scholarly journals Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Services in National Nature Reserves in China’s Coastal Zones

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaowei Li ◽  
Xiubo Yu ◽  
Xiyong Hou ◽  
Yubin Liu ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
...  

Wetlands provide ecosystem services for regional development, and, thus, have considerable economic value. In this study, a combination of evaluation methods was carried out to evaluate the wetland ecosystem services provided by national nature reserves in 11 coastal provinces/municipalities in China. We constructed a literature database containing 808 observations (over 170 papers) on field-scale research for wetlands in China’s coastal zones. Using this literature database, as well as land use (LU) data, net primary productivity (NPP), and statistical data, and digital elevation model (DEM) data, we established a valuation framework and database for nine important ecosystem services of the 13 wetland types in the study area. After the large-scale academic literature review, the ordinary kriging offered by Geostatistical Analyst tools was used to interpolate the physical dimensions of the unmeasured locations. The results showed that: 1) the wetland ecosystem services in 35 national nature reserves have a total value of 33.168 billion USD/year; 2) the values of wetland ecosystem services revealed considerable spatial variability along China’s coastal zones; and 3) assessments provide additional insights into the trade-offs between different ecosystem services and wetland types. The valuation framework and database established in this study can contribute to the mapping of wetland ecosystem services in coastal zones.

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
LU ZHANG ◽  
XIN WANG ◽  
JUNJIAN ZHANG ◽  
ZHIYUN OUYANG ◽  
SIMBA CHAN ◽  
...  

SummaryChina makes a unique and vital contribution to maintaining global and regional waterbird diversity and conservation. Despite considerable historical conservation efforts, the continued loss of waterbird diversity and abundance necessitates a contemporary review of Chinese sites of conservation significance. The Ecological Protection Red Line (EPRL) was proposed by China’s Central Government in 2013 to protect areas providing crucial ecosystem services and provides the opportunity for such a review to enhance waterbird conservation in China. By incorporating various sources of data, surveys and information, we identified a suite of sites of waterbird conservation significance in China, following the Ramsar Site Criteria/Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) Criteria. In total, we identified 422 sites, of which the existing 286 IBA sites formed the basis of the site safeguard network. Altogether, these sites of waterbird conservation significance constitute over 727,000 km2 (7.6% of China’s land surface). Over half of the area of these sites is outside China’s national nature reserves, thus confirming the importance and urgency of including them in the EPRL for the effective conservation of waterbird sites. We suggest that this assessment of sites of waterbird importance offers a useful model to apply to other taxa, such as terrestrial birds and mammals.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Luuk Fleskens ◽  
Johanna Schild ◽  
Simon Moolenaar ◽  
Fei Wang ◽  
...  

<p>From 1999 onwards, China has initiated a large-scale landscape restoration project on the Chinese Loess Plateau, which has had profound but variable impacts on the local ecosystem services supply. In this study, we evaluate the spatial and temporal dynamics in 11 ecosystem services in the Yan’an area on the Chinese Loess Plateau from 1990 to 2018 based on the InVEST model and statistical yearbook data. To consider trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services, the concept of ecosystem service bundles was used to understand the dynamics of ecosystem services. A significant increase of fruit production, sediment retention, habitat quality, aesthetic landscape value as well as learning and inspiration value was found over time in Yan’an area, while a decrease of timber production and water yield was also observed. Synergistic relations were found between sediment retention, carbon sequestration, habitat quality and outdoor recreation, while trade-offs were observed between timber production and water yield. The majority of ecosystem services bundles of Yan’an area were transformed from having a focus on timber production to aesthetic landscape value. The dynamics of ecosystem services change by land restoration was discovered, to start with increasing regulating services at expense of provisioning services, cultural services exceeding regulating services and occupied the main proportion subsequently. The most obvious change was observed in 2000, coinciding with the start of large-scale restoration activities. The implementation of the large-scale restoration project is recognized as a key driving force inducing these changes. Based on the results, it is recommended that the Yan’an government pays attention to local water resource management and timber supply.</p>


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7673
Author(s):  
Wenzhen Zhao ◽  
Zenglin Han ◽  
Xiaolu Yan ◽  
Jingqiu Zhong

Developing effective methods to coordinate the trade-offs among ecosystem services (ES) is important for achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development, and has been the focus of scholars and ecosystem managers globally. Using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) data, our study examined Wafangdian County of Liaoning Province as a case study to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution of four ES (food supply [FS], net primary productivity [NPP], water yield [WY], and soil conservation [SC]) and changes among their interactions. Then, an ordered weighted averaging model was introduced to simulate the optimal scenario of ES allocation. Results showed that: (1) the spatial and temporal changes in ES were significant over 14 years. All ES presented an inverted U-shaped growth curve from 2000–2014. (2) Synergies were observed within provisioning services, and there were trade-offs between provisioning services and regulating services, as well as provisioning services and supporting services. (3) The optimal scenario for Wafangdian was scenario 5 (trade-off coefficient, 0.68). The allocation of FS, NPP, WY, and SC in scenario 5 were 0.187, 0.427, 0.131, and 0.063, respectively. Implementing each ES weight of optimal scenario in land use management contributed to achieving intercoordination of ES. We propose to coordinate land and sea management to restore natural habitats that were expanded into in the high ES area. It is our anticipation that this study could provide a scientific basis for optimizing the allocation of ES and improving land use structure of coastal zones in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Luuk Fleskens ◽  
Johanna Schild ◽  
Simon Moolenaar ◽  
Fei Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Context From 1999 onwards, China has initiated a large-scale landscape restoration project in the Chinese Loess Plateau, which has had profound but variable impacts on the local ecosystem services supply. The dynamics of ecosystem services throughout the restoration process remain poorly understood. Objectives To analyze the spatial and temporal dynamics in ecosystem services before and after the implementation of the land restoration project, and to understand trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem services. Methods We used the InVEST model and statistical yearbook data to quantify the ecosystem services over the period 1990–2018 for the Yan’an area and applied the concept of ecosystem service bundles to understand the dynamics of 11 ecosystem services over its 13 constituent counties. Results A significant increase of fruit production, sediment retention, habitat quality, aesthetic landscape value, and learning and inspiration value was found over time in the Yan’an area, while a decrease of timber production and water yield was also observed. The majority of the county-level ecosystem service bundles were transformed from having a focus on timber production to aesthetic landscape value. The dynamics of ecosystem services change induced by land restoration was discovered to start with increasing regulating services at the expense of provisioning services, while cultural services exceeded regulating services and occupied the main proportion subsequently. Conclusion Both trade-offs and synergies were found between provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Implementation of the large-scale restoration project is recognized as a key driving force inducing change of ecosystem services, starting with an improvement of regulating services followed by a gradually evolving prominence of cultural services.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin O. Reader ◽  
Maria J. Santos ◽  
Alexander Damm ◽  
Owen Petchey ◽  
Hugo de Boer

<p>Human modification of natural systems has typically enhanced provisioning ecosystem services (ES), such as agriculture, at the expense of biodiversity and other types of services. Long-term sustainability requires a balance of ES flows to both maintain human wellbeing, while preserving biodiversity. In river deltas this balance is critical – fertile flat land, well stocked fisheries, and water for use and navigation have promoted rapid population growth and development. Yet the same development degrades the key ES protecting these deltas from hazards and pollution. Many deltas face a critical juncture, at risk or already ‘locked-in’ to the need for engineered solutions to global change problems, unsustainable globally and in the long-term.</p><p>We created a global dataset of 237 deltas and collected indicators of the extent each was modified from its natural state, and its ES supply. Several types of modification to the most important aspects of delta systems were considered – overall human impact (human footprint), pressure and demand on ES (population density), modification of water systems (flow disruption) and modification of natural productivity (human appropriation of net primary productivity); grouping deltas by modification state. The impacts of this human modification on over 50 robust biodiversity and ES indicators were then analysed.</p><p>Firstly, we attempted to create bundles of commonly associated ES in delta areas. Hierarchical clustering highlighted several logical clusters related to crops, fisheries, water, species richness, biodiversity intactness and NPP. Secondly, we examined synergies and trade-offs between different ES. Provisioning services all showed clear correlations with one another, but clear trade-offs with supporting services or biodiversity. There were weaker synergies within and between regulating and supporting ES. Finally, the relationship between each type of modification and the ES was classified using six typologies fitted by applying a decision tree to their LOESS regression curves. Crop indicators typically had an inverted-U relationship, increasing in moderately modified deltas, but decreasing in the most modified, presumably pushed out by other land uses. While many other ES declined with modification, interestingly, species richness and intactness both began to increase again in the most modified deltas. In summary, this global analysis is the first to illustrate how ES vary along a gradient of development in deltas, and highlights the need to balance further modification against these critical services.</p>


Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray W. Scown ◽  
Joseph E. Flotemersch ◽  
Trisha L. Spanbauer ◽  
Tarsha Eason ◽  
Ahjond Garmestani ◽  
...  

A recent paradigm shift from purely biophysical towards social-ecological assessment of watersheds has been proposed to understand, monitor, and manipulate the myriad interactions between human well-being and the ecosystem services that watersheds provide. However, large-scale, quantitative studies in this endeavour remain limited. We utilised two newly developed ‘big-data’ sets—the Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) and the Human Well-Being Index (HWBI)—to explore the social-ecological condition of watersheds throughout the conterminous U.S., and identified environmental and socio-economic influences on watershed integrity and human well-being. Mean county IWI was highly associated with ecoregion, industry-dependence, and state, in a spatially-explicit regression model (R2 = 0.77, P < 0.001), whereas HWBI was not (R2 = 0.31, P < 0.001). HWBI is likely influenced by factors not explored here, such as governance structure and formal and informal organisations and institutions. ‘Win-win’ situations in which both IWI and HWBI were above the 75th percentile were observed in much of Utah, Colorado, and New Hampshire, and lessons from governance that has resulted in desirable outcomes might be learnt from here. Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, along with large parts of the desert southwest, had intact watersheds but low HWBI, representing areas worthy of further investigation of how ecosystem services might be utilised to improve well-being. The Temperate Prairies and Central USA Plains had widespread areas of low IWI but high HWBI, likely a result of historic exploitation of watershed resources to improve well-being, particularly in farming-dependent counties. The lower Mississippi Valley had low IWI and HWBI, which is likely related to historical (temporal) and upstream (spatial) impacts on both watershed integrity and well-being. The results emphasise the importance of considering spatial and temporal trade-offs when utilising the ecosystem services provided by watersheds to improve human well-being.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Luuk Fleskens ◽  
Johanna Schild ◽  
Simon Moolenaar ◽  
Fei Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract ContextFrom 1999 onwards, China has initiated a large-scale landscape restoration project on the Chinese Loess Plateau, which has had profound but variable impacts on the local ecosystem services supply. There was less understood of land restoration impacts on the ecosystem services and dynamics of ecosystem services thoroughout the restoration process.ObjectivesTo to analyse the spatial and temporal dynamics in ecosystem services before and after the implementation of the land restoration project, and to understand trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem services. MethodsWe used InVEST model and statistical yearbook data to quantify the ecosystem, the concept of ecosystem service bundles was applied to understand the dynamics of ecosystem services.ResultsA significant increase of fruit production, sediment retention, habitat quality, aesthetic landscape value, learning and inspiration value was found overtime in Yan’an area, while a decrease of timber production and water yield was also observed. The majority of ecosystem services bundles area were transformed from having a focus on timber production to aesthetic landscape value. The dynamics of ecosystem services change by land restoration was discovered, to start with increasing regulating services at expense of provisioning services, cultural services exceeding regulating services and occupied the main proportion subsequently.ConclusionBoth trade-offs and synergies were found between provisioning, regulating and cultural services, implementation of the large-scale restoration project is recognized as a key driving force inducing change of ecosystem services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Fu ◽  
Pei Xu ◽  
Yukuan Wang ◽  
Yingman Guo

Ecological management based on the ecosystem approach promotes ecological protection and the sustainable use of natural resources. We developed a quantitative approach to identify the ecological function zones at the country-scale, through integrating supply and demand of ecosystem services. We selected the biologically diverse hotspot of Baoxing County, which forms a part of the Sichuan Giant Panda World Heritage Site, to explore the integration of ecosystem services supply and demand for ecosystem management. Specifically, we assessed the various support, provision, regulating, and cultural services as classified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We applied the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) model to spatially map habitat quality, water retention, and carbon sinks, and used statistical data to evaluate food products, animal husbandry, and product supply services. We then quantified the demands for these services in terms of population, protected species, hydropower, water, and land use. The relationship between areas of supply and areas of demand was discussed for each township, and the spatial variability in the supply–demand relationship was also considered. As a result, we spatially divided the county into six ecological functional areas, and the linkages between each region were comprehensively discussed. This study thus provides a detailed methodology for the successful implementation of an ecosystem management framework on a county-scale based on the spatial partitioning of supply and demand.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document