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Land
Special Issues
Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges
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Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Landscape Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 32826

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shicheng Li

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Public Administration, China Univeristy of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: land use and land cover change; Tibetan Plateau; ecosystem services; protected areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Chuanzhun Sun

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Public Management, South China Agriculture University, Guangzhou, 510642, China
Interests: ecosystem services assessment; land use change impact on ecosystem services
Dr. Qi Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
Interests: land use change; remote sensing; social-ecological systems; forest livelihoods
Dr. Basanta Paudel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: land use; land cover; land resources; ecosystem services; remote sensing; geography; GIS; UAV; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lanhui Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Computer and Information Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China
Interests: land cover change; human activity; climate change; remote sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There are many eco-sensitive areas, such as mountain regions (e.g., the Tibetan Plateau) and transitional zones (e.g., farming-pastoral zone), around the world that cover a sizeable area of the Earth’s terrestrial surface. These regions provide products and services to large amounts, if not all, of the world's population, including freshwater, food, and recreation, etc. However, due to excessive human land use activities and climate change, these regions are currently facing numerous challenges that affect the structure, quality, and ability of these ecosystems to provide services and products. In response to these challenges, we have formulated many policies and have taken many actions, including designating protected land areas and ecological compensation, to balance the relationship between ecological protection and socio-economic development. These interventions must be supported by the government at different levels to ensure that these ecosystems are able to sustainably provide their services. Because of this, studies related to ecosystem services should play an essential role in managing and conserving eco-sensitive areas and protected land. However, it is still unclear how studies on ecosystem services can support biodiversity conservation under present and future scenarios.

This Special Issue aims to address critical knowledge gaps on our basic understanding of land use/cover change, ecosystem services and how they have changed in eco-sensitive areas, and societal trends in and outside of eco-sensitive areas for dealing with future challenges. A particular focus is placed on studies regarding protected land and that are interested in the management and preservation of biodiversity and landscapes in these areas.

For this Special Issue of Land, we invite authors to submit theoretical considerations and descriptions of practical case studies concerning ecosystem services and protected lands in eco-sensitive areas. Both review and research articles are welcome. Potential topics include, but not limited to, the following:

  • The mapping, quantification, and assessment of ecosystem services and their dynamics;
  • The assessment of the effectiveness of protected lands due to protection and restoration;
  • The optimization of the layout of protected lands for enhancing the delivery of ecosystem services;
  • The identification of eco-sensitive areas from the perspective of ecosystem services and remote sensing;
  • The land use and trade-offs of ecosystem services;
  • The identification of external threats to eco-sensitive areas.

Dr. Shicheng Li
Dr. Chuanzhun Sun
Dr. Qi Zhang
Dr. Basanta Paudel
Dr. Lanhui Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecosystem services
  • protected lands
  • eco-sensitive areas
  • Tibetan Plateau
  • land use/cover change
  • ecological compensation
  • anthropogenic activities
  • ecosystem restoration
  • ecosystem services trade-off

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Published Papers (14 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3225 KiB  
Article
Spatial Differentiation and Driving Mechanisms of Ecosystem Service Value Change in Rural Land Consolidation: Evidence from Hubei, China
by Mingqing Liu, Chaozheng Zhang, Xiaoyu Sun, Xupeng Zhang, Dongming Liao, Jiao Hou, Yaya Jin, Gaohui Wen and Bin Jiang
Land 2023, 12(6), 1162; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061162 - 31 May 2023
Viewed by 1280
Abstract
Rural land consolidation projects (RLCPs) have become one of the largest organized human activities to change land use patterns and impact terrestrial ecosystems, and it may also be an important precondition to improving ecosystem service value (ESV). Evaluating the change in ecosystem service [...] Read more.
Rural land consolidation projects (RLCPs) have become one of the largest organized human activities to change land use patterns and impact terrestrial ecosystems, and it may also be an important precondition to improving ecosystem service value (ESV). Evaluating the change in ecosystem service value (ESV) is an important basis for measuring the effectiveness of RLCPs. Therefore, this paper, taking RLCPs implemented at County Level in Hubei Province, China, as an example, uses the improved ESV evaluation model to analyze the spatial differentiation of ESV change in RLCPs and then adopts geographic detectors and a geographically weighted regression model to identify the dominant factors affecting the ESV change in RLCPs. The results showed that (1) although RLCPs make the unevenness of land use obvious, they reduce the complexity of land use evidently and improve the dominance of land use significantly; (2) The ESV of RLCPs in 71 counties of Hubei Province increased, with an average increase of USD 2.37 × 107 a−1. The ESV increase is large in central Hubei, while small in eastern and western Hubei. However, the increase rate of ESV is high in eastern and central-north Hubei, while low in western and central-south Hubei. This indicates that RLCPs can effectively promote ESV, but there are significant regional differences, and (3) the ESV increase is positively correlated with GDP and construction scale, but negatively linked with investment and per capita income of rural residents. The ESV increase rate is negatively associated with cultivated land proportion and land use diversification index change, but it is positively related to the change in the land use evenness index. However, their driving effects have significant spatial heterogeneity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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17 pages, 12656 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Conservation Effectiveness of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Nature Reserves from a Human Footprint Perspective with Global Lessons
by Mingjun Jiang, Xinfei Zhao, Run Wang, Le Yin and Baolei Zhang
Land 2023, 12(4), 869; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040869 - 12 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2214
Abstract
The intensity of human pressure (HP) has an important impact on the biodiversity and ecosystem services of nature reserves (NRs), and the conflict and the coordination between NRs and human activities are now key issues to solve in the construction of NR systems. [...] Read more.
The intensity of human pressure (HP) has an important impact on the biodiversity and ecosystem services of nature reserves (NRs), and the conflict and the coordination between NRs and human activities are now key issues to solve in the construction of NR systems. This study improved and applied a human footprint (HF) model that considers population density, land use, night light, grazing intensity, and road construction as indicators of human activity to evaluate the effectiveness of NRs in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in mitigating HP from 2000 to 2020. The results indicated that during this period, the average HP in the national NRs of the plateau increased from 1.47646 to 1.76687, where values were generally high in the east and low in the west. The average value in wetland NRs was the largest and had the smallest growth rate, while that in desert NRs was the smallest and had the largest growth rate. From 2000 to 2020, the average HP in the core areas, buffer areas, and experimental areas of the NRs increased by 0.12969, 0.29909, and 0.44244, respectively. It is a challenge for the Chinese government to strengthen the ability of NRs to mitigate HP on the wetland reserves and experimental zones in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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17 pages, 4638 KiB  
Article
The Coupling Relationship between Green Finance and Ecosystem Service Demand in China Based on an Improved Coupling Coordination Degree Model
by Haojia Wang, Dandan Zhao, Qiaowei Zhou, Qinhua Ke and Guanglong Dong
Land 2023, 12(3), 529; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12030529 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1824
Abstract
With the rapid development of society and economy, people’s demand for ecosystem services is constantly increasing. All countries support this demand by vigorously developing green finance. The coordinated development of green finance and ecosystem service demand is of great significance for sustainable development. [...] Read more.
With the rapid development of society and economy, people’s demand for ecosystem services is constantly increasing. All countries support this demand by vigorously developing green finance. The coordinated development of green finance and ecosystem service demand is of great significance for sustainable development. Most of the existing studies separately study green finance or ecosystem service demand, separating the relationship between the two. At present, there is still a lack of clear understanding of the coupling relationship between green finance and ecosystem service demand. In addition, in the existing coupling relationship calculation models, the setting of relevant parameters is subjective. Therefore, based on the green finance and ecosystem service demand database of 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2017, this paper firstly evaluates the green finance and ecosystem service demand quantitatively, and then analyzes the coupling coordination relationship between them by using an improved coupling coordination degree model. The results show that: (1) compared with the traditional coupling coordination degree model, the contribution coefficient of each subsystem in the improved coupling coordination degree model has a more sufficient basis, and more objective evaluation results; (2) from 2010 to 2017, the level of green finance in China’s provinces increased significantly, showing a spatial pattern of “high in the east and low in the west”; the ecosystem services demand increased first and then decreased, with an increase in nearly two-thirds of provinces; (3) the coupling coordination relationship between green finance and ecosystem service demand in China’s provinces was optimized continuously from 2010 to 2017, showing the spatial differentiation of “eastern China > central China > northeast China > western China”; (4) in 2017, the coupling coordination degree of green finance and ecosystem service demand in Guangdong Province was the highest, reaching a high level of coordination, while Qinghai Province was the lowest, as a result of a serious level of incoordination. It is worth noting that the comprehensive development level of green finance in China is still low and seriously lags behind the development level of ecosystem services demand. In the future, green and low-carbon transformation should be accelerated to promote the sustainable development of financial ecology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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19 pages, 1959 KiB  
Article
Land Use Function Transition and Associated Ecosystem Service Value Effects Based on Production–Living–Ecological Space: A Case Study in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area
by Fangjie Pan, Nannan Shu, Qing Wan and Qi Huang
Land 2023, 12(2), 391; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020391 - 31 Jan 2023
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2234
Abstract
The transition of land use function and its effects on ecosystem services is a key issue in eco-environmental protection and is the basis of territorial space governance and optimization. Previous studies have typically selected land use types to evaluate ecosystem service value (ESV) [...] Read more.
The transition of land use function and its effects on ecosystem services is a key issue in eco-environmental protection and is the basis of territorial space governance and optimization. Previous studies have typically selected land use types to evaluate ecosystem service value (ESV) and have overlooked comprehensive characteristics of ecosystem services and the mutual feedback relationship between human social systems and the ecosystem. Taking the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Hubei section (TGRA-HS) as a case study, we used a transition matrix, the revised ESV method, and an ecological contribution rate model to explore land use function transition (LUFT) and its effects on the change in ESV based on the production–living–ecological space (PLES) classification system. The results show that: (1) The transition of land use function based on PLES was the mapping of the evolution of the human–nature relationship in the spatial pattern, which reflected the evolution of the spatial pattern caused by human interference with the continuous development of society; (2) The evolution of PLES showed the characteristics of a reduction in production space (P-space), and an expansion in living space (L-space) and ecological space (E-space). The distribution pattern of PLES from 1990 to 2020 was basically the same, and the characteristics of structural transform reflected the characteristics of project construction in different phases; (3) The E-space contributed the most to the total ESV, and it has risen by CNY 13.06 × 108. The transition of land use function caused by human construction projects impacts the spatiotemporal change in the regional ESV; (4) The change in ESV induced by LUFT revealed the whole dynamic process of the positive and negative effects of human construction projects on ecosystem services, and the two effects offset each other to keep the ESV relatively stable. The transition of E-space to P-space had the greatest impact on the reduction in ESV, whose contribution rate was 82.76%. The dynamic changes in land use function and ESV corresponding to the different stages of the Three Gorges Project’s (TGP) construction reveals the important driving effect of human activities on ecosystem services. It reminds us that humans should not forget to protect the eco-environment when obtaining services from the ecosystem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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16 pages, 9516 KiB  
Article
Response of Two Major Lakes in the Changtang National Nature Reserve, Tibetan Plateau to Climate and Anthropogenic Changes over the Past 50 Years
by Zhilong Zhao, Zengzeng Hu, Jun Zhou, Ruliang Kan and Wangjun Li
Land 2023, 12(2), 267; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020267 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1623
Abstract
Areal changes in alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are reliable indicators of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. This study used long-term Landsat images and meteorological records to monitor the temporal evolution patterns of lakes within the Changtang National Nature Reserve between [...] Read more.
Areal changes in alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are reliable indicators of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. This study used long-term Landsat images and meteorological records to monitor the temporal evolution patterns of lakes within the Changtang National Nature Reserve between 1972 and 2021 and examine the climatic and anthropogenic impacts on lake area changes. The results revealed that the area of Lake LongmuCo and Lake Jiezechaqia significantly expanded by 12.81% and 12.88% from 1972 to 2021, respectively. After 1999, Lake LongmuCo and Lake Jiezechaqia entered into a period of rapid expansion. During 1972–2021, the annual mean temperature significantly increased at a rate of 0.05 °C/a, while the change in annual precipitation was not significant. The temperature change was a major contributor to the observed changes of Lake LongmuCo and Lake Jiezechaqia between 1972 and 2021, while human intervention also played a vital role during 2013–2021. The glaciers around these two lakes decreased by 21.81%, and the increase in water supply from warming-triggered glacier melting was a reason of expansion of Lake LongmuCo and Lake Jiezechaqia. The areas of the two artificial salt lakes affiliated with Lake LongmuCo and Lake Jiezechaqia were 0.24 km2 and 2.67 km2 in 2013 and rose to 0.51 km2 and 9.80 km2 in 2021, respectively. In particular, the continuous exploitations of salt lakes to extract lithium resources have retarded the rate of expansion of Lake LongmuCo and Lake Jiezechaqia. The dams constructed by industrial enterprises have blocked the expansion of Lake LongmuCo to the south. This paper sheds new light on the influences of recent human intervention and climatic variation on alpine lakes within the TP. Due to the importance of alpine lakes in the TP, we need more comprehensive and in-depth efforts to protect the lake ecosystems within the national nature reserves. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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20 pages, 5151 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Zoning of Cultivated Land Quality Based on a Space–Function–Environment
by Fei Xu, Yaping Shao, Baogen Xu, Huan Li, Xuefeng Xie, Yan Xu and Lijie Pu
Land 2023, 12(1), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010174 - 5 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2779
Abstract
The multi-function characteristics of cultivated land have been widely recognized by researchers in China and globally, and it is important to provide a theoretical basis and practical reference for future research on the evaluation and zoning of cultivated land quality based on a [...] Read more.
The multi-function characteristics of cultivated land have been widely recognized by researchers in China and globally, and it is important to provide a theoretical basis and practical reference for future research on the evaluation and zoning of cultivated land quality based on a space–function–environment perspective. Spearman rank correlation analysis and cluster analysis were used to categorize cultivated land by its quality. This study developed a theoretical evaluation framework of the space–function–environment quality for cultivated land and constructed a total of 23 indicators of cultivated land quality in three dimensions. The framework was applied to a case study that evaluated and zoned cultivated land quality based on a space–function–environment perspective. The results showed that the synergies and tradeoffs among spatial quality, functional quality and environmental quality, and the influences of the three on cultivated land quality are mutually restricted and act together. The cultivated land in Qujiang District can be divided into five types of areas according to the cold and hot spot analysis results of the secondary indexes of cultivated land spatial quality, functional quality and environmental quality. Based on these results, different protection schemes are proposed for different cultivated land qualities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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13 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
Priority to Self-Interest? Economic Development? Or Ecological Coordination? The Turnover of Local Officials and Environmental Governance in China
by Yanjun Guo, Tuo Zhang and Ruotong Li
Land 2023, 12(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010091 - 27 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1522
Abstract
Under the background of government-oriented environmental governance in China, the environmental effect of local official turnover has become an important issue. How to improve governmental governance is an important issue that profoundly affects local environmental governance. Based on a literature analysis, this paper [...] Read more.
Under the background of government-oriented environmental governance in China, the environmental effect of local official turnover has become an important issue. How to improve governmental governance is an important issue that profoundly affects local environmental governance. Based on a literature analysis, this paper establishes an environmental-effect identification equation to deeply analyze the environmental effect of local official turnover on private enterprises. Then, this paper empirically analyzes the effect of local personnel turnover on the environmental pollution control of private enterprises and the persistence of this effect. The results show that the turnover of local officials has a positive effect on the pollution control investment of private enterprises, but the effect is not persistent. The interest collusion between local officials and private enterprises tends to be one main reason to explain the environmental effect, and two different types of interest collusions are determined: priority to self-interest and economic development. The reasons why the positive effect cannot last for long may be attributed to a lack of systematic and effective institutions or temporary administrative measures. It is important to make local officials fully realize the “green wealth” value of the ecosystems, to change their economic priorities. Finally, this paper proposes countermeasures for local governments on personnel affairs to promote environmental governance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
18 pages, 3343 KiB  
Article
Identification of Land Use Conflicts in Shandong Province from an Ecological Security Perspective
by Guanglong Dong, Zhonghao Liu, Yuanzhao Niu and Wenya Jiang
Land 2022, 11(12), 2196; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122196 - 3 Dec 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2578
Abstract
Accurate identification of land use conflicts is an important prerequisite for the rational allocation of land resources and optimizing the production–living–ecological space pattern. Previous studies used suitability assessment and landscape pattern indices to identify land use conflicts. However, research on land use conflict [...] Read more.
Accurate identification of land use conflicts is an important prerequisite for the rational allocation of land resources and optimizing the production–living–ecological space pattern. Previous studies used suitability assessment and landscape pattern indices to identify land use conflicts. However, research on land use conflict identification from the perspective of ecological security is insufficient and not conducive to regional ecological, environmental protection, and sustainable development. Based on ecological security, this study takes Shandong Province as an example and comprehensively evaluates the importance of ecosystem service function and environmental sensitivity. It identifies the ecological source, and extracts ecological corridors with a minimum cumulative resistance model from which ecological security patterns are constructed. It identifies land use conflicts through spatial overlay analysis of arable land and construction land. The results show that: (1) Shandong Province has formed an ecological security pattern of “two ecological barriers, two belts, and eight cores” with an area of 15,987 km2. (2) The level of arable land–ecological space conflict is low, at 39.76%. The proportions of serious and moderate conflicts are 13.44% and 26.97%, respectively, distributed primarily on the Jiaodong Peninsula and the low hill areas of Ludong. (3) Construction land–ecological space conflict is reasonably stable and controllable, at 76.39%, occurring mainly around urban construction land, with serious and moderate conflict concentrated in the eastern coastal areas, mainly between rural settlements and ecologically safe space in the region. This study has important theoretical and practical reference values for identifying land use conflicts, protecting regional ecological security, and optimizing land use patterns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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18 pages, 4453 KiB  
Article
Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality and Its Driving Factors Based on the Coupled NDVI-InVEST Model: A Case Study from the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China
by Yayan Lu, Junhong Zhao, Jianwei Qi, Tianyu Rong, Zhi Wang, Zhaoping Yang and Fang Han
Land 2022, 11(10), 1805; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101805 - 15 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2172
Abstract
Globally, mountains have suffered enormous biodiversity loss and habitat degradation due to climate change and human activities. As an agent of biodiversity, evaluating habitat quality (HQ) change is an indispensable key step for regional ecological security and human well-being enhancement, especially for fragile [...] Read more.
Globally, mountains have suffered enormous biodiversity loss and habitat degradation due to climate change and human activities. As an agent of biodiversity, evaluating habitat quality (HQ) change is an indispensable key step for regional ecological security and human well-being enhancement, especially for fragile mountain ecosystems in arid areas. In this study, we aimed to propose an integrated framework coupled with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST)-HQ module to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of HQ estimation. We highlighted the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang as an example to validate the model, as it is a typical representative of mountain ecosystems in the temperate arid zone. Specifically, we aimed to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of HQ over the past two decades and investigate its influencing factors using a geographical detector model. The results show that, first, grassland and unused land were the main land-use types in the study area. The land-use transitions were mainly concentrated in grassland, woodland, water body, and unused land. Second, the total area of very important habitats and general habitats accounted for over 70% of the Tianshan Mountains. The average HQ decreased from 0.5044 to 0.4802 during 1995–2015. Third, the HQ exhibited significant spatial differentiation, and the Ili River Valley and Kaidu River Basin were the hot spots, while the south and east of the Tianshan Mountains were the cold spots. Habitat quality was strongly related to the terrain gradient, with an inverted “U” type. Protected areas of different categories played a vital role in biodiversity conservation. Finally, soil type, land-use change, precipitation, temperature, and grazing intensity were the dominant factors in response to HQ change for both the total Tianshan Mountains and sub-regions, followed by elevation, the relief degree of the land surface, gross domestic product, population density, and distance to tourism attractions. The interaction effects of the influencing factors were improved compared to the effects of the individual factors in each zone. Furthermore, these results provide decision-making criteria for formulating a scientific and systematic protection of ecology and restoration planning systems to enhance the capacity to address climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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23 pages, 5736 KiB  
Article
The Evolution and Determinants of Ecosystem Services in Guizhou—A Typical Karst Mountainous Area in Southwest China
by Lu Jiao, Rui Yang, Yinling Zhang, Jian Yin and Jiayu Huang
Land 2022, 11(8), 1164; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081164 - 27 Jul 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2090
Abstract
Due to rapid urbanization and economic development, the natural environment and ecological processes have been significantly affected by human activities. Especially in ecologically fragile karst areas, the ecosystems are more sensitive to external disturbances and have a hard time recovering, thus studies on [...] Read more.
Due to rapid urbanization and economic development, the natural environment and ecological processes have been significantly affected by human activities. Especially in ecologically fragile karst areas, the ecosystems are more sensitive to external disturbances and have a hard time recovering, thus studies on the ecosystem services in these areas are significant. In view of this, we took Guizhou (a typical karst province) as the research area, evaluated the ecosystem service value (ESV) according to reclassified land uses and revised equivalent factors, and investigated the determinants of ecosystem services based on geographic detection. It was found that the total ESV showed a prominent increase trend, increasing from 152.55 billion CNY in 2000 to 285.50 billion CNY in 2020. The rise of grain prices due to growing social demands was the main factor in driving the increase of ESV. Spatially, the ESVs of central and western Guizhou were lower with cold spots appearing around human gathering areas, while that of southern and southeastern Guizhou were higher with hot spots that formed in continually distributed woodland. Moreover, the ESV per unit area and its change rate in karst regions were always lower than that in non-karst areas. Precipitation and temperature were the dominant nature factors while cultivation and population density were the main anthropogenic effects driving the evolution of ecosystem services. Therefore, positive human activities as well as rational and efficient land-use should be guided to promote the coordinated and high-quality development of ecology and the economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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15 pages, 2117 KiB  
Article
Effects of Land-Use Change on the Pollination Services for Litchi and Longan Orchards: A Case Study of Huizhou, China
by Qinhua Ke, Shuang Chen, Dandan Zhao, Minting Li and Chuanzhun Sun
Land 2022, 11(7), 1073; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11071073 - 14 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2065
Abstract
Land-use change has a significant impact on the structure and function of ecosystems and is an important reason for the imbalance between the supply and demand of ecosystem services. Pollination services are indispensable functions of ecosystems. In recent years, land-use change has caused [...] Read more.
Land-use change has a significant impact on the structure and function of ecosystems and is an important reason for the imbalance between the supply and demand of ecosystem services. Pollination services are indispensable functions of ecosystems. In recent years, land-use change has caused a decline in the abundance of pollinators, thereby affecting the supply of pollination services, which has been a major concern for governments and scholars. Currently, there is an insufficient exploration of the impact mechanism of land-use change on pollination services. The application of a pollination service evaluation model based on land-use data uses a large amount of empirical data, which greatly affects the accuracy of regional evaluation results. This study uses Huizhou as a representative example. Remote sensing images from 2015 and 2019 were used to interpret the land-use data of the region, and the spatiotemporal changes in the land use were then analyzed. Due to their high pollination dependence, litchi and longan were selected as the research objects. Basic data such as the main pollinator species of litchi and longan and floral plant species were obtained through field sampling surveys. The InVEST model was used to evaluate the abundance of pollinators in litchi and longan orchards, and the abundance of pollinators was used to represent the value of pollination services in litchi and longan orchards. Then, the Hotspot analysis method was used to analyze the change in the spatial pattern of the pollinator abundance in litchi and longan orchards. The main influencing factors of pollination service in litchi and longan orchards were analyzed by a Geographical detector. Finally, we have explored the impact mechanism of land-use change on pollination services. The following are the results of this research. The pollinator abundance in the orchards of litchi and longan and their buffer zones in Huizhou decreased by 6.64% and 13.94% from 2015 to 2019, respectively. The wild bee abundance in forest land and rainfed cropland decreased by varying degrees. The spatial aggregation characteristics of pollinator abundance in litchi and longan orchards demonstrated an increase in cold spots, whereas the hot spots decreased and were more dispersed. In the study area, the area change and land-use change of natural or semi-natural habitats, such as forest land, rainfed cropland, and grassland, affected the pollination services for litchi and longan orchards. Within the types of changing land-use, the change of forest land has the greatest impact on litchi and longan pollination services. The impact degrees of Forest land area, rainfed cropland area, area under litchi and longan orchards, and forest landscape fragmentation on the pollination services for litchi and longan orchards were 0.20, 0.16, 0.21, and 0.26, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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20 pages, 5553 KiB  
Article
Degradation or Restoration? The Temporal-Spatial Evolution of Ecosystem Services and Its Determinants in the Yellow River Basin, China
by Bowen Zhang, Ying Wang, Jiangfeng Li and Liang Zheng
Land 2022, 11(6), 863; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060863 - 7 Jun 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2463
Abstract
Ecosystem services (ESs) are irreplaceable natural resources, and their value is closely related to global change and to human well-being. Research on ecosystem services value (ESV) and its influencing factors can help rationalize ecological regulatory policies, and is especially relevant in such an [...] Read more.
Ecosystem services (ESs) are irreplaceable natural resources, and their value is closely related to global change and to human well-being. Research on ecosystem services value (ESV) and its influencing factors can help rationalize ecological regulatory policies, and is especially relevant in such an ecologically significant region as the Yellow River Basin (YRB). In this study, the ecological contribution model was used to measure the contribution of intrinsic land use change to ESV, the bivariate spatial autocorrelation model was applied to investigate the relationship between land use degree and ESV, and the geographical detector model (GDM) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) were applied to reveal the impact of natural and socio-economic factors on ESV. Results showed that: (1) The total ESV increased slightly, but there were notable changes in spatial patterns of ESV in the YRB. (2) Land use changes can directly lead to ESV restoration or degradation, among which, conversion from grassland to forest land and conversion from unused land to grassland are vital for ESV restoration in the YRB, while degradation of grassland is the key factor for ESV deterioration. (3) According to GDM, NDVI is the most influential factor affecting ESV spatial heterogeneity, and the combined effect of multiple factors can exacerbate ESV spatial heterogeneity. (4) GWR reveals that NDVI is always positively correlated with ESV, GDP is mainly positively correlated with ESV, and population density is mainly negatively correlated with ESV, while positive and negative correlation areas for other factors are roughly equal. The findings can provide theoretical support and scientific guidance for ecological regulation in the YRB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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23 pages, 10086 KiB  
Article
Quantifying and Analyzing the Responses of Habitat Quality to Land Use Change in Guangdong Province, China over the Past 40 Years
by Hanwen Zhang and Yanqing Lang
Land 2022, 11(6), 817; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060817 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2533
Abstract
Guangdong Province is an important ecological barrier and the primary pillar of economic development in China. Driven by high-speed urbanization and industrialization, unreasonable land use change in Guangdong Province has exacerbated habitat degradation and loss, seriously affecting habitat quality. Thus, taking Guangdong Province [...] Read more.
Guangdong Province is an important ecological barrier and the primary pillar of economic development in China. Driven by high-speed urbanization and industrialization, unreasonable land use change in Guangdong Province has exacerbated habitat degradation and loss, seriously affecting habitat quality. Thus, taking Guangdong Province as the study area, this paper quantifies the response of habitat quality on land use change using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and constructs a contribution index (CI). The following conclusions can be drawn from the results: (1) The habitat quality exhibits a spatial distribution pattern of low quality in plain areas and high quality in hilly and mountainous areas. (2) The annual average habitat quality gradually decreases from 1980 to 2020, with a total decrease of 0.0351 and a reduction rate of 4.83%; (3) The impact of land use change on habitat quality is mainly negative, and the habitat quality mainly decreases by the conversion of forest land to orchards, paddy field to urban land, and forest land to dry land, with CI values of −24.09, −11.67, and −8.04, respectively. Preventing the destruction of natural forests, increasing the diversity of plantation orchards, and rationalizing and mitigating the growth rate of construction land are key to maintaining and improving the habitat quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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18 pages, 5330 KiB  
Article
Variations and Mutual Relations of Vegetation–Soil–Microbes of Alpine Meadow in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under Degradation and Cultivation
by Yueju Zhang, Mingjun Ding, Hua Zhang, Nengyu Wang, Fan Xiao, Ziping Yu, Peng Huang and Fu Zou
Land 2022, 11(3), 396; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11030396 - 8 Mar 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2648
Abstract
Artificial cultivation had been applied to recover the meadow suffering from serious degradation in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Studies focusing only on the changes in vegetation, soil and microbes along the meadow degradation were insufficient, and artificial cultivation as an important part of succession [...] Read more.
Artificial cultivation had been applied to recover the meadow suffering from serious degradation in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Studies focusing only on the changes in vegetation, soil and microbes along the meadow degradation were insufficient, and artificial cultivation as an important part of succession was always neglected. Here, the variables of vegetation, soil, and soil bacteria are surveyed in four types of alpine meadow in the protected lands of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: intact alpine meadow (IAM), moderate degradation alpine meadow (MDAM), extreme degradation alpine meadow (black soil beach (BSB)), and artificial alpine grassland (AAG). The results indicated that degradation and cultivation significantly changed the characteristics of the vegetation community, physicochemical features of the soil, and soil bacterial community diversity. Soil bacteria took a considerably longer time to adapt to degradation and cultivation than vegetation and soil. Compared to IAM and BSB, ADAM and AAG had more specific bacteria identified by ANOVA and LEfSe analysis, implying an unstable state. Combined with vegetation and soil variables, it was speculated that the unstable AAG was not significantly improved from the degraded meadow, and also lagged significantly compared to IAM. Correlation analysis revealed that aboveground biomass, species richness, vegetation coverage, SOC, C/N, BD, WC, and pH were significantly associated with bacterial diversity under community level. Aboveground biomass was an effective indicator for soil bacterial gene copies. Redundancy analysis demonstrated that the soil bacterial community is mainly regulated by the vegetation coverage, Gleason index, Simpson index, TN, TP, and pH under phylum and genus level. Partial mantel test analysis indicated that the physicochemical features of the soil were the most important factor correlating with the soil bacterial community along the degradation and cultivation, compared to other environmental factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Sensitive Areas: Ecosystem Services, Protected Lands, and Current Challenges)
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