Prospective evaluation of the impact of land use change on ecosystem services in the Ourika watershed, Morocco

A key challenge to the sustainability and security of grassland capacity is the protection of water-related ecosystem services (WESs). With the change of land use, the supply of aquatic ecosystem services has changed, and the grassland-carrying capacity has been affected. However, the correlation mechanism between WESs and the grassland-carrying capacity is not clear. In this study, we used the InVEST(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs) model to evaluate the impact of land-use change on WESs, and made a tradeoff analysis between WESs and grassland-carrying capacity. Considering that the Heihe River Basin (HRB) was an important grassland vegetation zone, which was a milestone for the development of animal husbandry in China, HRB was taken as a case. The main findings are as follows: (1) the spatial distribution of WESs shows the dissimilation rule, the upper reaches are the main water yield area, the soil retention is weakening in the middle and lower reaches, and the pollution has further increased in the middle and upper reaches. (2) The carrying capacity of animal husbandry decreased in the upper reaches, increased in Shandan County and Zhangye City in the middle reaches, and decreased sharply in other regions. (3) There was a positive correlation between the livestock-carrying capacity and nitrogen export in 2018, which was increasing. As the change of land use has changed the evapotranspiration structure, WESs have undergone irreversible changes. Meanwhile, the development of large-scale irrigated farmland and human activities would be the source of a further intensification of regional soil erosion and water pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to trade off the WESs and animal husbandry under land-use change. This paper revealed how WESs changed from 2000 to 2018, the characteristics of the changes in the spatial and temporal distribution, and the carrying capacity. It aims to provide a scientific basis for coordinating the contradiction between grassland and livestock resources, improving the regional ecological security situation, and carrying out ecosystem management.

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Evaluation of the Impact of Land Use Change and Climate Change on Watershed Ecosystem Services in the Chenyulan Watershed

Geo-China 2016 ◽

10.1061/9780784480045.010 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Li-Chi Chiang ◽

Yi-Ting Chuang

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

The Impact

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The Influence of Land Use Change on Ecosystem Service Value in Shangzhou District

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16081321 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. 1321 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Keyue Yuan ◽

Fei Li ◽

Haijuan Yang ◽

Yiming Wang

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Ecosystem Service Value ◽

Land Use Patterns ◽

Service Value ◽

Ecological Service ◽

And Function ◽

The Impact

Land use change has an impact on the ecosystem service value because it changes the structure and function of ecosystems. This paper analyzed the changes in land use during the period from 2000 to 2015 in Shangzhou district, and used the equivalent value of ecological services per unit area of land ecosystem combining the natural and economic conditions of Shangzhou district. Based on this method, the ecological service value of Shangzhou district was estimated, and the impact of land use change on the ecological service value was analyzed. The results showed that: (1) the main types of land use in Shangzhou district were grassland, woodland and farmland, among which the contribution rate of woodland to the value of local ecosystem services was the highest; (2) the overall trend in the ecosystem service value in Shangzhou district increased between 2000 and 2015, from 10.74 × 108 yuan in 2000 to 20.32 × 108 yuan in 2015, which is the result of the combined effects of regional economic development and changes in the natural environment and land use patterns; and (3) the main reason for the value increase of ecosystem services in Shangzhou district between 2000 and 2015 was that the grain-for-green policy transformed a considerable amount of farmland into woodland, while the main reasons for a decline in value was the expansion of built-up land that occupied other types of land.

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Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Ecosystem Service Value Determined by Land-Use Changes in the Urbanization of Anhui Province, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16245104 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (24) ◽

pp. 5104 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sai Hu ◽

Longqian Chen ◽

Long Li ◽

Bingyi Wang ◽

Lina Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Water Area ◽

Anhui Province ◽

Ecosystem Service Value ◽

Service Value ◽

Study Results ◽

The Impact

Urbanization-induced land-use change will lead to variations in the demand and supply of ecosystem services, thus significantly affecting regional ecosystem services. The continuous degradation of ecosystem functions has become a serious problem for humanity to solve. Therefore, quantitative analysis of the corresponding impact of land-use change on ecosystem service value (ESV) is important to socio-economic development and ecological protection. The Anhui province in China has experienced rapid urbanization in recent years, and ecological environmental remediation and protection have become important goals for regional development. In this paper, the province of Anhui has been selected as a case of study, we analyzed the land-use change using Landsat images from 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. We then adjusted the equivalent factor of ESV per unit area and estimated the ESV of Anhui province from 2000 to 2015 to analyze the impact of land-use change on ESV. Our results show that (1) paddy field is the main land-use type in Anhui province, the built-up land area has continuously increased, and the water area has continuously decreased; (2) the total ESV of Anhui province decreased from 30,015.58 × 107 CNY in 2000 to 29,683.74 × 107 CNY in 2015 (the rate of change was −1.11%), and regulating services make the greatest contribution to ESV; and (3) land-use change has led to severe ESV variations, especially for the expansion of water area and built-up land. Our study results provide useful insights for the development of land-use management and environmental protection policies in Anhui province.

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Assessing the impact of land-use change for solar park development in the UK: implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1271 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Fabio Carvalho ◽

Alona Armstrong ◽

Mark Ashby ◽

Belinda Howell ◽

Hannah Montag ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Indicator Species ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Arable Land ◽

Food Plants ◽

Ipcc Report ◽

The Impact

According to the latest IPCC report, 70 to 85% of electricity generation worldwide will need to come from renewable sources of energy by 2050 if countries are to meet internationally agreed greenhouse gas emissions targets. In the rush to decarbonise energy supplies to meet such targets, solar parks (SPs) have proliferated around the world, with uncertain implications for the biodiversity and ecosystem service (ES) provision of hosting ecosystems. SPs necessitate significant land-use change that could disproportionately affect the local environment compared to other low-carbon sources.In Britain, SPs are commonly built on intensive arable land and managed as grasslands. This offers both risks and opportunities for ecosystem health, yet evidence for assessing ecosystem consequences is scarce. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand how net environmental gains can be integrated into land-use change for solar energy development to address the current biodiversity and climate crises.We used vegetation data from over 70 SPs and 50 countryside survey plots (1 km2) in England and Wales to assess the effects of land-use change for SPs on plant diversity and ES provision. We assessed ten habitat indicator variables (e.g., species richness, larval food plants, forage grasses, bird food plants) associated to functionally important plant species that have the potential to enhance ecosystem service delivery.SPs showed higher diversity of habitat indicator species than arable land and improved grasslands, with vegetation between solar arrays showing higher numbers of species important for ES provision (e.g., N-fixing species important for nutrient cycling) than vegetation under solar panels. Overall, the diversity of habitat indicator species seemed highly dependent on former land-use, showing SPs have the potential to enhance ecosystem services provision if built on degraded agricultural land.Developing this understanding will enable optimisation of SP design and management to ensure delivery of ecosystem co-benefits from this growing land-use.

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The impact of land-use change on water-related ecosystem services: a study of the Guishui River Basin, Beijing, China

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.01.049 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 163 ◽

pp. S148-S155 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Jie Gao ◽

Feng Li ◽

Hui Gao ◽

Chuanbin Zhou ◽

Xiaoling Zhang

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

River Basin ◽

The Impact ◽

Beijing China

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The Grain for Green Program Intensifies Trade-Offs between Ecosystem Services in Midwestern Shanxi, China

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13193966 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (19) ◽

pp. 3966

Author(s):

Baoan Hu ◽

Zhijie Zhang ◽

Hairong Han ◽

Zuzheng Li ◽

Xiaoqin Cheng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Ecological Engineering ◽

Well Being ◽

Chinese Government ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Program ◽

Trade Offs ◽

The Impact

Ecological engineering is a widely used strategy to address environmental degradation and enhance human well-being. A quantitative assessment of the impacts of ecological engineering on ecosystem services (ESs) is a prerequisite for designing inclusive and sustainable engineering programs. In order to strengthen national ecological security, the Chinese government has implemented the world’s largest ecological project since 1999, the Grain for Green Program (GFGP). We used a professional model to evaluate the key ESs in Lvliang City. Scenario analysis was used to quantify the contribution of the GFGP to changes in ESs and the impacts of trade-offs/synergy. We used spatial regression to identify the main drivers of ES trade-offs. We found that: (1) From 2000 to 2018, the contribution rates of the GFGP to changes in carbon storage (CS), habitat quality (HQ), water yield (WY), and soil conservation (SC) were 140.92%, 155.59%, −454.48%, and 92.96%, respectively. GFGP compensated for the negative impacts of external environmental pressure on CS and HQ, and significantly improved CS, HQ, and SC, but at the expense of WY. (2) The GFGP promotes the synergistic development of CS, HQ, and SC, and also intensifies the trade-off relationships between WY and CS, WY and HQ, and WY and SC. (3) Land use change and urbanization are significantly positively correlated with the WY–CS, WY–HQ, and WY–SC trade-offs, while increases in NDVI helped alleviate these trade-offs. (4) Geographically weighted regression explained 90.8%, 94.2%, and 88.2% of the WY–CS, WY–HQ, and WY–SC trade-offs, respectively. We suggest that the ESs’ benefits from the GFGP can be maximized by controlling the intensity of land use change, optimizing the development of urbanization, and improving the effectiveness of afforestation. This general method of quantifying the impact of ecological engineering on ESs can act as a reference for future ecological restoration plans and decision-making in China and across the world.

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The impact of land use change, climate change and reservoir construction on ecosystem services in a Mediterranean catchment

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7177 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joris Eekhout ◽

Carolina Boix-Fayos ◽

Pedro Pérez-Cutillas ◽

Joris de Vente

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Sediment Concentration ◽

Low Flow ◽

Reservoir Construction ◽

The Impact

The Mediterranean region has been identified as one of the most affected global hot-spots for climate change. Recent climate change in the Mediterranean can be characterized by faster increasing temperatures than the global mean and significant decreases in annual precipitation. Besides, important land cover changes have occurred, such as reforestation, agricultural intensification, urban expansion and the construction of many reservoirs, mainly with the purpose to store water for irrigation. Here we study the impacts of these changes on several ecosystem services in the Segura River catchment, a typical large Mediterranean catchment where many of the before mentioned changes have occurred in the last half century. We applied a hydrological model, coupled with a soil erosion and sediment transport model, to study the impact of climate and land cover change and reservoir construction on ecosystem services for the period 1971-2010. Eight ecosystem services indicators were defined, which include runoff, plant water stress, hillslope erosion, reservoir sediment yield, sediment concentration, reservoir storage, flood discharge and low flow. To assess larger land use changes, we also applied the model for an extended period (1952-2018) to the Taibilla subcatchment, a typical Mediterranean mountainous subcatchment, which plays an important role in the provision of water within the Segura River catchment. As main results we observed that climate change in the evaluated period is characterized by a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature. Detected land use change over the past 50 years is typical for many Mediterranean catchments. Natural vegetation in the headwaters increased due to agricultural land abandonment. Agriculture expanded in the central part of the catchment, which most likely is related to the construction of reservoirs in the same area. The downstream part of the catchment is characterized by urban expansion. While land use changed in more than 30% of the catchment, most impact on ecosystem services can be attributed to climate change and reservoir construction. All these changes have had positive and negative impacts on ecosystem services. The positive impacts include a decrease in hillslope erosion, sediment yield, sediment concentration and flood discharge (-21%, -18%, -82% and -41%, respectively). The negative impacts include an increase in plant water stress (+5%) and a decrease in reservoir storage (-5%). The decrease in low flow caused by land use change was counteracted by an increase in low flow due to reservoir construction. The results of our study highlight how relatively small climate and land use changes compared to the changes foreseen for the coming decades, have had an important impact on ecosystem services over the past 50 years.

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