A fine-scale assessment of the ecosystem service-disservice dichotomy in the context of urban ecosystems affected by alien plant invasions

Background: Natural resources within and around urban landscapes are under increasing pressure from ongoing urbanisation, and management efforts aimed at ensuring the sustainable provision of ecosystem services(ES) are an important response. Given the limited resources available for assessing urban ES in many cities, practical approaches for integrating ES in decision-making process are needed.Methods: We apply remote sensing techniques(integrating LiDAR data with high-resolution multispectral imagery)and combined these with supplementary spatial data to develop a replicable approach for assessing the role of urban vegetation(including invasive alien plants) in providing ES and ecosystem disservices(EDS). We identify areas denoting potential management trade-offs based on the spatial distribution of ES and EDS using a local-scale case study in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Situated within a global biodiversity hotspot, Cape Town must contend with widespread invasions of alien plants(especially trees and shrubs) along with complex socio-political challenges. This represents a useful system to examine the challenges in managing ES and EDS in the context of urban plant invasions.Results: Areas of high ES provision(for example carbon sequestration, shade and visual amenity) are characterized by the presence of large trees. However, many of these areas also result in numerous EDS due to invasions of alien trees and shrubs – particularly along rivers, in wetlands and along the urban edge where tall alien trees have established and spread into the natural vegetation(for example increased water consumption, increased fire risk and reduced soil quality). This suggests significant trade-offs regarding the management of species and the ES and EDS they provide.Conclusions: The approach applied here can be used to provide recommendations and to guide city planners and managers to fine-tune management interventions at local scales to maximise the provision of ES.

Balanced Consideration of Urban Park Green Space to Provide Services and Disservices

Ecosystem services(ES),the benefits of ecosystem function and structure to human well⁃being,have been receiving continued attention from international community since the publication of the millennium ecosystem assessment(MA).While humans enjoy all kinds of services provided by the ecosystem,they are also adversely affected by the services provided by the ecosystem,which are called ecosystem disservices(EDS).Based on EDS related research,this paper expounds the EDS concept and connotation to urban park green space as the research object,defines the concept and classification of urban park green space ecosystem disservices(PEDS),and introduces the influencing factors of the listed examples of urban PEDSs.It also discusses equilibrium relationship of the urban park green space service and disservice,and summarizes the research on urban PEDS to improve the meaning of human well⁃being.Finally,it points out the factors that should be considered in the planning,design,management,and maintenance of future urban park green space.

Examining ecosystem(dis-)services on liver fluke infection in rural Northeast Thailand

Background The direct reliance of humans on and their interactions with freshwater ecosystems in the Lower Mekong Basin have given rise to parasitic infections,which is particularly prevalent in Northeast Thailand where raw fish consumption is practiced.This study examined the interactions between environments,ecosystem(dis-)services,human raw fish consumption habits,and raw fish dish sharing on liver fluke infection risk.Method Water fecal contents and the first intermediate snail host were sampled between June and September of 2019.One hundred twenty questionnaires were surveyed in two villages of different environmental surroundings,one next to a river and the other located inland,in Northeast Thailand.Multivariate regression analyses using linear mixed effect models assessed the influence of social,behavioral and perceptual factors on raw fish consumption frequency,willingness to avoid consumption and liver fluke infection status.Social network analysis compared the degree of raw fish dish sharing between the villages and assessed the probable influence of connections to fish procurement locations and sharing activities on liver fluke infection risk.Results High abundance of the first intermediate snail host and presence of fecal contamination in water could endanger both villages to ecosystem disservices of parasitic transmission.The river-side village relied more on provisioning ecosystem services than the inland village(29.7%vs.16.1%of villages)to consume raw fish as their main source of protein.Males in both villages(64.5 and 40.4 days/year for the respective villages)are also likely to consume koi pla and pla som,higher risk fish dishes,more frequently than females(4.1 and 4.3 days/year for the respective villages).The consumption habits of both villages were driven mostly by deriving cultural ecosystem services.Participation in raw fish dish sharing activities significantly reduced the odds of an individual being willing to avoid the consumption(Odds ratio=0.19).Network analysis suggested that river-side villagers had a more direct raw fish dish sharing interaction and they procured fish from multiple locations;these characteristics might potentially account for more liver fluke infected households in the village.Conclusion Villagers’raw fish consumption is driven by deriving cultural ecosystem services,and the geographic settings of the villages potentially affect villagers’fish procurement locations and infection risk.The findings underscore the linkages between villagers and their surrounding ecosystem environments as pertinent determinants for foodborne parasitic disease risk.

中国乡村人一野猪冲突时空特征及对生态系统“反服务”的启示

In the context of social and economic transformation in rural China,ecosystem disservices have emerged frequently.This study reveals the spatiotemporal patterns,hazards and driving factors of wild boar damage from 2000 to 2021 by using the meta-analysis and collecting 733 typical human and wild boar conflicts.In this period,the number,spatial scope and hazard degree of wild boar damage incidents showed an increasing trend,and the number of provincial-level regions,prefecture-level cities and districts(counties)involved increased from 18,41 and 67 to 25,147 and 399,respectively.Wild boar damage incidents were concentrated in Chongqing municipality and central and western Hubei province before 2005,and then expanded to the Sichuan Basin,Loess Plateau,middle-lower reaches of Yangtze River and mountainous areas such as Changbai Mountains after 2015.The main manifestations were destroying crops,infringing poultry and causing casualties,especially the destruction of crops and farmland abandonment,accompanied by a rapid increase in casualties,accounting for 23.66% of the damage incidents.Meanwhile,the spreading trend and harmfulness of wild boar damage is a typical phenomenon of ecosystem disservices.The aggravation of this phenomenon is the result of ecological restoration,hunting ban policy,unclear boundary between agricultural land and ecological land,strong viability of wild boar and lack of natural enemies.This has posed an obvious threat to the use of abandoned farmland,the improvement of farmers’livelihood and the maintenance of regional ecological security.It is urgent to formulate a policy of controlling the number of wild boars and establish a compensation mechanism for the loss by wild boars.