Ying Hou

Ecosystem Service Potentials, Flows and Demands – Concepts for Spatial Localisation, Indication and Quantification

The high variety of ecosystem service categorisation systems, assessment frameworks, indicators, quantification methods and spatial localisation approaches allows scientists and decision makers to harness experience, data, methods and tools. On the other hand, this variety of concepts and disagreements among scientists hamper an integration of ecosystem services into contemporary environmental management and decision making. In this article, the current state of the art of ecosystem service science regarding spatial localisation, indication and quantification of multiple ecosystem service supply and demand is reviewed and discussed. Concepts and tables for regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem service definitions, distinguishing between ecosystem service potential supply (stocks), flows (real supply) and demands as well as related indicators for quantification are provided. Furthermore, spatial concepts of service providing units, benefitting areas, spatial relations, rivalry, spatial and temporal scales are elaborated. Finally, matrices linking CORINE land cover types to ecosystem service potentials, flows, demands and budget estimates are provided. The matrices show that ecosystem service potentials of landscapes differ from flows, especially for provisioning ecosystem services.

Effects of land use and climate change on ecosystem services in Central Asia's arid regions: A case study in Altay Prefecture, China

The sustainable use of ecosystem services (ES) can contribute to enhancing human well-being. Understanding the effects of land use and climate change on ES can provide scientific and targeted guidance for the sustainable use of ES. The objective of this study was to reveal the way in which land use and climate change influence the spatial and temporal variations of ES in the mountain-oasis-desert system (MODS). In this study, we assessed water yield, soil conservation, crop production, and sand fixation in 1990, 2000, and 2010 in Altay Prefecture, which is representative of the MODS, based on widely used biophysical models. Moreover, we analyzed the effects of different land use and climate change conditions on ES. The results show that the area of forest and bare land decreased in Altay Prefecture. In contrast, the area of grassland with low coverage and cropland increased. The climate of this area presented an overall warming-wetting trend, with warming-drying and cooling-wetting phenomena in some areas. Soil conservation in the mountain zone, water yield in the oasis zone, and sand fixation in the desert zone all decreased under the influence of land use change alone. The warming-drying trend led to decreased water yield in the oasis zone and increased wind erosion in the desert zone. Based on the results, we recommend that local governments achieve sustainable use of ES by planting grasslands with high coverage in the oasis zone, increasing investment in agricultural science and technology, and establishing protected areas in the mountain and desert zones. The methodology in our study can also be applied to other regions with a MODS structure.

Assessing Agricultural Sustainable Development Based on the DPSIR Approach: Case Study in Jiangsu, China

Abstract According to the contemporary ecosystem approach, the linkages of human actions with their environment have to be assessed in an integrative manner. The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model is applied to identify and describe processes and interactions in human-environmental systems. An example application from a research project dealing with the development of sustainable management strategies for the agriculture in Jiangsu, China, illustrates the potentials and limitations of its sustainable development. The concept and indicators of ecological integrity are used to assess the indicators in the dimensions of DPSIR between 2003 and 2006. The main drivers included population growth which caused increasing demand for food, growing environmental demands, and rapidly decreasing of land and other natural resources. The main environmental problem was water pollution. The results show that in the dimension of driver, total grain output and agricultural land productivity both increased. Labor intensive agriculture has been promoted to increase agricultural land productivity. In the dimension of pressure, on the positive side, infrastructure got greatly improved, the input level such as total power of machinery, and level of fertilizer use increased, and level of pesticides use decreased, but on the negative side, cultivated land per capita and irrigation rate decreased, natural resources keep decreased. Environmental pollution indicators such as industrial wastewater discharge and acid rain rate increased in Jiangsu Province. In the aspect of state, ecosystem state was improved, plant coverage index increased, biological abundance index increased, fertilizer productivity increased, eco-environmental quality index increased, but land degradation index also increased. In the aspect of impact, output level increased, output efficiency enhanced, farmers social economic benefit improved. In the aspect of response, social support was greatly improved, input for environmental governance increased. To assess the effects of environmental governance, Jiangsu government was successful to increase compliance rate of sulfur dioxide emissions, but not so efficient in compliance rate of industrial wastewater discharge.

Ecosystem services of human-dominated watersheds and land use influences: a case study from the Dianchi Lake watershed in China

Watersheds provide multiple ecosystem services. Ecosystem service assessment is a promising approach to investigate human-environment interaction at the watershed scale. The spatial characteristics of ecosystem services are closely related to land use statuses in human-dominated watersheds. This study aims to investigate the effects of land use on the spatial variations of ecosystem services at the Dianchi Lake watershed in Southwest China. We investigated the spatial variations of six ecosystem services—food supply, net primary productivity (NPP), habitat quality, evapotranspiration, water yield, and nitrogen retention. These services were selected based on their significance at the Dianchi Lake watershed and the availability of their data. The quantification of these services was based on modeling, value transference, and spatial analysis in combination with biophysical and socioeconomic data. Furthermore, we calculated the values of ecosystem services provided by different land use types and quantified the correlations between ecosystem service values and land use area proportions. The results show considerable spatial variations in the six ecosystem services associated with land use influences in the Dianchi Lake watershed. The cropland and forest land use types had predominantly positive influences on food productivity and NPP, respectively. The rural residential area and forest land use types reduced and enhanced habitat quality, respectively; these influences were identical to those of evapotranspiration. Urban area and rural residential area exerted significantly positive influences on water yield. In contrast, water yield was negatively correlated with forest area proportion. Finally, cropland and forest had significantly positive and negative influences, respectively, on nitrogen retention. Our study emphasizes the importance of consideration of the influences from land use composition and distribution on ecosystem services for managing the ecosystems of human-dominated watersheds.

Linking ecosystem services and ecosystem health to ecological risk assessment: A case study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration

Scientists have paid attention to the evaluation of the risk of ecosystem service degradation under rapid urbanization; yet the performance of the existing frameworks could be improved for tackling the challenges in the evaluation. In this study, a framework combining ecosystem service with ecosystem health as an assessing endpoint of ecological risk assessment was established. The framework was applied to investigate the way in which urbanization influences the ecosystem risk of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration. Firstly, the decrease ratio of ecosystem service was mainly distributed in the range from 0 to 15%; the mean value of ecosystem health decreased from 0.402 to 0.311 from 2000 to 2010. The number of assessment units exhibiting risk degree grade I (the lowest risk degree grade) decreased by 7.03%, while the number of assessment units exhibiting risk degree grade V (the highest risk degree grade) increased by 1.61% from 2000 to 2010. The ratio of artificial surface should be controlled below 70%, based on the fitting model and for the purpose of resilience management. Overall, the analytical framework can comprehensively evaluate the impacts of complex practices in land-use planning on ecosystems.

Scenario analysis of the impacts of socioeconomic development on phosphorous export and loading from the Dongting Lake watershed, China

Socioeconomic development in lake watersheds is closely related with lake nutrient pollution. As the second largest freshwater lake in China, the Dongting Lake has been experiencing an increase in nutrient loading and a growing risk of eutrophication. This study aimed to reveal the likely impacts of the socioeconomic development of the Dongting Lake watershed on the phosphorous pollution in the lake. We estimated the contributions from different sources and sub-watersheds to the total phosphorous (TP) export and loading from the Dongting Lake watershed under two most likely socioeconomic development scenarios. Moreover, we predicted the likely permissible and actual TP loadings to the Dongting Lake. Under both two scenarios, three secondary sub-watersheds—the upper and lower reaches of the Xiang River watershed and the Dongting Lake Area—are expected to dominate the contribution to the TP export from the Dongting Lake watershed in 2020. Three primary sub-watersheds—the Dongting Lake Area, the Xiang River, and the Yuan River watersheds—are predicted to be the major contributors to the TP loading from the entire watershed. The two scenarios are expected to have a slight difference in TP export and lake TP loading. Livestock husbandry is expected to be the predominant anthropogenic TP source in each of the sub-watersheds under both scenarios. Compared to 2010, permissible TP loading is not expected to increase but actual TP loading is predicted to grow significantly in 2020. Our study provides methodologies to identify the key sources and regions of lake nutrient loading from watersheds with complex socioeconomic context, and to reveal the potential influences of socioeconomic development on nutrient pollution in lake watersheds.

Modelling of the estimated contributions of different sub-watersheds and sources to phosphorous export and loading from the Dongting Lake watershed, China

Considerable growth in the economy and population of the Dongting Lake watershed in Southern China has increased phosphorus loading to the lake and resulted in a growing risk of lake eutrophication. This study aimed to reveal the spatial pattern and sources of phosphorus export and loading from the watershed. We applied an export coefficient model and the Dillon-Rigler model to quantify contributions of different sub-watersheds and sources to the total phosphorus (TP) export and loading in 2010. Together, the upper and lower reaches of the Xiang River watershed and the Dongting Lake Area contributed 60.9% of the TP exported from the entire watershed. Livestock husbandry appeared to be the largest anthropogenic source of TP, contributing more than 50% of the TP exported from each secondary sub-watersheds. The actual TP loading to the lake in 2010 was 62.9% more than the permissible annual TP loading for compliance with the Class III water quality standard for lakes. Three primary sub-watersheds—the Dongting Lake Area, the Xiang River, and the Yuan River watersheds—contributed 91.2% of the total TP loading. As the largest contributor among all sources, livestock husbandry contributed nearly 50% of the TP loading from the Dongting Lake Area and more than 60% from each of the other primary sub-watersheds. This study provides a methodology to identify the key sources and locations of TP export and loading in large lake watersheds. The study can provide a reference for the decision-making for controlling P pollution in the Dongting Lake watershed.

Scenario analysis of ecosystem service changes and interactions in a mountain-oasis-desert system: a case study in Altay Prefecture, China

Scenario analysis of ecosystem services (ES) can provide a scientific basis for ecosystem management. The objective of this study was to reveal the effects of future land use scenarios on ES in a mountain-oasis-desert system (MODS). We first simulated land use changes for the period of 2015–2035 in Altay Prefecture under three different scenarios: business as usual (BAU), economic development (ED), and ecological conservation (EC). We then evaluated water yield (WY), crop production (CP), soil conservation (SC), sand fixation (SF), carbon sequestration (CS), and aesthetic value (AV) and investigated the multiple interactions among ES at the regional and grid scales. The results showed that SC, CS, and AV continually increased, WY continually decreased under the three scenarios. Our study revealed that the multiple interactions among ES were spatially heterogeneous in the MODS and the spatial heterogeneities changed across scenarios. The locations of and causes for the formation of the multiple interactions among ES were identified based on spatial analysis. This information can help decision-makers develop targeted and differentiated ecosystem management strategies. This study can increase the understanding of the multiple interactions among ES. Our findings can provide a reference for studies of other regions with the MODS structure.

A conservation decision-making framework based on ecosystem service hotspot and interaction analyses on multiple scales

Ecosystem service (ES) hotspot mapping is a promising method to spatially identify priority areas for conservation planning. Our study aims to develop a decision-making framework for ES conservation across administrative levels based on ES hotspot and interaction analyses on multiple spatial scales. To demonstrate the framework, we used the Dianchi Lake watershed and the Kunming Prefecture in Southwestern China as examples. We quantified six ES: crop productivity, water yield, habitat quality, soil conservation, total phosphorus retention, and recreation potential. In addition, we produced hotspot maps of single and multiple ES on the pixel, sub-river basin, and river basin scales and calculated the correlation coefficients between the services on these three scales. The decision-making framework was developed based on answering four questions: Who should make conservation decisions? Where should conservation be implemented? What should be conserved? How can ES be conserved? The results demonstrated that the spatial patterns of hotspots of single ES and the interactions among services were dependent on the scale in the Dianchi Lake watershed. In addition, the hotspot overlaps between ES were very poor and the spatial pattern of hotspot overlaps was dependent on what services were chosen. The framework developed in this study can be used to determine the decision-makers, find high priority conservation areas, identify the services that should be conserved, and find the way in which the services can be conserved. The framework provides ES information on multiple spatial scales and can thus facilitate the decision-making process at different administrative levels. In addition, the framework fits into the top-down decision-making system and may help decision-makers generate policies tailored to local realities; therefore, the framework has potential to be used by regional and local administrative decision-makers.