Wetland economic valuation approaches and prospects in China

Ecosystem services valuation seeks to increase the social relevance of ecosystem characteristics, the underlying biological mechanisms that support services, by making the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being explicit. Economic valuation can help management by clarifying the full range of benefits and costs of proposed management actions. In the past two decades, economic valuation of wetland ecosystem services has become one of the most significant scientific priorities for wetland protection. In this paper, we provide an overview of ecosystem services, and summarize the main interdisciplinary approaches to measure and value wetland ecosystem services. We identified four main methodological gaps preventing progress on wetland valuation of ecosystem services in China, which are: 1) confusion on terminology like intermediate and final ecosystem services, 2) lack of ecological production functions to link ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services, 3) static valuation making it difficult to evaluate the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services, and 4) lack of clear guidance on relating ecological compensation programs to conservation targets. Overcoming these gaps is important to inform wetland compensation mechanisms and conservation policies. We propose future research on wetland ecosystem services in China should be focused on: 1) defining final ecosystem services based on beneficiary preferences and underlying biophysical mechanisms, 2) establishing wetland monitoring programs at specific sites to collect data on final ecosystem service indicators and ecosystem characteristic metrics to create ecological production functions for economic valuation and rescaling techniques, and 3) incorporating wetland ecosystem service values into decision-making processes to inform wetland management.     

Research on water resources conservation of mountain river based on the concept of region partition

Presently concepts and methods related to water resources conservation of mountain rivers are seriously insufficient,and its level is far from being adaptable to the development of a harmonious society.As mountain ecosystems play a key role in water resources conservation of mountain rivers,and the characteristics of mountain ecosystems and hydrologic features of mountain river follow strong temporal and spatial distribution,partition theory can be applied to the water resources conservation of mountain river.This theory observes the following partition principles:regional relativity,spatial continuity,integralcounty,meeting management needs,hierarchical principle,and comparability principle.And it lays equal emphasis on both water resources conservation and environmental protection,on both water quality conservation and water quantity protection,on the combination of water features,water cycle and water pollution.In the partition methods,index method and map superposition method will be applied in region partition.The example of region partition of water resources conservation in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River shows that the partition theory is practicable in water resources conservation of mountain rivers,and it provides a platform for future study in water resources conservation.     

Spatial correlation and ecological characteristics analysis of management area for biodiversity conservation and relevant regionalization

Formulation of different ecological zone plans according to the corresponding protection targets and the necessity of proper conservation policy is one of the measures to achieve the goal of ecological conservation in China.In order to clarify the interrelation among key ecological zone plans,this paper carried out the research on spatial relation of priority areas of biodiversity conservation and three key ecological areas（key ecological function areas,key regions of ecological service function,national nature reserves） and the research on ecological conditions,based on multi-scale ecological spatial theme information,which incorporates elements like ecologi-cal quality and type,and by the aid of spatial information analysis and GIS modeling.The results showed a contrastively fine spatial consistency with 68.8% of priority areas of biodiversity conservation overlapping with three key ecological areas.Although the envi-ronment in priority areas of biodiversity conservation were in good conditions,protection pressure is also increasing,powerful supervi-sion and protection should not be ignored.The environmental conditions in the overlapping areas,as a whole,were superior to those in the non-overlapping areas.Since two areas have different characteristics,targeted protection measures should be formulated based on this difference,which will be very important for biodiversity conservation in priority areas of biodiversity conservation.     

Comprehensiveness and Locality: Website Marketing of World City Governments in the Era of Globalisation

In the era of the Internet and globalisation, more and more international academics focus their attention on how city governments compete for talent, capital, and technology through website marketing to promote their economy and global status. However, 1) present research generally overlooks the importance of different types of elements in different marketing themes, 2) the combinations of marketing themes are still unknown, and 3) the presumption that the emphasised elements and specific combination of marketing themes on official websites differentiates cities requires more cases to be understood. In light of this background, this study collects homepage elements of 49 Alpha world cities' official websites and quantitatively analyses the frequency of different types of elements, the marketing content themes, and the dissimilarity of content of Chinese Alpha world cities. The results indicate that comprehensiveness and locality appear in the process of city marketing throughout official city websites. Overall, we make the following conclusions. 1) The importance of different kinds of elements significantly differs between 49 Alpha world cities. 2) Based on various combinations of elements, the marketing contents of Alpha world cities through official websites can be categorised into six themes of history and culture, government and information, construction and environment, government and living, construction and living, and general compound. 3) The marketing elements of five Chinese Alpha world cities, including Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei and Guangzhou, are different than the other 44 Alpha world cities, and Chinese cities prefer to advertise their history and culture but rarely market citizens' activities. Moreover, Chinese cities' marketing mostly targets natives while the other 44 Alpha cities target external groups, and the locality of world cities' website marketing is reinforced especially on a native language edition website. This study ultimately finds that the Chinese edition websites of five Chinese cities place more focus on introducing local historical buildings, administrative services, and internal business information than the English edition websites do.     

Regeneration and tree species diversity of Sitakund Botanical Garden and Eco-park,Chittagong, Bangladesh

Anthropogenic disturbances influence plant regeneration and species diversity, which impact the conservation status of protected areas. A study was conducted in the Sitakund Botanical Garden and Eco-park （SBGE）, Chittagong, Bangladesh to analyze the natural regeneration and tree species diversity in disturbed and less disturbed zones. Stratified and systematic random sampling was used to select 50 sample plots from each of the two zones. A total number of 109 plant species from 43 families were recorded in the study; of which 93 species were of natural origin while the rest were planted. From the species with natural origin 66 were tree species, 9 were shrub species and 28 were climbers. Species richness, density of regeneration and disturbance index in the height classes （0- 0.5 m） and {dbh 〉 6 cm） indicated significant differences between the zones. The study analyzed how disturbances affect species diversity in the area. It was found that species richness and basal area are negatively related with disturbances. Moreover, density （N/ha） of trees was more likely to decrease with increasing tree height that reflects the huge demand of local people to harvest large trees as part of their income generating activities. The study findings have implications for future managementdecisions of the SGBE. To restore these ecosystems, management should focus on both biodiversity eonservation and providing benefits to local people without hampering forest ecosystems.     

近20年来济南泉水补给区景观格局及其功能变化分析

本文以济南市泉水补给区为研究对象,利用GIS空间分析方法,在其景观变化分析的基础上,参照中国陆地生态系统的生态服务价值系数,估算了泉水补给区生态服务功能价值变化,重点分析景观变化对研究区生态服务功能的影响,进而为区域可持续发展和城市建设提供理论支持。结果表明:(1)20世纪90年代以来,泉水补给区耕地和草地景观面积呈减少趋势,林地、园地和建设用地景观面积大幅增加,其中,以林地面积增加最大;从景观类型转化看,耕地与其他景观类型相互转化较为密切,特别是与建设用地和园地之间的转化;林地面积的增加主要来源于草地和耕地;(2)泉水补给区生态服务功能价值主要由林地和耕地景观生态服务价值构成,其变化对该研究区生态服务价值变化起决定作用;从生态服务价值构成类型来看,该地区土壤形成与保护服务功能单项价值所占比重最大,约占总服务功能价值的20%;(3)90年代以来,该地区总生态服务价值呈增加趋势;从单项服务价值变化来看,水源涵养、废物处理和食物生产服务功能价值则呈现出减小趋势,其中,以水源涵养减幅最大,为4.01%,主要是由该区建设用地增加,地面硬化面积增多而引起的。研究认为,济南市南部山区作为重要的泉水补给区,其生态服务功能尤为重要,特别是水源涵养功能,因此,研究区水源涵养服务功能价值的降低应在今后南部山区开发过程中得到足够的重视与保护,逐步增加泉水补给区的整体生态效益。     

Phosphorus biogeochemical cycle research in mountainous ecosystems

Phosphorus(P),as a limiting nutrient,plays a crucial role in the mountainous ecosystem development.Its biogeochemical cycle in mountainous ecosystems determines the bioavailability and sustainable supply of P,and thus becomes a crucial process which needs to be fully understood and described for ecological and environmental conservation.However,most of research about P biogeochemical processes has been carried out in aquatic environment and agronomic field,but rare researches have been done in mountain ecosystem.In the present review,we summarize researches on P biogeochemical cycle concerning mountain ecosystem in recent decades,including rock weathering,the release,transformation and bioavailability of P,interactions between the P biological cycle and microbial and plant life,as well as the development of models.Based on the state of art,we propose the future work on this direction,including the integration of all these research,the development of a practical model to understand the P biogeochemical cycle and its bioavailability,and to provide a reference for ecological and environmental conservation of mountainous ecosystems and lowland aquatic systems.     

基于改进Markov-CA模型的黄土高原土地利用多情景模拟

土地利用/覆被的时空变化研究能为区域生态环境恢复和生态系统集成管理提供科学支持.集成Logistic回归模型、改进的Markov与FLUS模型模拟黄土高原2020-2050年3种典型情景土地利用变化.发现各情景土地利用面积变化及空间置换转移主要集中在农用地、草地和城镇用地;历史趋势延续情景下农用地减少15 205 km...     

THE CHINESE ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH NETWORK

ＴＨＥＣＨＩＮＥＳＥＥＣＯＬＯＧＩＣＡＬＲＥＳＥＡＲＣＨＮＥＴＷＯＲＫＺｈａｏＪｉａｎｐｉｎｇ（赵剑平）（ＢｕｒｅａｕｏｆＲｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｓａｎｄＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，ｔｈｅＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，Ｂｅ...     

Tourism versus nature conservation: reconciliation of common interests and objectives——an analysis through Picos de Europa National Park

Nature tourism and particularly tourism in national parks have acquired significant importance in contemporary societies. Post-Fordist consumers have reevaluated the meanings of ‘nature' and ‘natural spaces' and now avoid standardization to seek singularity. Tourism in national parks is a consequence of this tendency and has both positive and negative aspects. The purpose of this sociological research is to describe the most relevant conflicts in the Picos de Europa National Park(Spain) involving the park's conservation, local economic development,and tourism. Seven in-depth interviews and three focus groups were addressed to key local stakeholders.In this research were identified three chief areas of existing or potential inter-related conflicts and the main actors interacting with them. The first is on population, particularly, the negative consequences of depopulations on the local socio-economic development and the environment. A second source of conflicts identified is caused by the difficult conciliation between commercial exploitation and conservation of the protected natural area. More precisely, this specific form of tourism positively contributes to the economy of local communities whilst problems can arise for the conservation goals of National Parks. Thirdly, in this research is also analyzed the institutional governance and the inter and intra-governmental conflicts as well as with the Park's management body. These findings provide important information for the improved management of tourism and conflicting interests in natural parks.     

Ecohydrology from Concepts to On-ground Actions： Report of Special Side Event on Ecohydrology--An Interdisciplinary Challenge, January 5-7, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand

International Hydrological Programme Ⅶ (IHP-Ⅶ) directs the research objectives of hydrologists all over the world from 2008 to 2013. As a key programme contributed to the IHP Ⅶ, UNESCO's Ecohydrology Programme (EHP) has evolved into a trans-disciplinary scientific programme to analyze dynamic relationships between hydrological, social and ecological systems. Twenty international experts from 12 countries were invited by UNESCO to attend the side event on "Ecohydrology--An Interdisciplinary Challenge" in Bangkok, Thailand. It aimed to synthesize knowledge gaps for addressing issues related to critical water systems. This event focused on how better knowledge of the interrelationships between the hydrological cycle, livelihoods and ecosystems could be contributed to more cost-effective and environmental-friendly management. The five themes of the event with 20 keynote lectures were given as fellows.     

一种基于移动窗口的城市绿度遥感度量方法

针对城市绿度空间分布特征难以描述且合理性难以度量的问题,在基于多光谱遥感数据和激光雷达数据（LiDAR）获取高精度城市建筑物与绿地信息的基础上,本文提出一种基于移动窗口的城市绿度遥感度量方法。其通过遍历研究区像元,建立了移动窗口内的城市绿地面积与固定窗口面积之间的关系,计算了中心像元的绿度指数,并与传统的格网法、缓冲区法进行了比较。研究结果表明：该方法建立的绿度指数,能很好地反映城市居民在区域内接触城市绿地的概率及其空间分布特征,与格网法和缓冲区法相比,有效避免了格网法产生的边缘效应,并解决了缓冲区法空间不连续性的问题,实现了区域范围内任意点的城市绿度度量。该方法为城市绿地度量、城市规划、管理提供了一种新视角。     

Changes in ecosystem service of soil conservation between 2000 and 2010 and its driving factors in southwestern China

Human activities significantly alter ecosystems and their services; however, quantifying the impact of human activities on ecosystems has been a great challenge in ecosystem management. We used the Universal Soil Loss Equation and county-level socioeconomic data to assess the changes in the ecosystem service of soil conservation between 2000 and 2010, and to analyze its spatial characteristics and driving factors in the southwestern China. The results showed that cropland in the southwestern China decreased by 3.74%, while urban land, forest, and grassland areas increased by 46.78%, 0.86%, and 1.12%, respectively. The soil conservation increased by 1.88 × 10~(11) kg, with deterioration only in some local areas. The improved and the degraded areas accounted for 6.41% and 2.44% of the total land area, respectively. Implementation of the Sloping Land Conversion Program and urbanization explained 57.80% and 23.90% of the variation in the soil conservation change, respectively, and were found to be the main factors enhancing soil conservation. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was one of the factors that led to the degradation of soil conservation. Furthermore, industrial adjustment, by increasing shares of Industry and Service and reducing those of Agriculture, has also promoted soil conservation. Our results quantitatively showed and emphasized the contributions to soil conservation improvement made by implementing ecological restoration programs and promoting urbanization. Consequently, these results provide basic information to improve our understanding of the effects of ecological restoration programs, and help guide future sustainable urban development and regional industrial restructuring.     

Simulating net carbon budget of forest ecosystems and its response to climate change in northeastern China using improved FORCCHN

As dominant biomes,forests play an important and indispensable role in adjusting the global carbon balance under climate change.Therefore,there are scientific and political implications in investigating the carbon budget of forest ecosystems and its response to climate change.Here we synthesized the most recent research progresses on the carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems,and applied an individual-based forest ecosystem carbon budget model for China(FORCCHN) to simulate the dynamics of the carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems in the northeastern China.The FORCCHN model was further improved and applied through adding variables and modules of precipitation(rainfall and snowfall) interception by tree crown,understory plants and litter.The results showed that the optimized FORCCHN model had a good performance in simulating the carbon budget of forest ecosystems in the northeastern China.From 1981 to 2002,the forests played a positive role in absorbing carbon dioxide.However,the capability of forest carbon sequestration had been gradually declining during the the same period.As for the average spatial distri-bution of net carbon budget,a majority of the regions were carbon sinks.Several scattered areas in the Heilongjiang Province and the Liaoning Province were identified as carbon sources.The net carbon budget was apparently more sensitive to an increase of air temperature than change of precipitation.     

Land use scenario simulation of mountainous districts based on Dinamica EGO model

Mountainous area makes up 22% of global land, and rational land use in this area is important for sustainable development. Mentougou district has been positioned as an ecological conservation development zone of Beijing and significant land use changes have taken place since 2004. With the combination of GIS and Dinamica EGO(Environment for Geoprocessing Objects) model, the quantitative structure and spatial distribution of land use in Mentougou from 2006 to 2014 are analyzed in this paper. Considering topography has influence on the action mode of driving factors, the research area is divided into two parts based on elevation, mountainous area above 300 m, plain and shallow mountainous area below 300 m. Based on cellular automata theory, the probability of land use change is calculated by Weights of Evidence method and the spatial distribution of land use is simulated by means of two complementary spatial transition functions: Expander and Patcher. Land use pattern of Menougou in 2030 for three kinds of scenarios: trend development, rapid development and ecological protection are simulated. The comparison shows that the trend development scenario is more reasonable based on social, economic and environmental considerations and other scenarios provide a reference for improving irrational land use.     

Comparison and effects of different climate-vegetation models in areas of complex terrain under climate change

Identifying the impacts of climate change is important for conservation of ecosystems under climate change, particularly in mountain regions. Holdridge life zone system and K?ppen classification provide two effective methods to assess impacts of climate change on ecosystems, as typical climate-vegetation models. Meanwhile, these previous studies are insufficient to assess the complex terrain as well as there are some uncertainties in results while using the given methods. Analysis of the impacts of the prevailing climate conditions in an area on shifts of ecosystems may reduce uncertainties in projecting climate change. In this study, we used different models to depict changes in ecosystems at 1 km × 1 km resolution in Sichuan Province, China during 1961–2010. The results indicate that changes in climate data during the past 50 years were sufficient to cause shifts in the spatial distribution of ecosystems. The trend of shift was from low temperature ecosystems to high temperature ecosystems. Compared with K?ppen classification, the Holdridge system has better adaptation to assess the impacts of climate change on ecosystems in low elevation(0–1000 m). Moreover, we found that changed areas in ecosystems were easily affected by climate change than unchanged areas by calculating current climate condition.     

Spatial and Temporal Changes of Wetlands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from the 1970s to 2010s

Wetlands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) perform a dazzling array of vital ecological functions and are one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world. Timely and accurate information describing wetland resources and their changes over time is becoming more important in their protection and conservation. By using remote sensing data, this study intended to investigate spatial distribution and temporal variations of wetlands on the QTP at different watershed scales from 1970s to 2010s. Results show that wetlands on the QTP have undergone widespread degradation from 1970s to 2010s, with nearly 6.4% of their area being lost. Areas of freshwater marsh, salt marsh and wet meadow declined by 46.6%, 53.9% and 15.6%, respectively, while lake area increased by 14.6%. The most extensive losses of natural wetlands have occurred in endorheic basins, such as in the Kunlun-Altun-Qilian Drainage Basin and Qiangtang Basin, which shrank by 44.5% and 33.1%, respectively. A pronounced increase in temperature tends to facilitate the evaporation process and reduce water availability for wetlands. One-third of the wetlands on the QTP are under threat of being submerged due to lakes rising in recent years. More research is needed to gain insight into the interaction mechanisms behind observed variations and potential impacts from further warming in the future.     

基于中轴变换算法的室内外一体化导航路网自动生成方法

室内外一体化导航路网的快速生成与更新对面向行人的跨场景导航具有重要意义。当前研究主要关注单一场景下的导航路网构建,对于跨室内外场景的导航路网自动生成研究较少。本文基于对偶图思想与二维平面多边形中轴变换（Medial Axis Transform）算法,提出一种室内外一体化导航路网自动生成方法,并以某建筑CAD平面图及周边路网环境为基础数据进行了实例研究。结果表明：该方法能够根据原始数据的几何、拓扑、语义信息自动构建导航路网,并支持室内外跨场景的最短路径查询,在最短路径查询效率上较传统分场景寻路模型整体提升10.18%;相较单一场景下的导航路网,一体化导航路网可结合语义信息将室内及室外导航路网有机统一起来,解决跨场景寻求最优路径的问题,为最优路径规划的相关研究提供了新的思路。     

2010-2015年中国生物多样性保护优先区域人类干扰程度评估

生物多样性是人类赖以生存与发展的基础。中国生物多样性保护优先区域集中分布着中国绝大多数的生物物种,如何保护好这些区域的生态系统和生物多样性,是实现可持续发展急需解决的问题。本文基于2010年和2015年的2期土地利用/覆被数据,应用人类干扰指数,分析了中国生物多样性保护优先区域人类干扰的程度及变化。结果表明：① 2015年中国生物多样性保护优先区域人类干扰程度以微度和轻度为主,15个优先区处于微度干扰,占优先区总面积的84.10%,13个处于轻度干扰,占优先区总面积的6.65%;华北平原黄土高原区和华东华中丘陵平原区人类干扰程度较高,而西南高山峡谷区、蒙新高原荒漠区和青藏高原高寒区人类干扰程度很低;② 2010-2015年,占优先区总面积84.54%的区域人类干扰程度基本持衡,人类干扰程度发生增加和下降的面积大致冲抵,生物多样性保护优先区域整体变化不大,华南低山丘陵区和东北山地平原区人类干扰程度较高,且升幅超过1%,华北平原黄土高原区降幅最大,为0.15%;③ 人类干扰程度较高且变化幅度大的区域,主要受经济发展对生态系统干扰及土地利用程度加深的影响,对农田、居民点及工矿交通用地的需求增加,退耕还林等部分生态工程实施有利于减少人类对生态系统的干扰程度。总体上看,全国32个生物多样性保护优先区域整体上人类干扰程度较低且变化幅度较小,且人类干扰程度高的区域分布较集中,说明国家生态保护各项政策与措施的实施对生物多样性保护起到了良好的促进作用,有利于生物多样性的保护。     

Optimizing hotspot areas for ecological planning and management based on biodiversity and ecosystem services

The significance of biodiversity and ecosystem services are gradually recognized by human as an approach towards sustainability, so it is important to understand relationships and congruence between them to support conservation planning, especially in the hotspot areas with a prominent role in conservation. However, the management of most conservation hotspots mainly focused on biodiversity, and rarely concerned with ecosystem services. With the aim of proposing criteria for conservation strategies that contribute to the optimization of biodiversity and ecosystem services, in this study, a Geographic Information System(GIS)-based approach was designed to estimate and map the biodiversity and ecosystem services in Chongqing Municipality of China. Furthermore, the distributions of hotspot areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services were mapped based on the relationship between cumulative ecosystem services and areas. Finally the statistical analysis was processed focused on specific conservation objectives. The results showed that hotspot areas can conserve the most biodiversity but with the least ecosystem services under the conservation plans target to biodiversity conservation. In contrast, depending on the ecosystem services of interest, hotspot areas can conserve the largest ecosystem services but with the least biodiversity. By integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into conservation plan, we found that the conservation and regeneration of these small areas, would contribute to a conservation of 44% of the biodiversity hotspot and 14%–42% of the ecosystem services hotspot. Moreover, the current nature reserve selection was not maximize the biodiversity and ecosystem services compared to integration strategy, indicating that hotspot areas conservation and selection is vital for optimization protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and has practical significance for natural resources and ecosystem management.