Multi-functional landscapes in semi arid environments: implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services

O’Farrell, Patrick J.; Reyers, Belinda; Maitre, David C. Le; Milton, Suzanne J.; Egoh, Benis N.; Maherry, A; Colvin, Christine; Atkinson, Doreen; Lange, Willem de; Blignaut, James Nelson; Cowling, Richard M.

doi:10.1007/s10980-010-9495-9

Cited by 97 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Third, studies or models for ESSs either cover a small area (O 'Farrell et al 2010;Egoh et al 2011) or are not spatially explicit (Costanza et al 1997;Alcamo et al 2005;MA 2005). Finally, the effects of spatial and biophysical structure of the landscape, important for erosion and pollination among others (Steffan-Dewenter and Tscharntke 1999; Buis and Veldkamp 2008), and the effects of soil and climate are often overlooked (Kienast et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping ecosystem functions and services in Eastern Europe using global-scale data sets

Schulp

Alkemade

Goldewijk

et al. 2012

International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Servic

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping ecosystem functions and services in Eastern Europe using global-scale data sets

Schulp

Alkemade

Goldewijk

et al. 2012

International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Servic

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“…The results showed that China's Grain-for-Green policy improved the region's soil conservation, carbon-fixation, and grain-production functions, while its water yield decreased due to the increasing forestland areas and climate change. O'Farrell et al [24] modeled and evaluated the water, grazing, and tourism services in South Africa by comparing ecosystem service hotspots with individual biodiversity priority areas, they concluded that regional scale (biome level) approaches must be combined with local level investigations. Zedler et al [25] conducted a study on the carbon-fixation services of global wetland ecosystems and their function restoration and conducted the restoration according to local wetland conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Its Spatial Characteristics in Central Asia’s Arid Regions: A Case Study in Altay Prefecture, China

Yang

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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Ecosystem services are important foundations to realize the sustainable development of economy and society. The question of how to quantitatively evaluate ecosystem services in a scientific way is a hot topic among international researchers. Studying the spatial characteristics of ecosystem services in arid regions can provide the theoretical and practical basis for coordinating a sustainable man-land relationship. Altay Prefecture of China, a typical arid region in Central Asia, was taken as the study area. It is on the Silk Road economic belt, which is a key region in the program of developing Western China. Three ecosystem services: water yield, soil conservation, and net primary productivity were quantitatively evaluated. The results show that (1) the spatial distribution pattern has a distinct characteristic of zonality; (2) mountain zone and mountain-oasis ecotone are the hotspots of ecosystem services; and (3) the correlation between water yield and net primary productivity shows a gradual increasing trend as altitude decreases. Objective analysis from the aspect of mechanism is given by discussing the causes of this particular pattern. It is found that altitude and slope have great influence on spatial distributions of ecosystem services, zones with the most amount of services are distributed in 1.5-2 km-altitude and 15-25°-slope. Different human activities in different regions and spatial distance decay of ecosystem services also contribute to the formation of spatial pattern. Thus, overgrazing, logging and mining are prohibited in mountain zones and OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 8336 mountain-oasis ecotones. Scholars are encouraged to focus on desert-ecosystem services in the future.

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“…Mapping and modeling of ESs is an increasing field of scientific research at scales varying from landscapes [9,11] to the national scale [12,13] and globally [14,15]. As a common approach to mapping ESs, relationships between ecosystem properties and ecosystem functions (EFs) or services are quantified and applied on a map of the ecosystem properties, often based on a land use or land cover map [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of Uncertainty in Global-Scale Land Cover Maps for Mapping Ecosystem Functions: An Analysis of Pollination Efficiency

Schulp

Alkemade

2011

Remote Sensing

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Abstract:Mapping ecosystem services (ESs) is an important tool for providing the quantitative information necessary for the optimal use and protection of ecosystems and biodiversity. A common mapping approach is to apply established empirical relationships to ecosystem property maps. Often, ecosystem properties that provide services to humanity are strongly related to the land use and land cover, where the spatial allocation of the land cover in the landscape is especially important. Land use and land cover maps are, therefore, essential for ES mapping. However, insight into the uncertainties in land cover maps and how these propagate into ES maps is lacking. To analyze the effects of these uncertainties, we mapped pollination efficiency as an example of an ecosystem function, using two continental-scale land cover maps and two global-scale land cover maps. We compared the outputs with maps based on a detailed national-scale map. The ecosystem properties and functions could be mapped using the GLOBCOVER map with a reasonable to good accuracy. In homogeneous landscapes, an even coarser resolution map would suffice. For mapping ESs that depend on the spatial allocation of land cover in the landscape, a classification of satellite images using fractional land cover or mosaic classes is an asset.

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Multi-functional landscapes in semi arid environments: implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Cited by 97 publications

References 73 publications

Mapping ecosystem functions and services in Eastern Europe using global-scale data sets

Mapping ecosystem functions and services in Eastern Europe using global-scale data sets

Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Its Spatial Characteristics in Central Asia’s Arid Regions: A Case Study in Altay Prefecture, China

Consequences of Uncertainty in Global-Scale Land Cover Maps for Mapping Ecosystem Functions: An Analysis of Pollination Efficiency

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