Identifying important ecosystem service areas based on distributions of ecosystem services in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, China

Abstract

Water conservation, soil conservation, biodiversity importance, and sandstorm prevention are important ecosystem services (ES) and the core challenges to sustainable economic and societal development in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region. Using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and observation data, we identified high-value ES areas in the BTH region. The high-value ES areas were mainly found in the northern and southwestern parts of the region, like the Yanshan Mountain Range and the Taihang Mountain Range. The ecosystem in the northern mountains is dominated by forest and grassland, and generally provides more valuable ES than does the eastern agricultural plain. Greater species richness was mainly found in the northern mountains with low human activity intensity. Due to its proximity, the Yanshan Mountain Range is critical to the health of the local ecosystem of Beijing. High biodiversity was present in the vicinity of the national nature reserves. Compared with other regions of China, changes in the BTH region are highly intense. Reinforcement of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration in areas with a high degree of ES in the BTH region are capable of effectively improving habitat quality and regional ES.

Identifying and optimizing key areas provide insights for landscape ecological planning: A case study in Guangxi, China

“…provides(HP) is obtained by InVEST model and species conservation value per unit area respectively(Cheng et al 2022, Chinese 2020. The calculated values of WCS, SCS, C/O and HP in Guangxi are 16233.790 billion yuan, 3612.812 billion yuan, 1554.244 billion yuan and 2370.524 billion yuan, accounting for 68.3%, 15.2%, 6.5% and 10.9% respectively.…”