Natural ecosystem design and control imperatives for sustainable ecosystem services

Sustainability of ecosystem services to humanity will depend on knowledge of how ecosystems work in their natural states, which can then be carried over to managed states. The objective of this paper is to describe four properties of ecosystems taken as natural conditions to be maintained under exploitation. Three of these are design properties: near-steady-state or extremal dynamics, dominance of indirect effects, and positive utility in network organization. One is a regulatory property: distributed multivariable control. The methodology of the paper is mathematical modeling. The design properties are drawn from the inherent formalism in models. The control property is demonstrated by manipulating model parameters to achieve a management goal. The results show that: (1) natural ecosystems operate near, but not at, steady states or extrema, and ecosystems exploited for human purposes should be similarly maintained (near-steady-state imperative); (2) indirect effects are dominant in natural ecosystem networks, and should be taken into account in managing ecosystems for human benefits (nonlocal imperative); (3) natural ecosystems enhance positive relationships among their constituents, and ecosystems maintained for human services should be managed to maximize their expression of mutualistic and synergistic network properties (nonzero imperative); and (4) natural ecosystems are regulated by checks and balances distributed across many control variables in interactive networks, so that obtaining human services from ecosystems should similarly be through coordinated use of many, not few, control variables (multifactorial control imperative). The conclusion from these results is that ecosystems under natural conditions evidence organizational properties evolved over evolutionary time, and management for sustainable extraction of ecosystem services should seek to preserve and emulate these properties in the new exploited states.     

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.     

川西地区生态系统服务对可持续发展目标的影响

可持续发展目标(Sustainable Development Goals,SDGs)的实现往往会因为生态保护或人类福祉之间可能存在的权衡关系而受到阻碍。将生态系统服务(Ecosystem services,ESs)纳入到可持续发展目标的决策中能够避免各方利益的冲突,促进SDGs的实现。然而,在生态环境脆弱的山区,ESs对SDGs的贡献分析仍然不足。以川西地区为研究区,对2000-2020年11个可持续发展目标进行了量化,利用生态系统服务和权衡的综合评估(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs,InVEST)模型和定量指标法估算了碳固存、土壤保持和食物生产三种重要生态系统服务,并使用空间面板数据模型研究ESs对SDGs的影响及其空间溢出效应。结果表明:(1)可持续发展目标水平整体提升,但SDG1(无贫穷)和SDG3(良好健康和人类福祉)表现较差,分值低于5分。从空间上看,与环境相关的SDGs在川西北高原表现更好,与社会经济相关的SDGs在川西东部和川西南山地地区表现更好。(2)川西地区碳固存和食物生产服务呈现线性增长趋势,土壤保持服务呈现波动增长趋势,分别增长了0.23×10⁸ t、8.93×10⁵ t和1.23×10⁸ t。(3)与土壤保持和食物生产相比,碳固存对SDGs表现出更强烈的直接影响和空间溢出效应。其中县域碳固存对本县域和邻近县域的SDG11(可持续城市和社区)和SDG1具有显著的促进作用,对SDG2(零饥饿)呈现显著负向影响。研究结果可为区域联合管理提供科学依据,推动可持续发展目标的实现。     

基于生态系统服务的城市化区域生态风险表征方法研究

快速城市化导致城市周边区域生态系统服务损失并引发生态风险。以多种类型的生态系统服务作为生态风险的评价终点,构建了基于服务价值量的城市化区域生态风险表征方法,以北京市为例对方法进行了应用,并进行了风险评价结果的不确定性分析和参数敏感性分析。案例研究显示2015年北京市生态风险总体处于低风险接近中等风险水平,低风险和极低风险区域面积占全市的50%以上,主要分布于北京市西部和北部,高风险和极高风险区域面积占20%左右,主要分布于中心城区。生态风险空间格局特征表明北京市城市区域的扩张造成周边区域生态系统服务的下降,导致生态风险水平的上升。研究提出的生态风险指数同生态系统服务当量因子间具有显著的线性关系,可用于估算生态系统服务价值。不确定性和参数敏感性分析表明生态风险指数计算结果变异较小,指数具有较高的可靠性。研究方法能够综合表征城市化区域的生态风险,定量表征结果便于决策者理解,具有应用于风险评价和管理实践的价值。     

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。     

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。     

Provision of ecosystem services by large scale corridors and ecological networks

Large scale landscape transformation and contingent habitat loss are among the greatest threats to ecological integrity and ecosystem health. One of the mitigation approaches used to deal with these pressures is to leave interconnected corridors and nodes as remnant ecological networks (ENs) within the transformed landscape. The South African forestry industry has already allocated 500,000 ha, one-third of the plantation holdings, consisting predominantly of natural grassland, as ENs among and within timber plantations. These ENs are intended to maintain structural, compositional and functional biodiversity. However, little scientific research is available on the effectiveness of these huge ENs for biodiversity conservation and maintenance of natural ecosystem function, although initial findings are encouraging. While the local adverse effect of alien plantation trees on functional biodiversity is not in dispute, it is at the scale of the whole landscape where there is much interest in determining how effective these ENs are in maintaining the untransformed portion of the transformed landscape in a close-to-natural state. As these ENs are extensive, species beta diversity is a consideration in addition to alpha diversity. Initial findings reveal diminished ecological integrity in narrow corridors due in part to the adverse edge effect from the alien trees into the margin of the EN. Quality of the ENs is of great importance for maintaining functional diversity, with human disturbance reducing their effectiveness. First findings, and their application to the Framework for Ecosystem Service Provision, suggest that these ENs are significant for biodiversity conservation and for provision of ecosystem services. Nevertheless, still much more research is required on a greater range of taxa, and their interactions, to improve the design of these ENs for ecological and evolutionary processes.     

水源涵养型国家重点生态功能区生态系统服务功能评估

为评估“十二五”以来国家重点生态功能区转移支付政策的阶段性实施效果,以水源涵养类型国家重点生态功能区为对象,基于水量平衡法,利用2011年和2019年土地覆被数据,并结合气象数据,分析了水源涵养型国家重点生态功能区2011年和2019年水源涵养功能、生态系统面积、生态系统质量状况及其变化情况。研究结果表明,自2011年转移支付政策实施以来：1)全国水源涵养型重点生态功能区内的水源涵养能力呈现从西北部到东南部逐渐增加的空间分布趋势,2019年全国水源涵养型重点生态功能区水源涵养能力较2011年显著增加。2)全国水源涵养型重点生态功能区森林面积有所增加,湿地得到有效恢复。3)全国水源涵养重点生态功能区内生态系统质量提高,平均植被覆盖度有所增加,呈现东北部及中南部高,西北部低的分布趋势。总体来看,转移支付政策的实施对全国水源涵养重点生态功能区森林、草地生态系统水源涵养功能的提升发挥了积极作用,基本上达到了转移支付政策预期的阶段性目标。     

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。     

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.     

Variation in ecosystem services of street tree assemblages can guide sustainable urban development

城市行道树集合生态服务功能变化研究及对城市可持续发展管理的启示     

基于生态系统服务和生态系统健康的生态风险评价——以长株潭城市群为例

基于生态系统服务和生态系统健康的生态风险评估框架为城市群生态风险管理和国土生态修复提供新的视角。以生态风险评估框架为基础,综合运用生态系统服务、生态系统健康评估模型以及相关分析法对长株潭城市群展开生态风险评价,并对风险程度进行分类。结果表明:(1)城市群的城市化水平提升,区域生态风险也随之增加。生态系统服务价值、生态系统组织、生态系统活力、生态系统弹性等生态指数呈现下降趋势。(2)人工表面比率和生态指数之间的Pearson相关系数表明,人工表面比率与生态指数之间存在负相关关系,人工表面比率是生态风险提升的关键因素。(3)城市群人工表面比率要控制在36%以下,以进行生态风险管理和国土生态修复。总的来说,评价框架可以作为区域生态风险的评价终点。     

Conservation planning for ecosystem services

Despite increasing attention to the human dimension of conservation projects, a rigorous, systematic methodology for planning for ecosystem services has not been developed. This is in part because flows of ecosystem services remain poorly characterized at local-to-regional scales, and their protection has not generally been made a priority. We used a spatially explicit conservation planning framework to explore the trade-offs and opportunities for aligning conservation goals for biodiversity with six ecosystem services (carbon storage, flood control, forage production, outdoor recreation, crop pollination, and water provision) in the Central Coast ecoregion of California, United States. We found weak positive and some weak negative associations between the priority areas for biodiversity conservation and the flows of the six ecosystem services across the ecoregion. Excluding the two agriculture-focused services—crop pollination and forage production—eliminates all negative correlations. We compared the degree to which four contrasting conservation network designs protect biodiversity and the flow of the six services. We found that biodiversity conservation protects substantial collateral flows of services. Targeting ecosystem services directly can meet the multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity goals more efficiently but cannot substitute for targeted biodiversity protection (biodiversity losses of 44% relative to targeting biodiversity alone). Strategically targeting only biodiversity plus the four positively associated services offers much promise (relative biodiversity losses of 7%). Here we present an initial analytical framework for integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services in conservation planning and illustrate its application. We found that although there are important potential trade-offs between conservation for biodiversity and for ecosystem services, a systematic planning framework offers scope for identifying valuable synergies.     

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。     

湖泊生态服务受益者分析及生态生产函数构建

生态系统服务管理作为生态系统管理的优化方式,是生态学研究的前沿方向。湖泊生态系统服务管理是指综合利用生态学、经济学、社会学和管理学等学科知识,对影响湖泊生态系统结构、过程、功能的关键因子进行调控,提高湖泊生态系统服务供给水平和供给能力的过程。近年来国内外学者针对湖泊生态系统服务内涵、分类、经济价值评估等方面开展了大量研究,极大地促进了湖泊生态系统服务从认知走向管理实践。然而,现有研究在开展湖泊生态系统服务价值评估时多忽略生态系统服务受益者和生态系统特征对生态系统服务的边际影响分析,无法揭示生态系统服务空间流动和转移特征及生态系统服务时空权衡关系,制约了生态系统服务研究与管理决策和政策设计结合。在综述湖泊生态系统服务定量评估方法的基础上,认为通过生态系统服务受益者分析确定湖泊生态系统最终服务,并通过构建生态生产函数确定湖泊生态系统服务权衡关系及湖泊生态系统特征对生态系统最终服务的边际影响,是生态系统服务走向管理实践和政策设计的科学依据,可以确保生态、社会、经济可持续发展。     

深圳市基本生态控制线划定对生态系统服务价值的影响

基于深圳市2002、2005和2010年的土地变更调查数据,分析了基本生态控制线划定前后深圳市土地利用面积变化特征,运用基于单位面积价值当量因子的方法对生态系统服务价值进行评估,并采用倍差法研究了基本生态控制线政策对生态系统服务价值的影响。结果表明:2002—2010年深圳市土地利用总体呈现耕地、园地、草地和水域面积减小,建设用地面积增大,林地面积先减小后增大的趋势;该区生态系统服务价值总体减小,但基本生态控制线划定之后总价值减小的速率降低;各土地利用类型中,林地和水域是构成深圳市生态系统服务价值的主要来源,而各项生态系统服务中,水源涵养产生的价值最大;生态系统服务价值低值范围不断扩大,蚕食价值高的地区,尤其以西部沿海、宝安北部、光明新区、龙华北部以及龙岗南部地区价值降低最为明显;基本生态控制线内生态系统服务价值以中、较高为主,价值变化不明显,线外以低、较低为主,且呈现不断降低的趋势;倍差法结果表明基本生态控制线政策对生态系统服务价值的提高存在促进作用,提升幅度约为1.6%。     

植物生态化学计量内稳性特征

化学计量内稳性是生态化学计量学研究的核心概念之一,是指生物在面对外界变化的时候保持自身化学组成相对稳定的能力,其反映了生物对周围环境变化作出的生理和生化响应与适应。通过研究植物生态化学计量内稳性,有助于深入了解植物对环境的适应策略和生态适应性,以及植物化学计量内稳性与生态系统功能的关系,但目前关于植物生态化学计量内稳性的研究较少。已有的研究结果表明:不同物种或功能群由于其生长策略不同而具有不同的生态化学计量内稳性特征;同一物种的不同器官、不同生长阶段以及不同元素的内稳性存在较大的差异。该文对植物生态化学计量内稳性概念、内稳性指数的测算方法,不同植物物种或功能群、不同器官、不同生长阶段内稳性特征,以及植物内稳性与生态系统结构、功能和稳定性的关系等方面进行了综述,并结合现已开展的工作,对有待进一步拓展的相关植物生态化学计量内稳性研究领域进行了展望,以期为促进国内相关研究工作的开展提供参考。     

基于生态系统服务供需的城市群生态安全格局构建框架

近年来,生态系统服务供需失调引发了一系列问题,诸如城市热岛、生态用地流失、环境污染、生物多样性减少等生态风险问题,已成为威胁生态安全、制约社会经济可持续发展的重要因素,因此维持生态系统服务供需平衡是生态安全健康发展的保障和关键。梳理了生态系统服务评价、生态安全格局构建的研究现状,指出了存在的不足,同时构建了基于生态系统服务的城市群生态安全格局基本框架,并提出了生态安全格局未来的研究重点:城市群区域和城市内部生态系统服务的多尺度综合评价、城市功能区的划分及对生态安全的胁迫作用、生态过程与生态系统服务与生态安全的耦合、基于生态系统服务流的生态安全格局构建、模拟和优化。通过耦合社会经济数据、卫星遥感数据、城市地图大数据,评价城市内部和外部不同尺度的生态系统服务,保障城市群生态系统服务流畅通传输,实现城市群生态安全格局评价和优化。