scholarly journals Quantifying Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs to Inform Spatial Identification of Forest Restoration

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 563
Author(s):  
Ruida Li ◽  
Ruonan Li ◽  
Hua Zheng ◽  
Yanzheng Yang ◽  
Zhiyun Ouyang

Specific forest restoration aims to maximum ecosystem services (ESs); however, the complex trade-offs among ecosystem services pose considerable challenges for fulfilling such goals. Based on forest restoration on Hainan Island, China, we integrated spatially explicit models of ecosystem services and spatial prioritization techniques based on the efficiency frontier between habitat quality and plantation revenue to analyze the impacts of decision-makers’ preferences on optimal configurations of forest restoration. We then investigated the effects of different optimal restoration schemes on water purification, soil retention, carbon sequestration, and coastal hazard mitigation. Based on our results, plantation revenue and habitat quality exhibited an obvious trade-off during the process of restoration. Forest restoration patterns also varied with the degree of preference for plantation yield or habitat quality, indicating that understanding ecosystem service tradeoffs can support the optimal selection of forest restoration schemes under different preferences. However, when the values of multiple ecosystem services associated with forest restoration were considered (e.g., water purification, soil retention, carbon sequestration, and coastal hazard mitigation), the optimal solution choice varied. Our results suggest the application of the efficiency frontier can deepen quantitative understanding of ecosystem service trade-offs, and the addition of multi-benefit evaluation based on optimal solutions can provide a more detailed and broader picture of forest restoration plans. Integrated efficiency frontier assessment with the valuation of ecosystem services associated with forest restoration provides a quantitative approach for optimal forest restoration, which can be applied in broad forest restoration programs.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiantian Chen ◽  
Li Peng ◽  
Qiang Wang

Abstract The Grain to Green Program (GTGP), as a policy tool for advancing ecological progress, has been operating for 20 years and has played an important role in improving ecosystem service values. However, there are few studies on the trade-off/synergy changes in ecosystem services during the implementation of the GTGP and how to select the optimal scheme for regional ecological security based on the trade-off relationship. Thus, we took the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration (CCUA) in southwestern China as the study area; we used multisource data and the corresponding models and methods to estimate the regional food production, carbon sequestration, water yield, soil conservation and habitat quality services. Then, we clarified the trade-off/synergy relationships among ecosystem services from 2000 to 2015 by spatial analysis and statistical methods and evaluated the influential mechanism of the GTGP on trade-offs between ecosystem services. Finally, different risk scenarios were constructed by the ordered weighted average algorithm (OWA), and the regional ecological security pattern was simulated under the principle of the best protection efficiency and the highest trade-off degree. We found that (1) the trade-offs/synergies of regional ecosystem services changed significantly from 2000 to 2015. Among them, food production, water yield and soil conservation have always had trade-off relationships, while carbon sequestration, soil conservation and habitat quality have all had synergistic relationships. The relationships between carbon sequestration and water yield and food production changed from non-correlated to trade-off/synergistic, and the relationship between habitat quality and food production and water yield was not obvious. (2) Except for carbon sequestration service, the trade-off intensity between other ecosystem services decreased, indicating that the change trend of ecosystem services in the same direction was obvious. (3) The GTGP has been an important factor affecting the trade-off intensity of regional ecosystem services. On the one hand, it has strengthened the synergistic relationships among carbon sequestration, soil conservation and habitat quality; on the other hand, it has increased the constraints of water resources on soil conservation and vegetation restoration. (4) The decision risk coefficient α = 1.6 was the most suitable scenario, the total amount of regional ecosystem services was high, and the allocation was balanced under this scenario. The ecological security area corresponding to this scenario was also the area with high carbon sequestration and habitat quality services. The purpose of this study was to provide a scientific reference for the precise implementation of the GTGP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solveig Höfer ◽  
Alex Ziemba ◽  
Ghada El Serafy

Abstract The concept of ecosystem services is gaining attention in the context of sustainable resource management. However, it is inherently difficult to account for tangible and intangible services in a combined model. The aim of this study is to extend the definition of ecosystem service trade-offs by using Bayesian Networks to capture the relationship between tangible and intangible ecosystem services. Tested is the potential of creating such a network based on existing literature and enhancement via expert elicitation. This study discusses the significance of expert elicitation to enhance the value of a Bayesian Network in data-restricted case studies, underlines the importance of inclusion of experts’ certainty, and demonstrates how multiple sources of knowledge can be combined into one model accounting for both tangible and intangible ecosystem services. Bayesian Networks appear to be a promising tool in this context, nevertheless, this approach is still in need of further refinement in structure and applicable guidelines for expert involvement and elicitation for a more unified methodology.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0258334
Author(s):  
Mark S. Reed ◽  
Tom Curtis ◽  
Arjan Gosal ◽  
Helen Kendall ◽  
Sarah Pyndt Andersen ◽  
...  

Ecosystem markets are proliferating around the world in response to increasing demand for climate change mitigation and provision of other public goods. However, this may lead to perverse outcomes, for example where public funding crowds out private investment or different schemes create trade-offs between the ecosystem services they each target. The integration of ecosystem markets could address some of these issues but to date there have been few attempts to do this, and there is limited understanding of either the opportunities or barriers to such integration. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of eleven ecosystem markets in operation or close to market in Europe, based on qualitative analysis of 25 interviews, scheme documentation and two focus groups. Our results indicate three distinct types of markets operating from the regional to national scale, with different modes of operation, funding and outcomes: regional ecosystem markets, national carbon markets and green finance. The typology provides new insights into the operation of ecosystem markets in practice, which may challenge traditionally held notions of Payment for Ecosystem Services. Regional ecosystem markets, in particular, represent a departure from traditional models, by using a risk-based funding model and aggregating both supply and demand to overcome issues of free-riding, ecosystem service trade-offs and land manager engagement. Central to all types of market were trusted intermediaries, brokers and platforms to aggregate supply and demand, build trust and lower transaction costs. The paper outlines six options for blending public and private funding for the provision of ecosystem services and proposes a framework for integrating national carbon markets and green finance with regional ecosystem markets. Such integration may significantly increase funding for regenerative agriculture and conservation across multiple habitats and services, whilst addressing issues of additionality and ecosystem service trade-offs between multiple schemes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyi Wang ◽  
Yu wang ◽  
Jingxiang Zhang ◽  
Dongqi Sun ◽  
Zihang Zhou

AbstractLand Use/Land Cover Change (LUCC) is one of the important reasons for the change of ecosystem services (ESs). Due to the uncertainty of future development policies and the complexity of LUCC, assessing the impact of future urban sprawl on ecosystem services remains challenging. We simulated the effect of urban land-use change on ESs on the basis of different functional scenarios, which is of important value to urban land-use planning and ESs protection. In our study, we designed three scenarios: Production function priority scenario (PFP scenario)、 Living function priority scenario (LFP scenario)、 Ecological function priority scenario (EFP Scenario). And we used the GeoSOS-FLUS software to realize visualization. Based on invest model, we evaluated five types of ESs: carbon storage, warter yield, habitat quality, water purification and soil conservation. Research showed that from 2000 to 2015, carbon storage, habitat quality and water production in Nanjing decreased significantly, soil conservation increased slightly, and the performance of the two indicators for water purification was not consistent. From different scenarios, carbon storage and habitat quality were the highest in EFP scenario, water yield was the highest in PFP scenario and soil conservation was the highest in LFP scenario. We analyzed the trade-offs among various ESs, found that the change of land-use types in cities does not fundamentally change the trade-offs among various ESs. We believed that the determination of the main function of LUCC was the first condition to judge the applicability of scenario, and the scenario simulation which integrated the main function of the city could provide more references for the related research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Liu ◽  
Liang Zheng ◽  
Jing Wu ◽  
Yonghao Liao

AbstractPoyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and is an important wetland in the world. The scientific assessment of ecosystem service trade-offs in Poyang Lake Basin is of great significance for maintaining regional ecological balance and global biodiversity. This study uses land use as the main data source and the “equivalent factor method” to estimate the ecosystem service value of the Poyang Lake Basin from 1990 to 2015; the study also analyzes the trade-off synergy among ecosystem services. On this basis, land use information was simulated under three scenarios: planning scenario (government policy-oriented), development scenario (economic benefit-oriented), and protection scenario (ecological protection-oriented). The trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services under different scenarios were evaluated. The results demonstrate that the ecosystem service value for the entire basin steadily increased from 1990 to 2015. The relationships among ecosystem services in the basin were mainly synergistic, and there were few trade-offs. Among the three simulation scenarios, the ecosystem service value was the highest and the trade-offs among ecosystem services were the lowest under the protection scenario, the ecosystem service value was the lowest and the trade-offs among ecosystem services were the highest under the development scenario, and the trade-offs under the planning scenario were between the values of the protection scenario and the development scenario. From the perspective of maximizing the value of ecosystem services and minimizing trade-offs in ecosystem services, the protection scenario is the optimal scenario among the three scenarios.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4762
Author(s):  
Xiufen Li ◽  
Yichen Tian ◽  
Tian Gao ◽  
Lei Jin ◽  
Shuangtian Li ◽  
...  

The effects of forest restoration on ecosystem services and their trade-offs are increasingly discussed by environmental managers and ecologists, but few demonstrations have analyzed ecosystem service trade-offs with a view to informing afforestation choices. Here, we examined how the Grain for Green Program (GGP), an ambitious reforestation program in China, affected ecosystem services. We quantified regulating services and provisioning service in the potential scenarios, which were developed to improve ecosystem services better. The results indicated the GGP drove 14.5% of land-use/land-cover from 2000 to 2015, and all the regulating services increased. Prioritizing reforestations in steep-sloped and riparian farmlands can promote flood mitigation, water purification, and soil retention services by 62.7%, 25.5%, and 216.1% as compared with 2015 levels, respectively, suggesting that the improvements strongly depend on afforestation locations. Driven by the new GGP policy, a high proportion of economic forest increased provisioning service (272.2%), but at the expense of decreases in soil retention (−25.1%), flood mitigation (−11.4%), water purification (−36.6%), and carbon storage (−48.5%). We identified a suitable scenario that would reduce the trade-offs, which associated with afforestation types and their spatial allocation. Identifying priority areas of afforestation types can inform the GGP policy to assure sustainable and broader benefits.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingqiao Kong

<p>The complex trade-offs of ecosystem services make ecosystem management difficult to achieve win-win goals, especially in a watershed with intensive agriculture. Although a lot of research has been carried out on the types, characteristics and harmonized measures of ecosystem service trade-offs, how to achieve synergistic gain through effective land use management still lacks quantitative Optimization. Combined with models of land use optimization and spatially assessment of ecosystem services, the study build a multi-objective function and a land use optimization method to realize maximization of the total benefit based on the characteristics of ecosystem service trade-off and the driving factors in the Dongting Lake watershed, which is one of the priority areas for ecological protection in China and is also agricultural intensive. First we quantitatively model the water purification service, sediment reduction service and agricultural production using field observation and spatial models of ecosystem services, then the integrated response characteristics of multi-objectives are analyzed according to different land use scenarios based on driven mechanism of ecosystem service trade-offs. Finally the way of optimizing land use allocation and synergetic development of multiple ecosystem services in the watershed is proposed to provide quantitative means for regional land use optimization.</p>


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