Ecological protection and restoration of mountains-rivers-forests-farmlands-lakes-grasslands based on ecosystem services-utilizing Heshan section of the south Taihang area as an example

As an effective means to coordinate cost–benefit allocation of ecological protection between upstream and downstream cities, ecological compensation is often used to improve collaborative basin-wide freshwater resources management. Yet, due to the complex relationships between upstream and downstream ecosystem services, calculating eco-compensation is not an easy task. We used ecological spillover (the amount of local ecosystem services not used in the region and thus flows to downstream areas) and emergy analysis to determine the amount of eco-compensation that the city of Xuchang should pay to the upstream city of Xinzheng (Qingyi River Basin, China) from 2010 to 2014. Eco-compensation was determined by deducting the emergy of the local, self-supplied ecosystem services of Xuchang City, calculated using an ecological-water-footprint-based analysis, from the emergy of the total ecosystem services used in Xuchang, and monetized accordingly. The results showed that the self-supplied ecosystem services decreased from 2010 to 2014 and, thus, Xuchang relied more on the ecological spillover services flowing from Xinzheng. As a result, eco-compensation increased from 990 million Chinese Yuan (¥) in 2010 to ¥509 billion in 2014, mostly due to increased demands for water purification and reduced precipitation around Xuchang. This method can be further enhanced by introducing larger datasets and can be replicated elsewhere to accurately determine ecological compensation, ensuring basin-wide collaboration towards the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Download Full-text

Differences in Perceptions, Attitudes, and Use of Ecosystem Services among Diverse Communities in an Arid Region: A Case Study from the South of Jordan

Journal of Human Ecology ◽

10.1080/09709274.2014.11906689 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 157-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Amani Alassaf ◽

Doukhi Alhunaiti ◽

Jan Dick ◽

Tayseer Al-Adwan

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Arid Region ◽

The South ◽

Diverse Communities

Download Full-text

The influence of conversion of forest types on carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services in the South Central United States

Ecological Economics ◽

10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.06.001 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 698-708 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Brent Sohngen ◽

Sandra Brown

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Forest Types ◽

The South ◽

South Central ◽

Central United States

Download Full-text

Exploring Spatially Non-Stationary and Scale-Dependent Responses of Ecosystem Services to Urbanization in Wuhan, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17092989 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (9) ◽

pp. 2989

Author(s):

Yan Zhang ◽

Yanfang Liu ◽

Jiawei Pan ◽

Yang Zhang ◽

Dianfeng Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Landscape Planning ◽

Scale Effects ◽

Least Square ◽

Parameter Estimates ◽

Ordinary Least Square ◽

Ecological Protection ◽

Grain Productivity ◽

Spatially Varying

Ecosystem services (ESs) are facing challenges from urbanization processes globally. Exploring how ESs respond to urbanization provides valuable information for ecological protection and urban landscape planning. Previous studies mainly focused on the global and single-scaled responses of ESs but ignored the spatially heterogenous and scale-dependent characteristics of these responses. This study chose Wuhan City in China as the study area to explore the spatially varying and scale-dependent responses of ESs, i.e., grain productivity, carbon sequestration, biodiversity potential and erosion prevention, to urbanization using geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results showed that the responses of ESs were spatially nonstationary evidenced by a set of local parameter estimates in GWR models, and scale-dependent indicated by two kinds of scale effects: effect of different bandwidths and effect of grid scales. The stationary index of GWR declined rapidly as the bandwidth increased until reaching to a distance threshold. Moreover, GWR outperformed ordinary least square at both grid scales (i.e., 5 km and 10 km scales) and behaved better at finer scale. The spatially non-stationary and scale-dependent responses of ESs to urbanization are expected to provide beneficial guidance for ecologically friendly urban planning.

Download Full-text

Ecological and economic transformations of natural management systems of agrarian type (based on materials from the South of Russia)

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202128508003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 285 ◽

pp. 08003

Author(s):

Galina Karpova ◽

Natalya Medyanik

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Management Systems ◽

The South ◽

Agrarian Economy ◽

Economic Transformations ◽

Natural Landscapes

The necessity of ecological and economic transformations of natural management systems of the agrarian type is shown, considering dominant natural landscapes, sectoral specifics of the economy and settlement. Spatial and sectoral priorities and measures for greening of the development of natural management systems of the agrarian type, associated with climate adaptation of traditional agricultural sectors, ecosystem services, ethnically marked agricultural practices, as well as ecosystem-adaptive transformation of the agrarian economy, taking into account the specifics of steppe, mountain, rural natural management localities are substantiated.

Download Full-text

Whither the Crown’s interest in South Island high country land reform?

Policy Quarterly ◽

10.26686/pq.v3i4.4239 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Ann Brower

Keyword(s):

Property Rights ◽

Resource Use ◽

Land Reform ◽

The South ◽

Ecological Protection ◽

Relative Value ◽

The Subject ◽

The Law

The South Island high country has long been the subject of debate over resource use and ecological protection. Since early 2006, the ownership and relative value of property rights in high country pastoral leases have become controversial. This article reviews recent research (chiefly Brower (2006) and Brower, Monks and Meguire (in review)) on the law, politics and economics of land reform in the high country.

Download Full-text

Assessing the Impacts of Urban Expansion on Bundles of Ecosystem Services by Dmsp-Ols Nighttime Light Data

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11215888 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (21) ◽

pp. 5888 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yangyang Gu ◽

Xuning Qiao ◽

Mengjia Xu ◽

Changxin Zou ◽

Dong Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Primary Productivity ◽

Crop Production ◽

Net Primary Productivity ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Forest Recreation ◽

Ecological Protection ◽

Expansion Level ◽

Flood Regulation ◽

The Impact

Urban expansion poses severe threats to ecosystems. It is therefore important we better understand the impact of different urban expansion level on ecosystems for developing regionally differentiated ecological protection policies. Here, we proposed a conceptual framework to describe the impacts of urbanization on bundles of ecosystem services. Referred to as the concept of land use degree by nighttime light data, we put forward and verified an urban expansion level model. According to this model, study area was divided into a slow increase zone, increase zone, and rapid increase zone. Then, taking Taihu Lake Basin in China as a case, we used Zonal-statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients to reveal the impact in different zones of urban expansion level on multiple ecosystem services: crop production, freshwater supply, aquatic production, net primary productivity, soil conservation, water retention, flood regulation, and forest recreation index. Our results revealed that urban expansion levels significantly impacted all ecosystem services. In either increase zone or rapid increase zone, we found lowered values of crop production, net primary productivity, soil conservation, water retention, and flood regulation, while both aquatic production and forest recreation index increased in all zones from 1990 to 2010. Across the levels of urbanization, urban expansion level was always negatively correlated with provisioning services. This result suggests local governors should improve crop production per unit area and increase the cultivated land area to guarantee food security. In addition, urban expansion level had positive correlations with the trade-offs between flood regulation and forest recreation index, and those among crop production, freshwater supply, and net primary productivity. Therefore, policy-makers should effectively maintain the land use balance among ecological protection, agriculture development, and urban expansion to better coordinate relationships between development and protection. In acquiring quantitative knowledge of how urban expansion level drives ecosystem changes, our findings may help guide future sustainable urban planning with respect to ecosystem services, urban development, and human welfare benefits.

Download Full-text

Formulating a list of sites of waterbird conservation significance to contribute to China’s Ecological Protection Red Line

Bird Conservation International ◽

10.1017/s095927091700003x ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 153-166 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

LU ZHANG ◽

XIN WANG ◽

JUNJIAN ZHANG ◽

ZHIYUN OUYANG ◽

SIMBA CHAN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Surface ◽

Central Government ◽

Nature Reserves ◽

Ramsar Site ◽

Ecological Protection ◽

National Nature Reserves ◽

Effective Conservation ◽

Red Line

SummaryChina makes a unique and vital contribution to maintaining global and regional waterbird diversity and conservation. Despite considerable historical conservation efforts, the continued loss of waterbird diversity and abundance necessitates a contemporary review of Chinese sites of conservation significance. The Ecological Protection Red Line (EPRL) was proposed by China’s Central Government in 2013 to protect areas providing crucial ecosystem services and provides the opportunity for such a review to enhance waterbird conservation in China. By incorporating various sources of data, surveys and information, we identified a suite of sites of waterbird conservation significance in China, following the Ramsar Site Criteria/Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) Criteria. In total, we identified 422 sites, of which the existing 286 IBA sites formed the basis of the site safeguard network. Altogether, these sites of waterbird conservation significance constitute over 727,000 km2 (7.6% of China’s land surface). Over half of the area of these sites is outside China’s national nature reserves, thus confirming the importance and urgency of including them in the EPRL for the effective conservation of waterbird sites. We suggest that this assessment of sites of waterbird importance offers a useful model to apply to other taxa, such as terrestrial birds and mammals.

Download Full-text