scholarly journals Water Bodies’ Cooling Effects on Urban Land Daytime Surface Temperature: Ecosystem Service Reducing Heat Island Effect

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijie Wu ◽  
Yixin Zhang

The urban heat island (UHI) effect caused by urbanization is a major environmental concern. Utilizing cooling effects of water bodies as one type of ecosystem service is an important way to mitigate UHI in urban areas during the daytime. This study aims to examine the influence of water bodies’ cooling effects on the urban land surface temperature (LST). The potential influence on the relationship between urban land cover and the LST are also discussed. The daytime LST in April was retrieved from Landsat-8 thermal infrared band and the grid-based method was adopted to analyze the potential influence. The results indicated that Suzhou Bay is broadly capable of lowering daytime temperatures. The cooling distance can reach 800 m in horizontal space, and the maximum cooling effect was 3.02 °C. Furthermore, the distance to the Suzhou Bay is a great factor for the relationship between land cover and the LST. We found that the cooling effects have weakened the correct quantitative correlation between land cover (e.g., green space and impervious surface) and the LST, particularly green space in the range of 200 m. In addition, the cooling effects have strengthened the “cool edge” phenomenon when analyzing the relationship between the normal difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the LST. We suggest that the distance to the water bodies should be effectively utilized in the microclimate regulation provided by ecosystem services of water bodies. When investigating the thermal effects of urban land, urban planners and designers should consider water bodies’ effects on surrounding areas. These findings have implications for understanding the role of water bodies with ecosystem services of temperature mitigation, which must be fully appreciated for sustainable urban and landscape planning.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing He ◽  
Yang Yu ◽  
Lingxiao Sun ◽  
Haiyan Zhang ◽  
Ireneusz Malik ◽  
...  

Abstract The Aral Sea started shrinking since the 1960s due to natural factors and human activities; however, the relationship between land cover change and ecosystem services (ES) in the Aral Sea basin has not been fully studied. To analyze and explore the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of ecosystem service values (ESVs) in this region, we used the European Space Agency CCI Global Land Cover product with a spatiotemporal resolution of 300 × 300 m and the annual scale. The land use data of 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018 in the study area were extracted, the study area’s ESV in the corresponding years was calculated, and the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics were analyzed. Additionally, the change rate and sensitivity were analyzed. The results revealed that the area of urban land, bare land, grassland, wetland, and cropland in the Aral Sea basin increased from 1993 to 2018; water body and forestland decreased. The integrated value of water bodies, cropland, and grassland ES accounted for more than 96% of the total ESV; the change rate of land use types differed. Urban land and water changed the fastest; cultivated land, woodland, grassland, and wetland changed the slowest. From 1993 to 2018, the total ESV of the Aral Sea basin decreased from 455.10 to 414.56 billion (Overall decrease = − 8.91%). The ESV study shows that the water area decreased sharply from 1993 to 2018, resulting in a loss of USD 46.84 billion. Biodiversity, food production, and water regulation were the main ES, accounting for 78.5% of the total ESV. The ESV of the Aral Sea basin declined from 1993 to 2018, and significant differences were observed among its regions. Some regions should thus focus on this aspect. A close correlation was observed between the ESV and land use. Hence, effective land use policies can control the expansion of cropland; protect water bodies, ecological environments, grassland, and forestland; and promote a more sustainable ecosystem.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiangyue Li ◽  
Hongxing Chen ◽  
Chi Zhang ◽  
Tao Pan

Acute farmland expansion and rapid urbanization in Central Asia have accelerated land use/land cover changes, which have substantial effects on ecosystem services. However, the spatiotemporal variations in ecosystem service values (ESVs) in Central Asia are not well understood. Here, based on land use products with 300-m resolution for the years 1995, 2005 and 2015 and transfer methodology, we predicted land use and land cover (LULC) for 2025 and 2035 using CA-Markov, assessed changes in ESVs in response to LULC dynamics, and explored the elasticity of the response of ESV to LULC changes. We found significant expansions of cropland (+22.10%) and urban areas (+322.40%) and shrinking of water bodies (−38.43%) and bare land (−9.42%) during 1995–2035. The combined value of ecosystem services of water bodies, cropland, and grassland accounted for over 90% of the total ESVs. Our study showed that cropland ecosystem services value increased by 93.45 billion US$ from 1995 to 2035, which was mainly caused by the expansion of cropland area. However, the area of water bodies decreased sharply during 1995–2035, causing a loss of 64.38 billion US$. Biodiversity, food production and water regulation were major ecosystem service functions, accounting for 80.52% of the total ESVs. Our results demonstrated that effective land-use policies should be made to control farmland expansion and protect water bodies, grassland and forestland for more sustainable ecosystem services.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Changjun Gu ◽  
Yili Zhang ◽  
Linshan Liu ◽  
Lanhui Li ◽  
Shicheng Li ◽  
...  

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are regarded as one of the key drivers of ecosystem services degradation, especially in mountain regions where they may provide various ecosystem services to local livelihoods and surrounding areas. Additionally, ecosystems and habitats extend across political boundaries, causing more difficulties for ecosystem conservation. LULC in the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) has undergone obvious changes over the past four decades; however, the spatiotemporal changes of the LULC across the whole of the KSL are still unclear, as well as the effects of LULC changes on ecosystem service values (ESVs). Thus, in this study we analyzed LULC changes across the whole of the KSL between 2000 and 2015 using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and quantified their impacts on ESVs. The greatest loss in LULC was found in forest cover, which decreased from 5443.20 km2 in 2000 to 5003.37 km2 in 2015 and which mainly occurred in KSL-Nepal. Meanwhile, the largest growth was observed in grassland (increased by 548.46 km2), followed by cropland (increased by 346.90 km2), both of which mainly occurred in KSL-Nepal. Further analysis showed that the expansions of cropland were the major drivers of the forest cover change in the KSL. Furthermore, the conversion of cropland to shrub land indicated that farmland abandonment existed in the KSL during the study period. The observed forest degradation directly influenced the ESV changes in the KSL. The total ESVs in the KSL decreased from 36.53 × 108 USD y−1 in 2000 to 35.35 × 108 USD y−1 in 2015. Meanwhile, the ESVs of the forestry areas decreased by 1.34 × 108 USD y−1. This shows that the decrease of ESVs in forestry was the primary cause to the loss of total ESVs and also of the high elasticity. Our findings show that even small changes to the LULC, especially in forestry areas, are noteworthy as they could induce a strong ESV response.


Author(s):  
Negasi Solomon ◽  
Alcade C. Segnon ◽  
Emiru Birhane

Despite their importance as sources of ecosystem services supporting the livelihoods of millions of people, forest ecosystems have been changing into other land use systems over the past decades across the world. While forest cover change dynamics have been widely documented in various ecological systems, how these changes affect ecosystem service values has received limited attention. In this study we assessed the impact of land-use/land-cover dynamics on ecosystem service values in dry Afromontane forest in Northern Ethiopia. We estimated ecosystem service values and their changes based on the benefit transfer method using land cover data of the years 1985, 2000, and 2016 with their corresponding locally valid value coefficients and from the Ecosystem service valuation database. The total ecosystem service values of the whole study area were about USD 16.6, 19.0, and 18.1 million in 1985, 2000, and 2016, respectively. The analyses indicated an increase in ecosystem service values from 1985 to 2000 and a decrease in ecosystem service values from 2000 to 2016. Similarly, the contribution of specific ecosystem services increased in the first study period and decreased in the second study period. The findings highlight how forest cover dynamics can be translated into changes in ecosystem service values in dry Afromontane forest ecosystems in Northern Ethiopia and showed how specific ecosystem services contributed to the observed trends. The findings also illustrated the temporal heterogeneity in the impacts of land-use/land-cover dynamics on values of ecosystem services. The findings can serve as crucial inputs for policy and strategy formulations for the sustainable use and management of forest resources and can also guide the allocation of limited resources among competing demands to safeguard the ecosystems that offer the best-valued services.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiangyue Li ◽  
Hongxing Chen ◽  
Chi Zhang ◽  
Tao Pan

Acute farmland expansion and rapid urbanization in Central Asia have accelerated land use/land cover changes, which has significant effect onecosystemservice. However, the spatio-temporal changes in ecosystem service values in Central Asia are not well understood. Here, based on land use products with 300-m resolution for the years of 1995, 2005 and 2015 and transfer methodology, we predicted LUCC for 2025 and 2035 using CA-Markov, assessed changes in ecosystem service value in response to LUCC dynamics, and explored the elasticity for the response of ESV to LULC changes. We found significant expansions of cropland and urban and shrinking of water bodies and bare land during 1995-2035. Overall ESVs had an increasing trend from 1995-2035, which was mainly due to the increasing cropland and construction land. The combined valueofecosystemservices of cropland, grassland, water bodies accounted for over 90% of the total ESVs. However, LULC analysis showed that the area of water body reduced by 21.80% from 1995 to 2015 and continued to decrease by 21.14% from 2015 to 2035, indicating that approximately 63.37 billion US$ of ESVs lost in Central Asia. Biodiversity, food production and water regulation were major service functions, accounting for 80.52% of the total ESVs . Our results demonstrated that theeffective land-usepolicies should be made to control farmland expansion and protect water bodies, grassland and forestland for better sustainable ecosystem services.


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