Research on groundwater ecological environment mapping based on ecological service function:A case study of five Central Asian countries and neighboring regions of China

The groundwater system is a unique ecosystem that serves both resource and ecological functions.Hydrogeologists have conducted extensive theoretical research and practical work on groundwater ecological mapping.This paper,based on the study of groundwater resources and surface ecology in the five Central Asian countries and adjacent areas of China,introduces the concept of ecosystem service functions.It establishes a groundwater ecological zoning index system and conducts research of ecological mapping using the five Central Asian countries and adjacent areas of China as examples.Through this process,the ecosystem service functions of groundwater can be more comprehensively reflected,which can better guide regional geological environment protection and industrial planning.This approach helps coordinate the relationship between socio-economic development and water resource protection,maintain the health of the groundwater ecological environment,enhance the value of groundwater ecological services,and promote the sustainable development of regional economies and societies.

ESTIMATION OF ECOLOGICAL SERVICE VALUES OF WETLANDS IN SHANGHAI, CHINA

Shanghai is a coastal metropolitan city with various types of natural wetlands, which account for 23.5% of its total area. According to the definition of wetland in Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the wetlands of Shanghai were classified into 4 types: coastal, riverine, lacustrine, and reservoir and pond wetlands. In order to examine the roles of wetlands in the life-support system of Shanghai, we calculated the area of each type of the wetlands using GIS technique, and then measured the ecological service values of different ecosystems in Shanghai based on the classification of ecosystem services proposed by COSTANZA et al. (1997). The estimated annual value of ecosystem services in the study area was 7.3×109US$/a for the total area of 1 356 700ha, among which about 97% was provided by the wetlands. Effective conservation and management of wetlands are therefore crucial to Shanghai’s sustainable development. The limitations of the evaluation method for ecosystem service value were also discussed in the present paper.

A New Carbon and Oxygen Balance Model Based on Ecological Service of Urban Vegetation

The application of human induced oxygen consumption and carbon emission theory in urban region was summed up and on this base a new model of urban carbon and oxygen balance (UCOB) was constructed by calculating the carbon and oxygen fluxes. The purpose was to highlight the role of vegetation in urban ecosystems and evaluate the effects of various human activities on urban annual oxygen consumption and carbon emission. Hopefully,the model would be helpful in theory to keep the regional balance of carbon and oxygen,and provide guidance and support for urban vegetation planning in the future. To test the UCOB model,the Jimei District of Xiamen City,Fujian Province,China,a very typical urban region,was selected as a case study. The results turn out that Jimei′s vegetation service in oxygen emission and carbon sequestration could not meet the demand of the urban population,and more than 31.49 times of vegetation area should be added to meet the whole oxygen consumption in Jimei while 9.60 times of vegetation area are needed to meet the carbon sequestration targets. The results show that the new UCOB model is of a great potential to be applied to quantitative planning of urban vegetation and regional eco-compensation mechanisms.

EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL SERVICES OF JILIN PROVINCE, NORTHEAST CHINA

The main purpose of this study is to give evaluation of ecological services of Jilin Province, Northeast China. To take this value into decision-making and GDP accounting system is considered to be one of the economic solutions for ecological problems. The evaluation is based on the methods proposed by COSTANZA et al., and some modifications about unit value of forest and cropland system were made according to the real characters of ecosystem, climate, natural conditions etc., in Jilin Province. Total value of ecosystem services is about 554.404x10(9) yuan(RMB)/a, which is about 4.9 times of GDP of the corresponding period. The results of this study could be used as a fundamental work for the construction of ecological province, which was carried out from 2001, and could provide ecological information for decision-making. Furthermore, the necessities for the further studies on the evaluation of ecological services and natural capital were discussed.

Compensation for forest ecological services in China

The paper discusses methods to compensate for the costs incurred in the supply of forest ecological services （FES）, i.e. government dominated and market-based instruments as well as progress made so far in China. Factors which constrain the supply of these services and potential policy improvements are presented.

A Study on Forest Species Diversity and Its Ecological Service Function in the Plateau Area of Western Sichuan

This paper presents a study on species diversity and its ecological service function in the plateau area in western Sichuan. The results show that species diversity in the plantations on the cutover land has a tendency to increase and that its ecological service function is to be improved with stand age growing. The species diversity in forest communities is also gradually increased on different succession stage till reaching a climax level. But the species diversity in the climax community is slightly decreased before it reaches a relatively constant status. Ecological service function of diversity is gradually strengthened with the progress of succession. In addition, species diversity in a stand in a similar site and at a same age differs among forest types. Species diversity index within a coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest is larger than that within a coniferous forest. Meanwhile, species diversity enriches as the tree density increases.

Chinese Policies and Practices regarding Payments for Ecological Services in Watersheds

Watersheds provide a variety of ecological services including soil and water conservation, carbon sequestration and biodiversity protection. However, activities in a fast-growing economy significantly impact the supply and demand of these watershed services. To mitigate these impacts, the concept of payment for environmental and ecosystem services from water-sheds has emerged in global academic and policy circles. The governments and academic communities in China have increas-ingly described payments for ecological services from watersheds with the concept of watershed eco-compensation as it is urgent to protect watershed ecosystems. Watershed eco-compensation has proved to be one of the most economically effective means of solving environmental problems of watersheds to be adopted by the Chinese government. This paper presents an objective analysis of the Chinese market for watershed ecosystem services, including supply and demand for the services. It also summarizes Chinese policies on watershed eco-compensation, including relevant laws and regulations and fiscal policies. In addition, it presents a re-view of Chinese practices in watershed eco-compensation, in-cluding the analysis of an ecological construction project in West-ern China, inter-provincial watershed eco-compensation practices and plans, and payment for ecological services at the provincial and small watershed levels. Finally, it summarizes the key com-ponents of the process of payment in Chinese watershed eco-compensation. This discussion forms the basis of concluding suggestions for ecosystem services compensation and ecological protection in the large scale river basin.

Evaluation on Cultivated Land Resource Ecological Service Value in Wuhan Metropolitan Area

The land ecosystem service function value contains the gas regulating function value, air purification function value, water conservation value, land conser-vation value, soil nutrient conservation value and maintain biodiversity value. Based on the method of market value and the data of Hubei Statistical yearbook, cultivat-ed land resources of ecosystem service function value is 730 038.69Mil ion in 2007-2009, and 714 774.99 Mil ion in 2010-2012 in Wuhan Metropolitan Area. After three years of development, Wuhan Metropolitan Area of ecological value of cultivated land has increased by about 3.97%. From the point of each composition, the im-portance of gas regulating function of cultivated land resources and water conserva-tion function is the forefront. From the point of spatial distribution, the highest of annual average value of the cultivated land ecological was Huanggang （1.725 bil ion yuan）, the lowest was Ezhou （217.868 6 mil ion yuan） in 2010-2012. From the point of space changes, the land ecological value increased only in Qianjiang city, while farmland ecological value in other cities was fal ing The conclusion is of direc-tive significance to the regional land protection policy and the farmland reasonable distribution, for Wuhan Metropolitan Area and other areas.

An integrated approach to evaluation on ecological service functions for urban green space and its application

This methodological investigation deals with measurement and valuation of ecological service functions for urban green space. Social, economic and ecological dimensions for such types of function were analyzed and a concept “integrated ecological service functions” (IESF) was put forward for evaluation. Based upon this conceptual approach, an index system for measuring IESF for urban green space was established. With a methodological integration of fuzzy mathematics, decision making analysis and Delphi method, an AHP fuzzy evaluation techniques for IESF for urban green space, called AFIFUG method, was developed. Such a method has been directly applied to the land use strategic planning of Tianjin out ring green belt(TOGB), and its analysis results have been successfully put into operation.

Ecosystem Services Evaluation of Karst New Urban Areas Based on Net Primary Productivity of Guanshanhu District, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is the basis of the material and energy transport calculation in ecosystem studies. NPP directly reflects the production capacity of plant communities under natural conditions. Ecosystem services are hot topics in the field of ecology. Many studies calculate ecosystem service value based on NPP. Taking Guanshanhu District of Guiyang City, Guizhou Province as the research object, using TM, ETM+, Gaofen2 and MOD17A3HGF.006 as data sources, this paper analyzed the change of ecosystem service value based on NPP in 2000, 2010 and 2020. The results showed that the area of forest ecosystem increased during 2000-2010 and decreased during 2010-2020. The artificial surface grew rapidly from 1146.82 hm2 to 7544.29 hm2 during 2000-2020. The farmland ecosystem decreased from 13308.29 hm2 to 6342.33 hm2 during 2000-2020. With the dynamic changes in ecosystem spatial distribution and component structure, the total NPP in 2000, 2010 and 2020 was 12.58 × 104 t, 11.90 × 104 t and 11.78 × 104 t, respectively, showing a decreasing trend. The total value of natural and semi-natural ecosystems services based on NPP showed an increasing trend, which was ￥ 6.938 × 108 in 2000, ￥ 8.052 × 108 in 2010 and ￥ 10.306 × 108 in 2020 respectively. The ecosystem contributed the most to the ecological service value in 2000 was farmland, but in 2010 and 2020, it was the forest ecosystem. The ecological service value of grassland and wetland was relatively small, while the ratio of the wetland ecological service value displayed a decreasing trend. In the future, it is necessary to establish a strict pretrial system for land use, so as to effectively protect the natural and semi-natural ecosystems and fulfill the growing ecological demands of residents.

Spatial Correlation and Ecological Characteristics Analysis of Man-agement Area for Biodiversity Conservation and Relevant Regionalization

Formulation of different ecological zone plans according to the corresponding protection targets and the necessity of proper conservation policy is one of the measures to achieve the goal of ecological conservation in China.In order to clarify the interrelation among key ecological zone plans,this paper carried out the research on spatial relation of priority areas of biodiversity conservation and three key ecological areas(key ecological function areas,key regions of ecological service function,national nature reserves)and the research on ecological conditions,based on multi-scale ecological spatial theme information,which incorporates elements like ecological quality and type,and by the aid of spatial information analysis and GIS modeling.The results showed a contrastively fine spatial consistency with 68.8%of priority areas of biodiversity conservation overlapping with three key ecological areas.Although the environment in priority areas of biodiversity conservation were in good conditions,protection pressure is also increasing,powerful supervision and protection should not be ignored.The environmental conditions in the overlapping areas,as a whole,were superior to those in the non-overlapping areas.Since two areas have different characteristics,targeted protection measures should be formulated based on this difference,which will be very important for biodiversity conservation in priority areas of biodiversity conservation.

Thoughts and Practice of Ecological Protection and Restoration of Mountains, Rivers, Forests, Farmlands, Lakes and Grasslands

The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated that it was necessary to establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,treat the ecological environment as life,and coordinate the management of mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes and grasslands.In recent years,China has organized a series of pilot projects for the ecological protection and restoration of mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes and grasslands,breaking the boundary between administrative divisions,departmental management and ecological elements,and implementing conservation and restoration oriented towards the improvement of ecosystem services,so as to solve the problem of the lack of overall planning for ecological protection and restoration projects and the separated management of ecological elements.This study systematically elaborated the theoretical basis and connotation characteristics of ecological protection and restoration of mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes and grasslands.It proposed the implementation path of ecological protection and restoration project of mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes and grasslands by taking the water source conservation area of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei as a case,so as to provide reference for the implementation and decision-making management of ecological protection and restoration projects in various regions.

Integrating beneficiaries into assessment of ecosystem services from managed forests at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest,USA

Background：Forests contribute to human wellbeing through the provision of important ecosystem services.Methods：In this study,we investigated how the perceived importance of ecosystem services may impact the overall benefit provided by managed watersheds at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest over a 45-year period,using standardized measures of service capacity weighted by service importance weights derived from a survey of beneficiaries.Results：The capacity of watersheds to regulate water flow and quality was high in all watersheds throughout the study period,whereas cultural services such as scenic beauty declined after harvest.Impacts on greenhouse gas regulation depended on the efficiency with which harvested biomass was used.Surveys revealed that stakeholders placed high value on all ecosystem services,with regulating and cultural services seen as more important than provisioning services.When service metrics were weighted by survey responses and aggregated into a single measure,total service provision followed the same overall trend as greenhouse gas regulation.Where biomass use was less efficient in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,harvesting resulted in an overall ＂ecosystem service debt＂;where use was more efficient,this ＂ecosystem service debt＂ was reduced.Beneficiaries＇ educational backgrounds significantly affected overall assessment of service provision.Beneficiaries with college or university degrees incurred smaller ＂ecosystem service debts＂ and were less negatively affected by harvesting overall.Conclusions：This study highlights the importance of including empirical measures of beneficiary preference when attempting to quantify overall provision of ecosystem services to human beneficiaries over time.

Changes in Ecosystem Service of Soil Conservation Between 2000 and 2010 and Its Driving Factors in Southwestern China

Human activities significantly alter ecosystems and their services; however, quantifying the impact of human activities on ecosystems has been a great challenge in ecosystem management. We used the Universal Soil Loss Equation and county-level socioeconomic data to assess the changes in the ecosystem service of soil conservation between 2000 and 2010, and to analyze its spatial characteristics and driving factors in the southwestern China. The results showed that cropland in the southwestern China decreased by 3.74%, while urban land, forest, and grassland areas increased by 46.78%, 0.86%, and 1.12%, respectively. The soil conservation increased by 1.88 × 10^(11) kg, with deterioration only in some local areas. The improved and the degraded areas accounted for 6.41% and 2.44% of the total land area, respectively. Implementation of the Sloping Land Conversion Program and urbanization explained 57.80% and 23.90% of the variation in the soil conservation change, respectively, and were found to be the main factors enhancing soil conservation. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was one of the factors that led to the degradation of soil conservation. Furthermore, industrial adjustment, by increasing shares of Industry and Service and reducing those of Agriculture, has also promoted soil conservation. Our results quantitatively showed and emphasized the contributions to soil conservation improvement made by implementing ecological restoration programs and promoting urbanization. Consequently, these results provide basic information to improve our understanding of the effects of ecological restoration programs, and help guide future sustainable urban development and regional industrial restructuring.

Measuring economic loss caused by ecological damages: a case study of China's forest ecosystem in 2005

At present about 60% of ecosystem has been damaged and degraded severely, resulting in enormous ecological loss globally. The essential cause is the irrational utilization of ecosystem by humankind, so it is tire key to changing improper environmental performance of humankind so as to prevent ecosystem from being damaged The quantitative valuation on the loss of ecological damage is an effective tool to guide human eco-environmental performance. In this paper, the concepts related to the valuation on ecological damage cost are introduced,＂ uncertainties that might arise in the valuation on the loss of ecological damage such as area coverage of valuation, ecological damage quantity, borders of ecological damage cost and data support are analyzed and the valuation approaches for the loss of ecological damage are also discussed As a case study, the economic losses of ecological damage of forest in 2005 in China are valuated.

A Geographic Information Systems approach for classifying and mapping forest management category in Baihe Forestry Bureau, Northeast China

This paper demonstrates a Geographic Information Systems （GIS） procedure of classifying and mapping forest management category in Baihe Forestry Burea, Jilin Province, China. Within the study area, Baihe Forestry Bureau land was classified into a two-hierarchy system. The top-level class included the non-forest and forest. Over 96% of land area is forest in the study area, which was further divided into key ecological service forest （KES）, general ecological service forest （GES）, and commodity forest （COM）. COM covered 45.0% of the total land area and was the major forest management type in Baihe Forest Bureau. KES and GES accounted for 21.2% and 29.9% of the total land area, respectively. The forest management zones designed with GIS in this study were then compared with the forest management zones established using the hand draw by the local agency. There were obvious differences between the two products. It suggested that the differences had some to do with the data sources, basic unit and mapping procedures. It also suggested that the GIS method was a useful tool in integrating forest inventory data and other data for classifying and mapping forest zones to meet the needs of the classified forest management system.

Soil Conservation of National Key Ecological Function Areas

Soil erosion is a significant factor in the deterioration of the ecological environment and soil conservation is an important ecological service of National Key Ecological Function Areas in China. Here, climate, terrain, soil and vegetation cover, soil erosion and soil conservation spatial data in 25 National Key Ecological Function Areas in 2010 were analyzed using the Universal Soil Loss Equation by Arc GIS tool. We found that soil conservation effects due to vegetation cover and soil conservation measures are obvious and that micro and slight erosion areas in National Key Ecological Function Areas have increased by 26.2%. The area of intensive erosion decreased by 25.1%, and the soil conservation amount in southern National Key Ecological Function Areas is high. The conservation amount of soil nutrients within National Key Ecological Function Areas is related to amount of soil conservation and content of each nutrient element in soil. The sequence of nutrient conservation amounts from high to low is soil organic carbon, total K, total N and total P in soil. The conservation amount of various soil nutrient elements in the Alkin Grassland function area and Yunnan and Sichuan function area was highest. Based on our findings, we recommend the strengthening of vegetation protection and management in the areas with high per unit area soil erosion, enhancement of vegetation cover and improvement of soil conservation measures in order to improve soil conservation functions and reduce soil nutrient losses. Vegetation protection and soil conservation measures should be consolidated in the areas with high potential erosion to prevent further deterioration.

Cold storage alters the fat-trehalose trade-off,decreases the flight ability,and maintains the high survival rate and flight speed of Osmia excavata(Hymenoptera:Megachilidae)

Osmia solitary bees are important pollinators of various crops worldwide.Refrigeration has been widely used to synchronize the emergence time of Osmia species from cocoons with the blooming time of different crops,but the fitness of Osmia after refrigeration remains unknown.Here,the effects of long-term refrigeration at 0℃on the vitality,flight ability,and metabolism of Osmia excavata,which is known as the"king of pollination"in China,were studied.The survival rate(>90%before 120 d),weight loss rate(<15%after 170 d),and mean flight speed of 0.excavata were not greatly affected after long-term refrigeration.The content of fats,which have antifreeze and energy storage properties,was not significantly altered in O.excavata before 130 d of refrigeration,which might explain why the survival rates and flight speed of O.excavata remained high after long-term refrigeration.However,the flight duration and distance decreased significantly(P<0.05),and both were positively correlated with the reduced trehalose levels in 0.excavata(r=[+0.69]-[+0.71];P<0.05).Overall,these findings indicate that the pollination potential of O.excavata for various crops with different flowering periods is high after long-term refrigeration;however,long-term refrigeration may decrease pollination efficiency.Our findings highlight new research directions that could improve the ecological service function of refrigerated O.excavata.

Ecosystem Regulating Services and Their Valuation of Hainan Island,China

Ecosystem services were defined as the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life. They include provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services. These form the basis on which regional environmental reserves and development are assessed and for the valuation of ecosystem services. In this paper Hainan Island is used as an example to explore methods of regulating services based on the structure and processes of a natural ecosystem. Ecosystems were classified into 13 types： valley rain forest, mountainous rain forest, tropical monsoon forest, mountainous coppice forest, mountainous evergreen forest, tropical coniferous forest, shrubs, plantation, timber forest, windbreak forest, mangrove, savanna, and crop land. Regulating services and their economic values for Hainan Island ecosystems were assessed and evaluated in terms of water-holding, soil conservancy, nutrient cycle, C fixation and windbreak functions. The economic value of the regulating services in 2002 were estimated at 2035.88×10^8 to 2153.39×10^8 Chinese Yuan （CNY）, which was eight times the value of provisioning services （wood and agricultural products）, estimated at just 254.06×10^8 CNY. Our analyses imply that ecosystem regulating services play a very important role in the sustainable development of Hainan Island＇s society and economy.

中国重要农业文化遗产的空间分布特征及其差异性管理策略

Climate change and rapid urbanization pose significant challenges to the conservation and management of agricultural heritage systems,including decline in agricultural land,loss of labor,and ecosystem degradation.Although existing studies have proposed general strategies with theoretical guidance and specific strategies for particular systems to promote the conservation of agricultural heritage systems,there remains a large knowledge gap in effective and differentiated management strategies at the regional level.This is especially so in China because of the clear regional differences in the natural and socioeconomic conditions of the widely distributed China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(China-NIAHS).In this study,we integrated multi-source data and spatial analysis to reveal the distribution characteristics of existing China-NIAHS and proposed differentiated management strategies.Results show that there are four clustering distribution zones of China-NIAHS,i.e.,the northwest clustering zone west of the Heihe-Tengchong Line(ZoneⅠ),the clustering belt with‘Northeast-Hebei-Shandong'as core(ZoneⅡ),the Yangtze River Delta clustering zone(ZoneⅢ),and the Hunan-Chongqing-Yunnan-Guizhou clustering zone(ZoneⅣ).Different management strategies are proposed for the China-NIAHS in each clustering zone.Specifically,ZoneⅠshould focus on maintaining their ecological functions and services,while ZoneⅡshould aim for livelihood supply,sustainable resource use,and ecological protection.For ZoneⅢ,rapid urbanization could become a positive driving force for China-NIAHS conservation through sustainable tourism and reasonable urban zoning.ZoneⅣshould emphasize the mutual support between characteristic product development and the brand effect of the China-NIAHS.These findings will help establish regional and targeted management strategies for China-NIAHS and provide a reference for the conservation of agricultural heritage systems in other countries.