From land cover change to land function dynamics: a major challenge to improve land characterization

Land cover change has always had a central role in land change science. This central role is largely the result of the possibilities to map and characterize land cover based on observations and remote sensing. This paper argues that more attention should be given to land use and land functions and linkages between these. Consideration of land functions that provide a wide range of goods and services makes more integrated assessments of land change possible. The increasing attention to multifunctional land use is another incentive to develop methods to assess changes in land functions. A number of methods to quantify and map the spatial extent of land use and land functions are discussed and the implications for modeling are identified based on recent model approaches in land change science. The mixed use of land cover, land use and land function in maps and models leads to inconsistencies in land change assessments. Explicit attention to the non-linear relations between land cover, land use and land function is essential to consistently address land change. New methods to map and quantify land function dynamics will enhance our ability to understand and model land system change and adequately inform policies and planning.     

Comprehensive Assessment and Promotion Policy of Producer Services’ Competitiveness in Beijing City:A Comparative Analysis among Beijing,Tianjin,Shanghai,Guangzhou and Shenzhen

The five central cities-Beijing,Tianjin,Shanghai,Guangzhou and Shenzhen-of the three most important strategic regions in China,namely Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region,the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta,are taken as a comparative analysis on urban producer services’ competitiveness,especially focusing on the comparative advantages and disadvantages of producer services in Beijing.Firstly,based on an integrated indicator system including one objective hierarchy,four standard hierarchies and 35 indicator hierarchies,the study applies factor analysis model and analytic hierarchy process model reformed by entropy technology to measure the comprehensive competitiveness of producer services in the above five cities.Secondly,Beijing has comparative advantages of capital resource,industrial base,scientific research resource and market scale,since it takes the first place of the five cities in the comprehensive competitiveness of producer services,the competitiveness of industrial development,business environment and living environment,only inferior to Shanghai in the competitiveness of talent capital.Thirdly,Beijing has comparative disadvantages in the level of producer services development,urban innovation capability and living environment.Finally,five proposals are put forth to enhance the competitiveness of producer services in Beijing,namely perfecting the system of laws and statutes,supporting the development of industry association,implementing scientific development planning,introducing preferential fiscal and taxation policies and strengthening human capital reserve.     

Linking Salmon Aquaculture Synergies and Trade-Offs on Ecosystem Services to Human Wellbeing Constituents

Salmon aquaculture has emerged as a successful economic industry generating high economic revenues to invest in the development of Chiloe region, Southern Chile. However, salmon aquaculture also consumes a substantial amount of ecosystem services, and the direct and indirect impacts on human wellbeing are still unknown and unexplored. This paper identifies the synergies and trade-offs caused by the salmon industry on a range of ecosystem services. The results show that large economic benefits due to the increase of provisioning ecosystem services are also causing a reduction on regulating and cultural services. Despite the improvement on average income and poverty levels experienced in communities closely associated with the sector, this progress is not large enough and social welfare did not improve substantially over the last decade. The rest of human wellbeing constituents in Chiloe region have not changed significantly compared to the development in the rest of the country.     

黄河三角洲湿地主导生态服务功能价值估算

黄河兰角洲湿地是全球暖温带最典型的河口三角洲湿地,具有多种生态服务功能.本文依据每种生态功能的特点和作用机理,分别运用生态经济学、环境经济学或资源经济学的方法对各主导生态服务功能的价值进行了量化估算.结果表明:在黄河三角洲湿地10项主导生态服务功能中,蓄水调洪和降解污染物的功能价值最大;黄河三角洲湿地单位面积价值大约是全国湿地平均单位面积价值的10倍,其中自然湿地的单位面积价值远高于人工湿地的单位面积价值.本研究结果使人们直观地看到了湿地给人类带来的福利,为湿地生态资源的合理定价、有效补偿提供了科学依据.     

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.     

气候和土地利用/覆被变化对宁波地区生态系统产水服务的影响

提供水资源是重要的生态系统服务功能之一,对区域经济和生态系统的可持续发展具有重要作用.近年来,人类活动对水资源的需求量增加,加之水环境污染和水资源浪费现象严重,造成了部分地区的缺水问题.在此背景下,本文以宁波地区为例,研究气候变化和土地利用/覆被变化对生态系统产水服务的影响.首先,利用InVEST模型中的产水量模块,估算了区域的产水量.然后,利用情景分析的方法设计6种情景,分析了气候变化和土地利用/覆被变化对区域产水量的影响.最后,量化了气候和土地利用/覆被变化这2种因素对生态系统产水服务的贡献程度,并讨论了形成机制.研究表明:①2000—2015年,宁波地区的降水量增加了6.44%,潜在蒸散量减少了8.35%.城镇化导致建设用地面积增加了120%,耕地面积减少了22.37%.在气候变化和土地利用/覆被变化的共同作用下,平均产水量增加了10.91%.②气候变化对生态系统产水服务的影响更为显著,而土地利用/覆被变化的影响较小.其中,2000—2015年气候变化对宁波地区产水量的贡献率高达97.56%,而土地利用/覆被变化的贡献率仅为2.44%.③城镇生态系统的产水量高于其他生态系统类型,农田生态系统的产水量高于森林和草地生态系统.因此,城镇化会增加产水量,退耕还林还草会导致产水量的减少.     

基于分布式水文模型的武夷山市水文调节服务评估

武夷山是我国生态文明建设的重点示范区,开展水文调节功能服务价值评估是福建省生态安全保障的重要需求.采用流域分布式时变增益水文模型（DTVGM）,在充分考虑流域气象、水文、土地利用类型等信息的基础上,精细化模拟了武夷山流域的水文过程,定量评估了2010年和2015年有植被覆盖和无植被覆盖两种条件下武夷山市及下属各行政区植被生态系统的径流调节量及其价值量.结果表明:①武夷山市2010年和2015年径流调节量分别为5.73×108和5.21×108 m3,折合人民币分别为35.93×108和37.46×108元.②2010年枯水期日均径流调节量相比丰水期下降了0.013×108 m3;2015年枯水期日均径流调节量相比丰水期下降了0.009×108 m3.③星镇村和洋庄乡径流调节价值量明显多于其他行政区,均超过10.48×108元;崇安街道和新丰街道相对较低,均低于1.59×108元;其他几个行政区基本持平,在3.26×108~6.70×108元之间.研究显示,武夷山市区由于植被丰富,林地覆盖面积较大且密度较高,总体水文调节能力较强,但同时也受区域气候条件影响较大,有植被覆盖条件下在应对非极端气候时可以维持较好的径流调节能力,然而在极端特大暴雨事件中,现有植被种类的截留能力还不足以应对短时强降水过程.      

The Interactive Effects of Fire and Diversity on Short-Term Responses of Ecosystem Processes in Experimental Mediterranean Grasslands

We conducted a field experiment using constructed communities to test whether species richness contributed to the maintenance of ecosystem processes under fire disturbance. We studied the effects of diversity components (i.e., species richness and species composition) upon productivity, structural traits of vegetation, decomposition rates, and soil nutrients between burnt and unburnt experimental Mediterranean grassland communities. Our results demonstrated that fire and species richness had interactive effects on aboveground biomass production and canopy structure components. Fire increased biomass production of the highest-richness communities. The effects of fire on aboveground biomass production at different levels of species richness were derived from changes in both vertical and horizontal canopy structure of the communities. The most species-rich communities appeared to be more resistant to fire in relation to species-poor ones, due to both compositional and richness effects. Interactive effects of fire and species richness were not important for belowground processes. Decomposition rates increased with species richness, related in part to increased levels of canopy structure traits. Fire increased soil nutrients and long-term decomposition rate. Our results provide evidence that composition within richness levels had often larger effects on the stability of aboveground ecosystem processes in the face of fire disturbance than species richness per se.     

大江大河从“公共资源”到“公地悲剧”演变的内在机理分析

江河提供了非常丰富的“非排它性”资源服务，因此容易陷入“公地悲剧”。历史上对长江、黄河等江河所提供的多维度要素资源价值理论认识上的滞后及误区，是引发此类江河向“公地悲剧”演变的基础性原因。现行的江河管理体制不能有效地协调中央与地方、地方与地方、部门与部门之间的资源行为及利益关系，从而诱发了地方等主体对江河资源的不相容使用和过度进入，而成为加速推进这一演变进程的制度性根源。在这一体制下，地方在与中央的博弈中，谋求当期地方收益的最大化；地方之间的财政逆向转移与升职竞争博弈，加剧了地方的行为扭曲；部门之间的边界模糊与势力竞争博弈，诱发了部门的行为扭曲。只有创立新的江河管理体制，才能规范地方等主体的行为，避免江河的“公地悲剧”命运。     

东北农牧交错带典型区土地利用变化及其生态效应

东北农牧交错带是典型的生态环境脆弱区，具有敏感性强、退化趋势明显等生态脆弱性特征。本文利用1986、2002年两期TM/ETM影像，揭示了吉林西部16年来土地利用／覆被的时空变化规律，并依据Costanza R．等人对全球生态系统服务价值的评估方法。分析了土地利用变化对区域生态系统服务价值的影响。结果表明：16年来，吉林西部土地利用／覆被发生了剧烈变化。耕地、盐碱地面积大幅度增加，草地、水域和湿地的面积大幅度减少，区域生态系统服务功能出现明显的衰退。生态系统服务价值显著地减少。吉林西部生态系统服务价值由1986年的767．1亿元／a下降到2002年的624．1亿元／a，减少幅度达18．6％，年均递减速率达1．6％。16年来该区域生态环境恶化和以经济利益为目的的土地利用结构调整，给区域生态系统服务功能和可持续发展能力带来巨大负面影响。