Hidden Loss of Wetlands in China

Xu, Weihua; Fan, Xinyue; Ma, Jia; Pimm, Stuart L.; Kong, Lingqiao; Zeng, Yuan; Li, Xiaosong; Xiao, Yi; Zheng, Hua; Liu, Jianguo; Wu, Bingfang; An, Li; Zhang, Lu; Wang, Xiaoke; Ouyang, Zhiyun

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.053

Cited by 109 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In contrast to previous reports showing rapid wetland loss in China over earlier decades [7], Xu and colleagues [6] found a small net increase in total wetland acreage in China from 2000 to 2015 (Figure 2). At first glance, this appears to be good news, and it may mean that recent conservation efforts have prevented further wetland loss and should be considered to be successful if 'no net loss' were the goal of wetland conservation.…”

contrasting

confidence: 89%

“…To halt wetland loss, the 'no net loss' policy has been popularized and implemented in many countries. In a recent study in Current Biology, Weihua Xu and colleagues [6] assess if this policy is sufficient for wetland conservation in China.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To test this and if the 'no net loss' policy can be an appropriate target for wetland conservation in China, Xu and colleagues [6] used remote sensing-based land cover data to analyze changes in wetland area in China between 2000 and 2015 [6]. They considered all types of wetlands, grouped into three broad classes: marshes, lakes plus reservoirs (including aquaculture ponds; Figure 1A), and rivers.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They considered all types of wetlands, grouped into three broad classes: marshes, lakes plus reservoirs (including aquaculture ponds; Figure 1A), and rivers. Xu and colleagues [6] further investigated the drivers of wetland loss and gain between 2000 and 2015 and estimated the proportions of wetlands converted into agricultural lands, urban areas, and other ecosystems. They also estimated the contributions of climate change, dam construction and wetland restoration projects to gains in wetlands by locating regions and sites where wetland changes were known to be primarily, though not entirely, driven by these factors.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Conservation: ‘No Net Loss’ of Wetland Quantity and Quality

2019

Current Biology

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Biological communities are assembling, reassembling , and changing worldwide. How will shifts in community composition alter ecosystem functioning? New research shows that earthworms alter community composition and 52% of measured functions, an important step toward understanding changes in whole ecosystem performance. On a global scale, biodiversity is declining due to habitat destruction and human impacts on the environment [1-3]. At much smaller spatial scales in remaining habitats, the number and types of species that are able to coexist influence the functioning of ecosystems. A central challenge is to understand how changes in community composition will alter ecosystem functioning. Historically, ecologists have devoted a lot of attention to understanding how species interactions influence

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confidence: 89%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Conservation: ‘No Net Loss’ of Wetland Quantity and Quality

2019

Current Biology

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“…Tourism development inevitably had an impact on the natural environment, resulting in the increase of construction land. The warming climate caused glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to melt, and retreat was a reason for an increased water body area [61]. Furthermore, relevant national eco-environmental protection projects, including the cessation of artificial drainage and building dams to preserve water, are playing an important role in water conservation and supply [57].…”

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confidence: 99%

Land Use Changes in the Zoige Plateau Based on the Object-Oriented Method and Their Effects on Landscape Patterns

et al. 2019

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Land use/land cover change (LUCC) is the most direct driving force of landscape pattern change. The Zoige Plateau is a natural ecosystem with the largest high-altitude swamp wetland in China and its land use pattern has undergone great changes in recent years, but how the changes of each land use type affect the landscape pattern is uncertain. Here, we used the object-oriented method to extract land use information in 2015. Then, combined with land use data, the land use change characteristics from 2000 to 2015 were analyzed. We used the correlation analysis method to analyze the effects of land use changes on landscape pattern systematically. Three key conclusions were reached. (1) Land use information for the Zoige Plateau could be extracted with high accuracy by combining the object-oriented method and support vector machine (SVM). The overall accuracy was 93.2% and the Kappa coefficient was 0.889. (2) The comprehensive dynamic degree of land use was the highest from 2010 to 2015. From 2000 to 2015, the wetland area decreased the fastest because 57.05% of the wetlands were transferred out. Construction land increased the fastest, and the transferred in area from grassland and farmland were the main reason. (3) The effects of unused land, farmland, and construction land on the overall landscape pattern were stronger than that of the other types, among which farmland had the most significant impact (with a correlation coefficient of 0.959, p < 0.001). The change of unused land was the most highly significant factor associated with the landscape area pattern, and both the water body and unused land showed strong correlations with landscape shape pattern change. This suggested that the effects of land use types occupying a relatively small area on the landscape pattern were intensified. This study will provide guidance for the environmental management of local land resources and other natural ecosystem areas.

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Wetland ecosystem health improvement from ecological conservation and restoration offset the decline from socio‐economic development

et al. 2022

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In response to wetland degradation due to socio-economic development, attention to ecological conservation and restoration is increasing globally. In China, more than 1100 wetland conservation and restoration projects were implemented over the past decade. However, the net effects of socio-economic development and ecological conservation and restoration on ecosystem health have received little empirical examination. We analyzed the spatial-temporal dynamics of ecosystem health in Hengshui Lake Wetland Nature Reserve in northern China, and demonstrated the dual effect of the above-mentioned factors on ecosystem health. The results indicated that ecosystem health increase due to conservation and restoration offset the decrease due to socio-economic development, which resulted in a significant increase in the net value by 34.6% over the past 19 years. Wetland conservation and restoration dominated ecosystem health improvement in most study regions, while population growth determined the decrease in ecosystem health in residential regions and transportation land, thus intensifying the spatial heterogeneity. Crucially, targeted and practical conservation strategies have been provided according to the low index and regions, together with its main driving factors. The net effects, spatial heterogeneity and management strategies revealed by this case-study provide critical implications for large-scale wetland ecosystems that are pervasive degradation induced by socio-economic development.

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Hidden Loss of Wetlands in China

Cited by 109 publications

References 30 publications

Conservation: ‘No Net Loss’ of Wetland Quantity and Quality

Conservation: ‘No Net Loss’ of Wetland Quantity and Quality

Land Use Changes in the Zoige Plateau Based on the Object-Oriented Method and Their Effects on Landscape Patterns

Wetland ecosystem health improvement from ecological conservation and restoration offset the decline from socio‐economic development

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