Web service based spatial forest information system using an open source software approach

For technical and other reasons there is a dilemma that data providers cannot find an appropriate way to redistribute spatial forest data and data users who need spatial data cannot access and integrate available forest resources information. To overcome this dilemma, this paper proposed a spatial forest information system based on Web service using an open source software approach. With Web service based architecture, the system can enable interoperability, integrate Web services from other application servers, reuse codes, and shorten the development time and cost. At the same time, it is possible to extend the local system to a regional or national spatial forest information system. The growth of Open Source Software （OSS） provides an alternative choice to proprietary software for operating systems, web servers, Web-based GIS applications and database management systems. Using open source software to develop spatial forest information systems can greatly reduce the cost while providing high performance and sharing spatial forest information. We chose open source software to build a prototype system for Xixia County, Henan Province, China. By integrating OSS packages Deegree and UMN MapServer which are compliant to the OGC open specifications, the prototype system enables users to access spatial forest information and travelling information of Xixia County which come from two different data servers via a standard Web browser and promotes spatial forest information sharing.

Forestland prediction of China based on forest ecosystem services for the first half of 21st century

A new model was developed to predict forestland demand of China during the years of 2010-2050 in terms of the concept of forest ecosystem services. On the basis of the relationship between forest ecosystem services and classified forest management, we hypothesized that the ecological-forest provides ecological services, whereas commercial-forest supplies wood and timber production, and the influences of the growth of population, social-economic development target, forest management methods and the technology changes on forest resources were also taken into account. The prediction reveals that the demand of total forestland of China will be 244.8, 261.2 and 362.2 million ha by the year 2010, 2020 and 2050, respectively. The results demonstrated that China will be confronted with a shortage of forest resources, especially with lack of ecological-oriented forests, in the future. It is suggested that sustainable management of forest resources must be reinforced and more attention should be drown no enhancing the service function of forest ecosystem.

Information service platform of forest pest forecast based on WebGIS

Taking Linkou Forestry Bureau, Heilongjiang Province, China as the demonstration plot and Dendrolimus pinidiatrea as an example, we developed a WebGIS-based information service platform for forest pest forecast using J2EE and ArcGIS Server technology. The service platform is able to predict the occurrence period, amount of pest, occurrence tendency, and pest zones in the B/S environment and realized the display, querying, analysis and editing of the spatial data and the automatically integrated control of multilevel Data,. Additionaly, the service platform offers the visualization of geographic service and predicted results. It provides a solution for prediction of forest pest and forest resource management.

Preliminary Evaluation on Urban Forest Ecosystem Services Function in Meizhou City

In order to better explore the function of urban forest in human habitation and settlement environment,the ecosystem functions were evaluated in terms of air purification,water conservation,soil conservation,maintenance of biodiversity in Meizhou by the methods of market price,shadow prices approach and opportunity cost,and the problems of the value assessment at home and abroad in urban forest ecosystem services function were simply discussed.

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.

Information service platform of forest pest forecast based on WebGIS

Taking Linkou Forestry Bureau, Heilongjiang Province, China as the demonstration plot and Dendrolimus pinidiatrea as an example, we developed a WebGIS-based information service platform for forest pest forecast using J2EE and ArcGIS Server technology. The service platform is able to predict the occurrence period, amount of pest, occurrence tendency, and pest zones in the B/S environment and realized the display, querying, analysis and editing of the spatial data and the automatically integrated control of multilevel Data,. Additionaly, the service platform offers the visualization of geographic service and predicted results. It provides a solution for prediction of forest pest and forest resource management.

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-D1-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.

Do Forest Landscape Pattern Planning and Optimization Play a Role in Enhancing Soil Conservation Services in Mountain Areas of Western China?

The relationship between landscape patterns and soil conservation,as well as the need for nature-based soil erosion control and landscape pattern optimization,have increasingly gained attention in the scientific and political community in the past decade.With the implementation of a series of afforestation/reforestation projects in the western China,the optimization and management of forest landscape patterns will become more important for soil conservation.In this study,the Bailongjiang Watershed(BLJW),in the western China,was used as a case study to explore the relationship between the forest landscape pattern and soil conservation services using mathematical and spatial statistics methods.A spatially-explicit model called the sediment delivery ratio(SDR)model of the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST)was used to assess the soil conservation service in each sub-basin of BLJW in 1990,2002,and 2014,and landscape indices were used to describe changes in forest landscape patterns in each sub-basin.Nine forest landscape indices,including the percentage of landscape(PLAND),largest patch index(LPI),edge density(ED),landscape shape index(LSI),mean patch shape(SHAPEMN),patch cohesion index(COHESION),landscape division index(DIVISION),splitting index(SPLIT)and aggregation index(AI),were significantly correlated to the soil conservation service.PLAND,AI,LSI and SPLIT of forestland were determined to be the more important landscape indicators.The results also indicated that soil conservation was substantially scale-dependent.The results demonstrated that landscape type diversity greatly affected watershed soil conservation and can be used for forest landscape restoration and management.Furthermore,spatial statistics analysis indicated that the Spatial Lag Model(SLM)was superior to the Ordinary Least Squares(OLS)for soil conservation regressions in 1990 and 2014,while OLS was more appropriate for the regression in 2002.These findings will be useful for enhancing soil conservation and for optimizing mountainous forest landscape patterns for afforestation/reforestation and regional development.Future planning and implementation of ecological restoration should focus more on strategic spatial planning and integrated landscape management with full consideration of future climate,water availability/consumption,hydrological regime,topography,and watershed features,especially on afforestation and revegetation projects in western mountainous China,where the socio-ecological system is fragile and poor.

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.

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.

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.

An Empirical Research on Satisfaction of Tourism Public Service in National Forest Park

In recent years,leisure individual travel has become a trend of tourism development.Visitors are highly dependent on the public service system of scenic spots.The educational circles at home and abroad are paying more and more attention to the study of tourism public services.Based on the theory of tourist satisfaction evaluation,this paper made an empirical study on the tourism public service system of Kunyu Mountain National Forest Park.It was found that there was a contradiction between the demand for tourism public services and the actual supply in Kunyu Mountain National Forest Park.Based on this,some measures were put forward,such as strengthening the construction of tourist information signs in scenic spots,strengthening the construction of communication facilities and convenient services for tourists,strengthening the training and supervision of service practitioners,and construction of organizations for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of tourists.

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.

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

Using modified Soil Conservation Service curve number method to simulate the role of forest in flood control in the upper reach of the Tingjiang River in China

To improve flood control efficiency and increase urban resilience to flooding,the impacts of forest type change on flood control in the upper reach of the Tingjiang River(URTR) were evaluated by a modified model based on the Soil Conservation Service curve number(SCS-CN) method. Parameters of the model were selected and determined according to the comprehensive analysis of model evaluation indexes. The first simulation of forest reconstruction scenario,namely a coniferous forest covering 59.35km^2 is replaced by a broad-leaved forest showed no significant impact on the flood reduction in the URTR. The second simulation was added with 61.75km^2 bamboo forest replaced by broad-leaved forest,the reduction of flood peak discharge and flood volume could be improved significantly. Specifically,flood peak discharge of 10-year return period event was reduced to 7-year event,and the reduction rate of small flood was 21%-28%. Moreover,the flood volume was reduced by 9%-14% and 18%-35% for moderate floods and small floods,respectively. The resultssuggest that the bamboo forest reconstruction is an effective control solution for small to moderate flood in the URTR,the effect of forest conversion on flood volume is increasingly reduced as the rainfall amount increases to more extreme magnitude. Using a hydrological model with scenarios analysis is an effective simulation approach in investigating the relationship between forest type change and flood control. This method would provide reliable support for flood control and disaster mitigation in mountainous cities.

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.

Tree-based ecosystem services supply and multifunctionality of church forests and their agricultural matrix near Lake Tana,Ethiopia

Ecosystem services(ES)are the connection between nature and society,and are essential for the well-being of local communities that depend on them.In Ethiopia,church forests and the surrounding agricultural matrix supply numerous ES.However,the ES delivered by both land use types have not yet been assessed simultaneously.Here we surveyed both church forests and their agricultural matrices,aiming to quantify,compare and unravel the drivers underlying tree-based ES supply,density and multifunctionality.We found that almost all church forests and half of the agricultural matrices provided high ES densities.ES multifunctionality was higher in the agricultural matrices,suggesting that people deliberately conserve or plant multifunctional tree species.Furthermore,the supply of all categories of ES was positively correlated with church forest age(p-value<0.001)in the agricultural matrix,while the extent of church forest was positively correlated with the density of all categories ecosystem services score in the church forests(p-value<0.001).Our results can be used to prioritize conservation efforts at sites that provide high levels of ES supply,ES density and ES multifunctionality,and to prioritize restoration efforts at sites with low levels thereof.

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.

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.

Bridging mapping and simulation modelling in the ecosystem service assessments of boreal forests:effects of bioenergy production on carbon dynamics

Background:Increasing the use of forest harvest residues for bioenergy production reduces greenhouse emissions from the use of fossil fuels.However,it may also reduce carbon stocks and habitats for deadwood dependent species.Consequently,simple tools for assessing the trade-offs of alternative management practices on forest dynamics and their services to people are needed.The objectives of this study were to combine mapping and simulation modelling to investigate the effects of forest management on ecosystem services related to carbon cycle in the case of bioenergy production;and to evaluate the suitability of this approach for assessing ecosystem services at the landscape level.Stand level simulations of forest growth and carbon budget were combined with extensive multi-source forest inventory data across a southern boreal landscape in Finland.Stochastic changes in the stand age class distribution over the study region were simulated to mimic variation in management regimes.Results:The mapping framework produced reasonable estimates of the effects of forest management on a set of key ecosystem service indicators:the annual carbon stocks and fluxes of forest biomass and soil,timber and energy-wood production and the coarse woody litter production over a simulation period 2012–2100.Regular harvesting,affecting the stand age class distribution,was a key driver of the carbon stock changes at a landscape level.Extracting forest harvest residues in the final felling caused carbon loss from litter and soil,particularly with combined aboveground residue and stump harvesting.It also reduced the annual coarse woody litter production,demonstrating negative impacts on deadwood abundance and,consequently,forest biodiversity.Conclusions:The refined mapping framework was suitable for assessing ecosystem services at the landscape level.The procedure contributes to bridging the gap between ecosystem service mapping and detailed simulation modelling in boreal forests.It allows for visualizing ecosystem services as fine resolution maps to support sustainable land use planning.In the future,more detailed models and a wider variety of ecosystem service indicators could be added to develop the method.