Spatio-temporal evolution of water-related ecosystem services: Taihu Basin, China

PeerJ

article

Junyu Chen¹  Tao Cui²  Huimin Wang¹  Gang Liu³  Mat Gilfedder²  Yang Bai⁵ 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Hydrology Water Resource and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University;Land and Water, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization;Institute of Management Science, Hohai University;Coastal Development and Protection Coordination Innovation Center;Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

关键词: LULC;    Climate change;    Urbanization;    Water yield;    Nutrient retention;    Soil retention;    InVEST model;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5041

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Water-related ecosystem services (WESs) arise from the interaction between water ecosystems and their surrounding terrestrial ecosystems. They are critical for human well-being as well as for the whole ecological circle. An urgent service-oriented reform for the utilization and supervision of WESs can assist in avoiding ecological risks and achieving a more sustainable development in the Taihu Basin, China (THB). Spatially distributed models allow the multiple impacts of land use/land cover conversion and climate variation on WESs to be estimated and visualized efficiently, and such models can form a useful component in the toolbox for integrated water ecosystem management. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model is used here to evaluate and visualize the spatio-temporal evolution of WESs in the THB from 2000 to 2010. Results indicate that water retention service experienced a decline from 2000 to 2005 with a recovery after 2005, while there was ongoing water scarcity in urban areas. Both the water purification service and the soil retention service underwent a slight decrease over the study period. Nutrients export mainly came from developed land and cultivated land, with the hilly areas in the south of the THB forming the primary area for soil loss. The quantity and distribution of WESs were impacted significantly by the shrinkage of cultivated land and the expansion of developed land. These findings will lay a foundation for a service-oriented management of WESs in the THB and support evidence-based decision making.

【 授权许可】

CC BY