Appraisal of the vegetation-based services for cropland ecosystems: a case study of a high-yielding county in North China

As people become increasingly aware of the irreplaceability of ecosystem services, defined as ＂the nataral environmental conditions and effects upon which peopic rely for existence that are formed and maintained by ecosystems and ecological processes＂, more emphasis is being placed on these services＇. In rectent years numerous studies have focused primarily on the sen,ices of natural ecosystems. This paper expands the scope of this field from natural ecosystems to semi-natuval ecosystems, i.e. cropland ecosystems, which are closely associated with human productivity and life. Taking Huantat County in Shandong Province as an example, the vegetation.based services of winter wheat/summer maize rotation systems and carton cropland ecosystems were systematically analyzed, including the material production, carbon dioxide fixation, oxygen release, water conservation, and nutrient recycling. These services were then evaluated in terms of economics through the applications of a market value technique, a substinaion engineering method and a shadow price method. The results indicated that the total economic value of cropland ecosystem vegetation.based services in Huantai County is 124.827.3 ×10^4 yuan. which is equivalent to 15.63% of the GDP of Hnantat County （798, 491 × 10^4 yuan）, Among these services, the gas regulation value is 82.698.3 × 10^4 yuan （66.25%）, the material production value is 38.049.4 × 10^4 yuan （30.48%）, the nutrient cycling value is 3257.3 × 10^4 ynan （2.61%）, and the water conservation value is 822.3 × 10^4 yuan （0.66%）. In addition, through the comparison between winter wheat/summer maize rotation systems and cotton cropland ecosystems, we conclude that the economic value of vegetation-based services provided by the former is much higher than that of the latter, which could provide a scientific guideline for adjusting the agricultural structure, Our study may facilitate the conservation of cropland ecosystems and promote effective use of vegetation-based services to achieve sustainable development of agriculture and guarantee nationwide food security.

Simulation of CO_2 and sensible/latent heat fluxes exchange between land surface and atmosphere over cropland and grassland in semi-arid region,China

A comparison between simulated land surface fluxes and observed eddy covariance （EC） measurements was conducted to validate Integrated Biosphere Simulator （IBIS） at Tongyu field observation station （44°25＇N, 122°52＇E） in Jilin Province, China. Results showed that the IBIS model could reproduce net ecosystem CO2 exchange （NEE）, sensible and latent heat fluxes reasonably, as indicated by correlation coefficients exceeding the significant level of 0.05. It was also evident that the NEE and sensible heat fluxes were characterized by diurnal and seasonal variation both in the grassland and the cropland ecosystems, while the latent heat fluxes correlated with evapotranspiration, only took on the diurnal variation during the growing season. Moreover, both sensible heat fluxes and the latent heat fluxes were larger in the cropland ecosystem than that in the degraded grassland ecosystem. This different characteristic was possibly correlated with vegetation growing situation in the two kinds of ecosystems. A close agreement between observation and simulation on NEE, sensible heat fluxes and latent heat flux was obtained both in the degraded grassland and the cropland ecosystems. In addition, the annual NEE in the model was overestimated by 23.21% at the grassland and 27.43% at the cropland, sensible heat flux with corresponding 9.90% and 11.98%, respectively, and the annual latent heat flux was underestimated by 4.63% and 3.48%, respectively.

Diurnal variation of ozone flux over corn field in Northwestern Shandong Plain of China

High concentration ground-level ozone(O3)has adverse effects on plant growth and photosynthesis.Compared to the O3concentration-based index,the O3flux-based(especially stomatal O3uptake)index has been considered the better criterion for assessing the impact of ozone on vegetation and ecosystems.This paper reports on a study of O3flux using the eddy covariance technique over a corn field in the Northwestern Shandong Plain of China.Diurnal variation of atmospheric O3concentration,deposition velocity and flux,and their relationships to environmental factors are analyzed.The results show that:(1)During the observation period(9 August–28 September,2011),there was a strong diurnal variation of O3concentration,with low(16.5 nL L?1)and high(60.1 nL L?1)O3mean concentrations observed around 6:30 and 16:00,respectively.Mean O3concentrations during daytime(6:00–18:00)and nighttime(18:00–6:00)were 39.8±23.1 and 20.7±14.1 nL L?1(mean±std),respectively.The maximum observed concentration was 97.5 nL L?1.The concentration was mainly affected by solar radiation and air temperature.(2)Whether daytime or nighttime,ground-level O3flux is always downward.The diurnal course of mean deposition velocity was divided into 4 phases:a low and stable process during nighttime,fast increasing in early morning,relatively large and steady changes around noon,and quickly decreasing in later afternoon.Daytime and nighttime mean deposition velocities were 0.29 and 0.09 cm s?1,respectively.The maximum deposition velocity was 0.81 cm s?1.The magnitude of deposition velocity was influenced by the corn growth period,and its diurnal variation was significantly correlated with global radiation and relative humidity.(3)O3flux was affected by variations of both O3concentration and deposition velocity,with mean O3fluxes-317.7 and?70.2 ng m?2s?1during daytime and nighttime,respectively.There was strong correlation between O3flux and CO2flux or latent heat flux.By comparing the deposition velocities of daytime and nighttime,we infer that stomatal uptake was probably the main sink of ground-level O3.

Ozone concentrations, flux and potential effect on yield during wheat growth in the NorthwestShandong Plain of China

Ozone（O3） concentration and flux（Fo） were measured using the eddy covariance technique over a wheat field in the Northwest-Shandong Plain of China. The O3-induced wheat yield loss was estimated by utilizing O3exposure-response models. The results showed that：（1） During the growing season（7 March to 7 June, 2012）, the minimum（16.1 ppb V） and maximum（53.3 ppb V）mean O3 concentrations occurred at approximately 6：30 and 16：00, respectively. The mean and maximum of all measured O3 concentrations were 31.3 and 128.4 ppb V, respectively. The variation of O3 concentration was mainly affected by solar radiation and temperature.（2） The mean diurnal variation of deposition velocity（V d） can be divided into four phases, and the maximum occurred at noon（12：00）. Averaged V d during daytime（6：00–18：00） and nighttime（18：00–6：00） were 0.42 and 0.14 cm/sec, respectively. The maximum of measured V d was about1.5 cm/sec. The magnitude of V d was influenced by the wheat growing stage, and its variation was significantly correlated with both global radiation and friction velocity.（3） The maximum mean F o appeared at 14：00, and the maximum measured F o was-33.5 nmol/（m^2·sec）. Averaged F o during daytime and nighttime were-6.9 and-1.5 nmol/（m^2·sec）, respectively.（4） Using O3 exposure-response functions obtained from the USA, Europe, and China, the O3-induced wheat yield reduction in the district was estimated as 12.9% on average（5.5%–23.3%）. Large uncertainties were related to the statistical methods and environmental conditions involved in deriving the exposure-response functions.