A policy-driven large scale ecological restoration: quantifying ecosystem services changes in the Loess Plateau of China

As one of the key tools for regulating human-ecosystem relations, environmental conservation policies can promote ecological rehabilitation across a variety of spatiotemporal scales. However, quantifying the ecological effects of such policies at the regional level is difficult. A case study was conducted at the regional level in the ecologically vulnerable region of the Loess Plateau, China, through the use of several methods including the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), hydrological modeling and multivariate analysis. An assessment of the changes over the period of 2000-2008 in four key ecosystem services was undertaken to determine the effects of the Chinese government's ecological rehabilitation initiatives implemented in 1999. These ecosystem services included water regulation, soil conservation, carbon sequestration and grain production. Significant conversions of farmland to woodland and grassland were found to have resulted in enhanced soil conservation and carbon sequestration, but decreased regional water yield under a warming and drying climate trend. The total grain production increased in spite of a significant decline in farmland acreage. These trends have been attributed to the strong socioeconomic incentives embedded in the ecological rehabilitation policy. Although some positive policy results have been achieved over the last decade, large uncertainty remains regarding long-term policy effects on the sustainability of ecological rehabilitation performance and ecosystem service enhancement. To reduce such uncertainty, this study calls for an adaptive management approach to regional ecological rehabilitation policy to be adopted, with a focus on the dynamic interactions between people and their environments in a changing world.     

生态系统服务功能的空间尺度特征

生态系统服务功能的形成依赖于一定的空间和时间尺度上的生态系统结构与过程,只有在特定的时空尺度上才能表现其显著的主导作用和效果。不同尺度的生态系统服务功能对不同行政尺度上的利益相关方具有不同的重要性。一般而言,生态系统产品提供功能往往与当地居民的利益更密切;调节功能和支持功能通常与区域、全国,甚至全球尺度的人类利益相关;文化功能则与本地-全球尺度上的利益相关方关系密切。由于不同尺度的生态系统服务功能有时互相冲突,从而可能导致不同的生态系统管理策略。本文探讨了生态系统服务功能在不同空间尺度上的表现特征和生态系统服务功能的空间规律,论述了不同空间尺度上生态系统服务功能与不同行政尺度上利益相关方的关系,以期为生态系统服务功能的评价、生态补偿机制的建立与生态系统管理提供科学依据。     

Bayesian belief networks to analyse trade-offs among ecosystem services at the regional scale

Knowledge on trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services is crucial for the design of land use strategies that optimize ecosystem service delivery. Correlation coefficients, obtained through pairwise comparison of ecosystem service provision maps, have been put forward as suitable indicators to quantify these interactions. However, for more in depth analyses of trade-offs and synergies where driving forces of interactions need to be determined, more sophisticated methods are needed. Although Bayesian belief networks have been frequently mentioned as promising tools to investigate interactions among ecosystem services, up till now, no structured approaches to do so have been suggested. This paper presents a way to analyse trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services together with their driving forces. Joint probability distributions of ecosystem service pairs, which can be calculated by using Bayesian belief network models, are used to quantify interactions. The paper demonstrates the approach by quantifying trade-offs and synergies among several ecosystem services in Flanders, Belgium. Our analysis identifies two bundles of ecosystem services which react synergistically. Wood production and several regulating services on the one hand and food production and soil formation on the other hand. Trade-offs are identified among food production and most of the other services that were included into the analysis. In addition to these general findings, the analysis shows that the identified interactions may change depending on the considered environmental conditions, specified through soil type, land cover and land use.     

基于生态敏感性和生态系统服务价值的昌黎县生态廊道构建

生态廊道的作用在于提供生物迁徙的路径、促进不同栖息地之间的物种交流.廊道的构建能够减轻因城市化速度加快导致景观破碎化带来的危害,对生物多样性的保护具有十分重要的意义.本文以昌黎县为研究区,以2015年土地利用现状为基础,采用生态敏感性评价和生态系统服务价值分析的综合结果确定生态源地,然后基于最小累积阻力模型(MCR)和最小成本路径方法生成潜在廊道,根据重力模型对关键廊道进行识别,最终得到研究区包括4条重要廊道和2条一般廊道在内的生态廊道体系,旨在促进昌黎县生态廊道建设工程的科学实施和保护生物多样性.结果表明:研究区生态敏感性总体一般,生态系统服务价值总体较差,两者均呈现出四周高于中间的特点.生态源地主要分布在北部碣石山风景区、东部滨海国有林场和西部水源保护地这3个区域,与研究区生态环境建设与保护规划(2011-2030年)确定的自然保护区高度吻合.研究区生态廊道总长112.66 km,其中,重要廊道47.61 km,一般廊道65.05 km,廊道的最佳宽度范围为30～60 m,生态廊道与生态源地大致构成了一个环形闭合区域,能够有效促进生物物种的迁徙和物质能量的交流.     

基于生态系统服务的生态安全研究进展

生态安全是全球环境变化背景下人类可持续发展面临的重要问题之一。生态系统服务作为自然环境中人类赖以生存的环境条件与效用,成为人们感知和评价生态系统结构或功能变化的重要指标,同时为研究自然生态与社会-经济两大系统之间的交互作用提供了连接路径。目前,国内外对基于生态系统服务的生态安全研究尚处于起步阶段。在大量查阅国内外相关文献的基础上,总结了生态安全的理论内涵及方法体系,并从基于生态系统服务内在关系和基于生态系统服务拓展的生态安全研究,以及将生态系统服务与生态安全结合应用的综合研究等3个方面系统性梳理了目前国内外基于生态系统服务的生态安全研究进展。结果表明,发展初期的生态安全研究主要基于各种生态系统服务之间的供需关系、权衡/协同关系和服务重要性等内在关系,二者的结合效果能通过耦合生态系统服与生态系统状态指标和相关模型得到改善,近年来将生态系统服务与生态安全结合应用的综合研究在区域规划管理等领域已呈现良好的发展趋势。在此基础上,本文指出了目前研究过程中所存在的一些不足与未来发展的方向,为进一步深入开展生态系统服务与生态安全的耦合研究提供理论依据。     

Applications of ecological stoichiometry for sustainable acquisition of ecosystem services

Human activities have differentially altered biogeochemical cycling at local, regional and global scales. We propose that a stoichiometric approach, examining the fluxes of multiple elements and the ratio between them, may be a useful tool for better understanding human effects on ecosystem processes and services. The different scale of impacts of the elements carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus and the different nature of their biogeochemical cycles, imply a large variation of their stoichiometric ratios in space and time and thus divergent impacts on biota.
In this paper, we examine the effects of anthropogenic perturbations on nutrient ratios in ecosystems in two examples and one case study. Altered stoichiometry in agricultural systems (example 1) can affect not only crop yield and quality but also the interactions between plants and their pollinators, pests and pathogens. Human activities have also altered stoichiometry in coastal ecosystems (example 2). Increased N loading has especially lead to increased N:P and reduced Si:N ratios, with detrimental effects on ecosystem services derived from coastal pelagic food webs, such as fish yield and water quality. The terrestrial–aquatic linkage in stoichiometric alterations is illustrated with a case study, the Mississippi River watershed, where anthropogenic activities have caused stoichiometric changes that have propagated through the watershed into the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Coupled with altered stoichiometric nutrient inputs are the inherent differences in variation and sensitivity of different ecosystems to anthropogenic disturbance. Furthermore, the connections among the components of a watershed may result in downstream cascades of disrupted functioning. Applying a multiple element perspective to understanding and addressing societal needs is a new direction for both ecological stoichiometry and sustainability.     

我国区域尺度生态系统管理中的几个重要生态学命题

生态系统管理学是研究生态系统管理的理论与实践技术,相关政策和管理策略的综合性应用生态学。当前,综合研究全球或区域尺度生态系统管理模式及其相关的重大科学问题不公是人类社会可持续发展的迫切需要,也是生态系统管理学的重要发展方向和科学任务,为此,本文系统地论述了生态服务功能、可持续性、复杂性和不确定性的综合评价与生态学机制,自然资源保护、生态系统健康以及退化生态系统恢复的生态学基础,生态系统管理的基础生态学过程,生态系统适应性管理的理论与实践,生态系统网络研究,监测和成果集成,区域尺度生态系统管理的综合性专题研究等一系列重要生态学命题,讨论了这些生态学命题的国内外研究进展及其发展方向。     

生态基础设施的定义、内涵及其服务能力研究进展

生态基础设施是保持、改善和增加生态系统服务必备的一系列条件和组合,其类型包括城市绿地、湿地、农田、生物滞留池、绿色屋顶等自然和半自然系统,是城市可持续发展的重要保障和支撑。生态基础设施的功能是保障城市生态功能正常运行,并且其居民持续地获得生态服务。对生态基础设施的定义和内涵进行了辨析,分别从区域与城市/社区尺度对生态基础设施提供的调节服务、支持服务、文化服务和供应服务4个方面的生态系统服务进行了梳理,并针对生态基础设施的径流滞蓄、水质净化和气候调节能力与提升技术进行了具体讨论。对生态基础设施服务评估的物质量评估、价值量评估、能值分析以及模型模拟方法的适用性与局限性进行了总结与比较。基于上述分析提出了生态基础设施未来几点研究方向:(1)生态基础设施的多尺度协调规划;(2)基于物联网技术的生态基础设施智能监测体系;(3)基于景感生态学的生态基础设施服务能力综合评估方法。     

A framework for assessing ecological quality based on ecosystem services

Existing environmental legislation and ecological quality definitions such as ecosystem integrity tend to rely on measures that, either implicitly or explicitly, utilize naturalness as a key criterion. There are marked practical difficulties with employing the concept of naturalness in human dominated landscapes, and the management of such ecosystems is inevitably going to need to take account of human needs and expectations. We propose that ecological quality could be assessed by its ecosystem service profile (ESP): the overlap between societal expectations for, and the sustainable provision of, suites of ecosystem services. The status for each individual ecosystem service is defined by the ratio of its sustained provision to the expected level of provision for the service. The ESP measure is a multi-criterion, context-specific assessment of the match between expectation for and sustainable supply of ecosystem services. It provides a flexible measure of quality which takes into account that the “ideal” ecosystem state is largely dependent on the specific management context. The implementation of ESPs challenges us to develop indicators for the sustained provision of individual ecosystem services, much better understanding of the trade-offs among services, and practical tools for gauging societal demands. All of which are challenging problems. The proposed framework can help to strategically address research needs and monitoring requirements and foster a more integrative approach to ecosystem assessment and management in the future. The need for this follows from the fact that the undisturbed reference state represents only one aspect of an ecosystem and that ecological quality in human dominated landscapes will, ultimately, be determined by the value society places on the sustainable provision of multiple ecosystem services.     

Role of saprophagous fly biodiversity in ecological processes and urban ecosystem services

1. Direct consumption of organic matter by the saprophagous larvae provides the ecosystem with a fundamental service by recycling nutrients and reducing exposure to decomposing matter. The present study aimed to assess the functional role of saprophagous flies in the mass loss of different types of decomposing organic matter. 2. Two types of common urban waste were used to measure the role of flies in reducing organic matter: chicken viscera (chicken) and a mixture of flour and uncooked eggs (flour and eggs), representing leftover food. Ten traps baited with each substrate, under field conditions, allowed fly access (exposed to flies) and three traps from each substrate did not (unexposed controls); adult flies entering the traps or emerging from the substrates and substrate mass loss were recorded. 3. Species from Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae, and Fanniidae families were collected mainly in traps baited with chicken, with Phoridae being the most abundant in traps with flour and eggs as bait. A significantly richer (P < 0.05) assemblage of fly species accessed the traps baited with chicken viscera (21 species) compared with those emerging (11 species), whereas similar numbers of species accessed (n = 5) or emerged (n = 1) from traps baited with flour and eggs (average richness accessing 7.97, emerging 2.83). Chicken substrate mass loss and species richness were positively related (r = 0.56, P = 0.001). In traps where richness was larger than 10 species, the substrates were reduced by more than 85% of their initial weight compared with unexposed controls, which lost 30%. Substrate mass loss significantly increased with the abundance of flies (r = 0.73, P < 0.0001). 4. The results of the present study support the functional role of saprophagous species diversity on the decomposition rates of organic matter, reinforcing the negative consequences of loss or gain of species in modified landscapes and for ecosystem function.     

整合电路理论的生态廊道及其重要性识别

景观连接度被认为是影响诸多生态过程的一个重要因素.基于最小累积阻力模型的最小成本路径识别方法可以有效识别异质性景观中的功能连接,已被广泛应用到景观的功能连接评价与生态廊道模拟的研究中.基于电路理论的连接度模型用电阻代替了图论中的边、用电阻距离代替成本距离,来衡量异质性景观的功能连接.本文以SIMMAP 2.0软件生成的模拟景观为对象,借助于Linkage Mapper工具和Circuitscape软件,探讨如何将最小累积阻力模型与基于电路理论的连接度模型相结合来识别生态廊道及其景观要素的相对重要性.结果表明: 两种模型在应用中各有优势,互为补充.最小成本路径方法可以有效识别栖息地之间的最小成本廊道,基于电路理论的连接度模型通过电流密度的计算可以有效识别对景观连接性有重要影响的景观要素和“夹点”地区,并且“夹点”的位置不受廊道宽度的影响,在廊道重要性识别研究中具有明显优势.该方法可为区域生态保护规划和生态廊道设计提供科学依据.     

基于生态系统服务的广西水生态足迹分析

针对传统生态足迹对于水域仅考虑渔业生产功能的缺陷,研究者提出了水生态足迹.但当前水生态足迹基础理论与模型均存在较大不足.为此,提出了基于生态系统服务的水生态足迹概念和模型,并以2003-2010年的广西为例进行了计算与分析.结果表明:(1)水域-渔业账户中,淡水渔业生态足迹呈上升趋势,淡水渔业生物承载力较高且比较稳定,淡水渔业生态盈余较多同时淡水渔业生态压力较小;(2)水资源账户中,淡水生态足迹先较快上升随后缓慢下降,水资源承载力较高但2007-2010年波动幅度较大,水资源生态盈余较多同时水资源生态压力较小;(3)水环境账户中,水污染生态足迹先缓慢上升随后大幅下跌之后逐渐回升,水环境承载力变化趋势与水资源承载力相同,绝大多数年份表现为水环境生态赤字和水环境生态不安全;(4)淡水渔业生态压力＜水资源生态压力＜水环境生态压力,淡水生态系统基本已处于生态不安全状态.模型克服了传统模型的诸多缺陷与不足,是对广西近年来淡水生态系统服务供需及水生态安全状况的较客观全面的反映.     

基于生态系统服务的生态补偿政策制定探讨

生态补偿是促进生态保护、协调区域发展的有效手段,生态系统服务理论和方法为制定多元化生态补偿政策提供了科学基础,科学理解生态系统服务在解决生态补偿核心问题上的优势和不足,对于优化生态补偿政策具有重要意义,也是生态学、地理学与社会经济学等多学科交叉的研究前沿和热点。在综合分析相关研究成果的基础上,总结了基于生态系统服务的生态补偿研究技术方法,评述了相关研究和实践应用的进展和不足,并针对生态补偿的核心问题探讨了未来研究思路和方向,包括将生态系统服务流与生态补偿政策制定的结合研究,参照思路方向设计了基于生态系统服务的生态补偿政策制定流程框架,为后期相关研究提供了理论和方法参考。     

基于生态系统服务供需的广东省绿地生态网络建设分区

绿地生态网络是城市地域生态持续性的重要保障,分区管控则是实现省域绿地生态网络差异化建设目标的基本原则。考虑到生态系统服务的供给和需求能够有效表征绿地生态网络建设的生态本底与生态需求,以县域为研究单元,采用修正的生态系统服务价值量核算生态系统服务供给量,以土地利用开发程度、人口密度和地均GDP表征生态系统服务需求量,基于供需分析提出广东省绿地生态网络建设分区方案。研究结果表明,按照各区县生态本底和生态需求差异分为四大类型区:Ⅰ城市生态节点保育型,包含13个区县,包含潮州市湘桥区、汕头市金平区、佛山市顺德区、广州市南沙区、黄埔区、荔湾区、越秀区、海珠区、深圳市盐田区、罗湖区、南山区、肇庆市端州区、珠海市金湾区等,为生态本底好-生态需求高的区域,在建设中应重点关注城市大型绿地游憩、科教等社会-生态复合功能;Ⅱ城市生境斑块修复型,包含34个区县,主要分布在珠三角核心区及粤东沿海地区,为生态本底差-生态需求高的区域,在建设中需要加大资金投入、完善城市绿色基础设施;Ⅲ为城郊潜在节点重构型,包含21个区县,主要分布在珠三角的江门、惠州、粤西沿海区域以及粤东中部,为生态本底差-生态需求低的区域,应以生态经济为导向,在产业空间重构的基础上,以城市反哺乡村,推进区域生态空间优化;Ⅳ城郊源地网络连通型,包含55个区县,主要分布在广东省北部地区,为生态本底好-生态需求低地区,应强化生态源地的保护,保障生态系统服务流向周边区域的持续输送。分区方案基本表征了广东省县域生态本底和生态需求的空间差异,能够为绿地生态网络建设提供规划指引。     

The impact of ecological restoration on ecosystem services change modulated by drought and rising CO2

Ecological restoration projects (ERPs) are an indispensable component of natural climate solutions and have proven to be very important for reversing environmental degradation in vulnerable regions and enhancing ecosystem services. However, the level of enhancement would be inevitably influenced by global drought and rising CO₂, which remain less investigated. In this study, we took the Beijing-Tianjin sand source region (which has experienced long-term ERPs), China, as an example and combined the process-based Biome-BGCMuSo model to set multiple scenarios to address this issue. We found ERP-induced carbon sequestration (CS), water retention (WR), soil retention (SR), and sandstorm prevention (SP) increased by 22.21%, 2.87%, 2.35%, and 28.77%, respectively. Moreover, the ecosystem services promotion from afforestation was greater than that from grassland planting. Approximately 91.41%, 98.13%, and 64.51% of the increased CS, SR, and SP were contributed by afforestation. However, afforestation also caused the WR to decline. Although rising CO₂ amplified ecosystem services contributed by ERPs, it was almost totally offset by drought. The contribution of ERPs to CS, WR, SR, and SP was reduced by 5.74%, 32.62%, 11.74%, and 14.86%, respectively, under combined drought and rising CO₂. Our results confirmed the importance of ERPs in strengthening ecosystem services provision. Furthermore, we provide a quantitative way to understand the influence rate of drought and rising CO₂ on ERP-induced ecosystem service dynamics. In addition, the considerable negative climate change impact implied that restoration strategies should be optimized to improve ecosystem resilience to better combat negative climate change impacts.     

中国生态区划研究进展:从格局、功能到服务

在总结国内外生态区域研究的基础上,系统梳理了中国现有的生态区划方案,总结出生态特征和类型区划、生态地理和格局区划、生态功能和服务区划三大类,分别对每个区划的指标、技术、方案、特点进行了归纳,并提出了各自存在的问题。现有研究缺少面向服务供需的生态系统区划,生态制图和更新的标准化技术也存在不足。为此,提出明确不同生态区划的科学或管理目标、强调人类需求对于生态系统服务的影响、重视全球气候变化对生态系统的现实作用和未来影响、加强现代制图技术在生态区划的作用、整合现有多原则和多目标的生态分区方案等五个方面的建议。     

Undertaking large‐scale forest restoration to generate ecosystem services

The global community is seeking to substantially restore the world's forest cover to improve the supply of ecosystem services. However, it is not clear what type of reforestation must be used and there is a risk that the techniques used in industrial timber plantations will become the default methodology. This is unlikely to be sufficient because of the well‐known relationship between biodiversity and ecological functioning. Restoration may be achieved through natural regeneration but this may not always occur at critical locations. Ecological restoration involving species‐rich plantings might also be used but can be difficult to implement at landscape scales. I review here the consequence of planting more limited numbers of species and the effects of this on the delivery of ecosystem services. Evidence suggests many commonly sought ecosystem services—though not all—may be generated by the modest levels of species richness provided these species have appropriate traits. The literature also shows that the alpha diversity of restored forests is not the only driver of functionality and that the location and extent of any reforestation are significant as well; beta and gamma diversity may also affect functionality but these relationships remain unclear. Encouraging the adoption of even moderately diverse plantings at landscape scales and at key locations will require policies and institutions to balance the type, location, and scale of restoration and make the necessary trade‐offs between national and local aspirations. New approaches and metrics will have to be developed to monitor and assess restoration success at these larger scales.     

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。     

北方重点生态功能区生态系统服务权衡与协同

北方地区作为我国最重要的生态屏障区,也是我国荒漠化发展最快、生态极为脆弱、受风沙危害最严重的区域。分析了北方地区6个国家重点生态功能区生态系统结构变化和防风固沙、土壤保持、水源涵养、牧草供给等生态系统关键服务多年变化状况,从而客观科学地评价典型生态功能区生态保护效果,总结目前存在的主要生态问题,为重点生态功能区监管和考核提供科学地决策依据。结果表明：1）草地面积除阴山北麓有所增加以外,其他功能区皆减少;荒漠面积在东部三个功能区有所增加,而在西部三个功能区有所减少;草地植被覆盖度皆有所提高,增幅0.4%-7%。2）防风固沙服务除呼伦贝尔有所提升以外,其他功能区皆呈现下降态势;水源涵养在西部塔里木河与阿尔金先上升后下降,中部阴山北麓和科尔沁有所提高,而东部浑善达克与呼伦贝尔呈持续上升态势;各功能区的土壤保持呈现不同程度提升,而牧草供给皆有所下降。3）除呼伦贝尔和浑善达克南端以外,牧草供给与防风固沙服务之间以协同关系为主;除科尔沁西北部和呼伦贝尔东端以外,牧草供给与水源涵养、土壤保持服务之间以协同关系为主。通过生态系统类型变化及供给与调节服务相关关系分析可以看出,生态功能区开垦导致草地减少的现象需要遏制,出现权衡关系的东部区域也是生态保护与生产利用矛盾较大的农牧交错带,需要成为后续保护和修复的重点区域。