Using palaeolimnological data and historical records to assess long-term dynamics of ecosystem services in typical Yangtze shallow lakes (China)

Understanding the dynamics of ecosystem services (ESs) is crucial for sustainable resource management. Palaeolimnological records have a great potential to reveal long-term variations and dynamic interactions in ESs, especially supporting/regulating services, which are not easily quantified by documentary records. To elucidate the variations between eight important ESs in shallow lake ecosystems, we combined documentary records with palaeolimnological proxies (covering the past 100years) from two typical lakes (Lakes Taibai and Zhangdu) of the Yangtze River basin. Although all supporting services and some provisioning services have increased, the regulating services of the two lakes have markedly declined, in particular since the 1950s. Human activities, including hydrological intervention, nutrient input and land-use change, were identified as the main factors behind the observed variations. Both in Lake Taibai and Zhangdu, primary production and biodiversity (supporting services) have increased (synergies), whereas climate and water purification (regulating services) have significantly decreased (tradeoffs) since the 1950s when attempts were made by the local population to reach a higher land/fish ESs level. By considering long-term records, dynamic tradeoff and synergy relationship between various ESs relative to different types of human "modification" in a temporal perspective, we suggest valuable information can be gained in future lake management initiatives.

Spatial disparity dynamics of ecosystem service values and GDP in Shaanxi Province, China in the last 30 years

The regional policy in China is shifting from solely gross domestic product (GDP) orientation to development that is more balanced between economic growth and ecological protection, as well as achieving equality among regions. Using land use maps and the adjusted value coefficients to assess ecosystem service values (ESV) for the 1980s, 1995, 2000, and 2010, we estimated the ESV in Shaanxi Province for different years, and characterized the spatial and temporal distribution of ESV and GDP. The results demonstrated that the total value of ecosystem services in Shaanxi Province increased from 208.95 billion Yuan in the 1980s to 309.76 billion Yuan in 2010. Variation Coefficient (C_v) and Theil index (T) were used to reflect the disparities of GDP or ESV within the study area. The values of Cv in descending order are GDP, ESV per capita, ESV, and GDP per capita. The Theil indexes of GDP were much greater than the ones of ESV. Variations of Cv and T showed that disparity in GDP kept increasing from the 1980s to 2000, then decreased; while no significant change in regional disparity of ESV were detected in parallel. The cities with higher GDP usually contributed little to ESV, and vice versa. The variation in GDP and ESV, in terms of the prefectural totals and per capita values, increased from the 1980s to 2010. This study provides an accessible way for local decision makers to evaluate the regional balance between economic growth and ecosystem services.

Effects of ecological restoration projects on changes in land cover: A case study on the Loess Plateau in China

Changes in land cover have become key components of global environmental change and represent the impact of human activity. To better understand the fundamental processes of land transition characteristics before and after the implementation of ecological programmes, we determined the dominant systematic changes in land cover in Yongshou, a hilly-gully region on the Loess Plateau. This was achieved by performing an in-depth analysis of a cross-tabulation matrix and a modified spatial dynamic degree model. Our results indicated that (1) forest land and cultivated land were the most important land cover types in Yongshou and their persistence would greatly affect the landscape pattern of the entire region; (2) the most significant changing signals in the study area during the periods 1992–2000 and 2000–2013 were from immature forest land to forest land, cultivated land to orchards and orchards to construction land; and (3) the region that experienced the most changes during 1992–2000 was the densely populated county seat of Yongshou; however, from 2000–2013, the region of most changes was Changning, a town located in the northcentral region of Yongshou. These findings reveal the main characteristics of the land cover changes in this region and provide insight into the processes underlying these changes.

Human Activity Influences on Vegetation Cover Changes in Beijing, China, from 2000 to 2015

For centuries, the rapid development of human society has already made human activity the dominant factor in the terrestrial ecosystem. As the city of greatest importance in China, the capital Beijing has experienced eco-environmental changes with unprecedented economic and population growth during the past few decades. To better understand the ecological transition and its correlations in Beijing, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) images were used to investigate vegetation coverage changes using a dimidiate pixel model. Piecewise linear regression, bivariate-partial correlation analysis, and factor analysis were applied to the probing of the relationship between vegetation coverage changes and climatic/human-induced factors. The results showed that from 2000 to 2005, 2005 to 2010, and 2010 to 2015, Beijing experienced both restoration (6.33%, 10.08%, and 12.81%, respectively) and degradation (13.62%, 9.35%, and 9.49%, respectively). The correlation analysis results between climate and vegetation changes demonstrated that from 2000 to 2015, both the multi-year annual mean temperature (r = −0.819, p < 0.01) and the multi-year annual mean precipitation (r = 0.653, p < 0.05) had a significantly correlated relationship with vegetation change. The Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control Project (BTSSCP) has shown beneficial spatial effects on vegetation restoration; the total effectiveness in conservation areas (84.94 in 2000–2010) was much better than non-BTSSCP areas (34.34 in 2000–2010). The most contributory socioeconomic factors were the population (contribution = 54.356%) and gross domestic product (GDP) (contribution = 30.677%). The population showed a significantly negative correlation with the overall vegetation coverage (r = −0.684, p < 0.05). The GDP was significantly negatively correlated with vegetation in Tongzhou, Daxing, Central city, Fangshan, Shunyi, and Changping (r = −0.601, p < 0.01), while positively related in Huairou, Miyun, Pinggu, Mentougou and Yanqing (r = 0.614, p < 0.01). These findings confirm that human activity is a very significant factor in impacting and explaining vegetation changes, and that some socioeconomic influences on vegetation coverage are highly spatially heterogeneous, based on the context of different areas.

Strengthening protected areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services in China

Recent expansion of the scale of human activities poses severe threats to Earth's life-support systems. Increasingly, protected areas (PAs) are expected to serve dual goals: protect biodiversity and secure ecosystem services. We report a nationwide assessment for China, quantifying the provision of threatened species habitat and four key regulating services-water retention, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, and carbon sequestration-in nature reserves (the primary category of PAs in China). We find that China's nature reserves serve moderately well for mammals and birds, but not for other major taxa, nor for these key regulating ecosystem services. China's nature reserves encompass 15.1% of the country's land surface. They capture 17.9% and 16.4% of the entire habitat area for threatened mammals and birds, but only 13.1% for plants, 10.0% for amphibians, and 8.5% for reptiles. Nature reserves encompass only 10.2-12.5% of the source areas for the four key regulating services. They are concentrated in western China, whereas much threatened species' habitat and regulating service source areas occur in eastern provinces. Our analysis illuminates a strategy for greatly strengthening PAs, through creating the first comprehensive national park system of China. This would encompass both nature reserves, in which human activities are highly restricted, and a new category of PAs for ecosystem services, in which human activities not impacting key services are permitted. This could close the gap in a politically feasible way. We also propose a new category of PAs globally, for sustaining the provision of ecosystems services and achieving sustainable development goals.

Science for the sustainable use of ecosystem services

Sustainability is a key challenge for humanity in the 21st century. Ecosystem services—the benefits that people derive from nature and natural capital—is a concept often used to help explain human reliance on nature and frame the decisions we make in terms of the ongoing value of nature to human wellbeing. Yet ecosystem service science has not always lived up to the promise of its potential. Despite advances in the scientific literature, ecosystem service science has not yet answered some of the most critical questions posed by decision-makers in the realm of sustainability. Here, we explore the history of ecosystem service science, discuss advances in conceptualization and measurement, and point toward further work needed to improve the use of ecosystem service in decisions about sustainable development.

Quantifying and sustaining biodiversity in tropical agricultural landscapes

Decision-makers increasingly seek scientific guidance on investing in nature, but biodiversity remains difficult to estimate across diverse landscapes. Here, we develop empirically based models for quantifying biodiversity across space. We focus on agricultural lands in the tropical forest biome, wherein lies the greatest potential to conserve or lose biodiversity. We explore two questions, drawing from empirical research oriented toward pioneering policies in Costa Rica. First, can remotely sensed tree cover serve as a reliable basis for improved estimation of biodiversity, from plots to regions? Second, how does tropical biodiversity change across the land-use gradient from native forest to deforested cropland and pasture? We report on understory plants, nonflying mammals, bats, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Using data from 67,737 observations of 908 species, we test how tree cover influences biodiversity across space. First, we find that fine-scale mapping of tree cover predicts biodiversity within a taxon-specific radius (of 30-70 m) about a point in the landscape. Second, nearly 50% of the tree cover in our study region is embedded in countryside forest elements, small (typically 0.05-100 ha) clusters or strips of trees on private property. Third, most species use multiple habitat types, including crop fields and pastures (to which 15% of species are restricted), although some taxa depend on forest (57% of species are restricted to forest elements). Our findings are supported by comparisons of 90 studies across Latin America. They provide a basis for a planning tool that guides investments in tropical forest biodiversity similar to those for securing ecosystem services.