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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Enhancing Sustainability in Forestry Using Material Flow Cost Accounting

Forestry is an applied science related to the sustainable management of natural resources. Many scientific disciplines influence forest science including ecology, economics and other social sciences. In this paper, it is proposed to promote the sustainable management of forest resources using a method coming from the Environmental Management Accounting discipline. The method is Material Flow Cost Accounting, which assists managers to recognize material and energy inefficiencies in production processes and create cost savings for the organization. Through a study of the methodology and using forestry examples, it is shown that Material Flow Cost Accounting can be a useful tool for forest managers, either in Public Forest Service, or other forestry organizations.

A Geographic Information Systems approach for classifying and mapping forest management category in Baihe Forestry Bureau, Northeast China

This paper demonstrates a Geographic Information Systems （GIS） procedure of classifying and mapping forest management category in Baihe Forestry Burea, Jilin Province, China. Within the study area, Baihe Forestry Bureau land was classified into a two-hierarchy system. The top-level class included the non-forest and forest. Over 96% of land area is forest in the study area, which was further divided into key ecological service forest （KES）, general ecological service forest （GES）, and commodity forest （COM）. COM covered 45.0% of the total land area and was the major forest management type in Baihe Forest Bureau. KES and GES accounted for 21.2% and 29.9% of the total land area, respectively. The forest management zones designed with GIS in this study were then compared with the forest management zones established using the hand draw by the local agency. There were obvious differences between the two products. It suggested that the differences had some to do with the data sources, basic unit and mapping procedures. It also suggested that the GIS method was a useful tool in integrating forest inventory data and other data for classifying and mapping forest zones to meet the needs of the classified forest management system.

Multi-scale analysis of trade-off/synergistic effects of forest ecosystem services in the Funiu Mountain Region,China

The trade-offs and synergies of forest ecosystem service are important research topics for several disciplines.The multi-scale analysis of service trade-offs and synergies assists in the implementation of more effective forest resource management.Based on multi-source data including forest distribution,topography,NDVI,meteorology and soil conditions,key forest ecosystem services,including total forest volume,carbon storage,water yield,soil retention and habitat quality were mapped and evaluated for the Funiu Mountain Region through integrated deployment of the CASA model,the InVEST3.2 model and the ArcGIS10.2 software.The characteristics of trade-offs and synergies among different ecosystem services were then mapped and considered across multiple spatial scales(i.e.,by region,north and south slopes,vertical belt)using the spatial overlay analysis method.The main results are as follows:(1)Mean forest volume is 49.26 m^(3)/ha,carbon density is 156.94 t/ha,water yield depth is 494.46 mm,the unit amount of soil retention is 955.4 t/ha,and the habitat quality index is 0.79.(2)The area of forests with good synergy is 28.79%,and the area of forests with poor synergy is 10.15%,while about 61.06%of forests show severe trade-offs and weak trade-offs.The overall benefits of forest ecosystem services in the study area are still low.In the future,bad synergy and severe trade-off areas should be the focus of forest resource management and efficiency regulation.(3)Synergy between ecosystem services is better for forest on south slope than that on north slope.Deciduous broad-leaved forest belt at moderate elevations on south slope in the mountains(SIII)has the highest synergies,while that at low elevations on north slope(NI)exhibits the lowest synergy levels.

Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services and Benefit Sharing:A Case Study of Qingdao City, China

The forest ecosystem goods and services and the natural capital stocks that produce them make great contribution to national economy and human welfare both directly and indirectly. This paper evaluates the economic value of natural capital stock and the annual output flow of forest ecosystem goods and services taking Qingdao City and its eight districts as case study. The results of the valuation study showed, that the stock value of forest natural capital of Qingdao was RMB 13.46 billion at the end of 2007. The flow value of annual output of forest ecosystem goods and services of Qingdao was RMB 26.76 billion which amounted to 7.07% of its GDP of 2007. However, the share of forest goods and services actually included in its GDP of 2007, in accordance with the current national accounting system, was only 0.71%. Among the annual flows the value of intangible forest ecosystem services alone accounted for 70.90% of total flows which was 2.44 times the value of forest material goods. These non- market forest benefits mainly contributed to the non-forestry sectors of the economy and to the social groups who did not own and manage the forests. Extensive policy implications were analyzed as per the results of the forest valuation study.

Ethical Dimensions of Payment for Forest Environmental Services

The market-based incentive mechanism of payments for forest environmental services (PFES) seeks to capture part of the benefits derived from forest environmental services and channels them to forest resource owners/managers who generate these services, thus increases their incentives to conserve and manage forest resources. This paper examines some of the most important ethical issues entailed by PFES mechanism. The analysis shows that PFES may not always benefit the poor due to the comparative disadvantages of the poor and the complicated characteristics of forest ecosystem services. It is important and urgent to take ethical dimensions into account in the PFES approaches and design and develop the pro- poor payment mechanism in order to achieve the two objectives of forest conservation and economic development.

What Developing International Markets for Ecosystem Services Reveal for China's Forestry Sector?

The market mechanism for forest ecosystem service has already become common knowledge among countries in the international movement to address global climate change.In this paper,international experiences of forest ecosystem market such as better understanding of concept,public participation, sound trading rules and measurement standards are analyzed,and its implication for China is also summarized.Finally,the prospects of forest ecosystem service market in China are discussed.The purpose of this paper i...

Current Status and Progress of Market for Forest Environmental Services

With the analyses of the reasons for the emergence of domestic and overseas markets for forest environmental service and its significance, this paper summarizes the progress in the research on the market and reviews the operations of the markets for 4 kinds of forest environmental services that are watershed protection services, biodiversity protection services, carbon sequestration services and landscape services. At the end, the paper discusses the major problems arising in the creation of markets for environmental services and the developing tendency.

Current Status and Trend of Forest Hydrological Services Market Research

Of the many services that forests provide, hydrological services are among the most valuable, and it becomes more scarce with the growing demands by human beings. As a kind of incentive measure for protecting forest, forest hydrological services markets have been developed in many countries around the world and some valuable experiences have been achieved. The paper reviews the experiments carried out in the world and their research findings on forest hydrological services market, and presents the issues to be studied for the establishment of future water services market.

Research on the Patterns and Evolution of Ecosystem Service Consumption in the “Belt and Road”

With great significance in ecosystem protection and sustainable development,the study of ecosystem service consumption(ESC)has become a hot topic in ecological research.Based on FAOSTAT data,in this study the patterns,composition and evolution of ESC and ecosystem service consumption patterns(ESCP)in the“Belt and Road"were revealed on the total and regional scales,taking consumed-biomass as a main indicator.Three main conclusions were reached.1)The total ESC was mainly contributed from farmland ecosystems along the"Belt and Road",followed by grassland ecosystems.The ESC indicators on the whole system scale fluctuated,but increased from year 2000 to year 2016.The total ESC increased from 12911.89 Tg yr_1 to 16810.00 Tg yr^1,and the annual per capita consumption of ecosystem services increased from 3.3228 million g p_1 yr'1 to 3.6392 million g p_1 yr'1.2)The ESC,composition and evolution varied significantly among countries,zones and ecosystems.The annual per capita ESC was highest in Mongolia on the national scale,and highest in Central and Eastern Europe and lowest in Southeast Asia on zone scale,which represented the results from the joint effects of regional resource endowments,consumption habits,levels of productive forces,and other factors.3)Higher farmland ESC was the dominant ESCP,which accounted for about 76.7%of the total area along the"Belt and Road",followed by higher farmland+higher grassland ESC,which accounted for about 19.0%of the total area.The other consumption patterns(i.e.,those of higher grassland ESC,higher forestland ESC or higher farmland+higher forest+higher grassland ESC)were found in only a few countries.The ESCP may be related to higher regional population density or the higher proportions of developing countries.Therefore,to realize sustainable social,economic and ecological development,and to improve people's well-being,countries along the,lBelt and Road"should take advantage of their own resources in developing industries,actively expand trade,achieve mutual benefits and win-win situations,and adjust and optimize consumption patterns of ecosystem services.This study can provide data support for further research on the mechanism of ESCP formation this area.

Study of Construction of Personalized Service Oriented Government Virtual Information Service Center

In this paper, we proposed the idea of personalized information service for enterprises and customers through government visual information service center (GVISC). It discusses an extensible, reusable, reconstructive and integrated framework of GVISC with new techniques, such as XML, agent, data mining and information portal. They include the design and analysis of the logical structure, the design of the data layer, and the description of the function application. We show an example of personalized information service for forest fire prevention in the government virtual information service center.