Ecosystem Service Response to Human Disturbance in the Yangtze River Economic Belt: A Case of Western Hunan, China

Abstract

Ecosystem conservation is one of the core elements of sustainable development. Studying the relationship between human disturbance and the ecosystem service value (ESV) change is an urgent need for the future. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is one of the key economic strategies implemented by the Chinese government and is also a demonstration zone for ecological conservation. Western Hunan is an important ecological barrier in the Yangtze basin where different ethnic groups live together and various cultures coexist. In this study, using land-use data and spatial analysis modeling, the changes in the ecosystem service value at five topographic gradients were evaluated. Human disturbance and its spatial correlation with the ecosystem service value from 1990 to 2015 were also investigated. The results demonstrated the following: (1) the proportional area of forestland and grassland increased as the topographic gradient index increased and other types of land-use gradually decreased; (2) The ecosystem service value at middle gradients increased over the study period; but ESV of the lowest topographic gradient showed a significant decline and a substantial decrease, as well as a terrain index under 0.7970; (3) The spatial analysis of human disturbance showed that more than 90% of intense human disturbance was distributed in the area of the lowest topographic gradient where topographic features were low-altitude and low-slope, and little human disturbance was scattered at other gradients; (4) There was a significant spatial aggregation distribution between the ecosystem service value and human disturbance in western Hunan, the high disturbance and low ESV aggregation was mainly distributed in Loudi City, the area east of Shaoyang City and Zhangjiajie City all belonged to the lowest topographic gradient, and the low–high and high–high aggregations were mainly distributed in Huaihua City and Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Population density and gross domestic product were the main driving factors, while topography was the main ecological factor. This study could provide additional spatial information and theoretical guidance for ecosystem service management for sustainable development in western Hunan, China.

Effects of Environment and Human Activities on Plant Diversity in Wetlands along the Yellow River in Henan Province, China

“…The vast river floodplain in this section has been developed into grazing sites and cultivated land for planting corn, wheat, and other field crops [55,56]. Previous results have indicated that frequent human activities, to some extent, adversely affect the wetland plant diversity of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in China [57][58][59].…”

Green Infrastructure Offset the Negative Ecological Effects of Urbanization and Storing Water in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

“…NPP is mainly determined by the ecosystem structure, such as the configuration of vegetation [10] and the horizontal and vertical distributions of forests [11]. Many factors such as climate change [12,13], land use transition [14], and human disturbance [15] would change the ecosystem structures, which driving terrestrial NPP dynamics at various spatial scales. Therefore, it is vital to characterize and quantify the spatiotemporal variations of NPP as a result of various driving forces for land use planning and ecosystem regulation.…”