Decomposition Analysis of Forest Ecosystem Services Values

Evolution Modes, Types, and Social-Ecological Drivers of Ecologically Critical Areas in the Sichuan–Yunnan Ecological Barrier in the Last 15 Years

The ecological barrier is a complex ecosystem that couples the human–nature relationship, and the ecologically critical area is an irreplaceable area with a special value in the ecosystem. Therefore, protecting the ecologically critical area is vital for maintaining and improving regional ecological security. Limited research has been conducted on the evolution of ecologically critical areas, and none of the studies have considered the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the driving factors for different evolution modes and types. Therefore, this research adopts the ecologically critical index, landscape expansion index, and the random forest model to analyze the pattern, driving factors, and its spatial-temporal heterogeneity to the evolution modes and specific types of ecologically critical areas in the Sichuan–Yunnan ecological barrier area in the last 15 years. The results showed that: (1) the ecologically critical areas in the Sichuan–Yunnan ecological barrier have changed dramatically, with the area reduction being 61.06%. Additionally, the spatial distribution characteristics of the ecologically critical area from north to south include planar, point, and linear forms. (2) The evolution trend of the ecologically critical area is ‘degradation–expansion–degradation’. Spread is the predominant type of expansion mode, whereas atrophy is the predominant type of degradation mode, indicating that the evolution mainly occurs at the edge of the original ecologically critical areas. (3) In general, precipitation, area of forest, area of cropland, and GDP have contributed significantly to the evolution of ecologically critical areas. However, the same driving factor has different effects on the expansion and degradation of these areas. Expansion is driven by multiple factors at the same time but is mainly related to human activities and land use change, whereas for degradation, climate and policy are the main driving factors. The present research aimed to quantitatively identify the evolution modes and specific types of ecologically critical areas and explore the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of driving factors. The results can help decision-makers in formulating ecological protection policies according to local conditions and in maintaining and enhancing the regional ecological functions, thereby promoting the sustainable development of society-economy-ecology.

Land Use Transition and Effects on Ecosystem Services in Water-Rich Cities under Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of Wuhan City, China

Ecosystems can provide ecosystems service for human society. Exploring the impact of land use transition of water-rich cities on ecosystem service can obtain a large amount of scientific data, and its findings have certain significance for building a sustainable city land use transition pattern. This study takes Wuhan, a water-rich city, as the study area, combines remote sensing image data and macro-economic data in the region from 2000 to 2020, and uses spatial analysis methods, the equivalent factor calculation method, and hot spot analysis to portray the spatial-temporal patterns of land use transition in Wuhan and its effect on ecosystem service values. The results show that: (1) farmland, water, and built-up land are the main land use types in Wuhan, and the continuous expansion of built-up land area is an important factor in the decrease of farmland, wetland, and grassland areas; (2) The change in ecosystem service values in Wuhan is influenced by the fluctuation of water area, and the overall ecosystem service values in Wuhan increased from CNY (Chinese Yuan) 56.498 billion (USD 8.47 billion) in 2000 to CNY 56.749 billion (USD 8.508 billion) in 2020, with an increase of CNY 251.3 million (USD 37.676 million) between 2000 and 2020. Among them, the ecosystem services values of water increased by CNY 1.223 billion (USD 183.358 million), and the ecosystem service values of its assumed hydrological regulation function also increased by CNY 995.7 million (USD149.28 million) during this period; (3) In the period 2000–2020, the hotspot areas for the value supply of ecosystem services were mainly distributed in Jiangxia, Hongshan, Hannan, Xinzhou, Huangpi and some areas of Caidian, which are covered with a large proportion of water, while the cold spots are mainly distributed in Jiang’an, Jianghan, Qiaokou, and Qingshan districts, which have more built-up land, and Huangpi, Caidian, Jiangxia, and Xinzhou districts, which have more farmland. Sustainable land planning solutions should take into account typical regional land use transition patterns and incorporate them into smart land planning practices. This study can provide key information for smart land planning.

Using the Auction Price Method to Estimate Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services in Xin’an River Basin in China: A BDM Approach

Accurately estimating the forest farmers’ protection costs for forest ecosystem services has become a hot issue in ecological economics. In this research, we propose a novel method of using an auction price model to evaluate the forest ecosystem services. We establish a functional relationship between forest farmers and the forestland that belongs to them based on experimental data from Xin’an River Basin in China. The results indicate that the average willingness of farmers to accept payment for forest ecosystem service protection in the low, middle, and high levels of forest quality is 17,123.10, 23,493.75, and 31,064.40 yuan/ha/year, respectively. Moreover, farmers with different individual characteristics, household characteristics, planting characteristics, policy cognition, and ecological awareness are also willing to be paid differently. This research can provide a reference for forest ecosystem protection policies and assist the sustainable forestry development.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Ecosystem Services and the Driving Factors in Urban Agglomerations: Evidence From 12 National Urban Agglomerations in China

The natural environment provides multiple ecosystem services for urban development and human quality of life. Given that current cities interact with each other and form urban agglomerations, understanding the spatiotemporal changes in ecosystem services and the driving forces is crucial for sustainable urban development. Using 12 national-level urban agglomerations as a case study, this paper quantifies the spatial patterns of multiple ecosystem service values from 2000 to 2015 and assesses how natural and socioeconomic factors contribute to such changes by using ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results show the following: (1) spatial discrepancies of ecosystem services exist both in and between urban agglomerations, and ecosystem service values are reduced in more than 70% of urban agglomerations at a rate ranging from 0.02 to 4.27%; (2) elevation, precipitation, and fraction of woodland have positive impacts on ecosystem service values in urban agglomerations; while gross domestic product (GDP), population, and proportion of built-up area have negative effects; (3) both natural and social driving factors impact the ecosystem services of different urban agglomeration in different ways, according to the differences in their driving degrees. We categorized 12 urban agglomerations in China into six typical types: natural-factor dominated, socioeconomic-factor dominated, policy dominated, balanced, natural-factor inclined, and socioeconomic-factor inclined. Our results can be used to inform decision makers and urban planners to propose explicit location strategies to balance natural protection and socioeconomic development and ultimately promote sustainable urbanization across the nation.

Ecological policy benefit valuation based on public feedback: Forest ecosystem services in Wuyishan nature reserve, China

The spontaneous expansion of tea cultivation has led to the degradation of forest ecosystem services in the Wuyishan national nature reserve (WNNR). In 2008, the local government put forward the policy of "returning tea to forests" (RTTF) to protect the forest ecosystem. However, in order to measure its effects over the past ten years, it is necessary to accurately quantify the economic benefits of this ecological policy. This study tracked the land use changes in WNNR during the last 17 years and estimated the ecosystem service value caused by the RTTF policy. We used virtual market methods to convert different types of public feedback into a unified monetary value, and estimated the economic benefits of RTTF by combining the land use changes. Results showed that the added value of forest ecosystem services not only compensated for the loss of tea profits, but also brought about remarkable economic benefits (approximately US$140 million). Through the combination of ecological changes and economic benefits, we proposed a future direction of the RTTF policy adjustment. More broadly, we provided a method to quantify economic effects (or economic losses) from the perspective of public feedback on the basis of ecological changes. This attempt has contributed to the solving of econometric problems related to ecological policy by combining bioinformatics with ecological economics.