Spatiotemporal Variation Characteristics of Ecosystem Service Losses in the Agro-Pastoral Ecotone of Northern China

Abstract

Being subject to climate change and human intervention, the land-use pattern in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northern China has undergone complex changes over the past few decades, which may jeopardize the provision of ecosystem services. Thus, for sustainable land management, ecosystem services should be evaluated and monitored. In this study, based on Landsat TM/ETM data, we quantitatively evaluated the losses of ecosystem service values (ESV) in three sections of the agro-pastoral ecotone from 1980–2015. The results were as follows: (1) the main characteristic of the land conversions was that a large area of grassland was converted into cultivated land in the agro-pastoral ecotone; (2) on the spatial scale, the ESV losses of the agro-pastoral ecotone can be called an “inclined surface” in the direction of the northeast to southwest, and the northeastern section of the agro-pastoral ecotone lost more ESV than the middle and northwest sections (p < 0.05), on the temporal scale, the order of losses was 1990–2000 > 1980–1990 > 2000–2015; (3) the agro-pastoral ecotone lost more ESV, which was mainly due to four kinds of land conversion, which were grassland that was transformed into cultivated land, grassland transformed into unused land, grassland transformed into built-up areas, and cultivated land transformed into built-up areas; (4) although these land conversions were curbed after the implementation of protection policies at the end of the 1990s, due to reduced precipitation and increasing temperatures, the agro-pastoral ecotone will face a more severe situation in the future; and, (5) during the period of 1990–2015, the overall dynamic processes of increasing population gradually expanded to the sparsely populated pastoral area. Therefore, we believe that human interventions are the main cause of ecological deterioration in the agro-pastoral ecotone. This study provides references for fully understanding the regional differences in the ecological and environmental effects of land use change and it helps to objectively evaluate ecological civilization construction in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northern China.

Detecting Vegetation Variations and Main Drivers over the Agropastoral Ecotone of Northern China through the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition Method

“…In China, the APEs area spans throughout the whole mainland from northeast to southwest, covering 13.35% of China's land area (1.29 million km 2 ), with residential populations and grain yield accounting for 4.68% (59.30 million) and 7.98% of the total population and grain yield of China, respectively [3]. Therefore, the arid and semiarid agropastoral ecotone of northern China (hereafter APENC) is a typical ecologically transitional zone (largest in area and the longest in spatial scale), which effectively prevents the desert in the northwest from spreading south and east [4]. Therefore, the APENC is a crucial ecological barrier for ecological security and a primary area for social and economic development in China.…”

Effects of Urbanization on Ecosystem Services in the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration, in China: The Case of Weifang City

“…The Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research provided the gross domestic production (GDP) and population data of 1-km grids. In these datasets, many factors closely related to GDP and population, such as land use type, light intensity values at night, and densities of residential areas, were comprehensively considered [10,31].…”

“…2021, 5, 54 2 of 16 economic and social development [9]. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reported that 15 of 24 ecosystem services worldwide showed a tendency toward degradation in the last half century [10,11]. Owing to human interference, the provision of ecosystem services decreased by 60% over this time period [12].…”

Recognition of Landscape Key Areas in a Coal Mine Area of a Semi-Arid Steppe in China: A Case Study of Yimin Open-Pit Coal Mine

“…The ESV is an estimate of ecosystem services and natural capital using economic laws. Costanza's approach to estimating ESV is widely used [32,48]. As land use pattern is the most important factor in the supply of ecosystem services, we utilized the Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI remote sensing data to assess changes in ESV over temporal and spatial scales.…”

“…The biomass-based ESV adjustment method is shown in formula (4), with a correction factor of 0.44 for determining grassland biomass in Inner Mongolia [49]. Nine indicators of ESV were selected and divided into four categories [48]: supply service (food supply, raw supply); regulation service (atmospheric regulation, climate regulation, hydrological regulation, waste disposal, and soil conservation); support service (biodiversity); and cultural service (landscape aesthetics) [50].…”