service value (ESV) is critical for enhancing ecosystem management and regional sustainability. However, the existing findings have failed to investigate the synergetic effect of multiple drivers on ESV, nor have considered the threshold effects under different conditions, which is important to understand the complex and frequently interacting ecosystem. In this study, we applied the improved ESV calculation method, Pearson correlation analysis and conditional inference tree model to depict the dynamic changes of ESV, to explore separate and synergetic effects of various factors, and further to identify key thresholds under combined effects in urban agglomerations along the upper and middle Yellow River area (UMYRA). The results showed that: (1) The total ESV of the study area increased by 5936.63 million CNY over the study period. With the exception of the urban agglomeration along the Yellow River in Ningxia (YRNX), four types of sub-services in Hulunbeier-Baotou-Erdos-Yulin urban agglomeration (HBEY) and Taiyuan urban agglomeration (TY) showed a rising trend. Spatially, the greater growth of ESV mainly concentrated in the northern desert belt, whereas the major grain production areas and urban areas presented different degrees of degradation. (2) Climate factors and land use intensity are the main factors affecting the total ESV, followed by economic density and terrain condition, while landscape metrics exert a relatively small impact on ESV. But the influences of these factors on single ESV show distinct internal differences. (3) Synergetic effects of multi-factors showed that: ①When the evapotranspiration and precipitation are at a certain threshold (1277 mm＜PET＜1317 mm and PRE＞417.55 mm), rising temperature can effectively promote the growth of ESV. The same effect is also observed on steep slopes under matched hydrothermal conditions; ②When economic development is at a high level, intensifying human activities within a certain range (0.11＜HAI＜0.29 and 184.32＜LUI＜210.6) could greatly promote the ESV, but the opposite effect was also true when the thresholds were breached; ③Fragmented landscapes with low diversity (SHDI＜0.86) can promote ESV improvement, but high diversity fragmented landscapes (PD＞0.14 or SHDI＞0.85) would lead to ESV decline. Our research sheds light on the key thresholds under synergetic effect of multiple factors on ESV from a novel perspective, which provide a specific and practical guidance for achieving sustainable management.

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.