Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land‐use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation?

Conversion of tropical forests is among the primary causes of global environmental change. The loss of their important environmental services has prompted calls to integrate ecosystem services (ES) in addition to socio‐economic objectives in decision‐making. To test the effect of accounting for both ES and socio‐economic objectives in land‐use decisions, we develop a new dynamic approach to model deforestation scenarios for tropical mountain forests. We integrate multi‐objective optimization of land allocation with an innovative approach to consider uncertainty spaces for each objective. These uncertainty spaces account for potential variability among decision‐makers, who may have different expectations about the future. When optimizing only socio‐economic objectives, the model continues the past trend in deforestation (1975–2015) in the projected land‐use allocation (2015–2070). Based on indicators for biomass production, carbon storage, climate and water regulation, and soil quality, we show that considering multiple ES in addition to the socio‐economic objectives has heterogeneous effects on land‐use allocation. It saves some natural forest if the natural forest share is below 38%, and can stop deforestation once the natural forest share drops below 10%. For landscapes with high shares of forest (38%–80% in our study), accounting for multiple ES under high uncertainty of their indicators may, however, accelerate deforestation. For such multifunctional landscapes, two main effects prevail: (a) accelerated expansion of diversified non‐natural areas to elevate the levels of the indicators and (b) increased landscape diversification to maintain multiple ES, reducing the proportion of natural forest. Only when accounting for vascular plant species richness as an explicit objective in the optimization, deforestation was consistently reduced. Aiming for multifunctional landscapes may therefore conflict with the aim of reducing deforestation, which we can quantify here for the first time. Our findings are relevant for identifying types of landscapes where this conflict may arise and to better align respective policies.     

Exclusion of agricultural lands in spatial conservation prioritization strategies: consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem service representation

Agroecosystems have traditionally been considered incompatible with biological conservation goals, and often been excluded from spatial conservation prioritization strategies. The consequences for the representativeness of identified priority areas have been little explored. Here, we evaluate these for biodiversity and carbon storage representation when agricultural land areas are excluded from a spatial prioritization strategy for South America. Comparing different prioritization approaches, we also assess how the spatial overlap of priority areas changes. The exclusion of agricultural lands was detrimental to biodiversity representation, indicating that priority areas for agricultural production overlap with areas of relatively high occurrence of species. By contrast, exclusion of agricultural lands benefits representation of carbon storage within priority areas, as lands of high value for agriculture and carbon storage overlap little. When agricultural lands were included and equally weighted with biodiversity and carbon storage, a balanced representation resulted. Our findings suggest that with appropriate management, South American agroecosystems can significantly contribute to biodiversity conservation.     

To what extent can ecosystem services motivate protecting biodiversity?

Society increasingly focuses on managing nature for the services it provides people rather than for the existence of particular species. How much biodiversity protection would result from this modified focus? Although biodiversity contributes to ecosystem services, the details of which species are critical, and whether they will go functionally extinct in the future, are fraught with uncertainty. Explicitly considering this uncertainty, we develop an analytical framework to determine how much biodiversity protection would arise solely from optimising net value from an ecosystem service. Using stochastic dynamic programming, we find that protecting a threshold number of species is optimal, and uncertainty surrounding how biodiversity produces services makes it optimal to protect more species than are presumed critical. We define conditions under which the economically optimal protection strategy is to protect all species, no species, and cases in between. We show how the optimal number of species to protect depends upon different relationships between species and services, including considering multiple services. Our analysis provides simple criteria to evaluate when managing for particular ecosystem services could warrant protecting all species, given uncertainty. Evaluating this criterion with empirical estimates from different ecosystems suggests that optimising some services will be more likely to protect most species than others.     

植被保护和恢复优先区识别及成效评估

生物多样性丧失和生态系统退化趋势仍未得到根本扭转,识别高效的保护和恢复优先区是实现\"30×30\"目标的有效途径。以云南省为例,首先依据2000年和2020年土地覆被数据,将规划单元划分为无需、潜在以及不可恢复3类,以植被群系-亚群系(后统称为群系)为保护对象,通过Marxan模型判识植被保护和恢复优先区(VCR-PA)。再结合碳固定、水源涵养、土壤保持服务构建多情景的植被及其生态系统服务的保护和恢复优先区(VECR-PA)并评估成效,最终评估最优情景对群系和自然保护区的保护与恢复优先性。结果表明:(1)云南省无需、潜在以及不可恢复单元面积占比分别为65.80%、24.55%和9.65%;VCR-PA聚集分布在植被保护价值较高的迪庆、普洱以及西双版纳等地区;(2) VCR-PA对群系数量和面积的覆盖率分别为95.80%和62.34%,生态系统服务水平为1.15;单一情景VECR-PA成效及成本较VCR-PA呈上升趋势,对群系数量及面积的覆盖率提升至96%和65%以上、生态系统服务水平增至1.26-1.30;(3)综合情景VIECR-PA总体成效最高,群系面积覆盖率与生态系统服务水平分别提升至66.27%、1.34,成本最低,均优于单一情景;(4)综合情景下需优先保护绢毛蔷薇-匍匐栒子灌丛等7类小面积群系和麻栗坡-马关老君山等11个保护区;优先恢复扭黄茅草丛等6类小面积群系及纳帕海等3个保护区。研究构建的植被及其生态系统服务的保护和恢复优先区评估框架,为区域保护和恢复优先区的识别与保护地体系优化提供技术支撑及科学参考。     

The NSW Environmental Services Scheme: Results for the biodiversity benefits index, lessons learned, and the way forward

Summary   In 2002 the Environmental Services Scheme (ESS) was launched in New South Wales, Australia. Its aim was to pilot a process to provide financial incentives to landholders to undertake changes in land use or land management that improved the status of environmental services (e.g. provision of clean water, healthy soils, biodiversity conservation). To guide the direction of incentive funds, metrics were developed for use by departmental staff to score the benefits of land use or land management changes to a range of environmental services. The purpose of this paper is to (i) report on the development of one of these metrics – the biodiversity benefits index; (ii) present the data generated by field application of the metric to 20 properties contracted to the ESS; and (iii) discuss the lessons learned and recent developments of the metric that aim to make it accessible to a wider range of end-users and applications.     

森林结构对鸟类物种多样性的影响研究进展

森林生态系统作为最重要的鸟类栖息地,其内部结构不仅是决定鸟类多样性组成和分布的关键因素,还在维持和提升森林生态系统功能方面发挥着重要作用。随着近年来全球范围内不同程度的森林退化和恢复、毁林和造林事件的持续发生,森林结构发生了显著而复杂的变化。鸟类多样性如何响应森林结构及其变化成为森林生态学和生物多样性保护领域研究的热点问题。梳理了常见森林水平和垂直结构特征,并对其含义和影响进行了总结。进而对不同尺度上森林结构影响鸟类多样性的现象、规律和内在机制进行了归纳。总体而言,森林结构能够通过改变食物资源、栖息地、微气候条件、种间关系等对鸟类多样性产生直接和间接影响,鸟类的生活史和生态特征在对森林结构的响应中起到了决定性作用。在不同的尺度上森林结构的影响机制也有所不同,并存在一定的不确定性。展望了新兴观测手段在推动森林结构与鸟类多样性关系研究方面的作用,并强调了开展多尺度比较研究的重要性。倡导生态学家、保护生物学家和政策制定者之间的跨学科合作以解决复杂的保护挑战,为森林管理和生物多样性保护提供科学参考。     

What conservationists need to know about farming

Farming is the basis of our civilization yet is more damaging to wild nature than any other sector of human activity. Here, we propose that in order to limit its impact into the future, conservation researchers and practitioners need to address several big topics--about the scale of future demand, about which crops and livestock to study, about whether low-yield or high-yield farming has the potential to be least harmful to nature, about the environmental performance of new and existing farming methods, and about the measures needed to enable promising approaches and techniques to deliver on their potential. Tackling these issues requires conservationists to explore the many consequences that decisions about agriculture have beyond the farm, to think broadly and imaginatively about the scale and scope of what is required to halt biodiversity loss, and to be brave enough to test and when necessary support counterintuitive measures.     

Biocontrol potential varies with changes in biofuel–crop plant communities and landscape perenniality

We examined the potential local‐ and landscape‐level impacts of different biofuel production systems on biocontrol, an important service provided by arthropod natural enemies. Specifically, we sampled natural enemies with sweep nets and measured predation of sentinel pest eggs in stands of corn, switchgrass and mixed prairie in Michigan and Wisconsin (total n=40 for natural enemy sampling, n=60 for egg predation), relating them to crop type, forb cover and diversity, and the composition and heterogeneity of the surrounding landscape. Grasslands with intermediate levels of forb cover and flower diversity supported two‐orders of magnitude more natural enemy biomass, fourfold more natural enemy families, and threefold greater rates of egg predation than corn. Data suggest this was in part due to a general increase in biomass, richness and predation in perennial grasslands compared with corn, combined with a positive effect of intermediate levels of forb cover and flower diversity. Specifically, natural enemy biomass and family richness showed hump‐shaped relationships to forb cover that peaked in sites with 5–25% forbs, while egg predation increased with floral diversity. At the landscape scale, both natural‐enemy biomass and egg predation increased with the area of forest in the landscape, and egg predation almost doubled as the area of herbaceous, perennial habitats within 1.5 km of study sites increased. Our results suggest that floristically diverse, perennial grasslands support diverse and abundant predator communities that contribute to natural pest suppression. In addition, large‐scale production of biofuel crops could positively or negatively affect biocontrol services in agricultural landscapes through associated changes in the area of perennial habitats. Biofuel landscapes that incorporate perennial grasslands could support a variety of beneficial organisms and ecosystem services in addition to producing biomass.     

北京市景观格局演变及其对多种生态系统服务的影响

景观格局是人与自然共同作用的结果,深刻影响着区域的生态系统服务及可持续发展。以高度城市化地区——北京市为案例,选取了粮食生产、水质净化、空气净化、气体调节、生境质量以及休闲娱乐6项重要生态系统服务,采用InVEST(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs)、ROS(Recreation Opportunity Spectrum)等模型定量评估了1980—2018年生态系统服务时空分布。通过对北京市景观组成与景观配置指数进行定量分析,进一步探索了景观格局演变对生态系统服务的影响。结果表明：(1)北京市1980—2018年建设用地扩张了120%,建设用地扩张是耕地面积减少的主要原因。景观格局总体上趋于破碎化,斑块形状复杂化,斑块异质性增加;(2)时间上,北京市1980—2018年粮食生产、水质净化、气体调节、生境质量、休闲娱乐5项生态系统服务均呈现下降趋势;空间上,粮食生产呈现东南部较高,西北部较低的分布特征,其余生态系统服务均呈现西北部较高,东南部较低,市中心最低的分布特征;(3)景观水平上,林地、建设用地等景观组...     

Current approaches to native woodland restoration in Scotland

Summary

A large number of projects have recently been initiated in Scotland aiming to restore native woodland, which are being undertaken by a variety of organisations, often in partnership, with environmental NGOs playing a leading role. The objectives, constraints and methodologies of these projects are critically reviewed, partly through a questionnaire survey. Most aim to restore ‘natural’ woodland, but the lack of appropriate reference ecosystems and uncertainty about the characteristics of the original forest hinder the development of precise objectives, and consequently the criteria for success are poorly defined. Most projects face major practical constraints, particularly browsing by herbivores and invasion by exotic species, indicating that they will require long-term management interventions. Most woodlands are isolated from other woodlands, which threatens their long-term viability, restricting colonisation by woodland organisms. Greater reference to ecological theory in practical restoration projects such as these would enable objectives to be defined with more precision, encourage a greater emphasis on ecological processes rather than community composition, and improve management plans through use of predictive tools. In particular, the integration of woodlands into habitat networks, increasing ecological connectivity between woodland fragments, is considered essential to ensure success in the long term.     

IPBES土地退化和恢复专题评估报告及其潜在影响

随着国际社会对生物多样性保护和人类福祉关注度的提升, 土地退化作为全球面临的重要问题逐渐成为国际公约和进程关注的热点问题。生物多样性和生态系统服务政府间科学政策平台(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, IPBES)将“土地退化和恢复”列入2014-2018年工作方案, 开展评估。2018年3月, 该评估报告在IPBES第六次全体会议上获得通过。本文概述了评估报告的主要内容和结论, 探讨了对其他国际进程的可能影响。评估报告在IPBES概念框架的基础上, 厘清了土地退化的概念与内涵, 全面梳理了土地退化对人类生活质量的影响, 阐明了土地退化的现状和进程, 分析了直接和间接驱动因素与土地退化的作用, 揭示了土地退化与人类福祉的关系, 提出了土地退化和恢复的对策建议。该项评估将为各国决策者制定政策工具提供最有效的技术支撑, 为相关国际进程谈判提供重要的科学参考。中国作为生物多样性大国, 应重视IPBES的评估机制并积极参与, 加强促进生物多样性和生态系统服务领域的科学成果转化, 适时针对国内关键问题启动相关评估, 促进我国生态文明建设和山水林田湖草系统治理, 实现美丽中国的建设目标。     

不同生态恢复方式下生态系统服务与生物多样性恢复效果的整合分析

全球范围内关键生态系统服务的减少使人类社会面临巨大的威胁,生物多样性是生态系统提供各种产品和服务的基础。生态恢复工程对退化的生态系统服务和生物多样性进行修复,对于缓解人类环境压力具有非常重要的意义。长期的理论和实践工作形成了多种生态恢复措施:(1)单纯基于生态系统自我设计的自然恢复方式,(2)人为设计对环境条件进行干预,反馈影响生态系统的自我设计,(3)人为设计对目标种群和生态系统进行直接干预和重建。这3类恢复方式可以在不同程度上定向的影响生态系统的恢复进程,反映了人类对生态系统的低度、中度和高度介入。哪种恢复方式和介入程度能够实现更好的恢复效果,是生态恢复学中的一个关键问题,但到目前为止,虽广有争议,却无定量的分析和结论。针对这个空白,通过对ISI Web of Knowledge数据库中生态恢复相关文献的整合分析,基于数学统计的方法定量比较在不同条件下低度介入(自然恢复)、中度介入(环境干预)和高度介入(直接干预)3种恢复方式对生态系统服务与生物多样性的恢复效果。论文从4个方面展开研究:(1)低度、中度、高度介入生态恢复方式的划分,(2)比较3大类介入方式对生态系统服务和生物多样性恢复效果的差异,(3)不同气候条件、生态系统类型和恢复时间等背景因素的影响,(4)生物多样性恢复和生态系统服务恢复之间的关系。研究结果揭示了不同生态恢复方式的适用条件,以及对生物多样性和生态系统恢复相互关系的作用,对生态恢复实践中恢复方式的选择有指导作用。对未来的研究也有启示意义,如针对特定生态系统服务或具体研究问题进一步探索低度、中度和高度介入生态恢复方式的作用规律和机制;将地区的社会经济水平、生态系统的受损程度等因素纳入生态恢复方式的考察,以最优化生态恢复成本-效率等。