Exploring the effect of land use on ecosystem services: The distributive issues

The current debate of ecosystem services has focused more on monetary valuation methods and payments for environmental services (PES) then on the classic economic analysis (i.e. assumptions regarding: sustainability, justice and efficiency). This paper examines, taking into consideration ecosystem services, income distribution from different land uses to stakeholders. We study the Portuguese common land ecosystem, which is characterized as having a wide range of ecosystem services. Allowing that all the benefits can be translated into economic value, we estimated the total economic value (TEV) associated with these territories on 5 different land use situations: forest, shrubland, water bodies, mountain agriculture and other uses, and analyzed the current institutional arrangements around these territories. We found that the distribution of the benefits of different land uses is relatively inequality. The results showed that the contemporary institutional arrangements of wealth distribution ensure a relatively fair distribution insider of system; however this institutional arrangement is unable to ensure equitable distribution of wealth by external stakeholders. We can conclude that different types of land use provide a very asymmetric distribution of income by different groups of humans: land owners; citizens of a country, and residents of Earth.     

Effects of payments for ecosystem services programs in China on rural household labor allocation and land use: Identifying complex pathways

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is increasingly used in developing countries to secure the sustainable provision of vital ecosystem services. The largest PES programs in the world are embedded in China’s new forest policies, which aim to expand forest cover for soil and water conservation and improve livelihoods of rural people. The objective of this study is to identify the complex pathways of the impacts of two PES programs , the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP) and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP), on household livelihood decisions, and to quantify the direct and indirect impacts along the identified pathways. We fulfill this objective by developing an integrated conceptual framework and applying a Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM), based on household survey data from Anhui, China. Labor allocation (for on-farm work, local paid work, local business, or out-migration) and land use decisions (i.e., rent in, maintain, rent out, or abandon cropland) for participating households are key to understand PES program effects on livelihoods. Results show that the PES programs have only small direct effects but significant indirect effects via the mediating factor of capital assets. Moreover, group heterogeneity analysis shows that lower-income households do not benefit more than the better-off households from the PES programs, while households with medium wealth increase dependence on agriculture. In addition, household demographics, individual attributes, and geographic settings differ in their impacts on labor allocation and land use decisions. We conclude that CCFP and EWFP would be more efficient in conserving the environment while improving the economic welfare of lower-income households if capital assets were taken into account in the design of compensation schemes.     

A quantitative assessment of policy options for no net loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the European Union

The Biodiversity Strategy of the European Union includes a target to “ensure no-net-loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020”. Many policy options can be envisioned to achieve such a no-net-loss target, mainly acting on land use and land management. To assess the effectiveness of such policies at a European Union (EU) scale, we simulated land use changes and their impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services indicators. We analysed a Business–as-Usual scenario, and three no-net-loss scenarios. The no-net-loss scenarios included measures that aim to reduce negative impacts of land use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services, by better implementation of existing biodiversity conservation measures (Scenario 1); and enhancement of existing measures (Scenario 2); and offsetting residual impacts on areas of high biodiversity and ecosystem service value (Scenario 3).Results show that none of the scenarios achieved overall no-net-loss. Compared to a Business-as-Usual scenario, the no-net-loss scenarios reduced the overall degree of land cover change at EU level, hence reducing impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services in large parts of the EU. The more comprehensive no-net-loss scenarios resulted in a gain of natural land cover. Moreover, natural areas became better connected, especially in peri-urban areas as a result of impact avoidance and offsetting. Richness of farmland bird species was projected to increase. Measures included in the no-net-loss scenarios had net positive effects on pollination and carbon sequestration, neutral effects on crop production, erosion prevention and flood regulation, and negative effects on nature-based recreation, compared to Business-as-Usual. In particular circumstances policy measures invoked displacement effects in land use allocation, reducing the effectiveness of the measures. This was primarily the case for flood regulation services throughout the EU.This study differentiates the potential effectiveness of a no-net-loss policy framework in three manners: (i) considering biodiversity and ecosystem services simultaneously; (ii) in the light of existing policies and land use pressures; and (iii) in different land use contexts across the EU. Taken together, we conclude that achieving no-net-loss for biodiversity and ecosystem services throughout the EU remains challenging given high land use demands. Nevertheless, in large parts of Europe there appears room for improvement for certain kinds of biodiversity and ecosystem services compared to Business-as-Usual, while still meeting other land use demands.     

Auction winning,social dynamics and non-compliance in a payment for ecosystem services scheme in Indonesia

Conservation auctions for payment for ecosystem services (PES) are useful to identify the levels of incentives that will cover the opportunity costs of farmers supplying ecosystem services. Although auctions are increasingly used for allocation in PES schemes, the factors that lead to their successful implementation and eventual environmental outcomes are poorly understood in developing countries. We investigated the socio-economic and institutional contexts that led to smallholders' auction winning and eventual compliance using linear mixed-effects models, and post-auction and post-contract surveys. We employed a case study of a conservation contract preceded by a sealed-bid, multiple round, uniform price auction for watershed services from coffee farmers in Lampung, Indonesia. The auction participants presented low education levels, low asset endowments and small plot sizes. The study obtained evidence that farmers with larger plot areas were more likely to win the contracts, suggesting economies of scale. Most farmers considered the auction a fair self-selection mechanism to allocate contracts where allocation was not influenced by power or social rank. Non-compliance was associated with labor availability constraints, short duration of land ownership and existence of previous conservation applications, suggesting lax of capability to invest in applying conservation agriculture. Final bids were however not good predictors of compliance, among other factors, calling into question the potential of auctions to elicit the actual incentive from the farmers. Ensuring that farmers understand the purposes of auctions for effective contract allocation beyond a mere game and identifying farmers that might encounter difficulties fulfilling the contract could increase the likelihood that such a PES scheme would be successful.     

经济发达区土地利用变化与生态服务价值损益研究——以浙江省慈溪市为例

研究目的:以浙江省慈溪市1999—2005年的土地利用详查及更新调查数据,研究该地区土地利用变化及其所引起的生态系统服务价值的变化。研究方法:土地利用类型动态度法、土地利用程度综合指数法、生态系统服务价值当量计算法。研究结果:研究区1999—2005年园地、林地、建设用地呈增加趋势,耕地基本不变,水利设施用地和未利用地呈减少趋势;土地利用程度指数逐年上升;生态系统服务价值却随当地经济的发展逐渐下降。研究结论:今后的土地利用规划一定要严格控制建设用地扩张,提高用地效率,保证经济稳步增长和生态环境质量不断提高。     

苏州市土地利用变化对生态系统固碳能力影响研究

研究目的:分析苏州市土地利用变化对区域生态系统固碳能力的影响,为新一轮规划修编提供技术支撑。研究方法:文献资料法,统计分析法。研究结果:上轮规划实施以来,苏州市生态系统固碳能力急剧下降。其中,耕地固碳量急剧下降,林地、园地、城市绿地以及其他地类的固碳量略有增加。研究结论:耕地面积减少与复种指数下降是苏州市生态系统固碳能力下降的主要原因。     

Identifying and mapping the tourists⿿ perception of cultural ecosystem services: A case study from an Alpine region

Landscapes provide an array of services to society, from the provision of food and material, to the provision of cultural ecosystem services such as recreation, aesthetics or spirituality. Studies on cultural ecosystem services, however, remain rare and little is known about the spatial localisation of these services. In this study, we adopt and test a framework to identify and map the provision of cultural ecosystem services as perceived by tourists in an Alpine region, i.e. the region of South Tyrol in Italy. A photo-based questionnaire survey is combined with cartographical representations of landscape types to elicit hot and coldspot areas of cultural ecosystem service provision. We statistically test for influences of the land use type and the respondents' socio-demographic background on the tourists' perception of these services. The results show that different spatial patterns emerge for each of the investigated cultural ecosystem services depending on the distribution and extent of the landscape types to which they are related. In particular traditionally managed landscapes, small in extent and mainly scattered over large areas between 1000 and 2200 m a.s.l., are hotspot areas of aesthetic beauty, leisure activities and spirituality. In contrast, intensively managed landscapes, mainly located in the lowland plains of the study site, are considered to be more important for the provision of cultural heritage values. While the results suggest that land use type exerts the strongest influence upon tourists' perception, factors such as the respondents' perceived importance of the services, their gender, cultural background, environmental engagement and experience with the landscape play a significant but subordinate role. We conclude that the spatially explicit information about the provision of cultural ecosystem services can serve as a helpful basis for the design and further implementation of land use policies that acknowledge the high touristic value of traditionally used landscapes in mountain regions.     

Policy lessons from spatiotemporal enrollment patterns of payment for ecosystem service programs in Argentina

Payment for ecosystem services schemes (PES) are lauded as a market-based solution to curtail deforestation and restore degraded ecosystems. However, PES programs often fail to conserve sites under strong long-term deforestation pressures. Underperformance, in part, is likely due to adverse selection. Spatial adverse selection occurs when landowners are more likely to enroll parcels with low deforestation pressure than parcels with high deforestation pressure. Temporal adverse selection arises when parcels are enrolled for short time periods. In both cases, financial resources are allocated without having a sizeable impact on long-term land use change. Improving program performance to overcome these shortcomings requires understanding attributes of landowners and their parcels across large scales to identify spatial and temporal enrollment patterns that drive adverse selection. In this paper, we examine these patterns in Argentina’s PES program in Chaco forest, a global deforestation hotspot. Our study area covers 252,319 km². Results from multinomial logistic regression models showed that large parcels of enrolled land and parcels owned by absentee landowners exhibit greater evidence of spatiotemporal adverse selection than smaller parcels or parcels owned by local landowners. Furthermore, parcels managed under land use plans for conservation and restoration are more likely to be associated with adverse selection than parcels managed for financial returns such as harvest of non-timber forest products, silviculture, and silvopasture. However, prior to recommending that PES programs focus on land uses with higher potential earnings, a greater understanding is needed of the degree to which these land uses meet ecological and biodiversity goals of PES programs. We suggest that increased spatial targeting of enrollment, along with enrollment of local landowners and further incentives for land uses that support conservation and restoration, could promote long-term conservation of forest lands.     

Intra-regional variation in land use and livelihood change during a forest transition in Costa Rica's dry North West

The work reported here examined intra-regional differences in land use and livelihood changes made by landholders during a forest transition in a dry region of North-West Costa Rica. It drew on the Sustainable Livelihoods Analysis framework to evaluate a qualitative, comparative study of landholders’ access to livelihood resources in two key landholder groups across five communities. Research findings show that while forest outcomes were similar across the two landholder groups and the five communities (net forest recovery), the livelihood dynamics leading to these outcomes varied. One important factor influencing this was small differences in the geographic location of the five communities, which shaped the effect of mediating institutions and policies on the accessibility and deployment of livelihood resources. The findings point to the importance of locally tailored interventions that reach beyond the field of forest conservation and management. These would include interventions to strengthen rural peoples’ access to resources needed to adapt livelihoods to changing socio-economic conditions. They would also include programs to reduce locally felt trade-offs between conservation and development. The findings also raise doubts that Costa Rica's payments for environmental services (PES) program, as it is currently structured, is an effective mechanisms for linking forest recovery and sustainable rural livelihoods in this particular region.     

Stakeholder perceptions and governance challenges in urban protected area management: The case of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area,Philippines

The conservation and management of protected areas in urban settings has become increasingly challenging with dynamics over land use change in adjacent urban areas being highly relevant to, but at times conflicting with, the protected area. This study seeks to better understand the implications of land use change processes to urban protected area management through the case study of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) in Metro Manila, Philippines. Factors and processes influencing land use change and protected area management and the impact of stakeholders’ perceptions on protected area were analyzed. The urban protected area in itself has limited influence on its surrounding urban areas, as land use change in these areas is shaped more by social, economic and policy/institutional factors occurring within the context of urban-regional development. The study also found that land use conflict is evident in an urban protected area due to the competing ecosystem services derived by various stakeholders. This discord is deepened by the lack of coordination between land use planning and protected area management. Integrating protected area management with land use planning through legally binding instruments, specific timeframes and clear internal procedures can help resolve land use conflict for an urban protected area at the strategic or policy level.     

土地利用规划环境影响回顾性评价实证研究

以浙江省淳安县为例,探讨运用生态系统服务功能价值进行土地利用规划环境影响回顾性评价的方法,估算土地利用总体规划实施前后,淳安县不同土地利用结构下的生态系统服务价值及构成。结果表明：规划实施以来,淳安县生态服务价值减少了1．67亿元,居民点及工矿用地的内部消耗大于面积扩张给生态系统服务带来的负影响,园地对区域生态服务价值的贡献率提高了2．03％,区域气体调节和废物处理功能价值分别减低了1．47％和0．16％。该结果为新一轮规划的土地利用结构调整方向提供了对策与建议。     

Modeling of ecosystem services informs spatial planning in lands adjacent to the Sarvelat and Javaherdasht protected area in northern Iran

Dynamic models of ecosystem services supply and scenario analysis of changes in multiple services are being increasingly used to support land use planning and decision making. This approach reduces potential and real conflicts among various stakeholders potentially creating win–win solutions for all. It is particularly applicable in areas where insufficient land for agriculture and settlements is resulting in high rates of conversion of natural forest and grasslands. We quantified and mapped multiple ecosystem services, including habitat provision as a proxy for biodiversity, carbon storage and sequestration, and water balance and supply in the Sarvelat and Javaherdasht region of the globally-significant Hyrcanian (Caspian) forests in northern Iran using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs tool. This region is experiencing a rapidly increasing rate of forest conversion and as a result, the protected area located within the study landscape is threatened by human encroachment. Plausible future landscapes were modeled under three scenarios: (i) business as usual; (ii) protection-based zoning which reflects an expansion of the protected area boundary to prevent land use changes; and (iii) collaborative zoning through redefining the protection boundary simultaneously with an adjustment to meet local stakeholders’ objective of expansion of anthropogenic cover. The results showed that the collaborative zoning scenario would best contribute to effective policy because it presents a more rational spatial configuration of the landscape maintaining the provision of ecosystem services. This scenario may lead to reduced environmental impacts while achieving less conflict between the government and local communities. These results will help to inform and shape natural resource management policies in Iran and is applicable elsewhere in the world.     

江苏省土地利用程度与区域生态效率关系研究

研究目的:以江苏省为例,研究土地利用程度对区域生态效率的影响机制,提出合理利用土地、提高区域生态效率的政策建议。研究方法:将相关概念进行操作化定义后,基于江苏1990—2007年的数据,建立方程进行回归分析。研究结果:随着土地利用程度的不断加强,江苏省的生态效率随之提高,二者呈显著正相关,相关系数为0.683;土地生态系统的生态服务价值却随着土地利用程度的加强而下降,二者呈显著负相关,相关系数为0.911。研究结论:合理的土地利用程度,能够确保土地生态系统持续地提供各类生态产品和服务,进而促进区域生态效率的提高,反之,土地的粗放式利用使土地利用类型比例失衡,再加之缺乏维系土地生态系统可持续性的措施,会导致土地生态系统服务功能的减弱,并最终制约区域生态效率的提高。     

基于土地利用类型的绿色空间生态评估——以北京市通州区重点新城为例

研究目的:从土地利用的角度重新审视绿色空间的概念和内涵,建立基于土地利用类型的绿色空间生态评估体系,并将该方法体系应用于北京市通州新城的案例研究,度量绿色空间的生态系统服务功能价值。研究方法:生态系统服务价值评价方法、GIS技术、比较分析法。研究结论:基于土地利用类型的绿色空间生态评估,在土地利用规划及其相关生态规划中具有重要的实践意义,通州新城案例研究表明:通州绿色空间的主要生态功能在于废物处理、水源涵养、土壤形成与保护等非物质性生产方面;农田是通州绿色空间生态系统服务价值的最大贡献者,贡献率从2001年的47.4%下降到2004年的41.2%,林地贡献率则由14.7%提高到22.7%,其他各主要地类生态系统服务价值贡献比例随面积的增减也有显著的变化;河流湿地在提升区域绿色空间生态系统服务价值方面的贡献突出,改善水环境质量对建设通州“滨水宜居新城”具有重要意义。     

晋江市土地利用变化对生态系统服务价值的影响

以晋江市为研究区,依据2005年,2010年和2015年3期土地利用数据,从生态系统服务功能角度,运用Costanza的方法,结合谢高地修正的我国生态服务价值当量因子表,分析了晋江市土地利用变化与生态服务价值的响应关系。结果表明:2005-2015年,晋江市的城镇用地显著扩张,而耕地和林地却急剧减少,土地利用的生态系统服务价值总体呈逐年下降趋势。通过分析晋江市土地利用变化对生态服务价值的影响可以为科学合理利用土地,保障人口、资源、环境的可持续发展提供决策支持。敏感性分析表明,生态服务价值对生态服务价值系数的变化是缺乏弹性的,因此结果是可信的。在编制土地利用规划时应将生态服务价值考虑其中,尤其是应注重保护湿地、水域、林地等生态服务价值系数高的土地利用类型,以期实现晋江市的可持续发展。     

Public health in linkage to land use: Theoretical framework,empirical evidence,and critical implications for reconnecting health promotion to land use policy

The increasing health burdens pose great challenge for planners and policy makers to create a more livable city. Recent literature has linked land use to a wide range of illness and death causes in developed nations. It therefore requires evidence-driven and replicable frameworks to inform land use decisions that integrate with health promotion. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for the mechanistic links between neighborhood land use and public health; and then quantifies their associations at district level, using the case of Shenzhen in developing China. Data for 15 health indicators in 2010 are collected at district level; and a set of standardized land use variables (individual land use type, general land use mix, and physical street conditions) are proposed to comprehensively reflect the neighborhood land use characteristics. Spatial regression is employed to analyze the relationships between health outcomes and land use variables. Results show that the land use exploratory variables vary with health indicators, but several key land use determinants are identified: green land abundance, green land morphology, institutional land proximity, industrial land proximity, blue land abundance, street walkability and street connectivity. Structural equation modeling is further applied to examine the possible mediators and it demonstrates that the casual pathways between land use and public health are quite complex. The developed set of standardized land use variables can serve as practical tools to facilitate land use decisions with health considerations. In practice, several complexities at governance levels challenge the efforts to reconnect land use policies and public health promotion. We put forward three useful solutions to enhancing health connection with land use policy across different international settings. This study captures the nuanced health disparities varied with districts and indicators, and therefore produces some more generalized knowledge that ultimately helps develop land use policies aimed at promoting public health at home and abroad.     

Notions of justice in payments for ecosystem services: Insights from China's Sloping Land Conversion Program in Yunnan Province

China's Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) pays millions of farmers to convert cropland in upper watersheds to tree plantations. It is considered one of the world's largest payments for ecosystem services (PES) scheme for its reliance on financial incentives. This paper examines the outcomes of the SLCP by way of a case study from the Yangliu watershed in Yunnan province. It focuses on the notions of justice embedded in state policy and held by villagers and local state officials in order to understand the observed outcomes in terms of people's participation in the implementation of the SLCP, land use changes and livelihood effects. Villagers, local state officials, and state policy share a primary concern about distributive justice despite significant differences in their specific notions. The shared concern underlies the villagers’ positive reactions to the SLCP, which among other factors, have led to the intended expansion of tree plantations and a livelihood transition in Yangliu since 2003. The insights from Yangliu suggest the need to consider justice for a fuller understanding of the dynamics and outcomes of the SLCP and other PES schemes worldwide as the notions of justice applied by the involved actors may influence land use and livelihood dynamics in addition to the other factors considered in research this far.     

Theoretical analysis and model design of search for ecological conservation redlines based on the sensitivity assessment of ecosystem services

Most small-scale social economies are characterised by their deficiency, lack, and/or difficulty in matching natural data. Against this backdrop, this paper builds a relatively uniform theoretical framework and designs a more economical and objective method for demarcating ecological conservation redlines (ECR) based on sensitivity assessment of ecosystem services. The results show that the sensitivity assessment model designed in this study can identify sensitive zones effectively, and that the ECR in Hubei Province are well within the sensitive zones so identified. The delimited areas based on the sensitive assessment of ecosystem services have great similarities (95%) with the actual ECR areas in Hubei Province. The most ecologically important functional zones (EIFZ) can also be identified using the regional ecological sensitivity coefficient. When the threshold of EIFZ is set higher, the probability that it falls within the ecologically sensitive areas is greater and the ECR delimited by the method proposed in this study will be more reliable. Theoretically, the delimitation of ECR can be inserted at any evaluation level with a grid resolution higher than that of the land use data, which can be used as a supplement to the ECR delimitation method in ecology or geography.     

岩溶区山—坝系统土地利用演化及其空间分异特征

[目的]分析岩溶地区山—坝系统土地利用演化及其空间分异的特征,可为岩溶区国土空间优化、乡村振兴和生态保护提供决策支持。[方法]在界定山—坝系统的概念,构建山—坝系统土地利用演化特征分析框架的基础上,以典型山—坝系统惠水县为研究区,将其划分为坝区、山坝交错区、山区3个子系统,并采用3S技术、景观格局空间分析、生态系统服务价值估算等方法,对1990—2016年研究区土地利用演化及分异特征进行系统分析。[结果](1)空间形态方面,研究区各子系统总体上耕地存量减少,建设用地和水域增加,林地、草地、未利用地波动变化。土地利用程度综合指数在坝区持续增加,山坝交错区波动上升,山区呈下降趋势。坝区、山坝交错区和山区景观格局破碎化程度均上升。(2)功能形态方面,各子系统生活功能增加且增速快,生产功能面积不同程度减少,而生态功能则是在山区先减后增,在坝区、山坝交错区减少。总生态系统服务功能价值在山区先缩减后增高,其他两个子系统变化与山区相反。[结论]不同历史时期坝区、山坝交错区、山区的土地利用演化方向及其空间格局分异显著。研究成果对探讨贵州省不同区位条件、不同产业类型、不同地质背景山—坝系统的土地利用问题,统筹山坝系统耕地保护与经济发展的关系具有参考价值。     

Decision making in a complex world: Using OPTamos in a multi-criteria process for land management in the Cuitzmala watershed in Mexico

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are incentives offered to land owners or managers in exchange for practices that benefit society with ecological goods and/or services. For the success of PES schemes, the involvement of stakeholders, their needs, knowledge, and perspectives has been found beneficial. This paper presents a new approach in engaging stakeholders based on an iterative transdisciplinary framework for a Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) decision-making process. After a comprehensive review of existing options, the paper describes the development and application of a new software, OPTamos, to allow for efficient handling and processing of large volumes of quantitative and qualitative data generated from stakeholder workshops. Applied to a land use related decision in the Cuitzmala watershed, in the state of Jalisco in Mexico, the outcomes from this approach resulted in acceptable land management options for the entire area of the watershed that satisfied criteria generated by the stakeholders themselves and to finally develop an action plan.