Effects of bioenergy policies and targets on European wetland restoration options

The EU is committed to combat climate change and to increase security of its energy supply. Bioenergy from forestry and agriculture plays a key role for both. Concurrently, the EU agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity within its member states. To fulfil the biodiversity target more nature conservation and restoration sites need to be designated. There are arising concerns that an increased cultivation of bioenergy crops will decrease the land available for nature reserves and for “traditional” agriculture and forestry. To assess the role of bioenergy in light of possible negative impacts on ecosystems, the European Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model (EUFASOM) assesses simultaneously economic and environmental aspects of land use. This study contributes to the assessment by analyzing the effect of bioenergy production on European wetland allocations by incorporating the spatial wetland distribution model SWEDI into EUFASOM. Results show that bioenergy targets increase land competition and thus marginal costs of wetland preservation but also of food prices. The designation of national wetland conservation targets, on the other hand, stimulates land use intensification in countries without these targets and here only a transfer of environmental stresses takes place. The model is able to illustrate regional differences of results.     

Relevance for decision making of spatially explicit,participatory scenarios for ecosystem services in an area of a high current demand

Participatory ecosystem services scenarios can be used to inform decision making on the sustainable or wise use of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES). To establish the plausibility and coherency of the recently constructed Biscay participatory scenarios, and to analyze policy options for improving sustainability of land use and the supply of ecosystem services, a spatially explicit analysis of land cover change was carried out. The modelling used an innovative methodology which included feedback from key stakeholders. Our study showed that scenario mapping can be a way of testing the credibility and internal consistency of scenarios, and a methodology for making them more coherent; it was also useful for highlighting land use trade-offs. The sustainability analysis for the ES supply side showed the benefits of promoting two land use/cover trends in the Biscay region: (i) an increase of sustainable arable land in the valley zones to reinforce biocapacity and self-provisioning while preserving agroecosystems’ ES flow; and (ii) natural forest regeneration in mountainous and other zones to increase carbon storage and sequestration while enhancing biodiversity and other ES flows. We argue that even if already protected public agro-forest lands may be the best places to start promoting these changes, additional measures are needed to involve private landowners and guarantee changes at a landscape level. Finally, we reflect on the need to make complementary analyses of ES supply and demand as a way of contributing to a broad sustainability agenda.     

四川省森林生态系统对野生珍稀濒危动物的保护价值计量研究

论文以异地保护成本替代法计算森林生态系统对濒危野生动物的保护价值。栖息于四川省森林生境的濒危野生动物需要生存下去所必需的食物、水、居住环境等一切生存条件完全由人为提供、人为创造和维持的成本就是四川省森林生态系统保护这些野生动物的价值。论文以动物园饲养动物的基本成本作为濒危野生动物异地保护的核算依据,得到四川省森林生态系统对野生珍稀濒危动物的保护价值为15.45×10⁸元/a。     

The social dimension of biodiversity policy in the European Union: Valuing the benefits to vulnerable communities

This paper uses GIS-based mapping tools and economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services to explore the social dimension of biodiversity policy. We investigate the linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem service values, and socio-economic vulnerability indicators in a spatially explicit framework and at different geographic scales. Our focus is on Europe, where biodiversity and ecosystem benefits have been well studied for many ecosystems, such as forests, coastal ecosystems and freshwater wetlands. The analysis focuses in particular on rural agricultural areas and remote mountainous regions accounting for the differences across various income groups, both at national and regional levels. The results of the study provide useful insights for EU policymakers in designing policy instruments that can promote biodiversity conservation and prevent natural resource degradation, on the one hand, while contributing to social stability and human livelihoods, on the other hand.     

Is climate-smart conservation feasible in Europe? Spatial relations of protected areas,soil carbon,and land values

The expectations on protected areas to deliver not only biodiversity conservation but also to provide an array of different ecosystem services rise. Sequestration and storage of carbon are promising services that protected areas may provide. This study integrates spatially explicit data on terrestrial Natura 2000 sites, soil organic carbon, and agricultural land values to estimate the potential for climate-smart conservation planning in the European Union. The objectives of this study are to analyse spatial relations between protected areas soil carbon content, and land values on the European Union's land area as well as to locate and quantify the proportion of land with high carbon and low economic value within and outside protected areas. We apply a unique interdisciplinary framework with methods ranging from analyses based on geographical information systems, agricultural economics to statistics. Findings indicate that there is a significant overlap between Natura 2000 sites and regions with high carbon content across Europe. Statistical analyses show that carbon-rich regions have significantly lower land values than other areas. Our results suggest that biodiversity protection and mitigation of climate change through conservation of soil carbon could be simultaneously achieved in Europe's protected areas and beyond. We conclude that there is a notable potential for climate-smart conservation in Europe that needs further investigation.     

生态系统服务价值与人类活动强度关联性分析及权衡——以淇河流域为例

以淇河流域为研究对象，利用2000~2015年土地利用/覆被数据，结合当量因子法修正中国陆地不同生态系统服务价值当量表，采用双变量相关分析法和生态系统服务权衡模型分析生态系统服务权衡协同关系，引入人类活动强度指数评估模型分析人类活动影响空间特征，运用空间自相关探讨人类活动影响与生态系统服务价值的空间关联性及LISA聚类分析.结果表明：（1）2000~2015年淇河流域生态系统服务价值呈下降趋势，2010年生态系统服务最低（19.29亿元），废物处理平均价值最大（3.68亿元），娱乐文化平均价值最小（0.81亿元）；（2）从生态系统权衡协同关系来看，两种相关性分析均表明研究区生态系统服务以协同关系为主，由线性关系发现供给服务、调节服务与支持服务呈现为互为增益的协同关系，文化服务与支持服务、供给服务、调节服务分别表现为此消彼长的权衡关系，生态系统服务权衡协同度表明土壤保持和原材料及土壤保持和生物多样性协同度最高（4.4），权衡度最高（-5.2）为水源涵养和原材料、水源涵养和生物多样性；（3）淇河流域人类活动强度空间分异显著，流域下游人类活动影响强度明显高于上游地区，人类活动强度与生态系统服务价值空间相关性由正相关转向负相关.     

A Functional Land Management conceptual framework under soil drainage and land use scenarios

Agricultural soils offer multiple soil functions, which contribute to a range of ecosystem services, and the demand for the primary production function is expected to increase with a growing world population. Other key functions on agricultural land have been identified as water purification, carbon sequestration, habitat biodiversity and nutrient cycling, which all need to be considered for sustainable intensification. All soils perform all functions simultaneously, but the variation in the capacity of soils to supply these functions is reviewed in terms of defined land use types (arable, bio-energy, broadleaf forest, coniferous forest, managed grassland, other grassland and Natura 2000) and extended to include the influence of soil drainage characteristics (well, moderately/imperfect, poor and peat). This latter consideration is particularly important in the European Atlantic pedo-climatic zone; the spatial scale of this review. This review develops a conceptual framework on the multi-functional capacity of soils, termed Functional Land Management, to facilitate the effective design and assessment of agri-environmental policies. A final functional soil matrix is presented as an approach to show the consequential changes to the capacity of the five soil functions associated with land use change on soils with contrasting drainage characteristics. Where policy prioritises the enhancement of particular functions, the matrix indicates the potential trade-offs for individual functions or the overall impact on the multi-functional capacity of soil. The conceptual framework is also applied by land use area in a case study, using the Republic of Ireland as an example, to show how the principle of multi-functional land use planning can be readily implemented.     

青藏高原生态资产的价值评估

论文根据一系列1∶1000000自然资源专题图,把青藏高原生态资产划分为森林、草地、农田、湿地、水面、荒漠6个一级类型,应用GIS技术进行了数据处理与统计分析,编制了青藏高原1∶4000000自然资产图。生态资产价值评估以Costanza等人(1997)对全球生态系统服务价值评估的部分成果为参考,同时综合了对我国专业人士进行的生态问卷调查结果,建立了中国陆地生态系统单位面积服务价值表。以此表为基础,通过生物量等因子的校正,对青藏高原不同生态资产的服务价值进行了估算,结果表明,青藏高原生态系统每年的生态服务价值为9363.9×10⁸元/年,占全国生态系统每年服务价值的17.68%,全球的0.61%。在青藏高原生态系统每年提供的生态服务价值中,土壤形成与保护价值最高,占19.3%;其次是废物处理价值,占16.8%;水源涵养价值占16.5%,生物多样性维持的价值占16%。高原不同生态系统类型中,森林生态系统和草地生态系统对青藏高原生态系统总服务价值的贡献最大,贡献率分别为31.3%和48.3%。     

Towards a climate change adaptation strategy for coffee communities and ecosystems in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Mexico

The mountain chain of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in southern Mexico is globally significant for its biodiversity and is one of the most important coffee production areas of Mexico. It provides water for several municipalities and its biosphere reserves are important tourist attractions. Much of the forest cover outside the core protected areas is in fact coffee grown under traditional forest shade. Unless this (agro)forest cover can be sustained, the biodiversity of the Sierra Madre and the environmental services it provides are at risk. We analyzed the threats to livelihoods and environment from climate change through crop suitability modeling based on downscaled climate scenarios for the period 2040 to 2069 (referred to as 2050s) and developed adaptation options through an expert workshop. Significant areas of forest and occasionally coffee are destroyed every year by wildfires, and this problem is bound to increase in a hotter and drier future climate. Widespread landslides and inundations, including on coffee farms, have recently been caused by hurricanes whose intensity is predicted to increase. A hotter climate with more irregular rainfall will be less favorable to the production of quality coffee and lower profitability may compel farmers to abandon shade coffee and expand other land uses of less biodiversity value, probably at the expense of forest. A comprehensive strategy to sustain the biodiversity, ecosystem services and livelihoods of the Sierra Madre in the face of climate change should include the promotion of biodiversity friendly coffee growing and processing practices including complex shade which can offer some hurricane protection and product diversification; payments for forest conservation and restoration from existing government programs complemented by private initiatives; diversification of income sources to mitigate risks associated with unstable environmental conditions and coffee markets; integrated fire management; development of markets that reward sustainable land use practices and forest conservation; crop insurance programs that are accessible to smallholders; and the strengthening of local capacity for adaptive resource management.     

Spatial assessment of ecosystem functions and services for air purification of forests in South Korea

Ecosystem functions can be understood as the quantified amount of an ecosystem’s role in a natural process, while ecosystem services are the requantification of the ecosystem functions by factoring in environmental conditions and human needs based on social perspectives. In this study, differences between ecosystem functions and services were presented in terms of air purification of a forest ecosystem. Forest volume growth was employed to quantify the pollutant absorption capacity of a forest and was indicated by the natural functions (NF) for air purification by a forest ecosystem. Forest ecosystem services can be requantified from the forest functions by adding the air pollutant and population densities. Air pollutant density was applied to the assessment of the environmental services (ES) of forest ecosystems. Furthermore, the environmental social services (ESS) of forest ecosystems were assessed by including population density considerations. We simulated differences in NF, ES, and ESS in relation to pollutant and population density; while NF was spatially quantified without a close relationship to air pollutant and population density, ES and ESS reacted to environmental and social condition more sensitively. These results imply that the ecosystem services of forest resources for air purification are high where the pollutant and population densities are high, while the ecosystem functions of forest resources for air purification depend solely on forest conditions and not on the density changes of air pollutants and population. This study suggests that the differences in NF, ES, and ESS are important factors to be understood and considered in the decision-making process for ecosystem services. When considering human needs and surrounding environmental conditions, the results suggest that decision makers should utilize the ES and ESS concepts, which reflect both population and pollutant density along with additional human-related factors.     

中国自然资源生态服务重要性评价与空间格局分析

自然资源是保障经济社会发展的重要物质基础,同时又发挥了重要的生态服务功能。选取水源涵养、水土保持、防风固沙、生物多样性维护和产品提供五类生态服务,采用NPP定量指标法识别中国自然资源生态服务的重要区域,并进一步分析空间格局特征。结果表明：中国自然资源生态服务极重要和高度重要区约占总面积的1/4,以东北山地、江南地区、西南地区和青藏高原东部等水源涵养能力强、水土保持较好、防风固沙水平高、生物多样性较丰富的地区为主;不同类型自然资源的生态服务重要性差异显著,耕地资源的产品提供服务重要性显著,林地和草地资源的水源涵养、水土保持、防风固沙及生物多样性维护服务重要性均较显著,水域主要提供水源涵养服务;各生态服务重要性在空间上均显著集聚,自然资源综合生态服务的热点区主要分布在大兴安岭、长白山、浙闽山地、武夷山、南岭山地、秦岭山地、滇西南地区和藏东南山地等;自然资源综合生态服务重要性的空间分布与农业自然带/亚带呈现较高的一致性,热带和温带地区的重要性级别较高。研究结果可为区域自然资源管理及生态保护修复提供决策依据。     

Assessing water ecosystem services for water resource management

Ecosystem service concepts can offer a valuable approach for linking human and nature, and arguments for the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. Despite an increasing interest in the topic, the application of these concepts for water resource management has been hampered by the lack of practical definitions and methodologies. In this study we review and analyse the current literature and propose an approach for assessing and valuing ecosystem services in the context of water management. In particular, to study the link between multiple pressures, ecological status and delivery of ecosystem services in aquatic ecosystems under different scenarios of measures or future changes. This is of interest for the development of River Basin Management Plans under the EU Water Framework Directive. We provide a list of proxies/indicators of natural capacity, actual flow and social benefit for the biophysical assessment of the ecosystem services. We advocate the use of indicators of sustainability, combining information on capacity and flow of services. We also suggest methods for economic valuation of aquatic ecosystem for each service and spatial scale of application. We argue that biophysical assessment and economic valuation should be conducted jointly to account for the different values of ecosystem services (ecologic, social and economic) and to strengthen the recognition of human dependency on nature. The proposed approach can be used for assessing the benefits of conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems in the implementation of the EU water policy.     

Evaluating the impact of ecosystem service assessments on decision-makers

Ecosystem services support human livelihoods and economies but are declining in many places. Ecosystem service assessments estimate the benefits that nature provides to people and can be used to evaluate trade-offs in impacts and changes resulting from land use decisions. Such assessments can affect the capacity of decision-makers to make sustainable land use decisions, but the actual impact of such projects on decision-maker attitudes is almost entirely unstudied. We addressed this knowledge gap by evaluating the impact of an ecosystem service assessment on decision-makers in California. We asked how decision-makers’ understanding of and attitudes about ecosystem services changed “pre-” and “post-” assessments and between treatment groups where ecosystem services were assessed and a comparison group where ecosystem services were not assessed. Mixed methods included regression models to estimate the treatment effect of the assessment (using a difference-in-differences approach), as well as interviews and direct observations to further understand how decision-makers responded to the assessment. Regression results showed small increases relative to the comparison group in decision-maker understanding of ecosystem services and perceived relevance of ecosystem services to their work. Interviews confirmed that decision-makers learned specific ways that they could use ecosystem services in conservation and development decisions and believed that doing so would improve outcomes. These results demonstrate how ecosystem services assessments can facilitate a conceptual shift in the minds of decision-makers, which is a necessary ingredient for subsequent policy impact. Impact evaluation studies of this type − that estimate a counterfactual and explore rival explanations for observed outcomes − are needed to truly understand whether ecosystem service projects impact decision-makers and, ultimately, produce outcomes for environmental and human well-being.     

Certainties and uncertainties of land cover statistics in China

Vegetation or land cover maps have been made directly or indirectly available for the entire territory of China. The certainties and uncertainties d land cover statistics were analyzed by comparing three data sources: China‘ s Vegetation Map, IGPB DISCover, and University of Maryland Product. Great similarities in the statistics of 7 aggregated land cover types were found among the three data sources, particularly between the two global land cover maps. The per-pixel agreement between any 2 of 3 maps was between 38.0%--51.4% ; the per-pixel agreement among all three maps was only 27.1%. Certainties were found in regions where vegetation types are typical and human land use practice is relatively homogenous; the uncertainties occurred to either vegetation transition zones or regions where land cover types and land use practice are relatively diversified. Systematic and multidisciplinacy efforts are necessary to promote accurate mapping of nationwide land cover types in China. Intensive efforts should be made in regions where uncertainties of land cover information are found.     

长江上游地区主要森林植被类型蓄水能力的初步研究

论文在收集长江上游各类森林林冠层、枯落物层和土壤层等3个水文生态功能作用层资料的基础上,根据山地气候带和群落生活型将长江上游森林归并为14个植被类型,对其降水截留规律和蓄水能力进行了综合评价。在森林综合蓄水能力中,土壤层和枯落物层持水量占了绝大部分比例,土壤非毛管孔隙度对森林蓄水能力具有决定作用,可以利用凋落物现存量和土壤非毛管孔隙度来评价和估算枯落物和土壤蓄水的综合能力。在长江上游各类森林植被中,常绿阔叶林、常绿落叶阔叶混交林、铁杉、槭、桦林、云杉林、冷杉林和硬叶常绿阔叶林具有较强的持水能力,这些植被在长江上游高山峡谷区山地垂直带中广泛分布,对整个流域水源涵养和水土保持具有重要作用。因此,在长江上游实施天然林保护和退耕还林工程等生态建设具有重要意义。     

青海湖流域典型生态系统分类体系研究

研究结果表明,青海湖流域生态系统可分为9个一级生态系统、16个二级生态系统、23个三级生态系统.青海湖流域草原、冰川积雪、耕地、荒漠生态系统分布相对集中.冰川积雪生态系统主要集中在天峻县高海拔山顶地区;耕地主要分布在青海湖四周地形相对平坦地区和县城周围;荒漠生态系统集中分布在青海湖东北部及耳海附近.城镇、森林生态系统分布相对分散.     

Modeling soil conservation, water conservation and their tradeoffs:A case study in Beijing

Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With the rapid increase in human populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans frequently enhance the production of some services at the expense of the others. Although the need for tradeoffs between conservation and development is urgent, the lack of efficient methods to assess such tradeoffs has impeded progress. Three land use strategy scenarios (development scenario, plan trend scenario and conservation scenario) were created to forecast potential changes in ecosystem services from 2007 to 2050 in Beijing, China. GIS-based techniques were used to map spatial and temporal distribution and changes in ecosystem services for each scenario. The provision of ecosystem services differed spatially, with significant changes being associated with different scenarios. Scenario analysis of water yield (as average annual yield) and soil retention (as retention rate per unit area) for the period 2007 to 2050 indicated that the highest values for these parameters were predicted for the forest habitat under all three scenarios. Annual yield/retention of forest, shrub, and grassland ranked the highest in the conservation scenario. Total water yield and soil retention increased in the conservation scenario and declined dramatically in the other two scenarios, especially the development scenario. The conservation scenario was the optimal land use strategy, resulting in the highest soil retention and water yield. Our study suggests that the evaluation and visualization of ecosystem services can effectively assist in understanding the tradeoffs between conservation and development. Results of this study have implications for planning and monitoring future management of natural capital and ecosystem services, which can be integrated into land use decision-making.     

城市森林生态系统服务功能价值评估初探

城市森林为城市生态系统提供了多方面的服务功能。本文以大连市为例,对城市森林净化环境、涵养水源、固碳释氧、保护土壤等生态服务功能进行评估计算,并分析城市森林系统生态服务功能总价值的构成。     

Estimation of biomass distribution in Peninsular Malaysia and in the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo based on multi-resolution remote sensing land cover analysis

In this study we used high resolution (20 m) land cover maps to derive detailed information on land cover structure within the classes of a regional medium resolution (500 m) land cover map. This enabled improved biomass estimation for the medium resolution land cover classes. Although our results suggested that land cover maps based merely on medium resolution remote sensing data can be used to monitor the extent of forest cover, they also showed that these maps alone are not sufficient to produce reliable regional estimates on above ground biomass in insular Southeast Asia. A quarter of the study area was covered by sub-pixel size (500 m) mosaic of various land cover types containing 14% of biomass. In total, non-forest areas covered over 60% of the study area and included 43% of biomass. In these areas, highly fragmented within class land cover structure was shown to significantly affect biomass estimates. Therefore we conclude that forest/land cover monitoring based merely on medium resolution remote sensing data can no longer be used to sufficiently quantify carbon fluxes connected to land cover changes in insular Southeast Asia, but multi-resolution approaches are needed to perform this task.     

流域水生态功能Ⅲ级区划分技术

流域水生态功能Ⅲ级区划分的目的是反映水生态功能Ⅱ级区内水生态系统功能差异,识别区划单元的主导水生态功能类型,为制订水生态保护目标提供支撑. 其划分方法:①确定划分流域的水生态功能备选类型;②选取典型的功能评价指标;③采用定量和半定量评价、功能等级划分、空间叠加、分区校验等方法,完成流域水生态功能Ⅲ级区划分. 以太子河流域为例,先确定5个水生态功能类型(生物多样性维持功能、生境维持功能、水资源支持功能、营养物循环维持功能和社会承载功能),按照划分方法最终将太子河流域划分为17个水生态功能Ⅲ级区. 水生态功能Ⅲ级区的划分应兼顾水体和陆地生态系统的功能要求,构建流域水生态管理模式的基础.