Effectiveness of natural protected areas to prevent land use and land cover change in Mexico

This study evaluated the extent to which natural protected areas (NPAs) in Mexico have been effective for preventing land use/land cover change, considered as a major cause of other degradation processes. We developed an effectiveness index including NPA percentage of transformed areas (agriculture, induced vegetation, forestry plantations, and human settlements) in 2002, the rate and absolute extent of change in these areas (1993–2002), the comparison between rates of change observed inside the NPA and in an equivalent surrounding area, and between the NPA and the state(s) in which it is located. We chose 69 terrestrial federal NPAs, decreed before 1997, that were larger than 1,000 ha, not urban/reforested with non-native vegetation, not islands and not coastal strips, and estimated the extent of transformed areas using 1993 and 2002 land use/land cover maps. Over 54% of NPAs were effective, and were heterogeneously distributed by management categories: 65% of Biosphere Reserves, 53% of Flora and Fauna Protection Areas, and 45% of National Parks. 23% of NPAs were regarded as weakly effective, and the remaining 23% as non-effective. We recognize the importance of NPAs as a relevant conservation instrument, as half of NPAs analyzed (particularly biosphere reserves) prevented natural vegetation loss compared with their geographic context. Our results suggest that conservation based on NPAs in Mexico still faces significant challenges. Our approach can be expanded for evaluating the effectiveness of NPA in other regions, as land use/land cover maps are now available almost worldwide.     

Projecting the potential distribution of ticks in China under climate and land use change

Ticks are known as vectors of several pathogens causing various human and animal diseases including Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. While China is known to have more than 100 tick species well distributed over the country, our knowledge on the likely distribution of ticks in the future remains very limited, which hinders the prevention and control of the risk of tick-borne diseases. In this study, we selected four representative tick species which have different regional distribution foci in mainland China. i.e., Dermacentor marginatus, Dermacentor silvarum, Haemaphysalis longicornis and Ixodes granulatus. We used the MaxEnt model to identify the key environmental factors of tick occurrence and map their potential distributions in 2050 under four combined climate and socioeconomic scenarios (i.e., SSP1-RCP2.6, SSP2-RCP4.5, SSP3-RCP7.0 and SSP5-RCP8.5). We found that the extent of the urban fabric, cropland and forest, temperature annual range and precipitation of the driest month were the main determinants of the potential distributions of the four tick species. Under the combined scenarios, with climate warming, the potential distributions of ticks shifted to further north in China. Due to a decrease in the extent of forest, the distribution probability of ticks declined in central and southern China. In contrast with previous findings on an estimated amplification of tick distribution probability under the extreme emission scenario (RCP8.5), our studies projected an overall reduction in the distribution probability under RCP8.5, owing to an expected effect of land use. Our results could provide new data to help identify the emerging risk areas, with amplifying suitability for tick occurrence, for the prevention and control of tick-borne zoonoses in mainland China. Future directions are suggested towards improved quantity and quality of the tick occurrence database, comprehensiveness of factors and integration of different modelling approaches, and capability to model pathogen spillover at the human-tick interface.     

The integration of crop rotation and tillage practices in the assessment of ecosystem services provision at the regional scale

The provision of ecosystem services at the landscape level can be significantly influenced by land management practices. Within an agriculturally dominated case study area in Saxony, Germany, a more detailed land use classification, which includes differentiated information on agricultural management practices, was utilized within the raster-based planning support tool GISCAME. “Management” refers to typical, regional crop rotations and soil tillage practices.The focus of this research was based on an indicator-based approach to assess ecosystem services and the development of land use change (LUC) and land management change (LMC) scenarios. The EuroMaps Land Cover data set was specifically developed for the case study and included remote sensing information for the general land use classification and terrestrial mapping information. Furthermore, statistical data on detailed regional agricultural land management were included. The raster-based planning support tool GISCAME was then used to simulate scenarios and visualize results. The LUC and LMC scenarios showed that the more detailed land use classification provided better output for the prioritization of planning alternatives. Further it enabled a refined assessment of the provisioning services (i) food and fodder provision, (ii) biomass provision, the regulation services, (iii) soil erosion protection, (iv) drought risk regulation, (v) flood regulation, (vi) returns from land-based production (i.e. the market value of biomass provision), and (vii) ecological integrity. The results of this study support the view that the application of improved management measures, such as conservation tillage, can significantly enhance the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. soil erosion protection and drought risk regulation) at the landscape level. The study also indicates that a combination of strategic LUC, such as afforestation and LMC, might be an effective way to enhance regulating services with acceptable trade-offs regarding provisioning services. Our approach presents a refined foundation for ecosystem services assessment, which is designed to better support regional planning and the provision of information to non-experts in the participatory processes. For transfer into other regions, standardized land use and land management classification will have to be defined.     

科尔沁沙地及其周围地区土地利用的时空动态变化研究

科尔沁沙地及其周围地区是我国北方生存环境演变的敏感地区,也是我国荒漠化防治的重点地区之一,根据1985年和2000年2期土地利用空间图形数据,运用GIS技术和数理统计方法,通过建立土地利用变化转移矩阵和构建土地利用动态变化模型,对该地区近15年土地利用的时空动态变化进行了研究,结果发现,1985～2000年间,科尔沁沙地及其周围地区各土地利用类型总变化的面积大小依次是草地>耕地>林地>未利用地>水域>城乡工矿居民用地,其中,草地向耕地的转化和草地向林地的转化是该地区土地利用变化的主要特征,并且各土地利用及变化类型具有明显的空间变异。     

Tree line shifts in the Swiss Alps: Climate change or land abandonment?

Questions: Did the forest area in the Swiss Alps increase between 1985 and 1997? Does the forest expansion near the tree line represent an invasion into abandoned grasslands (ingrowth) or a true upward shift of the local tree line? What land cover / land use classes did primarily regenerate to forest, and what forest structural types did primarily regenerate? And, what are possible drivers of forest regeneration in the tree line ecotone, climate and/or land use change? Location: Swiss Alps. Methods: Forest expansion was quantified using data from the repeated Swiss land use statistics GEOSTAT. A moving window algorithm was developed to distinguish between forest ingrowth and upward shift. To test a possible climate change influence, the resulting upward shifts were compared to a potential regional tree line. Results: A significant increase of forest cover was found between 1650 m and 2450 m. Above 1650 m, 10% of the new forest areas were identified as true upward shifts whereas 90% represented ingrowth, and we identified both land use and climate change as likely drivers. Most upward shift activities were found to occur within a band of 300 m below the potential regional tree line, indicating land use as the most likely driver. Only 4% of the upward shifts were identified to rise above the potential regional tree line, thus indicating climate change. Conclusions: Land abandonment was the most dominant driver for the establishment of new forest areas, even at the tree line ecotone. However, a small fraction of upwards shift can be attributed to the recent climate warming, a fraction that is likely to increase further if climate continues to warm, and with a longer time‐span between warming and measurement of forest cover.     

土地利用结构变化对区域生态健康的影响——以重庆市沙坪坝区为例

运用景观生态学原理与方法,对重庆市沙坪坝区近10年土地利用变化进行研究;通过对土地利用类型赋予相应的相对生态价值,探讨土地利用结构变化对区域生态健康状况的影响.结果表明,各土地利用类型间相互转移,各时段土地利用结构差异明显;不同土地利用结构下,各子生态系统的相对生态价值高低悬殊,对区域生态健康的贡献程度表现不一;从总体上看,区域相对生态价值在研究时段内有升有降;未来各生态子系统的相对生态价值变化可表现为:先降后升区、持续下降区和持续增长区3种趋势;区域生态健康状况趋势由较健康型向健康型转变.     

区域生态服务价值对土地利用变化的响应——以重庆市沙坪坝区为例

土地利用通过生态进程与服务间的相互作用影响生态系统提供的产品与服务.本研究以重庆市沙坪坝区为例,采用GIS与实地调查,运用Costanza等提出的生态服务价值系数,结合敏感度分析,探讨了区域生态服务价值对土地利用变化的响应.结果表明,重庆市沙坪坝区在1992～2002年间生态服务价值从1.74×10⁷ ＄降低到1.68×10⁷ ＄,净损失5.40×10⁵ ＄,平均土地净损失生态服务价值13.62＄·hm^-2;赋予各种土地利用类型生态服务价值系数的大小对区域总的生态服务价值变化影响不明显,其变化趋于相对稳定;耕地、林地和园地生物量生态服务价值系数总和接近于区域真实值,水域生态服务价值系数偏大,调整30%为每年5 667＄·hm^-2,更接近于真实值;运用现状数据库、变更数据库和Costanza模型估算区域土地利用变化导致生态服务价值变化切实可行,可为区域土地利用效益评价及土地利用规划提供借鉴.     

米亚罗林区土地利用变化对土壤有机碳和微生物量碳的影响

为了解土地利用变化对土壤有机碳和微生物量碳的影响,分析了川西米亚罗林区原始冷杉林、20世纪60年代云杉人工林、20世纪80年代云杉人工林和农地的土壤有机碳和微生物量碳状况.结果表明,土地利用变化明显地影响了土壤有机碳和微生物量碳含量.土壤有机碳和微生物量碳含量原始林最高,其次为60年代人工林和80年代人工林,农地最低.农地土壤有机碳含量分别比原始林、60年代人工林和80年代人工林低83%、53%和52%,微生物量碳含量分别低23%、25%和21%.土壤有机碳和微生物量碳含量均随土壤深度的增加而降低,并且两者在不同土地利用类型的变化趋势基本一致.相关分析表明,土壤有机碳和土壤微生物量碳与全氮、水解氮、速效磷呈极显著相关(P＜0.01),说明土壤微生物量碳可作为衡量土壤有机碳变化的敏感指标,而土壤有机碳和微生物量碳含量可作为衡量土壤肥力和土壤质量变化的重要指标.     

Integrating the spatial proximity effect into the assessment of changes in ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation

The assessment of the value of ecosystem services is a valuable tool for biodiversity conservation that can facilitate better environmental policy decision-making and land management, and can help land managers develop interventions to compensate for biodiversity loss at the patch level. Previous studies have suggested that it is appropriate to assess the value of biodiversity for conservation planning by considering both the condition of the landscape and the spatial configuration of adjacent land uses that can be reflected as a proximity effect. This research examines the influence of spatial proximity on biodiversity conservation from the ecosystem service perspective based on the assumption that the variation in the proximity effect caused by land cover change has positive or negative impacts on ecological services. Three factors related to the spatial characteristics of the landscape were considered in this approach: the relative artificiality of the land cover types, the distance decay effect of patches and the impact of one land cover type on others. The proximity effect change (PE_C) parameter reflected the relationship between the spatial proximity effect and biodiversity conservation. The results of a quantitative and spatial comparative analysis of the proposed method and the conventional method in Yingkou for the periods of 2000–2005 and 2005–2010 showed that the former can account for the temporal and spatial changes in ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation that were caused by patch-level changes as well as the interaction between the altered and adjacent patches from a spatial perspective. The metric can also identify the most critical areas for biodiversity protection and inform the efficient allocation of limited land resources for nature conservation to maximize the benefit to biodiversity by guiding the process of land-use change, particularly urbanization and agriculture. Future studies should focus on the other important factors that are applicable to the assessment of the value of biodiversity conservation in socio-ecological systems, where society and nature are mutually capable of fulfilling their roles.     

量化气候和土地利用变化对生态资产变化的相对贡献——以房山区为例

生态资产与人类福祉密切相关,开展生态资产评估并定量区分气候和人类活动对生态资产变化的相对贡献,对于评估区域生态文明建设成效、生态补偿、干部离任的自然资产审计等均具有重要意义。在单位面积价值当量因子方法的基础上,重新定义了标准生态服务价值当量因子,并构建了一个能够定量区分气候变化和土地利用变化对生态资产变化相对贡献的方法,以北京市房山区为例,分析了2000年至2019年房山区生态资产的变化,以及气候变化和土地利用变化对生态资产变化的相对贡献,结果表明:(1)房山区2019年生态资产总价值177.14亿元。森林、草地、农田和湿地的生态资产分别占生态资产总价值的82.33%、11.76%、5.25%和0.095%。(2)房山在2000-2019年期间,生态资产总价值增加了2.275亿元,气候变化使得房山区的生态资产总价值增加了2.689亿元,而土地利用变化使得生态资产总价值减少了0.414亿元。(3)房山区生态资产西高东低,其中霞云岭乡生态资产总价值最高;琉璃河镇的生态资产增加最多,而拱辰街道下降最显著。过去20年是房山区社会经济快速发展的时期,由于气候变化和生态保护与修复使得生态资产增加,抵消了由于建设用地扩张所带来的生态资产损失。     

近十年卧龙地区流域土地覆盖/利用变化分区对比研究

土地利用与生态系统保护之间的矛盾直接影响着卧龙保护区及周边地区的土地覆盖变化,为考察人类活动对卧龙地区土地覆盖/利用变化的影响,对近十年卧龙两流域土地覆盖/变化进行了分区对比研究,结果表明,卧龙地区两流域及其分区土地覆盖/利用变化趋势有所不同。主要差异表现在:①寿溪、渔子溪流域虽然林地面积均有所增加,但林地破碎化程度远远高于渔子溪。灌丛在寿溪流域的比重减少而在渔子溪流域增加。②分区比较的结果为,林地的增加主要发生在寿溪保护区的外部和渔子溪保护区内部,草地的减少主要发生在两流域保护区内部。③两流域总体土地利用变化率随河谷缓冲带的扩张变化趋势相反。④两流域各类型转移概率不同导致未来转移方向的不同。Markov模型预测,未来十年渔子溪流域林地、灌丛的增加和草地的减少仍较明显,寿溪流域林地面积继续增加,农田、灌丛继续减少。     

Ecological and environmental effects of land use change in rapid urbanization: The case of hangzhou,China

Land use changes sharply under rapid urbanization, yet its ecological and environmental effects are often neglected in land use decisions. Using the case of Hangzhou, China, we analyze the ecological and environmental effects of land use changes, including ecosystem services value (ESV) and carbon emissions, based on Landsat TM images from 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2014. We found significant ecological and environmental effects of land use changes under rapid urbanization. The value of ecosystem services in Hangzhou decreased from 546.7 million USD in 1995 to 448.97 million USD in 2014, and the ratio of ESV to GDP decreased from 5.8% to 0.6%. The net carbon emissions associated with land use changes increased from 4.26 million tons in 1995 to 15.10 million tons in 2014, mainly due to the increase of built-up land carbon emissions and the decrease of forest land carbon sink. The ESV is unevenly distributed spatially and low ESV spread from the central to the peripheral area. We use scenario analysis to illustrate that economic growth and environmental protection could be coordinated by bringing ecological and environmental effects into land use decisions.     

Comparison of land use/land cover change and landscape patterns in Honghe National Nature Reserve and the surrounding Jiansanjiang Region,China

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) determines landscape patterns and affects the ability of ecosystems to provide the services and biodiversity on which humans ultimately depend. The Honghe National Nature Reserve is a biodiversity-rich area in the Jiansanjiang region of northeast China. In this study, the LUCC and landscape patterns were compared between the reserve and the Jiansanjiang region. With remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) procedures, satellite images from 1989, 2001 and 2010 were used to calculate dynamics of LUCC amplitudes, landscape pattern index, transition matrix. The influence of LUCC on the wetland landscape of the nature reserve was discussed in the context of broader LUCC analyses. The results showed that land uses in the studied regions changed remarkedly over the time period; swamp area declined significantly as arable land increased. The ecological landscape index showed that distinct landscape patches were small, scattered and highly fragmented, moving toward a more monotonous landscape. Anthropogenic activities such as farming directly decreased the wetland landscape diversity. Furthermore, anthropogenic factors diminished wetland areas indirectly through climatic factors, namely air temperature and precipitation levels. National and regional policies on agriculture and water use have been highly influential, and the Honghe National Nature Reserve is highly susceptible to land use changes in the surrounding Jiansanjiang region.     

黄山市土地利用变化的生态效应研究

利用黄山市1987年、1995年、2000年三期TM遥感影像数据,对研究区内近十年来土地利用变化及其对生态环境的影响进行了深入分析.研究表明:近10年来黄山市生态环境有退化的趋势,其间1987～1995年退化相对较严重.同时,在不同区域间存在分异,祁门县的生态环境质量最好,屯溪区的生态环境质量最差.在研究时段内,除休宁县的生态环境有所改善,其他地区都存在不同程度的退化,其中黄山区的生态环境退化相对最为严重.生态环境质量和土地利用类型之间,存在很大的相关性,尤其是土地利用类型中的林地面积和生态环境质量息息相关:森林覆盖率高,生态环境好;而森林覆盖率下降,生态环境质量也相应下降.     

Regional ecosystem health response to rural land use change: A case study in Lijiang City,China

Quantitative analysis of the response of ecosystem health to rural land use change is required to comprehend the human-nature coupling mechanism and to explore the process of global environmental change, which can interpret the ecological effects of regional land use and land cover change comprehensively. However, the existing regional ecosystem health assessment largely ignored either the internal connection of ecosystem health to land use patterns or the internal representation of ecosystem services to ecosystem health. Using Lijiang City of China as a study area, the average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), landscape metrics, and ecosystem elasticity coefficient based on different land use types were used as quantitative indicators. Then the coefficient of spatial neighboring effect was introduced to characterize the adjacency effect on ecosystem services, and to generate the index of integrated ecosystem health. The results showed the change of land use was close to 30% at county level from 1986 to 2006, and forest land was the primary land use type. With respect to the declining physical health of ecosystems in all the four counties, the integrated health experienced a slight increase in Lijiang County. The vast majority of towns’ ecosystem physical health and integrated health declined, while more than 70% of towns did not change distinctly. Ecosystem physical health had distinct influence on the integrated ecosystem health, and ecosystem vitality was the main factor affecting the condition of physical health. Emphasized in the interconnection of pattern and process, this study provided an ecosystem health approach to assessing the integrated ecological effects of regional land use change.     

土地利用与土地覆盖变化对生态系统的影响

随着人口的增长和人类社会的发展, 土地利用与土地覆盖变化已经是不可避免。土地利用与土地覆盖变化不仅对生态系统的要素、结构和功能产生深远的影响, 也会对全球变化产生反馈作用。针对土地利用与土地覆盖变化的过程、驱动机制以及在各个方面可能产生的生态环境效应的科学研究已经全面开展。该文综述了土地利用与土地覆盖变化对气候、土壤、生物地球化学循环、生物多样性以及区域生态环境等影响方面的研究进展, 并提出了相关研究的前沿方向展望。随着新技术的不断发展, 学者们将更多地侧重预测未来全球变化背景下的土地利用与土地覆盖变化趋势、合理性以及适应性, 为可持续发展提供基础资料和理论依据。     

土地利用变化对土壤有机碳的影响研究进展

土壤有机碳是陆地碳库的重要组成部分,也是当前全球碳循环和全球变化研究的热点。土地利用/覆被变化及土地管理变化通过影响土壤有机碳的储量和分布,进而影响温室气体排放和陆地生态系统的碳通量。研究土地利用变化影响下的土壤有机碳储量及其动态变化规律,有助于加深理解全球气候变化与土地利用变化之间的关系。在阅读国内外有关文献的基础上,分别从土地利用及其管理方式变化的角度,概括了土地利用变化对土壤有机碳的影响过程与机理;针对当前研究的两大类方法,即实验方法和模型方法,分类详细介绍了它们各自的特点以及存在的一些问题。在此基础上,提出今后土地利用变化对土壤有机碳影响研究的发展趋势。     

Response of land use/coverage change to hydrological dynamics at watershed scale in the Loess Plateau of China

In this study Qiaozidong and Qiaozixi watersheds in Loess Plateau were selected as the case to investigate the effects of land use/coverage change on hydrological dynamics. The results showed that the runoff coefficient of controlled watershed reduced by about 50%, 85%, 90%, respectively, in wet, normal and dry years in comparison with that of uncontrolled watershed. The average runoff coefficient reduced by 73.6% during the period of 1995–2004 compared with that in the previous period of 1986–1994 for land use in controlled watershed. And the impacts of land use and vegetation changes on runoff were strengthened in response to the increasing rainfall. Additionally, the impacts of land use/coverage change on runoff yield are characterized by seasonal fluctuation. The maximum monthly runoff reduction in the both watersheds occurred in May, which was consistent with the period of the maximum land coverage appeared. Finally, when the rainfall intensity reached a certain threshold, the variance of flood peak in two watersheds reduced, which showed that the effects of forest on flood weakened. The flood peak discharge frequencies indicated that peak discharge would respond to the land use and vegetation change obviously on condition that there were the same frequencies of rainfall intensity in the earlier and later periods.     

Response of land use/coverage change to hydrological dynamics at watershed scale in the Loess Plateau of China

In this study Qiaozidong and Qiaozixi watersheds in Loess Plateau were selected as the case to investigate the effects of land use/coverage change on hydrological dynamics. The results showed that the runoff coefficient of controlled watershed reduced by about 50%, 85%, 90%, respectively, in wet, normal and dry years in comparison with that of uncontrolled watershed. The average runoff coefficient reduced by 73.6% during the period of 1995–2004 compared with that in the previous period of 1986–1994 for land use in controlled watershed. And the impacts of land use and vegetation changes on runoff were strengthened in response to the increasing rainfall. Additionally, the impacts of land use/coverage change on runoff yield are characterized by seasonal fluctuation. The maximum monthly runoff reduction in the both watersheds occurred in May, which was consistent with the period of the maximum land coverage appeared. Finally, when the rainfall intensity reached a certain threshold, the variance of flood peak in two watersheds reduced, which showed that the effects of forest on flood weakened. The flood peak discharge frequencies indicated that peak discharge would respond to the land use and vegetation change obviously on condition that there were the same frequencies of rainfall intensity in the earlier and later periods.     

土地利用变化对陆地生态系统碳贮量的影响

陆地生态系统是重要的碳库之一,在碳素生物地球化学循环中起着重要作用．本文就森林、农田生态系统,综述了土地利用变化对陆地生态系统碳贮量的影响及其可能的作用机制．土地利用变化显著地影响陆地生态系统的结构和功能,造成系统碳贮量的变化,这很大程度取决于生态系统类型和土地利用方式的改变．森林砍伐后变为农田和草地,使生态系统中植被和土壤碳贮量大大降低．土壤碳含量的降低主要是由于凋落物输入的减少,有机质分解速度的提高,以及耕种措施对有机质物理保护的破坏造成的．土壤碳损失主要发生在森林砍伐后较短的时期内,而其降低速率取决于诸多因素以及土壤理化和生物过程．农田和草地弃耕恢复为森林,以及农田保护性管理措施的利用．能够使大气中的碳在植被和土壤中得到汇集．森林恢复过程中植被可以大量汇集大气中的碳,而由于农田耕种历史不同以及土壤空间异质性。导致土壤碳汇集速率差异极大．保护性农田管理措施(诸如免耕、合理的种植制度、化肥的施用等)可以影响土壤理化特性、作物根系生长以及残茬数量和质量、土壤微生物数量和活性,维持和提高土壤碳含量水平．