Forest use suitability:Towards decision-making-oriented sustainable management of forest ecosystem services

Management of forest lands considering multi-functional approaches is the basis to sustain or enhance the provi-sion of specific benefits,while minimizing negative impacts to the environment.Defining a desired management itinerary to a forest depends on a variety of factors,including the forest type,its ecological characteristics,and the social and economic needs of local communities.A strategic assessment of the forest use suitability(FUS)(namely productive,protective,conservation-oriented,social and multi-functional)at regional level,based on the provision of forest ecosystem services and trade-offs between FUS alternatives,can be used to develop management strategies that are tailored to the specific needs and conditions of the forest.The present study assesses the provision of multiple forest ecosystem services and employs a decision model to identify the FUS that sup-ports the most present and productive ecosystem services in each stand in Catalonia.For this purpose,we apply the latest version of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support(EMDS)system,a spatially oriented decision support system that provides accurate results for multi-criteria management.We evaluate 32 metrics and 12 as-sociated ecosystem services indicators to represent the spatial reality of the region.According to the results,the dominant primary use suitability is social,followed by protective and productive.Nevertheless,final assignment of uses is not straightforward and requires an exhaustive analysis of trade-offs between all alternative options,in many cases identifying flexible outcomes,and increasing the representativeness of multi-functional use.The assignment of forest use suitability aims to significantly improve the definition of the most adequate management strategy to be applied.

Mapping cultural ecosystem services in mountain forests using mobile phone data

The aim of the work was to determine the spatial distribution of activity in the forest on the area of the Forest Promotional Complex“Sudety Zachodnie”using mobile phone data.The study identified the sites with the highest(hot spot)and lowest(cold spot)use.Habitat,stand,demographic,topographic and spatial factors affecting the distribution of activity were also analyzed.Two approaches were applied in our research:global and local Moran’s coefficients,and a machine learning technique,Boosted Regression Trees.The results show that 11,503,320 visits to forest areas were recorded in the“Sudety Zachodnie”in 2019.The most popular season for activities was winter,and the least popular was spring.Using global and local Moran’s I coefficients,three small hot clusters of activity and one large cold cluster were identified.Locations with high values with similar neighbours(hot-spots)were most often visited forest areas,averaging almost 200,000 visits over 2019.Significantly fewer visits were recorded in cold-spots,the average number of visits to these areas was about 4,500.The value of global Moran’s I was equal to 0.54 and proved significant positive spatial autocorrelation.Results of Boosted Regression Trees modeling of visits in forest,using tree stand habitat and spatial factors accurately explained 76%of randomly selected input data.The variables that had the greatest effect on the distribution of activities were the density of hiking and biking trails and diversity of topography.The methodology presented in this article allows delineation of Cultural Ecosystem Services hot spots in forest areas based on mobile phone data.It also allows the identification of factors that may influence the distribution of visits in forests.Such data are important for managing forest areas and adapting forest management to the needs of society while maintaining ecosystem stability.

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.

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.

Evaluation of the forest ecosystem health in Beijing area

The evaluation of ecosystem health has become one of the main research topics of ecosystem science, thus more and more assessment methods and frameworks have been put forward in recent years. However, the attention people pay to ecosystem health is actually more about what the social functions the ecosystem affords, which depend on the integrity and maintenance of the ecosystem structure and function, and the intensity of disturbance from outside. Accordingly, this research commenced from three main aspects, selected the evaluation indices, and then established the Evaluation Index System of Beijing Forest Ecosystem Health （EIS-BFEH）. In the EIS-BFEH, each of the three foundations contained an easily-operated and standard sub-index system, which compounded the specific natural and social conditions of Beijing and was concrete enough to measure and evaluate. Then with the method of the Analytical Hierarchy Process （AHP）, the comprehensive index （CI） could be obtained, which represented the health of the forest ecosystem. As a case study, the forest ecosystems in the Badaling area were sampled, evaluated, compared and ranked by use of the EIS-BFEH. The result show that the health of natural forests is much better than that of plantations in the Badaling forest center： the average comprehensive index of the former is 7.9, while the latter is only 6.6. From the results, it could also be found that there are nine units in the healthy state, two units in the subhealthy state, and only one unit of Robiniapseudoacacia in the morbid state.

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.

Driving Forces and Their Effects on Water Conservation Services in Forest Ecosystems in China

Identifying the driving forces that cause changes in forest ecosystem services related to water conservation is essential for the design of interventions that could enhance positive impacts as well as minimizing negative impacts. In this study, we propose an assessment concept framework model for indirect-direct-ecosystem service(IN-DI-ESS) driving forces within this context and method for index construction that considers the selection of a robust and parsimonious variable set. Factor analysis was integrated into two-stage data envelopment analysis(TS-DEA) to determine the driving forces and their effects on water conservation services in forest ecosystems at the provincial scale in China. The results showed the following. 1) Ten indicators with factor scores more than 0.8 were selected as the minimum data set. Four indicators comprising population density, per capita gross domestic product, irrigation efficiency, and per capita food consumption were the indirect driving factors, and six indicators comprising precipitation, farmland into forestry or pasture, forest cover, habitat area, water footprint, and wood extraction were the direct driving forces. 2) Spearman's rank correlation test was performed to compare the overall effectiveness in two periods: stage 1 and stage 2. The calculated coefficients were 0.245, 0.136, and 0.579, respectively, whereas the tabulated value was 0.562. This indicates that the driving forces obviously differed in terms of their contribution to the overall effectiveness and they caused changes in water conservation services in different stages. In terms of the variations in different driving force effects in the years 2000 and 2010, the overall, stage 1, and stage 2 variances were 0.020, 0.065, and 0.079 in 2000, respectively, and 0.018, 0.063, and 0.071 in 2010. This also indicates that heterogeneous driving force effects were obvious in the process during the same period. Identifying the driving forces that affect service changes and evaluating their efficiency have significant policy implications for the management of forest ecosystem services. Advanced effectiveness measures for weak regions could be improved in an appropriate manner. In this study, we showed that factor analysis coupled with TS-DEA based on the IN-DI-ESS framework can increase the parsimony of driving force indicators, as well as interpreting the interactions among indirect and direct driving forces with forest ecosystem water conservation services, and reducing the uncertainty related to the internal consistency during data selection.

Towards an integrative approach to evaluate the environmental ecosystem services provided by urban forest

As a Nature-Based Solution,urban forests deliver a number of environmental ecosystem services(EESs).To quantify these EESs,well-defined,reliable,quantifiable and stable indicators are needed.With literature analysis and expert knowledge gathered within COST Action FP1204 GreenInUrbs,we proposed a classification of urban forest EESs into three categories:(A)regulation of air,water,soil and climate;(B)provisioning of habitat quality;and(C)provisioning of other goods and services.Each category is divided into EES types:(a)amelioration of air quality;restoration of soil and water;amelioration of the microclimate;removal of CO2 from the air;(b)provision of habitat for biodiversity;support for resilient urban ecosystems;provision of genetic diversity;and(c)provision of energy and nutrients;provision of grey infrastructure resilience.Each EES type provides one or more benefits.For each of these 12 benefits,we propose a set of indicators to be used when analyzing the impacts on the identified EESs.Around half of the 36 indicators are relevant to more than one single benefit,which highlights complex interrelationships.The indicators of wider applicability are tree and stand characteristics,followed by leaf physical traits and tree species composition.This knowledge is needed for the optimization of the EESs delivered by urban forests,now and in the future.

Emergy evaluation of the artificial forest ecosystems in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir:a case study for ecosystems valuation and environmental management

To build the artificial forest ecosystem is the major eco-economic development model in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir. It is very important to evaluate the benefits of those ecosystems. Emergy theories are very helpful for us to establish a science-based assessment framework. Emergy evaluation of the artificial forest ecosystems in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir is used to asses the relative values of several ecological functions (sometimes called ecosystem services) and main ecosystem storages (sometimes called natural capital). The main driving energies, internal processes and storages are evaluated. The main functions, including transpiration, GPP and infiltration, are evaluated, which are 609em$/ha/yr, 6,245em$/ha/yr and 340em$/ha/yr respectively. The total values of major environmental services are 4,683em$/ha/yr in the artificial forest ecosystem. The main storages of natural capital including live biomass, soil moisture, organic matter, underground water and landform are estimated, which are 112,028em$/ha, 9em$/ha, 40,718em$/ha, 34em$/ha and 6,400,514em$/ha respectively. The largest value is landform, which accounts for 97.7% of these calculated total emdollar values. The concept of replacement value is explored using the emergy values of both ecosystem services and natural capital. The total calculated replacement values are 302,160em$/ha.

A decision framework for identifying models to estimate forest ecosystem services gains from restoration

Restoring degraded forests and agricultural lands has become a global conservation priority. A growing number of tools can quantify ecosystem service tradeoffs associated with forest restoration. This evolving ＂tools landscape＂ presents a dilemma： more tools are available, but selecting appropriate tools has become more challenging. We present a Restoration Ecosystem Service Tool Selector （RESTS） framework that describes key characteristics of 13 ecosystem service assessment tools. Analysts enter information about their decision context, services to be analyzed, and desired outputs. Tools are filtered and presented based on five evaluative criteria： scalability, cost, time requirements, handling of uncertainty, and applicability to benefit-cost analysis. RESTS uses a spreadsheet interface but a web-based interface is planned. Given the rapid evolution of ecosystem services science, RESTS provides an adaptable framework to guide forest restoration decision makers toward tools that can help quantify ecosystem services in support of restoration.

Valuation on Forest Ecosystem Services of Nanling National Nature Reserve

The forest ecological system fulfills many important ecological functions. Researches on the analysis and valuation on forest ecosystem services are at the cutting edge of current ecology and ecological economics. Based on the calculation method of service value of forest ecosystem, 7 forest ecosystem services of Nanling National Nature Reserve were valued, totaling 703.48 million yuan/year. In terms of the contribution size of the service value of forest ecosystem, carbon fixation and oxygen release came as the greatest one, followed by conservation of soil, purification of the air, biodiversity conservation, conservation of water, accumulation of nutrients, and forest recreation. With its value of 208.46 million yuan, carbon fixation and oxygen release ranked first, accounting for 29.63% of the total value; conservation of soil of 24.67% service value took the second place; purification of the air came in third in the value rankings, representing 22.55% of the total value; the fourth one was biodiversity conservation, whose service value came up to 14.51%. Those 4 services made up 91.36% of the total value while other 3 services ranging from conservation of water, accumulation of nutrients to forest recreation were merely a small proportion. This is because the Nanling National Nature Reserve is essentially a large oxygen bar. The above-mentioned ecosystem valuation method contributes to the understanding of the overall value of the forest ecosystem as well as the implementation and advancement in the regional sustainable development strategy.

Evaluation Techniques of the Loss of Marine Ecosystem Services Caused by Sea Reclamation Project Based on Three Methods

Based on the effect of marine environment caused by sea reclamation and Technical Directives for Marine Ecological Capital Assessment(GB/T 28058-2011), the indexes of the loss of coastal ecosystem services led by sea reclamation were built. The lost value of sea reclamation was calculated using three methods, namely, economic evaluation, emergy analysis and biodiversity experiential formula. The three methods were applied in the new sea reclamation in Taxia, Fuding City, Fujian Province, and the total ecosystem lost value was 6.720 million CNY/year, 8.092 million CNY/year, and 1.333 million CNY/year, respectively. Compared with other relevant researches, this paper analyzed feasibility and applicability of the three methods, so as to include project external cost into the project economic profi t and loss analysis in the evaluation of environmental infl uence, and to provide technical support for the sustainable economic development of coastal zones.

Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services of the Kanas Nature Reserve in Xinjiang

Based on field surveys,typical sample-plot experiments,and long-term observation of ecological stations,the main species of trees in the Kanas Nature Reserve in Xinjiang were studied,and the value of their 7 kinds of services including water conservation,soil conservation,carbon fixation and oxygen release,accumulation of nutrients,air purification,biodiversity conservation,and forest recreation was evaluated in 2014.The results showed that:the total value of forest ecosystem services provided by the Kanas Nature Reserve in Xinjiang was 4.314 billion yuan/a,and the value of ecosystem services per unit area was 69,600 yuan/(hm^2·a).The value of forest ecosystem services were as follows:forest recreation(1,458,000,000 yuan/a) > water conservation(1,423,630,000 yuan/a) > biodiversity conservation(544,820,000 yuan/a) > carbon fixation and oxygen release(367,590,000 yuan/a) > air purification(258,830,000 yuan/a) > accumulation of nutrients(141,590,000 yuan/a) > soil conservation(119,270,000 yuan/a).According to the valuation of ecosystem services excluding forest recreation provided by 7 types of forests in the reserve,the value of ecosystem services per unit area of Pinus sibirica(Loud.) Mayr forest,Abies sibirica Ledeb.forest,Larix sibirica Ledeb.forest,Betula pendula Roth.forest,Populus davidiana Dode forest,shrubbery,and Picea obovata Ledeb.forest was 71,500,66,500,54,400,44,200,40,500,36,700,and 32,900 yuan/(hm^2·a),respectively.

Young and old forest in the boreal:critical stages of ecosystem dynamics and management under global change

The circumboreal forest encompasses diverse landscape structures, dynamics and forest age distributions determined by their physical setting, and historical and current disturbance regimes. However, due to intensifying forest utilisation, and in certain areas due to increasing natural disturbances, boreal forest age-class structures have changed rapidly, so that the proportion of old forest has substantially declined, while that of young post-harvest and post-natural-disturbance forest proportions have increased. In the future, with a warming climate in certain boreal regions, this trend may further be enhanced due to an increase in natural disturbances and large-scale use of forest biomass to replace fossil-based fuels and products.The major drivers of change of forest age class distributions and structures include the use of clearcut shortrotation harvesting, more frequent and severe natural disturbances due to climate warming in certain regions. The decline in old forest area, and increase in managed young forest lacking natural post-disturbance structural legacies,represent a major transformation in the ecological conditions of the boreal forest beyond historical limits of variability.This may introduce a threat to biodiversity, ecosystem resilience and long-term adaptive capacity of the forest ecosystem.To safeguard boreal forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and to maintain the multiple services provided to societies by this forest biome, it is pivotal to maintain an adequate share and the ecological qualities of young postdisturbance stages, along with mature forest stages with old-growth characteristics. This requires management for natural post-disturbance legacy structures, and innovative use of diverse uneven-aged and continuous cover management approaches to maintain critical late-successional forest structures in landscapes.

Valuation of Ecosystem Services:Research Progress and Prospects

The ecosystem services are material base and natural capital for sustainable development of human being. Valuation of ecosystem services is favorable for people realizing the importance of natural ecosystem to human being, and considering its long-term influence on sustainable development of human society when making decisions. Besides, it is an attempt of ecology, geography and other natural sciences to influence social decision process by economic methods. The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital, written by Robert Costanza et al., in 1997, is generally regarded as a masterpiece for the research of valuing ecosystem services. However, the classifying standard of ecosystem services, the method of various services summation and the purpose for static global value, had confronted many criticisms. Still to now, accurately valuing ecosystem services is not easy, because of the complexity of natural ecosystem, the weak capability of economic system to pricing ecosystem services and the lack of more study in this field. Based on the criticisms summarizing and comprehensive analysis, further study suggestions of ecosystem services valuation is presented: multi-scale integrated and community participation applied in evaluation, dynamic changes of material value and intangible value of ecosystem services, investigation and simulation studies of the marginal value when ecosystem services changed, associated with related areas like ecological compensation research, and research on the market-oriented evaluation of ecosystem's intangible values.

Addressing soil protection concerns in forest ecosystem management under climate change

Background: Climate change may strongly influence soil erosion risk, namely through variations in the precipitation pattern. Forests may contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change on soil erosion and forest managers are thus challenged by the need to define strategies that may protect the soil while addressing the demand for other ecosystem services. Our emphasis is on the development of an approach to assess the impact of silvicultural practices and forest management models on soil erosion risks under climate change. Specifically, we consider the annual variation of the cover-management factor(C) in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation over a range of alternative forest management models to estimate the corresponding annual soil losses, under both current and changing climate conditions. We report and discuss results of an application of this approach to a forest area in Northwestern Portugal where erosion control is the most relevant water-related ecosystem service.Results: Local climate change scenarios will contribute to water erosion processes, mostly by rainfall erosivity increase.Different forest management models provide varying levels of soil protection by trees, resulting in distinct soil loss potential.Conclusions: Results confirm the suitability of the proposed approach to address soil erosion concerns in forest management planning. This approach may help foresters assess management models and the corresponding silvicultural practices according to the water-related services they provide.

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

Benefits Evaluation of Water Resources Used for Ecosystem in Shiyang River Basin of Gansu Province

Among the numerous inland river basins in the arid northwest China,Shiyang River basin is known for its most serious water shortage that constrains its social and economic developments and for some of the worst ecological and environmental deterioration in China.The research on the value of water resources used for ecosystem is the basis for reasonable allocation of water resources between users of ecosystem and economic system.In this paper the concept of dynamic value for the ecosystem services is proposed.A modified coefficient for the ecosystem service value per unit area is proposed according to the cover degrees of biomes combined with expert consultation.Based on the developmental stage coefficient and scarcity of ecological resources,a dynamic evaluation method is proposed.The theoretical formula and simple calculation formula of the sharing benefits coefficient and benefits per unit ecological water utilization are proposed.The result shows that the benefit of unit ecological water utilization in the lower reach was greater than that in the upper reach in the Shiyang River basin.

Changes of forest land use and ecosystem service values along Lao-Chinese border:A case study of Luang Namtha Province,Lao PDR

Forest cover and land use change directly impact biological diversity worldwide, contribute to climate change and affect the ability of biological systems to support human needs by altering ecosystem services. Given the forest land use characteristics and ecosystem types in Luang Namtha Province, Lao PDR, the forest cover and land cover category of Luang Namtha Province were divided into six classes, i.e., current forest （CF）, potential forest （PF）, other wooded areas （OW）, permanent agricultural land （PA）, other non-forest areas （NF） and water （W）. In first instance, earlier geographic information data （GIS data） of forest cover and land use during 1992 and 2002 was obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry （MAF）, Lao PDR. Two steps of forest land use change assessment were conducted by the MAF, i.e., plot sampling on satellite image maps （SIMs） to detect the changes of forest cover and land use during 1992 and 2002 for the entire Luang Namtha Province and field verification in order to identify causes of the changes. Secondly, dynamic information of the forest land cover changes during this ten-year period was calculated by means of map algebra in ArcGIS 9.2. Thirdly, based on the theory of ecosystem service functions and the service function values of different global ecosystems, the value of the six forest cover and land use categories in the province was obtained. Finally, ecological environmental effects, produced by the regional land cover changes over the study period, were calculated.