Ecosystem Protection in China:A New Paradigm under Ecological Civilization

This paper establishes a theoretical framework to study the fundamental changes in the concept and mechanism of China's ecosystem protection under the paradigm of ecological civilization,and its major implications for global sustainable development.We first examine the damage to the ecosystem of the standard economic growth model,and provide empirical evidence that the traditional ecosystem protection paradigm based on the concept of industrial civilization has been unable to curb serious ecological degradation on a global scale.We then build a new theoretical model to reveal China's new ecosystem protection paradigm based on the concept of ecological civilization,and analyze how it forms a mutually beneficial relationship with economic development by changing the content and mechanism of economic growth.Furthermore,we conduct an empirical analysis of the paradigm shift of China's ecosystem protection and show that there is a significant synergy between China's ecological conservation and economic development under the new paradigm.Finally,we use a game theory model to reveal the significant implications of China's new ecosystem conservation paradigm for global ecological protection,especially for the realization of the expected goals of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Study on Regulating Effects of "Aquatic Environment Protection Oriented Fishery" on Water Environment of Qiaodun Reservoir

In order to evaluate the regulating effect of ＂ aquatic environment protection oriented fishery＂ on aquatic ecosystem,the water quality,plankton community structure,biomass,diversity index,eutrophication index and ecosystem maturity evaluated with Ecopath model were compared from 2010 to 2012 in Qiaodun Reservoir of Zhejiang Province. It was indicated that the water quality had been improved obviously. The water transparency maximally increased by 130%,while TP,TN and CODCrwere reduced. The density and biomass of the plankton were decreased,so was the ratio of Cynobacteria in phytoplankton community. The Shannon-Weaver index was increased; the trophic level was decreased; the ecosystem maturity was improved. By all accounts,the ＂ aquatic environment protection oriented fishery＂ had positive effects on maintaining the balance of reservoir ecosystem and ensuring the safety of drinking water.

Ecosystem assessment and protection effectiveness of a tropical rainforest region in Hainan Island, China

Ecosystem services have become one of the core elements of ecosystem management and evaluation. As a key area of ecosystem services and for maintaining national ecological security, ecosystem changes and implementation effect evaluation are important in national key ecological function zones, for promoting the main function zone strategy and for improving the construction of an ecological civilization. This article studies the ecological zone of a tropical rainforest region in the central mountain area of Hainan Island, China. Multi-source satellite data and ground observation statistics are analyzed with geo-statistics method and ecological assessment model. The core analysis of this paper includes ecosystem patterns, quality and services. By means of spatial and temporal scale expansion and multidimensional space-time correlation analysis, the trends and stability characteristics of ecosystem changes are analyzed, and implementation effect evaluation is discussed. The analysis shows a variety of results. The proportion of forest area inside the ecological zone was significantly higher than the average level in Hainan Island. During 1990–2013, settlement gradually increased inside the ecological zone. After implementation of the zone in 2010, human activity intensity increased, with the main land use being urban construction and land reclamation. Water conservation in the ecological function zone was higher than that outside the zone. In general, it increased slightly, but had obvious fluctuations. Soil conservation inside the zone was also better than that outside. However, it demonstrated dramatic fluctuations and relatively poor stability during 1990–2013. The human disturbance index inside the zone was significantly lower than that outside, and had a lower biodiversity threat level. Especially in 2010–2013, the increased range of the human disturbance index inside the zone was significantly less than that outside.

Changes of Soil Erosion and Possible Impacts from Ecosystem Recovery in the Three-River Headwaters Region, Qinghai, China from 2000 to 2015

Soil erosion poses a great threat to the sustainability of the ecological environment and the harmonious development of human well-being.The revised universal soil loss equation(RUSLE)was used to quantify soil erosion in the Three-River Headwaters region(TRH),Qinghai,China from 2000 to 2015.The possible effects of an ecosystem restoration project on soil erosion were explored against the background of climatic changes in the study area.The model was validated with on-ground observations and showed a satisfactory performance,with a multiple correlation coefficient of 0.62 from the linear regression between the estimations and observations.The soil erosion modulus in 2010–2015 increased 6.2%,but decreased 1.2%compared with those in the periods of 2000–2005 and 2005–2010,respectively.Based on the method of overlay analysis,the interannual change of the estimated soil erosion was dominated by climate(about 64%),specifically by precipitation,rather than by vegetation coverage(about 34%).Despite some uncertainties in the model and data,this study quantified the relative contribution of ecological restoration under global climatic change;meanwhile the complexity,labor-intensiveness and long-range character of ecological restoration projects have to be recognized.On-ground observations over the long-term,further parameterization,and data inputs with higher quality are necessary and essential for decreasing the uncertainties in the estimations.