Impacts of multi-scenario land use change on ecosystem services and ecological security pattern: A case study of the Yellow River Delta

The Yellow River Delta(YRD), a critical economic zone along China's eastern coast, also functions as a vital ecological reserve in the lower Yellow River. Amidst rapid industrialization and urbanization, the region has witnessed significant land use/cover changes(LUCC), impacting ecosystem services(ES) and ecological security patterns(ESP). Investigating LUCC's effects on ES and ESP in the YRD is crucial for ecological security and sustainable development. This study utilized the PLUS model to simulate 2030 land use scenarios, including natural development(NDS), economic development(EDS), and ecological protection scenarios(EPS). Subsequently, the InVEST model and circuit theory were applied to assess ES and ESP under varying LUCC scenarios from 2010 to 2030. Findings indicate:(1) Notable LUCC from 2010 to 2030, marked by decreasing cropland and increasing construction land and water bodies.(2) From 2010 to 2020, improvements were observed in carbon storage,water yield, soil retention, and habitat quality, whereas 2020–2030 saw increases in water yield and soil retention but declines in habitat quality and carbon storage. Among the scenarios, EPS showed superior performance in all four ES.(3) Between 2010 and 2030, ecological sources, corridors, and pinchpoints expanded, displaying significant spatial heterogeneity. The EPS scenario yielded the most substantial increases in ecological sources,corridors, and pinchpoints, totaling 582.89 km^(2), 645.03 km^(2),and 64.43 km^(2), respectively. This study highlights the importance of EPS, offering insightful scientific guidance for the YRD's sustainable development.

Ecosystem Service Value Assessment of Wutong Mountain Rhododendron moulmainense Ecological Landscape Forest in Shenzhen City in 2021

Taking Wutong Mountain Rhododendron moulmainense ecological landscape forest in Shenzhen City as an example,the value of the forest was assessed by constructing an ecological service value assessment system and accounting method.The assessment results showed that the total ecosystem service value of R.moulmainense ecological landscape forest was 13.195 billion yuan,and the top three services included the value of forestry products,the value of biodiversity maintenance and the value of leisure and recreation,indicating that the ecosystem service of Wutong Mountain R.moulmainense ecological landscape forest in Shenzhen has great ecological and economic value,especially in forestry products,biodiversity maintenance,and leisure and recreation.

Thinking about Value Realization of Ecological Products under the Background of Urban-rural Integration in Chengdu“Western Control”Area

Chengdu's development strategy of“western control”has laid a solid ecological background for 8 western districts,cities and counties and cultivated good ecological resources.The integrated urban-rural development in the new era will realize the balanced development of urban and rural areas and give full play to the value of rural ecological resources through the“powerful combination”of urban and rural areas.To realize the urban-rural integration and high-quality rural development in Chengdu“western control”area,it is necessary to enhance the awareness of ecological resources and ecological products,and carry out unified planning of ecological infrastructure,ecological material products and ecological service products in the whole“western control”area.Meantime,ecological restoration must be carried out scientifically,and scene design for value transformation of ecological products should be implemented innovatively.

The Path and Value of Integrating Ecological Aesthetic Education into the Teaching of Environmental Art Design Major

In the changing environment of rapid technological development,the country pays more attention to the field of education.In the process of daily education and teaching,it is also necessary to focus on the implementation of ecological aesthetic education for students and its integration into the teaching of other subjects.The major of environmental art design is a professional discipline that scientifically and rationally solves the coordinated development of man and nature at this stage.Establishing a close connection between the two is an important part of the education and teaching process of colleges and universities at this stage.Based on this,this article conducts an in-depth exploration and analysis of the teaching plan for integrating ecological aesthetic education into environmental art design teaching.Combining with the actual situation,abundant resources,etc.,this paper provides new development directions and concepts for the construction of ecological aesthetic education,and effectively improves the quality and efficiency of classroom teaching.

Spatio-temporal evolution and topographic gradient effect of land use and ecosystem service value in the Lhasa River Basin

The Lhasa River Basin forms an essential human settlement area in the southern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.This study employed ecosystem service value(ESV)evaluation model,terrain gradient grading,and Geodetector to analyze land use and ESV in the Lhasa River Basin from 1985 to 2020.The findings reveal that:(1)From 1985 to 2020,grassland was the dominant land use.There was a trend of grassland reduction and the expansion of other land types.(2)ESV has increased over the research period(with a total increase of 0.84%),with higher values in the southeast and lower values in the northwest.Grassland contributed the most to ESV,and climate regulation and hydrological regulation were the ecosystem services that contribute the most to ESV.(3)Natural factors like NDVI and altitude,as well as economic factors like population density and distance from roads,influenced the spatial differentiation of ESV,the explanatory power of NDVI reached up to 0.47.The interaction between factors had a greater impact than individual factors.These research results can provide theoretical support for national spatial planning and ecological environment protection in the Lhasa River Basin and other similar areas.

The coordinated evolution of ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt,using the Dual-Carbon Targets

Carbon peak and carbon neutrality(dual-carbon)are important targets for the international response to climate change.The Silk Road Economic Belt is a strategic resource region and is important for future ecological environment and tourism development.Based on the“dual-carbon”targets,the Single index quantification,Multiple index synthesis,and Poly-criteria integration evaluation model were used in this study to measure the coordinated development index of the ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt and to analyze its spatial and temporal evolution.Further,it explores the dynamic evolution and development trend of the three systems using the Kernel Density and Grey Markov Prediction Model.The results show that the coordinated development index along this region needs to be improved during the study period.Furthermore,the coordinated development index of the Southwest region is relatively higher than that of the Northwest region.From the development trend of the three systems,all of them develop in a stable manner;however,the tourism economy system is easily affected by external disturbances.The coordinated development index of the three systems changes dynamically and tends to be in a good state of coordination.There is a certain spatial and temporal heterogeneity.The gravity center of the coordinated development index has been in the Southwest region.During the forecast period,the coordinated development index along this region will improve significantly,while insufficient and unbalanced development will continue.

Multi-scenario Simulation of the Impact of Land Use Change on the Ecosystem Service Value in the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou Metropolitan Area,China

As the most economically developed metropolitan area in China’s Yangtze River Delta,the rapid changing land use patterns of Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou(Su-Xi-Chang) metropolitan area have profound impacts on the ecosystem service value(ESV).Based on the patterns of land use change and the ESV change in Su-Xi-Chang metropolitan area from 2000 to 2020,we set up four scenarios:natural development scenario,urban development scenario,arable land protection scenario and ecological protection scenario,and simulated the impact of land use changes on the ESV in these scenarios.The results showed that:1) the area of built-up land in the Su-XiChang metropolitan area increased significantly from 2000 to 2020,and the area of other types of land decreased.Arable land underwent the highest transfer-out area,and was primarily converted into built-up land.The total ESV of Su-Xi-Chang metropolitan area increased initially then declined from 2000–2020,and the value of almost all individual ecosystem services decreased.2) Population density,GDP per area,night lighting intensity,and road network density can negatively impact the ESV.3) The total ESV loss under the natural development and urban development scenarios was high,and the expansion of the built-up land and the drastic shrinkage of the arable land contributed to the ESV decline under both scenarios.The total ESV under arable land protection and ecological protection scenarios increases,and therefore these scenarios are suitable for future land use optimization in Su-Xi-Chang.This study could provide a certain reference for land use planning and allocation,and offer guidance for the rational allocation of land resources.

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Ecosystem Service Value in Caohai National Nature Reserve

Wetland ecosystems are important regulators of global climate change.Studying the spatiotemporal changes and driving mechanisms of their ecosystem service values(ESV)is beneficial for the sustainable development of wetlands.This paper uses the equivalent factor method,based on land use changes,to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution of the ecosystem service value in the Caohai National Nature Reserve(CNNR).The results show the following:①from 2000 to 2020,there was a significant decrease in the core zone s arable land area,with an increase in forest and water areas.Construction land mainly increased in the experimental area,and the grassland area showed a fluctuating change of first increasing and then decreasing;②in 2000,2010,and 2020,the ecosystem service value of the study area was 302 million,296 million,and 325 million yuan,respectively,showing a trend of fluctuating growth,with the value of wetland ecosystems playing a dominant role;③regulatory services are the main contributors to the ecosystem service value in the study area,with a contribution rate of 60%.Hydrological regulation is the ecosystem function with the highest value in wetland ecosystem services,contributing more than 35%to the ESV in all three periods;④in terms of spatial distribution,the core zone s ecosystem service value is dominant.Looking at the total ecosystem service value of the region,the core zone>the experimental area>the buffer zone.In terms of ESV per unit area,the core zone(89000 yuan/hm^(2))is significantly higher than the buffer zone(39100 yuan/hm^(2))and the experimental area(15800 yuan/hm^(2)).The study can provide a basis for research and spatial management of ecosystem services in wetland ecosystems and nature reserves.

The value of vegetation ecosystem services:a case of Qinling-Daba Mountains

According to differences in vegetation types and their coverage, combining the latest research, using theory and method on the value of vegetation ecosystem services, this paper not only calculated goods produced by different types of vegetation but also estimated the value of various vegetation ecosystem services and set up database, GIS and eco-account of vegetation ecosystem. The result was as follows: the value of vegetation's primary productivity, soil and fertility conservation, water conservation, CO 2 fixation and O 2 release was 199.6 billion yuan/a, 22.64 billion yuan/a, 22.66 billion yuan/a, 352.24 billion yuan/a and 374.19 billion yuan/a, respectively. The total value of ecosystem services was 968.33 billion yuan/a. The temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest had the highest contribution rate, accounting for 16.42%. The result of value can reflect regional reality more exactly.

The value of the ecosystem services and method

Using the method of Constanza R, the annual value of ecosystem services of Macao was 3.302×10 6 US dollars in 1983, equivalent to 26.5250×10 6 MOP, when using the currently monetary valuation. The annual value of ecosystem services of Macao was 8.3340×10 6 US dollars in 2002, equal to 66.9472×10 6 MOP. The total globe annual value of ecosystem services was 3.3268×10 13 US dollars in 1997, i.e., about 5,544.7 US dollars per capita. In Macao, the annual value of ecosystem services was only 18.8 US dollars per capita. The average ecosystem service per capita was 0.35% of the world average level. Comparing to the globe average ecosystem services level per capita, the deficit of ecosystem services of Macao is 2.44×10 9 US dollars for Macao population, which would require 1,069 km 2 estuary to complement to the deficit, i.e., about 38 times of Macao to provide ecosystem services to reach the average level of world.

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.

Land Use Change and Its Impact on Values of Ecosystem Services in the West of Jilin Province

According to interpreting the LANDSAT TM/ETM images of 1986 and 2002, the spatial-temporal characteristics of land use changes were analyzed during 16 years base on GIS. In addition, the change of ecosystem services due to land use change was estimated by the method of vaulting global ecosystem services. The result shows that there were rapid increases in the area of cropland, saline-alkaline land, and dramatic decreases in grassland, water area and wetland between 1986 and 2002. The annual value of the ecosystem services was declined from 767.1 ×10s Yuan/a in 1986 to 624.1 × 10s Yuan/a in 2002, the estimated annual ecosystem service value declined by 18. 6 % （i. e. 1.6% per year） between 1986 and 2002. It indicates that there had been a sever harm to ecosystem functions and services, which results from the deterioration of ecological environment and the adjustment of land use that aim to currently economic benefit.

Urban Vegetation Landscape Fragmentation and the Change of Ecological Values in Shenzhen

Due to the increasing man-made activities,the vegetation landscape in the rapidly urbanized areas has changed dramatically.Based on the theory of landscape ecology and the evaluation method of ecosystem service function,this study took the vegetation of Shenzhen City as the research object,and used TM image as the main data source in 1985,1995,2005 and from Vol.4 of 2015 with the support of remote sensing and GIS technology to analyze the variation of vegetation landscape fragmentation and its ecological change.The results showed that the vegetation landscape fragmentation in Shenzhen City was significant in the past 30 years,and the vegetation landscape was the main characteristic in the fluctuation trend.The change trajectory of the vegetation landscape was the main focus,and the woodland land area was the largest land for construction.The fragmentation of vegetation landscape reduced the overall value of ecosystem services and hindered the function of life support systems.

Forecasting Loss of Ecosystem Service Value Using a BP Network: A Case Study of the Impact of the South-to-north Water Transfer Project on the Ecological Environmental in Xiangfan, Hubei Province, China

Objective To recognize and assess the impact of the South-to-north Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) on the ecological environment of Xiangfan, Hubei Province, situated in the water-out area, and develop sound scientific countermeasures. Methods A three-layer BP network was built to simulate topology and process of the eco-economy system of Xiangfan. Historical data of ecological environmental factors and socio-economic factors as inputs, and corresponding historical data of ecosystem service value (ESV) and GDP as target outputs, were presented to train and test the network. When predicted input data after 2001 were presented to trained network as generalization sets, ESVs and GDPs of 2002, 2003, 2004... till 2050 were simulated as output in succession. Results Up to 2050, the area would have suffered an accumulative total ESV loss of RMB 104.9 billion, which accounted for 37.36% of the present ESV. The coinstantaneous GDP would change asynchronously with ESV, it would go through an up-to-down process and finally lose RMB89.3 billion, which accounted for 18.71% of 2001. Conclusions The simulation indicates that ESV loss means damage to the capability of socio-economic sustainable development, and suggests that artificial neural networks (ANNs) provide a feasible and effective method and have an important potential in ESV modeling.

Effects of Land Use Change on the Ecosystem Services Value in the Dry-Hot Valley

The objective of the study reported here was to determine whether LANDSAT TM images could be used to quantify changes in land-use and ecosystem services in Yuanmou County. The sizes of six land use/land cover （LUCC） categories were estimated in Yuanmou County according to the LANDSAT TM images in the summer of 1986 and 2005. Coefficients published by Xie Gaodi and co-workers in 2003 were used to value changes in ecosystem services delivered by each land use/land cover category, and the ecosystem services sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the effect of manipulating these coefficients on the estimated values. The important results are summarized as followings. （1） The estimated size of cultivated land, pasture land, water area and unused land decreased by 6.39%, 1.35%, 2.25% and 10.67% respectively between 1986 and 2005. By contrast, the estimated size of forest land and construction land increased by about 2.23% and 71.15% respectively between 1986 and 2005. （2） The total ecosystem services value （EVS） of the study area increased from 2 142 132 609.46 yuan to 2 146 416 621.00 yuan, with the net increase of 4 284 011.54 yuan during the 20-year time period. （3） The coefficient sensitivity （CS） of the study are less than unity in all cases （CS 〈 1）. This indicates that the total ecosystem values estimated for the study area are relatively inelastic with respect to the ecosystem service coefficients. While this implies that our estimates are robust and the coefficient is reasonable, highly under or over valued coefficients can substantially affect the veracity of estimated changes in ecosystem service values overtime even when the CS are less than unity（CS 〈 1）.

Value Assessment of Ecosystem Service Function of Ecological Public Welfare Forests in Wenchang City

Based on the measurement parameters and index in the Specifications for Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Services in China(LY/T 1721-2008),the value of ecological service functions of ecological public welfare forest in Wenchang City was evaluated and analyzed.The results show that the total value of ecosystem service function of ecological public welfare forests in Wenchang City is about 4.020 billion yuan,of which storage capacity,water purification,soil fixation,fertilizer(N,P and K fertilizer) conservation,carbon sequestration,oxygen release,forest nutrient accumulation,providing anion,absorbing SO_2,absorbing fluoride,absorbing NxO,absorbing soil heavy metals,dust retention,noise reduction,sterilization,forest protection,forest biodiversity protection,and forest recreation(ecological tourism) are about 1.510 billion,582.256 million,3.769 million,268.220 million,116.360 million,2.747 million,22.682 million,42.817 million,1.722 million,74,600,131,900,187.918 million,77.409 million,28.721 million,43.090 million,180.696 million,571.036 million,and 108.677 million yuan

Assessment of Service Value of Ecosystem in Karst Ecological Control Areas

To investigate the characteristics of service value of the karst rocky desertification ecosystem,we take water conservation,soil conservation,carbon-fixation and oxygen-production,production of organic matter,and purification of atmospheric environment as function indicators,to conduct quantitative assessment and analysis of service function value of ecosystem in Bijie Yachi,Qingzhen Hongfenghu and Guanling-Zhenfeng Huajiang demonstration areas in Guizhou Province,using remote sensing and field monitoring data in 2006. The results show that the rate of contribution of water conservation,soil conservation,carbon-fixation and oxygen-production functions to regional service value is high ( 37. 05%,36. 68% and 23. 15%,respectively) ; the rate of contribution of production of organic matter and purification of atmospheric environment functions to regional service value is low ( 2. 80% and 0. 32%,respectively) . The ranking of landscape in terms of service value per unit area is as follows: forestland ( 23.353 9 million yuan) > shrub land ( 10.630 1 million yuan) > grassland ( 5.036 7 million yuan) > dry land ( 3.381 2 million yuan) > farmland ( 2.508 8 million yuan) . The ranking of demonstration areas in terms of service value per unit area is as follows: Yachi Demonstration Area ( 12.44 million yuan) > Hongfenghu Demonstration Area ( 5. 91 million yuan) > Huajiang Demonstration Area ( 4. 4 million yuan) . It is negatively correlated with rocky desertification incidence within the region. The results also indicate that in the process of restoring and reconstructing the ecological environment in rocky desertification areas,increasing the area of forest vegetation,promoting the conversion of dry land and farmland into forestland, shrub land and grassland,will contribute to enhancement in ecological service value.

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.

Forest Ecosystem Services and Their Values in Beijing

As the most important ecosystem in Beijing, the forest supports a lot of ecosystem services to local and around communities, which plays a key role in the maintenance of urban ecological security.However, the valuation on the forest ecosystem services based on regional scale could not provide precise and reasonable values for forestry sector management.In this study, we estimated the magnitudes and economic values of the forest ecosystem services in Beijing at sublot level.The economic value of forest ecosystem services in Beijing was estimated to be 19 339.71×10 6 yuan(RMB) in 2004.Among all the ecosystem services indicators we estimated in this study, only fruit, timber and part of the recreation(which only include the tourism income from the forest parks and scenic areas, but not include that from other forest types) were measured in the social economic system.As estimated in this study, more than 82.19% of the economic value of forest ecosystem services could not be measured in the socio-economic statistical system.The importance of forest ecosystem services in Beijing to human welfare was underestimated by the socio-economic system.Therefore, the policies about the eco-compensation of forest ecosystem services should be established to maintain the sustainable supply of the forest ecosystem services in Beijing.

Geospatial Evaluation for Ecological Watershed Management II: Changes in Land Use—Land Cover Influence on Ecosystems Services

Ecosystem services are a key to human survival and global sustainability. Consequently, there is the need to avoid unscrupulous or unplanned land use practices that can compromise these services in addition to the ongoing changes in the global climate whose potentially negative impact are yet to be fully comprehended thus far. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the Land use—land cover changes of some Eastern Shore sub-watersheds of Maryland from 1986-2006 and qualitatively assess the impact of the changes on some key ecosystem services. Landsat-TM data for Maryland Eastern Shore in the United States were analyzed in ENVI and ArcGIS environment and data interpreted qualitatively. The result showed that forest lands increased during the study period and thus enhanced carbon sequestration favorable for mitigating global warming in the area. Also, the extent of surface water cover increased slightly, possibly due to rising sea level and a thus a potential threat to biodiversity and barrier islands nearby. There was also a significant increase in urban lands due to population increase and thus increase in the extent of impervious layers that could lead to reduced surface runoff and increase the potential for surface water quality impairment;this could lead to a reduction in the capacity of surface water ecosystem to provide clean/recreational waters. The increase in the extent of surface water cover was at the expense of the wetlands that shrunk, thereby threatening the coastal ecosystem’s ability to provide services such as storm and wave protection, nutrient cycling, and the protection of wildlife habitat. There was also a decrease in the extent of Agricultural lands which could lead to loss of food and fiber during the study period. There is therefore an urgent need to formulate or intensify existing policies to regulate land use from an ecological health standpoint in order to ensure sustainability of the various ecosystems within the watersheds of the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland in the US, and similar coastal locations elsewhere.