Ecosystem management based on ecosystem services and human activities: a case study in the Yanhe watershed

With activities that alter the structure and function of the habitat, humans have a direct impact on ecosystems and ecosystem services, i.e., the conditions and processes that sustain human life. In this study, 35 townships in the Yanhe watershed in the Loess Plateau of China were selected. The net primary production (NPP), carbon sequestration and oxygen production (CSOP), water conservation, and soil conservation were the ecosystem services selected and valuated. Human activity was quantified by an integrated human activity index (HAI) based on population density, farmland ratio, and the influence of road networks and residential areas. The NPP, CSOP, and water conservation showed a conspicuous spatial pattern fanning outward from the southwest, while the soil conservation showed an obscure spatial pattern distinguished primarily by the peripheral area surrounding the urbanized areas. Total ecosystem services in the Yanhe watershed demonstrated a decreasing pattern from south to north, and the HAI was in proportion to administrative and economic development. Based on the selected ecosystem services and HAI, we mapped the townships of the Yanhe watershed by cluster analysis, and provided sustainable ecosystem management suggestions, tailored to the social-ecological map.

[1]  H. Mooney,et al.  Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems , 1997, Renewable Energy.

[2]  Hongjian Zhou,et al.  Detecting the impact of the "Grain for Green" program on the mean annual vegetation cover in the Shaanxi province, China using SPOT-VGT NDVI data , 2009 .

[3]  G. Xie,et al.  Ecosystem services research in China: Progress and perspective , 2010 .

[4]  Min Feng,et al.  The need for simultaneous evaluation of ecosystem services and land use change. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[5]  M. Isabirye,et al.  Prediction of soil erosion in a Lake Victoria basin catchment using a GIS-based Universal Soil Loss model , 2003 .

[6]  Anne Jerneck,et al.  Structuring sustainability science , 2011 .

[7]  H. Elhatip,et al.  Influences of human activities and agriculture on groundwater quality of Kayseri-Incesu-Dokuzpınar springs, central Anatolian part of Turkey , 2003 .

[8]  D. Elder,et al.  Ecosystem management : lessons from around the world. A guide for development and conservation practitioners , 2000 .

[9]  T. Saaty.  How to Make a Decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process , 1990 .

[10]  Gan Zhi-guo,et al.  Check-Dam System in Gullies The Most Effective Measure to Conserve Soil and Water in Chinese Loess Plateau * , 2002 .

[11]  Sun Hu,et al.  The impacts of urbanization on soil erosion in the Loess Plateau region , 2001 .

[12]  Henry A. Nix,et al.  Spatial analysis of anthropogenic river disturbance at regional and continental scales: identifying the wild rivers of Australia , 2002 .

[13]  Michael Yuan,et al.  A Place-Based, Values-Centered Approach to Managing Recreation on Canadian Crown Lands , 2008 .

[14]  Z. Ouyang,et al.  The impact of human disturbance on vegetative carbon storage in forest ecosystems in China , 2001 .

[15]  Elinor Ostrom,et al.  Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems , 2007, Science.

[16]  A. Jacquin,et al.  A hybrid object-based classification approach for mapping urban sprawl in periurban environment , 2008 .

[17]  W. A. White,et al.  ACCOUNTING FOR NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE FOOTHILLS MODEL FOREST , 2004 .

[18]  Hubert Gulinck,et al.  Assessment of soil erosion at large watershed scale using RUSLE and GIS: a case study in the Loess Plateau of China , 2005 .

[19]  D. Richardson,et al.  Mapping ecosystem services for planning and management , 2008 .

[20]  H. Haberl,et al.  Quantifying and mapping the human appropriation of net primary production in earth's terrestrial ecosystems , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[21]  Bojie Fu,et al.  Soil erosion and its control in the loess plateau of China , 1989 .

[22]  W. H. Wischmeier,et al.  Predicting rainfall erosion losses : a guide to conservation planning , 1978 .

[23]  V. Savage.  Ecology matters: sustainable development in Southeast Asia , 2006 .

[24]  A. McMichael,et al.  Ecosystems and Human well-being , 2003 .

[25]  Daren M. Carlisle,et al.  Quantifying human disturbance in watersheds: Variable selection and performance of a GIS-based disturbance index for predicting the biological condition of perennial streams , 2010 .

[26]  B. Fu,et al.  Modeling soil erosion and its response to land-use change in hilly catchments of the Chinese Loess Plateau. , 2010 .

[27]  Guo-Hua Liu,et al.  Double counting in ecosystem services valuation: causes and countermeasures , 2010, Ecological Research.

[28]  J. Schipperijn,et al.  Tools for mapping social values of urban woodlands and other green areas , 2007 .

[29]  A. Goh.  Opportunity cost, trade policies and the efficiency of firms , 2000 .

[30]  G. Cumming,et al.  Scale mismatches in social-ecological systems: Causes, consequences, and solutions , 2006 .

[31]  Zheng Yuan,et al.  A FOREST VEGETATION NPP MODEL BASED ON NDVI , 2000 .

[32]  P. Beauchesne,et al.  Ecological mapping: A framework for delimiting forest management units , 1996, Environmental Monitoring & Assessment.

[33]  Sue V. Briggs,et al.  Nature grows in straight lines—or does she? What are the consequences of the mismatch between human-imposed linear boundaries and ecosystem boundaries? An Australian example , 2002 .

[34]  G. Daily.  Nature's services: societal dependence on natural ecosystems. , 1998 .

[35]  T. Söderqvist,et al.  Ecological-economic analysis of wetlands; scientific integration for management and policy , 2000 .

[36]  Hubert Gulinck,et al.  Land evaluation in an area of severe erosion: The loess plateau of china , 1994 .

[37]  Garry D. Peterson,et al.  Trade-offs across Space, Time, and Ecosystem Services , 2006 .

[38]  R. Costanza,et al.  Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[39]  M. Lebouvier,et al.  Human activities, ecosystem disturbance and plant invasions in subantarctic Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam Islands , 2001 .

[40]  H. Pincus,et al.  Great Lakes Basin , 1963, Soil Science Society of America Journal.

[41]  T. Saaty,et al.  The Analytic Hierarchy Process , 1985 .

[42]  C. Tucker.  Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation , 1979 .

[43]  R. Paine,et al.  Ecological Determinism in the Competition for Space: The Robert H. MacArthur Award Lecture , 1984 .

[44]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Ecosystem stewardship: sustainability strategies for a rapidly changing planet. , 2010, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[45]  Haiyan Zhang,et al.  Comparative analysis of socio-economic and environmental performances for Chinese EIPs: case studies in Baotou, Suzhou, and Shanghai , 2009 .

[46]  Anantha Kumar Duraiappah,et al.  Tradeoffs, synergies and traps among ecosystem services in the Lake Victoria basin of East Africa , 2009 .

[47]  Jing Li,et al.  Ecosystem services and their values: a case study in the Qinba mountains of China , 2006, Ecological Research.

[48]  Antonio Federico,et al.  A system oriented integrated indicator for sustainable development in Italy , 2002 .

[49]  R. O'Neill,et al.  Complex systems and valuation , 2002 .

[50]  I. D. Cresswell,et al.  An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia: a framework for setting priorities in the national reserves system cooperative , 1995 .

[51]  L. Alessa,et al.  Social–ecological hotspots mapping : A spatial approach for identifying coupled social–ecological space , 2008 .

[52]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Global Consequences of Land Use , 2005, Science.

[53]  R. Mendelsohn,et al.  Assessing the Economic Value of Traditional Medicines from Tropical Rain Forests , 1992 .

[54]  R. O'Neill,et al.  The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital , 1997, Nature.

[55]  Gerald J Niemi,et al.  Integrated Measures of Anthropogenic Stress in the U.S. Great Lakes Basin , 2007, Environmental management.

[56]  Vanessa M. Adams,et al.  Opportunity costs: Who really pays for conservation? , 2010 .

[57]  R. Mendelsohn,et al.  Valuation of an Amazonian rainforest , 1989, Nature.

[58]  F. Zheng.  Effect of Vegetation Changes on Soil Erosion on the Loess Plateau , 2006 .

[59]  William H Benson,et al.  Accounting for natural resources and environmental sustainability: linking ecosystem services to human well-being. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[60]  T. L. Saaty.  A Scaling Method for Priorities in Hierarchical Structures , 1977 .

[61]  B. Bryan,et al.  Mapping community values for natural capital and ecosystem services , 2009 .

[62]  K. Wallace.  Classification of ecosystem services: Problems and solutions , 2007 .

[63]  Wang Zhao,et al.  QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN ACTIVITY INTENSITY IN THE HEIHE CATCHMENT , 2004 .

[64]  Coen J. Ritsema,et al.  Land-use induced spatial heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties on the Loess Plateau in China , 2003 .

[65]  F. White.  The vegetation of Africa : a descriptive memoir to accompany the Unesco/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa , 1985 .

[66]  R. O'Neill,et al.  The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital , 1997, Nature.

[67]  Andrew Kliskey,et al.  A comparative analysis of approaches to wilderness perception mapping , 1994 .

[68]  J. Mcneely.  Biodiversity in arid regions: values and perceptions☆ , 2003 .

[69]  C. S. Holling.  Understanding the Complexity of Economic, Ecological, and Social Systems , 2001, Ecosystems.

[70]  P. Bukaveckas,et al.  Surface water nutrient concentrations and litter decomposition rates in wetlands impacted by agriculture and mining activities , 2002 .

[71]  D. Gabriels,et al.  Effects of conservation tillage practices on winter wheat water-use efficiency and crop yield on the Loess Plateau, China , 2007 .