Mapping Ecosystem Service Bundles to Detect Distinct Types of Multifunctionality within the Diverse Landscape of the Yangtze River Basin, China

Climate and land use changes impact the trajectories of ecosystem service bundles in an urban agglomeration: Intricate interaction trends and driver identification under SSP-RCP scenarios

The delivery of ecosystem services (ESs), particularly in urban agglomerations, faces substantial threats from impending future climate change and human activity. Assessing ES bundles (ESBs) is critical to understanding the spatial allocation and interactions between multiple ESs. However, dynamic projections of ESBs under various future scenarios are still lacking, and their underlying driving mechanisms have received insufficient attention. This study examined the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and proposed a framework that integrates patch-generating land use simulation into three shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios and clustering analysis to assess spatiotemporal variations in seven ESs and ESBs from 1990 to 2050. The spatial trajectories of ESBs were analyzed to identify fluctuating regions susceptible to SSP scenarios. The results indicated that (1) different scenarios exhibited different loss rates of regulating and supporting services, where the mitigation of degradation was most significant under SSP126. The comprehensive ES value was highest under SSP245. (2) Bundles 1 and 2 (dominated by regulating and supporting services) had the largest total proportion under SSP126 (51.92 %). The largest total proportion of Bundles 4 and 5 occurred under SSP585 (48.96 %), with the highest provisioning services. The SSP126 scenario was projected to have the least ESB fluctuation at the grid scale, while the most occurred under SSP585. (3) Notably, synergies between regulating/supporting services were weaker under SSP126 than under either SSP245 or SSP585, while trade-offs between water yield and non-provisioning services were strongest. (4) Forestland and grassland proportions significantly affected carbon sequestration and habitat quality. Climatic factors (precipitation and temperature) acted as the dominant drivers of provisioning services, particularly water yield. Our findings advocate spatial strategies for future regional ES management to address upcoming risks.

Linking plant and vertebrate species to Nature's Contributions to People in the Swiss Alps

Since the late 1990s, Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs; i.e. ecosystem services) were used as a putative leverage for fostering nature preservation. NCPs have largely been defined and mapped at the landscape level using land use and cover classifications. However, NCP mapping attempts based directly on individual species are still uncommon. Given that species shape ecosystems and ultimately deliver NCPs, mapping NCPs based on species distribution data should deliver highly meaningful results. This requires first establishing a census of the species-to-NCP relationships. However, datasets quantifying these relationships across several species and NCPs are rare. Here, we fill this gap by compiling literature and expert knowledge to establish the relationships of 1816 tracheophyte and 250 vertebrate species with 17 NCPs in the Swiss Alps. We illustrated the 31,098 identified species-NCP relationships for the two lineages and discuss why such a table is a key initial step in building spatial predictions of NCPs directly from species data, e.g. to ultimately complement spatial conservation planning.

Carbon Sink under Different Carbon Density Levels of Forest and Shrub, a Case in Dongting Lake Basin, China

Terrestrial ecosystems play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and climate change mitigation. Studying the temporal and spatial dynamics of carbon sink and the driving mechanisms at the regional scale provides an important basis for ecological restoration and ecosystem management. Taking the Dongting Lake Basin as an example, we assessed the carbon sinks of forest and shrub from 2000 to 2020 based on the maps of biomass that were obtained by remote sensing, and analyzed the dynamics of carbon sinks that were contributed by different biomass carbon density levels of constant forest and shrub and new afforestation over the past two decades. The results showed that the carbon sink of forest and shrub in the Dongting Lake Basin grew rapidly from 2000 to 2020: carbon sink increased from 64.64 TgC between 2000 and 2010, to 382.56 TgC between 2010 and 2020. The continuous improvement of biomass carbon density has made a major contribution to carbon sink, especially the carbon density increase in low carbon density forests and shrubs. Carbon-dense forests and shrubs realized their contribution to carbon sink in the second decade after displaying negative carbon sink in the first decade. Carbon sink from new afforestation increased 61.16% from the first decade to the second decade, but the contribution proportion decreased. The overall low carbon density of forest and shrub in the Dongting Lake Basin and their carbon sink dynamics indicated their huge carbon sequestration potential in the future. In addition to continuously implementing forest protection and restoration projects to promote afforestation, the improvement of ecosystem quality should be paid more attention in ecosystem management for areas like Dongting Lake Basin, where ecosystems, though severely degraded, are important and fragile, to realize their huge carbon sequestration potential.

Analyzing the Interrelationships among Various Ecosystem Services from the Perspective of Ecosystem Service Bundles in Shenyang, China

An understanding of the relationships among multiple ecosystem services (ES) facilitates ecosystem management and decision-making. The study of ES bundles can well explain the complex interactions between different ES in a region. Shenyang is a significant economic development and food production area in Northeast China, with a diverse range of ES types. In this study, we quantified eleven ES from Shenyang, China (two provisioning services, eight regulating services, and one cultural service). The trade-offs and synergies among ES were analyzed by Spearman’s correlation analysis. The ES bundles were identified using principal component analysis and k-means cluster analysis. Finally, the random forest method was employed to identify the driving factors affecting the ES bundles. The results showed: (1) all ES in Shenyang improved between 2000 and 2019; (2) the most obvious trade-off was found between sand fixation and water conservation; (3) the ES in the study region could be clustered into five different ES bundles which were primarily affected by land-use type; and (4) social-ecological factors largely explained and predicted the formation and distribution of ES bundles. The study provides reference information for the management and optimization of Shenyang’s ecosystems and land use regulation.

Integrating Remotely Sensed Leaf Area Index with Biome-BGC to Quantify the Impact of Land Use/Land Cover Change on Water Retention in Beijing

Maintaining or increasing water retention in ecosystems (WRE) can reduce floods and increase water resource provision. However, few studies have taken the effect of the spatial information of vegetation structure into consideration when assessing the effects of land use/land cover (LULC) change on WRE. In this study, we integrated the remotely sensed leaf area index (LAI) into the ecosystem process-based Biome-BGC model to analyse the impact of LULC change on the WRE of Beijing between 2000 and 2015. Our results show that the volume of WRE increased by approximately 8.58 million m3 in 2015 as compared with 2000. The volume of WRE in forests increased by approximately 26.74 million m3, while urbanization, cropland expansion and deforestation caused the volume of WRE to decline by 11.96 million m3, 5.86 million m3 and 3.20 million m3, respectively. The increased WRE contributed by unchanged forests (14.46 million m3) was much greater than that of new-planted forests (12.28 million m3), but the increase in WRE capacity per unit area in new-planted forests (124.69 ± 14.30 m3/ha) was almost tenfold greater than that of unchanged forests (15.60 ± 7.85 m3/ha). The greater increase in WRE capacity in increased forests than that of unchanged forests was mostly due to the fact that the higher LAI in unchanged forests induced more evapotranspiration to exhaust more water. Meanwhile, the inverted U-shape relationship that existed between the forest LAI and WRE implied that continued increased LAI in forests probably caused the WRE decline. This study demonstrates that integrating remotely sensed LAI with the Biome-BGC model is feasible for capturing the impact of LULC change with the spatial information of vegetation structure on WRE and reduces uncertainty.

Constraint relationship of ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Understanding the relationship among ecosystem services (ESs) is essential to promote ESs management and sustainable development. The relationship between ESs is mutual and can be expressed in terms of trade-offs, synergy, and constraints. The paper selected the InVEST model to assess the water yield (WY), soil conservation (SC), food production (FP), net primary productivity (NPP), and habitat quality (HQ) of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) and used the constraint line method to analyze the relationship of paired ecological services at three scales: landscape, watershed, and land category. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) during the study period, the spatial changes of the five ecological services in the YREB did not change much, but the spatial distribution of the ecological services was different. (2) From 2000 to 2015, the constraint line of YREB paired ecological services had a high degree of fit. Under the three levels of landscape, watershed, and land category, the YREB has a variety of constraint types, including negative lines, logarithms, paraboloids, humped shapes, and rectangles. (3) At the three levels, the constraint lines between FP, NPP, WY, and SC and HQ were stable rectangular constraints; WY-SC was hump shaped, FP-NPP, FP-SC, FP-WY, NPP-WY, and NPP-SC changed with the scale, showing different spatial scale changes. (4) The paired ESs directly determined the ecological constraint curve but under the combined effect of other factors, which would affect or change the constraint line. We discussed the effects of weather, topography, and economy on the constraint relationship, and found that all have different degrees of influence.

Estimation of Citizens’ Willingness to Pay for the Implementation of Payment for Local Forest Ecosystem Services: The Case of Taxes and Donations

The purpose of this study is to determine a valid strategy for implementing payment for the local forest ecosystem services (local forest PES) by considering citizens’ willingness to pay (WTP) and the resource types utilized (taxes and donations). A total of 1000 citizens responded to an online survey, which consisted of questions related to respondents’ socio-demographics, predicting factors (i.e., political orientation, personal tie to the region) of their willingness to pay (WTP), and their willingness to pay for a bundle of 10 different forest ecosystem services (ESs) in the region of the Yeoninsan provincial park in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The estimation of the respondents’ WTP for the promotion of the forest management activities, which enhances the ES bundle of the local forest, was 14,315–20,216 KRW (12.75–18.00 USD) per year in taxes and 12,258–26,518 KRW (10.92–23.61 USD) per year in donations. This study also revealed that the predicting factors influencing the respondents’ WTP for the promotion of the local forest ESs differed according to the financial resource type (taxes and donations). The results of this study are meaningful in that they can be used as empirical basic data in estimating payments and preparing measures to secure financial resources when designing payments for the ecosystem services for the local forest.

Bundles and Hotspots of Multiple Ecosystem Services for Optimized Land Management in Kentucky, United States

Ecosystem services are benefits that the natural environment provides to support human well-being. A thorough understanding and assessment of these services are critical to maintain ecosystem services flow through sustainable land management to optimize bundles of ecosystem services provision. Maximizing one particular ecosystem service may lead to reduction in another. Therefore, identifying ecosystem services tradeoffs and synergies is key in addressing this challenge. However, the identification of multiple ecosystem services tradeoffs and synergies is still limited. A previous study failed to effectively capture the spatial interaction among ecosystem services as it was limited by “space-to-time” substitution method used because of temporal data scarcity. The study was also limited by using land use types in creating ecosystem services, which could lead to some deviations. The broad objective of this study is therefore to examine the bundles and hotspots of multiple ecosystem services and their tradeoffs in Kentucky, U.S. The study combined geographic data and spatially-explicit models to identify multiple ecosystem services bundles and hotspots, and determined the spatial locations of ecosystem services hotspots. Results showed that the spatial interactions among ecosystem services were very high: of the 21 possible pairs of ecosystem services, 17 pairs were significantly correlated. The seven ecosystem services examined can be bundled into three groups, geographically clustered on the landscape. These results support the hypothesis that some groups of ecosystem services provision can present similar spatial patterns at a large mesoscale. Understanding the spatial interactions and bundles of the ecosystem services provides essential information for evidence-based sustainable land management.

Using Ecosystem Service Flows to Inform Ecological Compensation: Theory & Application

Ecological compensation is a crucial policy instrument that realigns the benefits of stakeholders to the ecosystem service provision. However, the spatial disconnections between locations where ecosystem services produced and used are common. The supply and demand for ecosystem services are calculated to reflect the status of the districts or counties based on ecosystem service flows. The replacement cost methods provide necessary technical supports for the calculation of compensation funds. The realigning of compensation funds between service-benefiting areas and service-providing areas not only identifies the beneficiaries and suppliers but also realizes the connection between them, which may be a feasible methodology. Fuzhou City is the study area, and two ecosystem services of water conservation and soil retention were taken into consideration. The prioritized development zone, Linchuan, and the key agricultural production zones paid ecological compensation funds. Linchuan paid the highest, 5.76 billion yuan. The key ecological function zones and the key agricultural production zones received the ecological compensation funds, of which Yihuang obtained the highest, 1.66 billion yuan. The realigning of compensation funds between the service benefiting and providing areas addresses the trade-offs between ecosystem services, social development, and ecosystem protection. Embedding the ecosystem service flows into the ecological compensation mechanism can most truly realize the value of ecosystem services, achieve the “beneficiary pays” principle, and be conducive to regional sustainable development.

Identification of ecosystem service bundles and driving factors in Beijing and its surrounding areas

In high-intensity human activity areas, such as metropolises, rapid changes in land use, agricultural intensification, and population urbanization have resulted in profound and complex transformations in socio-economic ecosystems. The study of ecosystem service (ES) bundle is conducive to various aspects, such as determination of the variation characteristics of ES; identification of the mechanism of interdependence within ES; and driving mechanism of socio-economic-ecological factors to ES to maintain the sustainable development of the region. The research areas include Beijing and its surrounding areas. Ten ES, including grain providing (GP), water yield (WY), carbon sequestration (CS), soil retention (SEC), purified water service, cultural services, and habitat quality (HQ) were selected for valuing and mapping. The ES paired trade-offs and synergetic relationship, bundle was determined, and the bundles' service types and spatial distribution characteristics were analyzed. Subsequently, GeoDetector was used for detecting the factors affecting the bundles' distribution. Results showed that WY, CS, SEC, and HQ were bounded by Tai-hang and Yanshan Mountains. Among the 45 pairs of ES, 38 pairs bore significant correlation. Multiple services had different degrees of positive and negative correlations with other services. For example, GP had a high positive correlation with WY while bearing a high negative correlation with HQ. Seven bundles include SEC, culture, urban, HQ, agriculture, water supply and purification, and water purification. Various factors played decisive roles in the bundles' spatial distribution. Among them, the investment capacity and demand for ecological protection depend on the level of GDP and POP. The formulation of agricultural planting plans is inseparable from TADEM. ASL is directly related to species richness. Results indicate that bundle research can identify the areas of the formation of co-occurrence of trade-offs and synergies and support the formulation of ES optimal management plans for different regions through further research of the driving mechanism.

Integrating Biophysical and Sociocultural Methods for Identifying the Relationships between Ecosystem Services and Land Use Change: Insights from an Oasis Area

Identifying the relationships between ecosystem services (ESs) and land use change is crucial for ES management and sustainable regional development. The Manas region in China has witnessed dramatic reclamation activities in its desert areas that resulted in ecological problems. The changes in eight ESs, including crop production (CP), livestock production (LP), soil conservation (SC), water yield (WY), sand fixation (SF), carbon sequestration (CS), habitat quality (HQ), and nature landscape recreation (NLR), were investigated by using biophysical and questionnaire methods. At the regional scale, provisioning services (i.e., CP and LP) showed some performance improvements, whereas most of the regulating services (i.e., WY, CS, and HQ) along with NLR showed a performance decline. Five ES bundles—Upper Mountain, Foothill, Oasis, Oasis–Desert Transition, and Desert bundle—were identified at the township scale via k-means clustering. From 2000 to 2015, the Oasis bundle sprawled as a result of oasisization, whereas the Oasis–Desert Transition and Foothill bundles decreased. We performed a questionnaire survey and a statistical analysis to identify the causes behind the performance improvement/decline of these ESs and found that the land use changes in the Manas region had a significant impact on these services. More than 50% of the survey respondents identified land use changes as the primary driver of the changes in some ESs (i.e., CP, CS, HQ, and NLR). In the correlation and partial correlation analyses, oasisization was significantly and positively correlated with CP but was negatively correlated with WY, CS, HQ, and NLR. We enhanced the reliability of our conclusions by integrating biophysical and sociocultural methods into our investigation of ES and land use change. In view of the huge losses in regulating and cultural services, the Manas region should limit its desert reclamation activities to control the expansion of its oasis and to improve the quality of its cropland. Our results can help formulate effective ES management and land use decisions in the Manas region or similar areas.

Incorporating Rarity and Accessibility Factors into the Cultural Ecosystem Services Assessment in Mountainous Areas: A Case Study in the Upper Reaches of the Minjiang River

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are not only a key source for supporting the development of economy but also maintain the ecological security in mountainous areas. However, there are limited numbers of studies that focus on establishing the assessment model for the CES at a regional scale. We combined the topographic factors and accessibility factors to quantify the distribution of CES and tested the approach with data on road and topography in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. The results showed that the areas with high CES were located in the southwestern part of the study area, where it was convenient traffic and rare topography. Results from our approach were likely to support the development of local tourism industry because the distribution of CES was consistent with current hotspots for scenic spots. Meanwhile, we found that the area with high rarity and low accessibility should improve accessibility in order to enhance the capacity of CES. The assumptions applied in our approach highlighted the impacts of complex topography on CES, which could be suitable for the area with a lack of data. Moreover, our approach provided an effective way to assess CES for creating management strategies and enhancing capacity in mountainous areas.

Temporal Changes in Multiple Ecosystem Services and Their Bundles Responding to Urbanization and Ecological Restoration in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Metropolitan Area

By 2050, 70% of the human population is likely to be living in cities, making urbanization an increasing global trend. Detecting changes in ecosystem services (ES) and their bundles in response to urbanization is critical for evaluating land-use policies. We examined changes in the provision of grains, vegetables, fruits, carbon sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, and water retention from 2000 to 2010 in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan area, China; then, using a k-means cluster analysis, we classified 202 counties of this area into groups (bundles) based on their similar sets of ES. We found that (1) urban area, forestland, and grassland increased by 22%, 3.6%, and 1.7%, respectively, while cropland decreased by 4.6%; (2) the provision of grains, vegetables, and fruits increased by 24–90%, despite an overall loss in cropland; carbon storage and sand retention increased by 40% and 7%, respectively, while soil and water retention increased slightly by approx. 1% each; (3) 72 counties changed their ES bundles; and the “agriculture bundle” dominated the landscape in 2000 while it decreased by 50% in 2010 and was mainly transformed to “sub-developed urban bundle”, indicating loss of cropland during that decade. The transformation of ES bundles can be used to understand the effects of urbanization. The study indicated that improved technologies and ecological restoration in rural areas can help sustain multiple ES in our rapidly urbanizing world.

Linking Social Perception and Provision of Ecosystem Services in a Sprawling Urban Landscape: A Case Study of Multan, Pakistan

Urban sprawl causes changes in land use and a decline in many ecosystem services. Understanding the spatial patterns of sprawl and exploration of citizens’ perception towards the sporadic urban expansion and its impacts on an ecosystem to deliver services can help to guide land use planning and the conservation of the urban ecosystem. Here, we spatially examined land use changes in Multan, Pakistan, and investigated public perception about urban sprawl and its impacts on the quality and provision of ecosystem services, using a survey instrument. The spatial analysis of the historical land cover of Multan indicated an exponential expansion of the city in the last decade. Large areas of natural vegetation and agricultural land were converted to urban settlements in the past two decades. The citizens of Multan believe that the quality and provision of ecosystem services have declined in the recent past and strongly correlate the deteriorating ecosystem services with urban sprawl. Education and income levels of the respondents are the strongest predictors of urban ecosystem health literacy. Citizens associated with laborious outdoor jobs are more sensitive to the changes in ecosystem services. We concluded that the rapidly expanding cities, especially in the tropical arid zones, need to be prioritized for an increase in vegetation cover, and economically vulnerable settlements in these cities should be emphasized in climate change mitigation campaigns.

Impact of Land Use/Cover Change on Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration Ecosystem Services Value: Temporal-Spatial Patterns and Cold/Hot Spots Ecosystem Services Value Change Brought by Urbanization

Land use/cover change (LUCC) from increased urbanization significantly impacts regional ecosystem services. Based on a cold/hot spots analysis, this paper used grain yield, food prices, price index statistics, and a land use thematic map to study the impact of LUCC on four ecosystem services values (ESVs) in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, and determine the spatial differences resulting from the rapid urbanization LUCC. The correlation between the four ecosystem services was then studied and sensitivity analyses conducted to investigate whether any changes in the ESVs could lead to unacceptable unit value transfer uncertainties. It was found that most urban land was converted from farmland, and that before 2000, the total ESVs and the regulating services values (RSVs) increased significantly, after which it declined, the provisioning services values (PSVs) declined year on year, the habitat services value (HSV) and cultural and amenity services value (CSV) declined sharply after 2000, and the spatial distribution of the four ESVs were significantly different. Over time, it was found that the hot spots were shrinking and the cold spots were spreading. The provisioning services were found to be negatively correlated with habitat services and cultural and amenity services, the regulating services were weakly positively correlated with the provisioning services and significantly positively correlated with the habitat services and cultural and amenity services, and the habitat services were significantly positively correlated with cultural and amenity services. In the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, the water area is the most important for the total ESVs, followed by non-bush forest. Paddy field is ranked third. Dryland, bush, grassland, and wetland are less important. The importance of barren land is almost zero. This research provides the government with a scientific basis from which to formulate spatial planning and environmental protection policies for ecological sustainable development in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration.

How to Detect Scale Effect of Ecosystem Services Supply? A Comprehensive Insight from Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia, China

Spatial scale plays a crucial role in the assessment and management of ecosystem services (ES), yet explicit information for identifying and understanding the scale effect on ES supply remains limited. In an attempt to detect scale effect on ES supply from a comprehensive perspective, this study developed a framework for integrating scale effect in three aspects, including individual ES patterns, pairwise ES interactions, and ecosystem service bundles (ESB). The framework was tested in Xilinhot, a prairie landscape city of Inner Mongolia, at four different levels of spatial scale. The results indicated that, most ES showed a decreasing clustering at coarser scales in terms of spatial pattern. At the same time, coarser scales resulted in fewer trade-offs and stronger synergies between pairwise ES. The identification of ESB varied greatly with scale, and this change reflected in the composition of ES variables and spatial distribution of bundles. We attributed the scale effect of the above three aspects to differences in social-ecological factors and their driving mechanisms at different scales. This comprehensive framework could support local managers to coordinate the management of multiple ES at different scales.

Assessment of the Spatial Dynamics and Interactions among Multiple Ecosystem Services to Promote Effective Policy Making across Mediterranean Island Landscapes

To manage multiple ecosystem services (ES) effectively, it is essential to understand how the dynamics of ES maintain healthy ecosystems to avoid potential negative impacts on human well-being in the context of sustainable development. In particular, the Ionian Islands in the central Mediterranean are characterized by high natural, ecological, and recreational value; however, the intensification of human activities over time has resulted in the loss of natural ecosystems, which might have negatively impacted ES. Here, we aimed to assess and understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of ES supply and how these components interact across the Ionian Islands to optimize future ES provision and mitigate current trade-offs. We quantified multiple ecosystem services and analyzed their interactions at a temporal scale across the four prefectures of the Ionian Islands. Seven ES were quantified covering all three ES sections (provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural) of the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). ES interactions were investigated by analyzing ES relationships, identifying ES bundles (sets of ES that repeatedly occur together across space and time), and specifying ES occurrence within bundles. The three ES groups exhibited similar patterns on some islands, but differed on islands with areas of high recreation in parallel to low provisioning and regulating ES. Temporal variations showed both stability and changes to the supply of ES, as well as in the interactions among them. Different patterns among the islands were caused by the degree of mixing between natural vegetation and olive orchards. This study identified seven ES bundles that had distinct compositions and magnitudes, with both unique and common bundles being found among the islands. The olive grove bundle delivered the most ES, while the non-vegetated bundle delivered negligible amounts of ES. Spatial and temporal variation in ES appear to be determined by agriculture, land abandonment, and increasing tourism, as well as the occurrence of fires. Knowledge about the spatial dynamics and interactions among ES could provide information for stakeholders and decision-making processes to develop appropriate sustainable management of the ecosystems on the Ionian Islands to secure ecological, social, and economic resilience.