Driving Factor Analysis of Ecosystem Service Balance for Watershed Management in the Lancang River Valley, Southwest China

How Does Topography Affect the Value of Ecosystem Services? An Empirical Study from the Qihe Watershed

Topographic position indices (TPIs) measure essential impacts on ecosystem service supply capacity. The identification of changes in ecosystem services and value metrics under varying TPIs has become a topical subject of global change research. Multidimensional changes in spatiotemporal and geographical aspects of ecosystem service values (ESVs) are assessed in this article using land cover/use data from 2000-2015. Effects of land-use/cover changes and topographic indices on ESVs are explored using the Chinese terrestrial unit area ecosystem service value equivalence table combined with topographic factors. A sensitivity index is introduced to quantify the robustness of total ESV to land-use/cover and topographic indices. The results show that: (1) The total ESV in the Qihe watershed declined with a change in land-use/cover during the period 2000-2015. The maximum ESV was CNY 1.984 billion in 2005 and the minimum was CNY 1.940 billion in 2010; (2) The response of ESV to land/use cover varied greatly across TPIs, with the most significant change in ESV occurring in the 0.6-0.8 TPI range and the greatest change in a single ecosystem service occurred in water areas; (3) The sensitivity indices of ESVs are all less than 1. The sensitivity indices of unused land and water tended to zero. Woodland sensitivity indices were the highest at 0.53, followed by those of arable land and grassland, owing to the large proportion of arable land and grassland areas in the overall area of land-use categories.

Spatial and Temporal Changes of Landscape Patterns and Their Effects on Ecosystem Services in the Huaihe River Basin, China

Landscape pattern changes caused by human activities are among the most important driving factors affecting ecosystem spatial structure and components, and significantly impact ecosystem services. Understanding the relationship between landscape patterns and ecosystem services is important for improving regional conservation and establishing ecosystem management strategies. Taking the Huaihe River Basin as an example, this study used land-use data, meteorological data, and topographic data to analyze the spatial and temporal changes in landscape patterns via landscape transfer matrix and landscape indices, and measured four ecosystem services (water retention, soil retention, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation) with the InVEST models. Furthermore, correlation analysis and global spatial autocorrelation coefficient were used to analyze the impact of landscape pattern changes on ecosystem services. The results showed grassland and farmland areas had continuously decreased, while built-up land and affected water had significantly increased. Landscape fragmentation was reduced, the connectivity between patches was weakened, landscape heterogeneity, evenness, and patch irregularity were increased. Changes in landscape composition and configuration have affected the ecosystem services of the Huaihe River Basin. The reduction in grassland areas and the increase in built-up land areas have significantly reduced the capacity for soil retention, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation. Spatially, regions with low landscape fragmentation and high patch connectivity had a higher water retention capacity and biodiversity conservation, while soil retention and carbon storage were opposite. Temporally, reduction of landscape fragmentation and increase of patch shape irregularity had a negative effect on water retention, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation, while soil retention was not sensitive to these changes. The findings in this paper promote an understanding of the relationship between landscape patterns and ecosystem services on a large scale and provide theoretical guidance for ecosystem management and protection planning in the Huaihe River Basin, China.

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.