Use of ecosystem information derived from forest thematic maps for spatial analysis of ecosystem services in northwestern Spain

A clear link between ecosystem services (ES) and human well-being has been established in the recent decades. Thus, forests are recognised as extremely important ecosystems in relation to their capacity to provide goods and services to society. Nevertheless, this capacity greatly depends on the type of forest and on the management applied. Some types of data often used for this type of analysis, such as land use/land cover maps produced for general purposes, are not always appropriate for representing forest ecosystems and the services they offer. In this study, we used a forest map (Spanish National Forest Map: scale 1:25,000) and information describing composition and structure to assess six services closely associated with forest ecosystems in a forest-dominated zone of northwestern Spain on a regional scale. The following ES were considered: provision of food (basically fruits), provision of materials (timber and pulp), provision of biomass for energy (firewood), climate regulation (carbon storage by above-ground biomass), erosion regulation (protection against erosion), and cultural (recreational use and nature tourism). By combining information about tree species and cover with forest harvest data and other statistics, we established representative spatial models for the six ES representing different categories of the potential supply of each one. The six models were analysed by different methods (Spearman’s correlation, Moran’s I and Getis-Ord Gi*), enabling detection of hotspots and coldspots and the characteristic spatial scales for ES supply. The combined use of highly detailed map data, nonspatial databases and spatial analysis yielded accurate ES supply assessment.     

From instantaneous to continuous: Using imaging spectroscopy and in situ data to map two productivity-related ecosystem services

Spatially well-informed decisions are essential to sustain and regulate processes and ecosystem services (ES), and to maintain the capacity of ecosystems to supply services. However, spatially explicit ES information is often lacking in decision-making, or exists only as ES maps based on categorical land cover data. Remote sensing (RS) opens new pathways to map ES, in particular biophysical ES supply. We developed an observation-based concept for spatially explicit and continuous ES mapping at landscape scale following the biophysical part of the ES cascade. We used Earth observations in combination with in situ data to map ecosystem properties, functions, and biophysical ES supply. We applied this concept in a case study to map two ES: carbon dioxide regulation and food supply. Based on Earth observations and in situ data, we determined the ecosystem property Sun-Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) to indicate ecosystem state and applied scaling models to estimate gross primary production (GPP) as indicator for ecosystem functioning and consequently carbon dioxide regulation and food supply as ES.Resulting ES maps showed heterogeneous patterns in ES supply within and among ecosystems, which were particularly evident within forests and grasslands. All investigated land cover classes were sources of CO₂, with averages ranging from ‐66 to ‐748 g C m^‐2 yr^‐1, after considering the harvest of total above ground biomass of crops and the storage organ, except for forest being a sink of CO₂ with an average of 105 g C m^‐2 yr^‐1. Estimated annual GPP was related to food supply with a maize grain yield average of 9.5 t ha^‐1 yr^‐1 and a sugar beet root yield of 110 t ha^‐1 yr^‐1. Validation with in situ measurements from flux towers and literature values revealed a good performance of our approach for food supply (relative RMSE of less than 23%), but also some over- and underestimations for carbon dioxide regulation. Our approach demonstrated how RS can contribute to spatially explicit and continuous ES cascade mapping and suggest that this information could be useful for environmental assessments and decision-making in spatial planning and conservation.     

基于矩阵分析的水文调节服务供需关系时空分异研究——以嘉兴市为例

生态系统服务供需关系的识别、度量、空间化分析对自然资源合理配置有重要的意义。以嘉兴市为研究区,以2005年Landsat7 ETM+影像和2015年Landsat8 OLI传感器影像为数据源,采用生态系统服务供需关系矩阵法,分析嘉兴市水文调节服务供给能力与需求水平的时空分异特征。结果表明:(1)2005—2015年10年间,嘉兴市处于快速城市化阶段,土地利用变化明显,建设用地显著增加,水域、水田面积有所增加,旱地、园地、林地大量减少。(2)土地利用变化是影响水文调节服务供需关系的主要因素,研究发现嘉兴市大部分地区水文调节服务处于供不应求的状态。(3)随着建设用地的不断扩张,导致水文调节服务供需矛盾加剧,供不应求区域由中心城区向城市边缘区扩大。(4)水文调节服务需求区域的变化与人类活动密切相关,供给区域受制于自然环境的数量与质量,生态系统服务供给与需求存在错位,促进了生态系统服务流的产生,并需要政策引导。     

Interactions between changes in land cover and potential of ecosystem services in Lithuania at temporal and spatial scale

The growing interest in ecosystem services is mainly related to land use changes. The aim of the study is to analyse spatial-temporal changes in the capacity to supply of ES in Lithuania based on land use changes in 1990–2018. The results show some balance between loss and gains of ecosystem services capacity due to land use changes. Decrease in heterogenous agricultural areas had negative impact on provision of ecosystem integrity and services. Considerable increase in scrubland and herbaceous vegetation areas significantly increased the ecosystem service potential. The conversion of former agricultural land to less intensively managed ecosystems enhance the potential of valuable habitats for biodiversity and ecosystem services associated with natural grasslands, moors and heathland, transitional woodland shrubs. The urbanization process along with increase in urban fabric areas had little effect on ESs potential since artificial vegetated areas had compensated the loss of ESs due to increased areas of urbanized ecosystems. Despite the area of open spaces slightly increased, this led to decrease of provision of ESs. Temporal changes in overall ESs capacity indicated an increase in Lithuania over the last two decades. Given the observed dynamic context of land cover, the structure of ecosystem services may face potential threats from land use change due to urban development and agricultural activities.     

Implications of land cover change on ecosystems services and people’s dependency: A case study from the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve,Nepal

Protected areas, a corestone of biodiversity conservation, provide a vast array of ecosystem services to support livelihoods of people. However, protected areas, especially freshwater, are under threat with overexploitation of resources changing the land covers and degrading their capacity to supply services. Information on land cover changes and its implications on ecosystems, its services and people, especially in developing countries at a local scale, is largely absent. This study, therefore, seeks to understand people's dependency on ecosystem services and implications of land cover change on ecosystem services and people, with a case study in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve of Nepal. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, our findings show high dependency of the locals on a vast array of ecosystem services provided by the reserve. More than half of the sampled households were found to directly derive income from ecosystem services of the reserve. However, land cover changes especially declines in forest (16%), swamps/marshes (4%), rivers (14%) and other ecosystems over a period of 34-years impacted the provision of ecosystem services and people’s dependency notably. The services from forests declined by about 94%, swamps services by 36% and services from river by 57% which were reported to be the high service suppliers. People's dependency, as perceived by the locals, was reduced by 67% over the last ten years. The study highlighting the supply, demand and implications on ecosystem services and people helped to better understand the complex interaction between humans and ecosystems. These results can be used to develop holistic approaches to restore, conserve and manage the ecosystems, and its services by balancing equal supply and demand of ecosystem services required for a self-sustaining human-environment system. It can also contribute to development of important environmental policies and programs in the area.     

湖北省兴山县移民安置区内生态系统的管理

为了安置三峡工程的移民,湖北省兴山县形成了移民安置区.天然林地的恢复和农田、城镇及村落的重建是安置区所面临的问题.移民安置区内生态系统管理的核心问题是原有土地使用方式的重新配置.提出农用土地生态系统与天然林生态系统协同发展,维持或提高生态系统水土保持能力,维持或扩大野生动物栖息地的生态系统管理目标.通过划分功能保育区、功能改建区、自然保育区和自然维持区来实现管理目标.安置区内生态系统管理是以地块为基本操作单位,通过地理信息系统和栅格化地图的方法实现的.另外,提出多目标最佳空间规划的方法,该方法兼顾了土地利用格局中生态、经济和社会诸方面利益.这一方法被用于安置区内城镇和村落格局的设计中.根据本文提出的管理方案,安置区内林地面积可以增加30.19%,生态系统水土保持能力可以提高38.7%.     

Mapping ecosystem services demand: A review of current research and future perspectives

Mapping the demand for ecosystem services (ES) has received increased attention in scientific research and is seen as a relevant tool to inform conservation planning, land use planning and management. Yet, there is a varying understanding of the concept of ES demand, which has implications on how and where ES demand is being mapped. In this paper we review the current conceptual understanding of ES demand, indicators to measure demand and the approaches used to quantify and map demand. We identified four distinct “demand types”, which relate to different ecosystem service categories. These demand types include demand expressed in terms of (1) risk reduction, (2) preferences and values, (3) direct use or (4) consumption of goods and services. Each of the demand types was linked to specific methods applied in the reviewed literature. We found that operationalization of ES demand in policy, planning and management requires a more consistent understanding and definition of ES demand, its drivers and its temporal dynamics. Furthermore, the impact of demands for multiple ecosystem services on land use change needs to be investigated. This will allow for the consideration of temporal and cross-level interactions between supply and demand of ecosystem services and its impacts in land use change modelling.     

生物多样性与生态系统服务——关系、权衡与管理

生物多样性和生态系统服务是人类生存和社会经济可持续发展的物质基础,应对生物多样性丧失和生态系统服务退化问题已经成为继气候变化之后的又一个全球性环境热点问题。生物多样性是生态系统生产力、稳定性、抵抗生物入侵以及养分动态的主要决定因素,生物多样性越高,生态系统功能性状的范围越广,生态系统服务质量就越高越稳定。目的是探讨生物多样性和生态系统服务之间的关系:(1)明确了生物多样性与生态系统过程、功能、服务之间的关系;(2)生物多样性在生态系统服务中的角色:生物多样性在不同的空间尺度通过各种形式的运行机制与生态系统服务产生联系,生物多样性是生态系统过程的调节者,是巩固生态系统服务的一个重要因素,生物多样性也是一种终极的生态系统服务,并在遗传和物种水平上直接贡献了其利益和价值;(3)生物多样性与生态系统服务权衡和协同关系的研究可以更好的帮助管理人员做出有利的决策和保护工作,也是制定规划和适应策略以减少生物多样性危机带来的不利影响的基础;(4)生物多样性与生态系统服务的关系在不同的时间和空间尺度上是不恒定的,有必要共同确定生态系统服务和生物多样性的空间格局,以有效和可持续的进行生态系统管理;(5)虽然生物多样性保护和生态系统管理还存在许多不确定性,但相关理论应该在管理、保护和恢复生态系统中发挥重要作用。研究提出了进一步研究的领域,以促进生物多样性保护和生态系统服务提供之间的协同作用。希望对相关领域的研究有所帮助。     

滇池流域水文生态系统服务权衡与协同时空异质性及其归因分析

城市化扩张影响流域水文生态系统服务供给,导致水文生态环境压力增加。明晰滇池流域水文生态系统服务权衡与协同关系及归因,对于滇池流域社会经济发展与生态可持续管理的双赢具有重要意义。基于InVEST模型估算了滇池流域2000、2010、2018年碳存储、氮输出、土壤保持和产水量4种水文生态系统服务,分析了水文生态系统服务时空格局变化,利用双变量Moran′s I指数分析了滇池流域水文生态系统服务间时空异质性,通过冗余分析和条件效应分析等方法识别水文生态系统服务归因。结果表明：(1)水文生态系统服务的高值分布与土地利用覆盖有密切关系。(2)水文生态系统服务空间变化主要体现在滇池周边人类活动干扰强烈的区域,表现为氮输出、土壤保持和产水量增加,碳存储减小。(3)水文生态系统服务权衡与协同关系变化明显。碳存储和土壤保持为协同;氮输出和产水量先呈协同后呈权衡;产水量、氮输出均与碳存储和土壤保持为权衡,前者空间变化不明显,后者协同范围扩大,权衡范围缩小。(4)水文生态系统服务主要受多个因素共同影响,主要包括：高程、耕地比例、林地比例、建设用地比例。研究结果可为研究区水文生态系统环境治理和土地利用优化配置...     

湟水流域生态系统服务供需匹配关系

生态系统服务供需可以反映出区域生态经济发展协调水平,在空间上量化生态系统服务的供给和需求,识别生态系统服务的供需匹配关系,对区域生态系统可持续管理具有重要意义。湟水流域是西北生态屏障建设的重要组成部分,其生态系统服务供需平衡直接关系到青海东部地区的生态安全,为了识别流域生态系统服务供需匹配状况,综合集成多源数据,运用多种生物物理模型定量评估湟水流域食物生产、产水、土壤保持和碳固定服务,刻画流域内生态系统服务供需格局的空间特征,揭示各项生态系统服务供需的空间聚集模式,生成具有高度连通性的区域,为生态优先保护区划分提供参考。研究表明：（1）湟水流域生态系统服务供给和需求在空间分布上具有高度异质性,除去产水服务,其他三项生态系统服务整体上能够满足流域内部需求,但局部区域仍然呈现明显的赤字特征;（2）不同生态系统服务的供需比差异明显,由高到低依次为是碳固存（0.188）、食物生产（0.114）、土壤保持（0.026）和产水服务（-0.021）,各项服务的供需比都具有显著的空间差异;（3）流域内生态系统服务供需的空间错配现象突出,除产水服务外,各项生态系统服务都有"高供给低需求"地区和"低供给高需求"地区,"高供给低需求"区主要分布在流域上游生态基底条件好的区域,"低供给高需求"区集中在流域中下游的河湟谷地;（4）土地利用类型影响生态系统服务供需平衡,流域实现供需平衡需要适度增加林草地比例,控制耕地和城市用地的扩张。研究系统分析了湟水流域生态系统服务供需盈亏状况,可为流域生态系统可持续管理与土地资源配置决策提供科学支撑。     

面向生态系统服务的森林生态系统经营:现状、挑战与展望

森林生态系统是地球陆地生态系统的主体,它具有很高的生物生产力和生物量以及丰富的生物多样性,对全球生态系统和人类经济社会发展起着至关重要和无可替代的作用。伴随着人口的不断增长和经济社会的迅猛发展,对森林资源和森林生态系统服务的需求不断高涨,而且人类对森林资源价值的认识也发生了很大程度的改变。推进森林资源可持续经营,增加森林总量、提高森林质量、增强生态功能,已成为中国林业可持续发展乃至推进中国生态文明建设和建设美丽中国的战略任务。本文全面综述了森林生态系统经营发展历程,分析了森林生态系统经营的现状和存在问题,在此基础上,提出整合基于生态系统管理与满足现代人类福祉对森林多重需求的新的森林生态系统经营理念,面向生态系统服务的森林生态系统经营理念是未来的发展趋势。森林经营发展战略表现为:1)从单纯的森林面积数量扩张,转变到提高单位面积的森林生产力和森林质量;2)从单一追求木材生产逐步转变为多目标经营,将森林林产品单一的经营目标转变为广泛的生态、经济和社会等多目标经营;3)森林经营重点从林分水平转变为森林景观的经营,强调森林景观的时空异质性和动态变化,权衡和协同多种生态系统的服务功能,倡导森林景观的多样性和连通性,提高森林与其它土地利用模式镶嵌构成的复合景观的可持续性和稳定性,增强森林生态系统对气候变化影响的适应能力;4)森林生态系统经营将从依赖传统经验的主观决策转变为信息化、数字化和智能化的决策,发展森林生态系统经营决策支持系统和森林景观恢复与空间经营规划系统。     

A multiscale analysis of ecosystem services supply in the NW Iberian Peninsula from a functional perspective

In recent years, the assessment of ecosystem services (ES) supply has been based on the use of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) data as proxies for spatial representation of ecosystems. Nevertheless, some shortcomings of this method, such as uncertainties derived from generalization of the ecosystem types and assumptions of invariance across spatial scales, indicate the need for new approaches. Such approaches could be aimed at improving knowledge of the relationships between ecosystem services and landscape structure and the spatial characteristics of ES patterns. In this study, we propose an integrative approach that involves the generation and analysis of continuous maps representing the supply of five ES potentially related to the amount of biomass. Five remote sensing images of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula, obtained with Landsat-5 TM, were used to generate a proxy for net primary production by combining the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of each image to calculate a ΣNDVI index that could act as a potential indicator of some ecosystem services. This information was combined with three variables – terrain slope, population density and occurrence of protected areas – to produce spatial models for the five ES and eventually a series of five supply maps. Food, materials and energy provision services showed a clustered pattern, with high supply values in flat zones and areas with high population densities. In contrast, mass flow and climate regulation services were more widely distributed throughout the study area. The five ecosystem service patterns were analyzed at different scales by two methods: lacunarity and four term local quadrat variance (4TLQV) analysis. These methods revealed differences in the spatial pattern: lacunarity analysis was useful for detection of scale thresholds at the local level, whereas 4TLQV was more sensitive to scale thresholds at larger spatial levels. Thus, the variance analysis yielded higher values for larger windows sizes, particularly for provisioning services. The results demonstrated the suitability of the proposed approach for the spatially explicit modeling of ecosystem services, avoiding the uncertainty of other assessments such as those based on LULC data, and for the exploratory analysis of ES supply from a spatial point of view.     

Landscape composition and configuration in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Landscape dynamics are common phenomenon in the human‐dominated environments whereby it can be observed that the composition and configuration between landscape elements change over time. This dynamism brings about habitat loss and fragmentation that can greatly alter ecosystem services at patch, class, and landscape levels. We conducted a study to examine composition and configuration of forested landscape in the central highlands of Ethiopia using satellite images of over a period of four decades, and FRAGSTAT raster dataset was used to analyze fragmentation. Our result showed five land use/land cover (LULC) types in the study area. Cultivated land and settlement land increased at the expense of forestland, shrubland, and grassland. Fragmentation analysis showed the number of patches increased for all LULC types, indicating the level of fragmentation and interspersion. Juxtaposition increased for shrubland, grassland, and cultivated lands and decreased for settlement and forestland resulting in the fragmentation and isolation of patches. The study of LULC along with fragmentation at the landscape level can help improve our understanding of the pace at which conversion of landscape elements is happening and the impacts on ecosystem services as studies of LULC are courser in nature and would not show how each land use is reducing in size, proximity and shape among other things that determine ecosystem services. Such type of studies in rural landscapes are very vital to consider appropriate land management policies for the landscape level by taking into account the interaction between each element for sustainable development. We recommend land managers, conservationists, and land owners for observing the roles of each patch in the matrix to maximize the benefits than focusing on a single element.     

海河流域森林生态系统服务功能评估

森林生态系统在流域中发挥着极其重要的生态作用,为流域发展提供着巨大的服务功能。本研究根据生态系统服务功能的内涵,建立了流域森林生态系统服务功能评价指标体系,利用市场价值法、影子工程法和生产成本法等,定量评价了海河流域森林生态系统服务功能的经济价值。结果表明：海河流域森林生态系统总价值2349.4亿元,其中直接价值358.7亿元,间接价值1990.7亿元。从不同的服务功能类型来看,其价值量大小依次为：涵养水源>固碳释氧>环境净化>提供产品>土壤保持>营养元素循环;从不同的森林类型来看,其价值量大小依次为：松柏类>灌丛>栎类>桦木类>混交林>杨树类>松杉类。但是从各种森林类型单位面积价值量来看,大小依次是：松杉类>松柏类>桦木类>混交林>栎类>杨树类>灌丛。从研究结果来看,海河流域森林生态系统服务功能价值巨大,该结果有利于加强人们对森林生态系统的认识,可以为流域生态系统管理、生态保护和生态补偿提供依据。     

Hydrological responses of a valley‐bottom wetland to land‐use/land‐cover change in a South African catchment: making a case for wetland restoration

Valley‐bottom wetlands are valuable assets as they provide many ecosystem services to mankind. Despite their value, valley‐bottom wetlands are often exploited and land‐use/land‐cover (LULC) change results in trade‐offs in ecosystem services. We coupled physically based hydrological modeling and spatial analysis to examine the effects of LULC change on water‐related ecosystem services in the Kromme catchment: an important water‐providing catchment for the city of Port Elizabeth. LULC scenarios were constructed to match 5 different decades in the last 50 years to explore the potential effects of restoring the catchment to different historic benchmarks. In the Kromme catchment, valley‐bottom wetlands have declined by 84%, driven by key LULC changes: an increase in irrigated land (307 ha) and invasion by alien trees (336 ha). If the wetlands were restored to the relatively pristine extent and condition of the 1950s, riverflow could increase by approximately 1.13 million m³/a, about 6% of the current supply to Port Elizabeth. Wetland restoration would also significantly improve the catchment's ability to absorb extreme rainfall events, decreasing flood damage. We conclude that in the face of the water scarcity in this region, all ecosystem services, particularly those related to water flow regulation, should be taken into account by decision makers in charge of land zonation. Zonation decisions should not continue to be made on the basis of provisioning ecosystem services alone (i.e. food provision or dam yield). We recommend prioritization of the preservation and restoration of valley‐bottom wetlands providing water‐related ecosystem services to settlements downstream.     

生态系统服务需求、供给和消费研究进展

生态系统服务的持续供给是社会和自然可持续发展的基础,人类通过对生态系统服务的消费来满足需求和提高自身福祉。研究人类对生态系统服务的需求、消费,分析生态系统服务的供给与需求关系,对生态系统的管理、土地发展规划和资源的合理有效配置具有重要意义。首先分析了生态系统服务需求、供给和消费的内涵与特征,辨析了生态系统服务的有效需求和潜在需求、有效供给与潜在供给,进而提出了生态系统服务需求与供给研究框架,指出应研究生态系统服务供给和需求的空间关联以及生态系统服务需求弹性差异,进而因地制宜地调控生态系统服务供给使得生态系统服务效用最大化。梳理并比较了对生态系统服务供给和需求的量化指标和研究方法,包括基于土地利用和土地覆被的生态系统服务供需关系矩阵法、生态足迹法、公众参与法、模型计算法等。提出了未来的相关研究主要应从不同群体的需求弹性差异、跨学科与多源数据结合的需求定量评估方法、供需关系的多尺度分析、生态系统服务需求与人类福祉的耦合机制拓展等方面展开,为生态系统服务调控管理和社会的可持续发展提供切实可行的科学依据。     

林地资源变化对森林生态系统服务功能的影响——以南水北调核心水源地淅川县为例

森林生态系统是人类生存与发展的基础,其服务功能不可替代。以南水北调中线工程渠首所在地淅川县为研究区,使用2004年TM、2009年TM、2014年GF1号影像等数据,在PIC、Arcgis10.0等软件支持下,分析其2004—2014年的林地资源变化,并利用InVEST模型对森林生态系统服务功能(水源涵养、水质净化和土壤保持)进行定量评估。结果表明:(1)2004—2014年县域林地资源以有林地为主,面积增长迅速,灌木林地和苗圃地面积增长缓慢,疏林地和未成林造林地面积均呈现先增后减趋势;(2)伴随林地资源变化,森林生态系统服务功能产生相应显著变化,10年间县域水源涵养量功能减少19%,森林水质净化功能提高29%,土壤保持功能增加6%;(3)同一森林类型,其生态服务功能在不同年际之间的差异表现为平均水源涵养功能逐年下降,平均水质净化能力不断提升,平均土壤保持能力先增后减;(4)对比5种森林类型的生态服务功能,有林地的服务功能最强,其次为灌木林地和疏林地;(5)10年间县域森林生态系统的水源涵养、水质净化和土壤保持服务功能的高低与森林覆被的高低程度呈正相关,呈现出北高南低的空间分布格局;(6)科学管理森林生态系统服务的关键在于合理配置林地与其他用地的分布格局,提高林地与其它用地镶嵌构成的复合土地利用的可持续性。同时加强服务功能重要区域的保护,避免对对服务功能较差区域的破坏。此外,未来森林经营需要从单纯的森林面积扩张,转变为提高森林质量和生产力,从而加强森林生态系统对气候变化影响的适应能力。     

Distinct ecosystem types respond differentially to grazing exclosure

Here, we evaluate the ecosystem functioning and the ecosystems services supply of different vegetation types (grasslands, shrublands and woodlands) under contrasting management regimes by comparing a protected area with the surrounding landscape, which has been subjected to human disturbance in the Eastern Hills of Uruguay. We propose, based on functional attributes and vegetation physiognomy, a State and Transition Model for the dynamics of the grassland–woodland mosaic. We used remote sensing techniques to: (i) develop a land‐cover map of the study area based on supervised Landsat imagery classification, and (ii) compare attributes of the ecosystem functioning (productivity and seasonality) and service supply derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images provided by the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. The land‐cover map showed that grasslands and shrublands were the most extensive land covers in the study area. These vegetation types presented higher productivity, seasonality and ecosystem service supply, outside the protected area than inside it. On the other hand, woodlands showed higher productivity, ecosystem service supply and lower seasonality inside the protected area than outside of it. Two axes represented the grassland–woodland mosaic dynamic: (i) the mean annual and (ii) the intra‐annual coefficient of variation of the NDVI. Our results highlight that conservation of grasslands, shrublands and woodlands require different management strategies based on particular disturbance regimes like moderate grazing and controlled burns. Moderate disturbances may help to preserve ecosystem services provisioning in grasslands and shrublands. On the contrary, woodland conservation requires a more rigorous regime of protection against disturbances.     

Conservation Efforts May Increase Malaria Burden in the Brazilian Amazon

Background

Large-scale forest conservation projects are underway in the Brazilian Amazon but little is known regarding their public health impact. Current literature emphasizes how land clearing increases malaria incidence, leading to the conclusion that forest conservation decreases malaria burden. Yet, there is also evidence that proximity to forest fringes increases malaria incidence, which implies the opposite relationship between forest conservation and malaria. We compare the effect of these environmental factors on malaria and explore its implications.

Methods and Findings

Using a large malaria dataset (∼1,300,000 positive malaria tests collected over ∼4.5 million km²), satellite imagery, permutation tests, and hierarchical Bayesian regressions, we show that greater forest cover (as a proxy for proximity to forest fringes) tends to be associated with higher malaria incidence, and that forest cover effect was 25 times greater than the land clearing effect, the often cited culprit of malaria in the region. These findings have important implications for land use/land cover (LULC) policies in the region. We find that cities close to protected areas (PA’s) tend to have higher malaria incidence than cities far from PA’s. Using future LULC scenarios, we show that avoiding 10% of deforestation through better governance might result in an average 2-fold increase in malaria incidence by 2050 in urban health posts.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that cost analysis of reduced carbon emissions from conservation efforts in the region should account for increased malaria morbidity, and that conservation initiatives should consider adopting malaria mitigation strategies. Coordinated actions from disparate science fields, government ministries, and global initiatives (e.g., Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation; Millenium Development Goals; Roll Back Malaria; and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), will be required to decrease malaria toll in the region while preserving these important ecosystems.     

Land management implications for ecosystem services in a South African rangeland

In South Africa, restoration and sustainable management of historically overgrazed and degraded rangelands are promoted to increase biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. This study evaluates different land management scenarios in terms of ecosystem services in a South African rangeland, the Baviaanskloof catchment. As measured data were limited, we used simple models to quantify and map the effect of the different combination of agricultural, nature conservation and restoration practices on multiple ecosystem services. The land management scenarios were evaluated against management targets set for individual ecosystem services. Results highlight how the provision of ecosystem services is related to land management as unmanaged, pristine ecosystems provide a different mix of ecosystem services than ecosystems recently restored or managed as grazing lands. Results also indicate that historically overgrazed lands provide no forage, may retain 40% less sediment and have 38% lower biodiversity, while providing 60% more fuel wood and supplying two and half times more water (i.e. retaining less water), than pristine or restored lands. We conclude that a combination of light grazing, low input agriculture, nature conservation and restoration is the best for the sufficient provision of multiple ecosystem services. Applying such mixed management would improve biodiversity, ecotourism and maintain forage production and regulating services on farmers’ land. This management option also fits into and further optimizes local decision-makers’ vision regarding the future management of the area.