Identification of the trade-offs/synergies between rural landscape services in a spatially explicit way for sustainable rural development

Farmers perceive diminishing ecosystem services, but overlook dis-services in intensively used agricultural landscapes in the North China Plain

The UN sustainable development goals ask countries to advance sustainable production methods in agriculture. While the need for a transition to sustainable agricultural production is widely felt, there is little insight into local stakeholders' perceptions regarding agroecosystem (dis)services in areas with intensive production methods. The North China Plain is an agricultural production area with intensive production systems and simplified agricultural landscapes. We conducted a survey with 267 farmers in Quzhou county in the North China Plain in 2020 to measure the perceived level of agroecosystem (dis)services supply and the changes therein between 2015 and 2020. We analyzed which explanatory factors were associated with farmers' perceptions. Provisioning services were at a high level, while the regulating and supporting ecosystem services were considered to be in low supply, as evidenced by low scores for the presence of natural enemies and earthworms, and for natural habitats such as hedgerows and windbreaks. Most of the participants did not perceive dis-services from agriculture. Differences in perception between villages with contrasting biophysical and socio-economic conditions highlight the relevance of contextualized policy development for agricultural landscape composition and configuration to manage ecosystem (dis)services.

Blackland Conservation and Utilization, Carbon Storage and Ecological Risk in Green Space: A Case Study from Heilongjiang Province in China

Clarifying the relationship between carbon storage and ecological risks is critical to ensuring regional sustainable development. Land use changes caused by land use policy invariably result in substantial changes in carbon storage and ecological risks. The link between carbon storage and ecological risks in green space is still unknown, even though green space is an essential ecological function carrier. According to the Blackland Conservation Utilization (BCU) policy document and natural exploitation (NP) status, this study compared and projected the carbon storage and landscape ecological risk characteristics of green space in Heilongjiang Province (HLJP) for 2030. It also quantitatively assessed the interactions and synergistic changes of the two variables in terms of coupled coordination relationships, quantitative correlations, and spatial correlations. The results demonstrated the following: (1) the green space evolution of HJLP under the BCU scenario is significantly more drastic than under the NP scenario; (2) In 2020-2030, the NP scenario's evolution of green space results in the ecosystem losing 323.51 × 106 t of carbon storage, compared to the BCU scenario's loss of just 216.07 × 106 t. The BCU policy will increase the agglomeration of high-risk ranges in the northeast and southwest will but decrease the overall landscape ecological risk level of green space; (3) BCU policy will prevent the system's orderly development and benign coupling, but it will increase the interdependence between carbon storage and landscape ecological risks in green space; (4) Green space exchange and loss will result in the simultaneous rise or decrease in both variables. The magnitude of carbon storage increase owing to green space expansion tends to increase simultaneously with the magnitude of landscape ecological risk reduction. To a certain extent, the HLJP black land conservation and utilization policy can improve carbon storage and ensure ecological security, and the matching of dominant regions with the status of the landscape evolutionary process can support future carbon-neutral actions.

Differentiation and correlation of spatial pattern and multifunction in rural settlements considering topographic gradients: Evidence from Loess Hilly Region, China

In the process of rapid industrialization and urbanization, China's rural settlements are undergoing rapid differentiation and reorganization. Their spatial pattern and multifunction have attracted much attention. In the Loess Hilly Region of China, topographic factors are deeply involved in the formation and evolution of the spatial pattern and multifunction in rural settlements. Therefore, this paper proposed a new method of topographic gradient analysis based on micro-geomorphic units. Taking Tianshui City in Longzhong Loess Hilly Region as an example, we analyzed the gradient differentiation and spatial correlation of the spatial pattern and multifunction in rural settlements. The results indicated that: (1) The topographic gradient differentiation of spatial pattern in rural settlements was distinct. As the topographic gradients rose, the numerical distributions of TA, AREA_CV, MPI, PR, and SHDI were generally concentrated from high to low values. The numerical distribution of LFI was generally scattered from low to high values. In addition, the numerical distribution of AWMSI and AWMPFD showed the "arch bridge" pattern. (2) The topographic gradient differentiation of multifunction in rural settlements was distinct. The overall level of LF was relatively low, and the numerical difference was small. It had the characteristics of concentrated distribution and marginal distribution in geographical space. The overall level of PF was low, and the spatial distribution had strong urban directivity and significant topographic gradient differences. The overall level of EF was relatively low, and the spatial distribution had significant horizontal zonality and topographic gradient differences. (3) Rural settlements' scale, distribution, and structure were generally synergistic with LF and PF, but there were trade-off relationships with EF. Moreover, the trade-off/synergy relationships between spatial pattern and multifunction had significant spatial heterogeneity in terms of spatial distribution. This paper is significant for formulating settlement development and construction plans, guiding spatial reconstruction and functional reorganization, improving settlement living environment, and promoting rural revitalization.

Optimizing the Compensation Standard of Cultivated Land Protection Based on Ecosystem Services in the Hangzhou Bay Area, China

The significant positive externality of cultivated land ecosystem services leads to the low comparative benefit of cultivated land utilization and then causes practical problems such as the abandonment and non-agriculturalization of the cultivated land, which poses a threat to China’s food security. The existing protection system only focuses on the quantity requirement and food production service of cultivated land and ignores the multi-function of cultivated land as an ecosystem, resulting in insufficient incentives and poor effect. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the protection’s economic compensation standard by adding the cultivated land’s ecosystem service value in order to comprehensively assess cultivated land resources and correct for externalities. Taking the area around Hangzhou Bay, where the contradiction between cultivated land protection and economic development is prominent, as an example, the values of six typical cultivated land ecosystem services in 2016 was constructed and calculated, including food production, carbon sequestration and oxygen production, water conservation, soil conservation, biodiversity maintenance, and cultural leisure. Combined with ecosystem services’ values and the quality index, we finally determined the new county-level compensation standard of cultivated land protection in the Hangzhou Bay area. The results show that the value of cultivated land ecosystem services present obvious regional disparities, meaning that there exist significant differences in the sustainable use capacity of cultivated land and the necessity of establishing grading compensation standards in the region. Finally, we analyze the rationality and innovation of the new compensation standard model as well as its role in the protection of cultivated land and look forward to promoting the sustainable use of cultivated land through these new incentives.