Abstract
With increasing anthropogenic influences in the biosphere, the nature is gradually being encroached by human activities, which affect its capacity of providing ecosystem services. In this study, we took the Yanhe Watershed of China as a study area to valuate ecosystem services and their human driving mechanisms. Net primary production (NPP), carbon sequestration & oxygen production (CSOP), water conservation, soil conservation, and grain production were selected for ecosystem services. A quantitative human activity index (HAI) was formulated based on human population, farmland ratio, road networks, and residential areas. Landscape metrics were also used to quantify the land use change.
The results showed that, except the grain production, the regulating and supporting ecosystem services increased from 2000 to 2008, which demonstrated a conflict of tradeoffs. Spatially, ecosystem services showed conspicuous spatial patterns. Correlation analysis showed that soil conservation and water conservation are closely linked. HAI decreased from 2000 to 2008 with the center area decreased more than the peripheral area. Correlations analysis showed that the decreasing HAI significantly improved the soil and water conservation.
The landscape metrics analysis showed that watershed had a fragmentation tendency, simplification in shape, and enhanced patch connectiveness. For individual land use types, cropland had a strong tendency of fragmentation; grassland had an anti-fragmentation tendency; while forest didn’t vary greatly.
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Su, C., Fu, B. (2014). Vision and Possibilities in Ecosystem Services of a Cultural Landscape: A Case Study in the Yanhe Watershed. In: Hong, SK., Bogaert, J., Min, Q. (eds) Biocultural Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8941-7_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8941-7_11
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