Integrated ecosystem assessment for western development of China

The objectives of Integrated Ecosystem Assessment for Western Development of China includes: (1) providing scientific basis for ecosystem protection, ecosystem management and ecological construction in the western development; (2) developing complete database and analytical tools and strengthening decision-making support capacity; and (3) improving ecosystem management in China, spreading ecological knowledge to the public, serving decision-making of local and central governments, and promoting socio-economic sustainable development. The design and implementation of the project are of significance under the macro background of western development of China. By the integrated assessment of western China, we can get the first-hand data covering all the environmental factors as well as disclose the situations and their changing trends of ecosystem in the western part of China, which will benefit the decision-making for the central and local governments in the implementation of the western development strategy. In other words, the implementation of the project, to a certain extent, can guarantee the regional sustainable development of western China.

Identifying Links between Ecosystem Services and Aboriginal Well-Being and Livelihoods in North Australia： Applying the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Framework

The livelihoods and well-being of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in remote and rural northern Australia are dependent upon the ecosystem services provided by tropical ecosystems. The well-being of all Australian citizens is measured by the Australia Bureau of Statistics （ABS） using socio-economic indicators. In this study we investigated the importance of non-market benefits derived from ecosystem services for Aboriginal well-being. Through a case study with the Mullunburra-Yidinji people in the Wet Tropics, Queensland, we applied the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment （MA） framework to identify the links between ecosystem services and the MA＇s six constituents of human well-being. The study demonstrated that cultural and provisioning services were key determinants of community well-being, and these are not currently measured by the ABS. We adapt the MA framework to include the ABS indicators and explore the potential strengths and weaknesses of the approach for measuring the well-being of contemporary remote and rural Aboriginal communities.

Preface for Integrated Ecosystem Assessment of Western China

Human well-being is dependent on ecosystems. Earth＇s mosaic of ecosystems - forests, grasslands, wetlands, streams, estuaries, and oceans - when functioning naturally, provide materials, conditions, and processes that sustain all life on this planet, including human life. The benefits that all living things obtain from ecosystems are called ＂ecosystem services.＂ Some are very familiar to us, such as materials like food and timber that are essential for our lives and important parts of the global economy. What are equally important, but certainly less well recognized, are the array of services delivered by ecosystems that do not have easily assigned monetary values, but that make our lives possible. These include the purification of air and water, the decomposition of wastes, the recycling of nutrients on land and in the oceans, the pollination of crops, and the regulation of climate.

Assessments and diagnoses of aquatic ecosystem integrity based on integrity requirements of ecosystem service targets

This paper critically reviews the progress in ecosystem integrity(health)assessment of inland waters and provides future directions for assessment.Current biotic integrity assessments mainly use multimetric indices and predictive models to evaluate overall health status;the criteria largely rely on pristine reference sites,but such an approach is not applicable to unique natural waters and irreversibly modified waters.Biotic diagnostic assessments are still in the exploratory stage and can only diagnose possible stressor types and wide-ranges of their intensities through empirical models linking stressors and species-trait-indices.Current chemical integrity assessments mainly use criteria determined by small-scale ecotoxicity tests,rather than quantitative relationships developed between chemical factors and biotic effects in real ecosystems,thus potentially under or overestimating pollutant toxicity.Current physical integrity assessments focus on overall habitat quality,rather than quantitative habitat requirements,and thus cannot provide quantitative support for ecological restoration and conservation.Current hydrological integrity(environment flow)assessments largely depend on quantitative relationships between hydrological regimes with a few species and single groups,rather than with whole communities,and fail to comprehensively diagnose hydrological causes of biotic resource decline.In the future,integrity assessments need to be based on ecosystem integrity requirements of ecosystem service targets:first,there is a need to build quantitative relationships between biotic integrity and ecosystem services,assess requirements of community structure and function for service goals,and establish biotic integrity assessment methods;second,we must build quantitative relationships between biotic integrity and abiotic integrity in real ecosystems,assess chemical,physical,and hydrological integrity requirements of biotic needs,and establish diagnostic assessment methods.

Progress and Perspectives of Ecosystem Services: A Review

According to the latest research of ecosystem service（ ES）,the background and connotation of ecosystem services were briefly summarized,the relationship among human activity,climate change,and biodiversity and ecosystem service function（ ESF） was synthetically analyzed,the research trends of ecosystem services function assessment（ ESFA） were discussed from multi-scale,and the perspectives was given based on the past studies. The ecological long-term location monitoring method based on the ESFA should be studied,evaluation index of ESFA should be further improved,and the ESF research on the arid region should be reinforced.

Ecosystem health assessment of urban rivers and lakes-Case study of “the six lakes”in Beijing,China

The assessment of the ecosystem health of urban rivers and lakes is the scientific basis for their management and ecological restoration.This study developed a three-level indicator system for its assessment.The results indicated that:Zhonghai and Nanhai are in the state of transition from unhealthy to critical state and all the other lakes are in unhealthy states.Water environmental quality,structure and function of the aquatic ecosystem,and the structure of waterfront areas were the constraints.Nanhai was ranked as poor and the others were all ranked as very poor.However,the ecological environment of Zhonghai and Nanhai were better than the others,the sums of the degree of membership to the healthy state and critical state were all close to 0.6.and the restorations of these lakes were moderate.The sums of the degree of membership to the healthy state and critical state of the other lakes were under 0.3,as it was difficult to restore these lakes.Some suggestions on scientific management and ecological restoration of the six lakes were proposed:①To control non-point pollution and to improve the water quality of six lakes and the water entering into these lakes;②To improve the hydrological conditions of six lakes;③To rehabilitate the aquatic ecosystem and waterfront areas.

What are the appropriate mapping units for ecosystem service assessments?A systematic review

Context:Without clear understanding of the units used for ecosystem service(ES)mapping,ES assessment accuracy and the practical application of ES knowledge will be hampered.Method:We systematically reviewed 106 studies over the past 11 years to explore the type,characteristic pattern and deficiencies of mapping units.Result:We proposed that ES mapping units can be categorized into minimal unit for assessing ESs using corresponding indicators and methods,and aggregated unit for analysis and application based on research objectives,and classified the mapping units into five common types.Of the 12 characterizing variables of ES mapping studies,some have been shown to introduce a difference in the selection of mapping units and to exhibit characteristic patterns.We also found that the accuracy of ES assessments based on minimal units was lacking,and aggregated units were insufficient to establish a link between ES knowledge and practice.Conclusion:Herein,we propose possible solutions such as the use of fine spatial resolution grids and the introduction of additional data beyond land cover as supplements to improve the assessment accuracy.To enhance the availability of the results for practice,aggregated units connected with urban planning units should be established at a spatial level suitable for urban management.

An ecosystem-based approach to marine risk assessment

Risk assessments quantify the probability of undesirable events along with their consequences.They are used to prioritize management interventions and assess tradeoffs,serving as an essential component of ecosystem-based management(EBM).A central objective of most risk assessments for conservation and management is to characterize uncertainty and impacts associated with one or more pressures of interest.Risk assessments have been used in marine resource management to help evaluate the risk of environmental,ecological,and anthropogenic pressures on species or habitats including for data-poor fisheries management(e.g.,toxicity,probability of extinction,habitat alteration impacts).Traditionally,marine risk assessments focused on singular pressure-response relationships,but recent advancements have included use of risk assessments in an EBM context,providing a method for evaluating the cumulative impacts of multiple pressures on multiple ecosystem components.Here,we describe a conceptual framework for ecosystem risk assessment(ERA),highlighting its role in operationalizing EBM,with specific attention to ocean management considerations.This framework builds on the ecotoxicological and conservation literature on risk assessment and includes recent advances that focus on risks posed by fishing to marine ecosystems.We review how examples of ERAs from the United States fit into this framework,explore the variety of analytical approaches that have been used to conduct ERAs,and assess the challenges and data gaps that remain.This review discusses future prospects for ERAs as EBM decision-support tools,their expanded role in integrated ecosystem assessments,and the development of next-generation risk assessments for coupled natural-human systems.

Regional ecosystem health assessment using the GA-BPANN model:a case study of Yunnan Province,China

Background:Regional ecosystem health assessments are the basis for the sustainable development of society.However,an ecosystem is a complex integration of ecosystem mosaics and subsystems that influence each other,making it difficult to evaluate them using traditional assessment methods of linear and explicit functions.We introduce a back-propagation neural network model optimized by a genetic algorithm to evaluate ecosystem health in 16 districts in Yunnan Province.Result:(1)The model required fewer inputs to evaluate complex and nonlinear systems,avoided the need for subjective weights,and performed well in this practical application to regional ecosystem health assessment.(2)The ecosystem health in Yunnan Province was increasing,and there was a significant positive spatial autocorrelation during 2000-2020,showing that districts with high Ecosystem Health cluster together and the ecological protection policy of the region has produced a diffusion effect,leading to continuous improvement of the ecological health of the surrounding areas.High-low outlier areas of ecosystem health should be paid more attention,because of the increasing instability of local health levels.Conclusion:This study provides a methodological exploration for assessing spatial mosaics of different ecosystems at a regional scale.

An integrated approach to understanding the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being

In order to use science to manage human-nature interactions,we need much more nuanced,and when possible,quantitative,analyses of the interplay among ecosystem services(ES),human well-being(HWB),and drivers of both ecosystem structure and function,as well as HWB.Despite a growing interest and extensive efforts in ES research in the past decade,systematic and quantitative work on the linkages between ES and HWB is rare in existing literature,largely due to the lack of use of quantitative indicators and integrated models.Here,we integrated indicators of human dependence on ES,of HWB,and of direct and indirect drivers of both using data from household surveys carried out atWolong Nature Reserve,China.We examined how human dependence on ES and HWB might be affected by direct drivers,such as a natural disaster,and how human dependence on ES and direct and indirect drivers might affect HWB.Our results show that the direct driver(i.e.,Wenchuan Earthquake)significantly affected both households’dependence on ES and their well-being.Such impacts differed across various dimensions of ES and well-being as indicated by subindices.Those disadvantaged households with lower access to multiple forms of capital,more property damages,or larger revenue reductions also experienced greater losses in HWB.Diversifying human dependence on ES helps to mitigate disaster impacts on HWB.Our findings offer strong empirical evidence that the construction of quantitative indicators for ES and HWB,especially integrated models using them,is a viable approach for advancing the understanding of linkages between ES and HWB.

Evaluating indicators of human well-being for ecosystem-based management

Introduction:Interrelated social and ecological challenges demand an understanding of how environmental change and management decisions affect human well-being.This paper out-lines a framework for measuring human well-being for ecosystem-based management(EBM).We present a prototype that can be adapted and developed for various scales and contexts.Scientists and managers use indicators to assess status and trends in integrated ecosystem assessments(IEAs).To improve the social science rigor and success of EBM,we developed a systematic and transparent approach for evaluating indicators of human well-being for an IEA.Methods:Our process is based on a comprehensive conceptualization of human well-being,a scalable analysis of management priorities,and a set of indicator screening criteria tailored to the needs of EBM.We tested our approach by evaluating more than 2000 existing social indicators related to ocean and coastal management of the US West Coast.We focused on two foundational attributes of human well-being:resource access and self-determination.Outcomes and Discussion:Our results suggest that existing indicators and data are limited in their ability to reflect linkages between environmental change and human well-being,and extremely limited in their ability to assess social equity and justice.We reveal a critical need for new social indicators tailored to answer environmental questions and new data that are disaggregated by social variables to measure equity.In both,we stress the importance of collaborating with the people whose well-being is to be assessed.Conclusion:Our framework is designed to encourage governments and communities to carefully assess the complex tradeoffs inherent in environmental decision-making.

Effects of an ecological conservation and restoration project in the Three-River Source Region, China

The first-stage of an ecological conservation and restoration project in the Three-River Source Region（TRSR）, China, has been in progress for eight years. However, because the ecological effects of this project remain unknown, decision making for future project implementation is hindered. Thus, in this study, we developed an index system to evaluate the effects of the ecological restoration project, by integrating field observations, remote sensing, and process-based models. Effects were assessed using trend analyses of ecosystem structures and services. Results showed positive trends in the TRSR since the beginning of the project, but not yet a return to the optima of the 1970 s. Specifically, while continued degradation in grassland has been initially contained, results are still far from the desired objective, ‘grassland coverage increasing by an average of 20%–40%＇. In contrast, wetlands and water bodies have generally been restored, while the water conservation and water supply capacity of watersheds have increased. Indeed, the volume of water conservation achieved in the project meets the objective of a 1.32 billion m^3 increase. The effects of ecological restoration inside project regions was more significant than outside, and, in addition to climate change projects, we concluded that the implementation of ecological conservation and restoration projects has substantially contributed to vegetation restoration. Nevertheless, the degradation of grasslands has not been fundamentally reversed, and to date the project has not prevented increasing soil erosion. In sum, the effects and challenges of this first-stage project highlight the necessity of continuous and long-term ecosystem conservation efforts in this region.