Search Results (19)

This study analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in grassland NDVI from 2000 to 2020 in the eastern route of the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor, a region with frequent ecological–economic interactions, and explained the main driving factors, influencing patterns, and degrees of grassland NDVI changes in different regions. Based on MODIS NDVI data, the study employs emerging spatiotemporal hotspot analysis, Maximum Relevance Minimum Redundancy (mRMR) feature selection, and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) to reveal the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of grassland NDVI, while identifying long-term stable trends, and to select the most relevant and non-redundant factors to analyze the main driving factors of grassland NDVI change. Partial dependence plots were used to visualize the response and sensitivity of grassland NDVI to various factors. The results show the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the NDVI of grassland in the study area showed an overall upward trend, from 0.61 to 0.65, with significant improvement observed in northeastern China and northeastern Russia. (2) Spatiotemporal hotspot analysis indicates that 51% of the area is classified as persistent hotspots for grassland NDVI, mainly distributed in Russia, whereas 12% of the area is identified as persistent cold spots, predominantly located in Mongolia. (3) The analysis of key drivers reveals that precipitation and land surface temperature are the dominant climatic factors shaping grassland NDVI trends, while the effects of soil conditions and human activity vary regionally. In China, NDVI is primarily driven by land surface temperature (LST), GDP, and population density; in Mongolia, precipitation, LST, and GDP exert the strongest influence; whereas in Russia, livestock density and soil organic carbon play the most significant roles. (4) For the whole study area, in persistent cold spot areas of grassland NDVI, the negative effects of rising land surface temperature were most pronounced, reducing NDVI by 36% in the 25–40 °C range. The positive effects of precipitation on NDVI were most evident under low to moderate precipitation conditions, with the effects diminishing as precipitation increased. Soil moisture and soil pH have stronger effects in persistent hotspot areas. Regarding human activity factors, the livestock factor in Mongolia shows an inverted U-shaped relationship with NDVI, and increasing population density contributed to grassland degradation in persistent cold spots. Proper grazing intensity regulation strategy is crucial in these areas with inappropriate grazing intensity, while social and economic activities promoted vegetation cover improvement in persistent hotspots in China and Russia. These findings provide practical insights to guide grassland ecosystem restoration and ensure sustainable development along the eastern route of the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor. China should prioritize ecological compensation policies. Mongolia needs to integrate traditional nomadic grazing with modern practices. Russia should focus on strengthening regulatory frameworks to prevent the over-exploitation of grasslands. Especially for persistent cold spot areas of grassland NDVI in Mongolia and Russia that are prone to grassland degradation, attention should be paid to the significant negative impact of livestock on grassland. Full article

In recent years, rapid urbanization in the Southern Jiangsu urban area has significantly altered land use patterns, impacting local ecosystem service value (ESV). This study examines land use changes (LUCs) from 2000 to 2020 and assesses ESV changes with the equivalent factor method. The PLUS model is also used to project future LUCs in line with the “Land and Space Planning of Jiangsu Province (2021–2035)”. The simulation considers scenarios for natural development (NDS), ecological protection (EPS), farmland protection (FPS), and comprehensive development (CDS) for the year 2035. The research findings show that over the past two decades, urbanized areas have persistently grown, whereas there has been a steady decline in the extents of farmland, forested areas, and grasslands. The total ESV has shown a decreasing trend, with the spatial distribution of ESV exhibiting higher values in the eastern regions and lower values in the west. The relationship between land use and ESV is negative, as evidenced by both the comprehensive land use (LA) and the Moran’s I index. Scenario predictions reveal that farmland, forest land, and grassland show a decreasing trend under the NDS, while it is the opposite under the EPS. The FPS is predominant in farmland area, and all land types in the CDS comply with national land planning requirements. Overall, the research findings reveal and predict the influence of LUCs on ESV in the study area under four scenarios, which is beneficial optimizing regional resource planning schemes and formulating ecological compensation policies. Full article

After two decades of implementing top-down grassland restoration projects focused on reducing livestock numbers and pastoralist populations, the Chinese government’s well-funded efforts have not significantly reversed grassland degradation. This study reviews the institutional changes in grassland management over the past forty years, highlighting the Livestock and Grassland Double Contract Household Responsibility System of the early 1980s and the Grassland Ecological Reward and Compensation Policy introduced in 2011. It demonstrates how these institutional transformations have shaped pastoralists’ evolving understanding of grassland value and reveals that commodifying grassland’s economic and ecological value has led to the capitalization of nature, disembedding husbandry from grassland production, and undermining the effectiveness of conservation projects. This article also showcases the development of grassland ecology research in China, noting its increasing detachment from a holistic understanding of ecosystems and the interdisciplinary needs of management practices. The disjunction between grassland ecology research and practical management has resulted in a lack of techniques aligned with local ecological and socioeconomic contexts. This article champions active engagement with and protection of pastoralist communities to reintegrate grasslands’ true economic and ecological value into management practices, thereby effectively restoring degraded grasslands and achieving sustainable management. Full article

The ecological environment in loess hilly regions is fragile, and the contradiction between the development of human society and ecological environment protection is becoming more and more prominent with the intensification of human interference. In order to give full play to the role of ecosystem adaptation in ecological restoration, this study seeks natural conditions that are suitable for the stable existence of ecosystems in the Wanhuigou catchment using the reference ecosystem method and uses these conditions as constraints of the GeoSOS-FLUS model for multi-scenario simulation. Based on ecosystem service value and ecological compensation mechanisms, the comprehensive benefits of different scenarios are compared, and economic development is taken into account while ensuring that ecological protection remains a priority. The results show the following: (1) The unstable ecosystems concentrated on a gentle slope (5–15°) at altitudes of 1201–1379 m, 1201–1594 m, 1379–1715 m and 1715–1856 m are suitable for restoration to farmland, shrub, grassland and forest ecosystems, respectively, and the change characteristics of soil and vegetation communities also verify the above conclusions. (2) The scenario of agricultural development from 2020 to 2030 and the early stages from 2030 to 2050 is the best among the three scenarios, while the scenario of ecological protection is the best in the middle and late stages of 2030–2050. Formulating relevant policies and ecological protection measures according to the scenario of ecological protection is more conducive to promoting the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. (3) Under the scenario of ecological protection, the unstable ecosystem distributed along the gentle slope (5–15°) of 1379–1483 m and 1483–1594 m achieves the most significant improvement in ecosystem service value by focusing on and giving priority to the restoration of natural conditions that are suitable for the stable existence of ecosystems. This study provides ideas and references for the formation of ecosystem restoration and development strategies for small watersheds in loess hilly regions, and it is of great significance for the promotion of a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Full article

The harmonious development of the ecological environment and the economy is extremely important to achieve regional ecological construction and sustainable development. To properly assess the status of the harmonious development of the ecosystem and the economy, this study constructed an improved ecosystem services value (ESV) and eco-economic harmony (EEH) model to analyze the coordination relationships between the ecosystem and the economy in this region, based on Landsat TM/OLI data of Anxi County in 1999, 2009, and 2019. The results were as follows. (1) Significant changes in land- use occurred in Anxi County between 1999 and 2019. While grassland, cultivated land, and water bodies decreased by 22.91%, 36.82%, and 8.18%, respectively, other land-use types expanded including construction land (206.10%), garden land (56.39%), forest land (10.37%), and unutilized land (90.43%). (2) The ESV decreased by CNY 41.02 billion during this period, with the largest contribution from forest land and the most important service function being regulating services, and mountainous townships made a great contribution to the total ESV. (3) The eco-economic system of Anxi County was at an inharmonic level. The evaluation model produced more favorable results, especially at the township scale, which is highly sensitive to economic policy. This can provide scientific evidence for inter-regional ecological compensation and sustainable development while providing reference and inspiration for similar areas around the world to carry out relevant research. Full article

This study investigated herders’ satisfaction with the implementation effects of the Grassland Ecosystem Compensation Policy (GECP) in Sunan (subsidy hierarchization) and Gannan (subsidy harmonization), China. Survey data from 140 randomly selected herder households were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordered logistic regression to identify the factors influencing herders’ satisfaction. The results showed that in Sunan, 47.89% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the GECP. Their satisfaction positively correlated with changes in native grass, ecological compensation income, and reduced inedible grass. Conversely, it exhibited negative associations with the ethnic background of the household head, livestock numbers, and willingness to relocate. In Gannan, a substantial level of dissatisfaction prevailed (69.57%). However, satisfied herders had connections with changes in native grass, income diversity, and ecological compensation income. Significantly, this study highlights that ecological compensation income and changes in native grass consistently influence herders’ satisfaction regardless of the subsidy design. These findings offer valuable insights for improving herders’ satisfaction with the implementation effects of the GECP in regions with diverse ecological subsidy designs. Additionally, it presents a fresh perspective for scholars to analyze the GECP under different ecological subsidy frameworks further. Full article

The grassland ecological compensation policy (GECP) is currently the largest grassland ecosystem payment program in the world, trying to manage and restore degraded grasslands to achieve a virtuous cycle of grassland ecosystems. However, responses to the policy may vary across different regions. Based on panel data from 395 counties in six provinces in China’s pastoral areas from 2001 to 2021, this paper uses the difference-in-difference (DID) and moderation effect models to test the relationship between GECP and grassland quality from the perspective of grassland ecosystem vulnerability. The study found the following: (1) The spatial differentiation pattern of grassland ecosystem vulnerability in the six provinces of China’s pastoral areas is obvious, and the vulnerability is mainly slight and moderate (2) The GECP generally has a significant positive impact on grassland quality. (3) Grassland ecosystem vulnerability has a negative regulatory effect on the impact of the GECP on grassland quality. The positive impacts of policies become more pronounced as the vulnerability of grassland ecosystems decreases. Full article

To combat land degradation and deterioration issues, the Grain to Green project (GGP) was implemented on the Chinese Loess Plateau in 1999 and substantially altered the land cover by converting slope farmland into forest and grassland. To effectively achieve sustainable land restoration management and avoid stakeholder conflicts, this study aimed to understand how local stakeholders perceived the current land restoration process and expectations for future land restoration policy, as well as how stakeholders assessed the GGP impacts on local ecosystem service changes. We investigated the perspectives of 150 stakeholders representing five stakeholder groups including farmers, governmental officers, citizens, tourism operators and forestry practitioners using questionnaires administered in 2021 in the Yan’an area of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The survey results indicated a 72% support rate of stakeholders for the current GGP, with government officers reporting the highest value and tourism practitioners reporting the lowest. The support rate for future land restoration decreased to 51%. While majority of the stakeholders considered that the GGP had stimulated regulation and cultural ecosystem services, they also perceived negative impacts on grain production, livestock production, water yield and water quantity. Factors influencing farmers’ decision-making on recultivating the restored forest in the future were found to be economically driven. We recommend policy makers to improve the compensation standards and duration for farmers and increase the diversity of restoration tree species, and the involvement of participatory processes is suggested for future land restoration policy-making. Full article

The implementation of payment for grassland ecosystem services (PGES) is the result of cooperative games between farmers and the local government. However, there are currently many studies on the willingness behavior of farmers to participate in payment for grassland ecosystem services, although there is a lack of research on the impact of the willingness behavior of local governments on the implementation of payment for grassland ecosystem services. Based on the theory of planned behavior, in this study, the impact of government policy instruments on PGES implementation outcomes was taken as the primary research objective, and the following findings were derived from the three secondary objectives of constructing a model, using structural equations to measure and quantitatively decompose the policy instruments: (1) policy instruments have a significant impact on policy implementation; (2) policy instruments play an important guiding role in farmers’ participation in PGES; and (3) the amount of ecological compensation and the degree of policy implementation have a significant impact on policy instruments. Reasonable adjustments can effectively improve the effect of policy implementation. This study incorporated the implementation willingness and interaction of farmers and local governments into the analysis model of the implementation of payment for grassland ecosystem services, providing a theoretical basis for improving the performance of payment for grassland ecosystem services from the perspective of government policy instruments. Full article

The grassland condition in Qinghai Province has changed dramatically after implementation of the Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy (GECP). The changes in grassland Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and those in grassland area and grassland Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RESI) reveal that the policy has indeed played a crucial role in grassland ecological recovery. Although in the first round of policy implementation from 2011–2015, the quality of grassland has not improved significantly, and degradation even occurred in some areas, the second round of the policy implementation reversed this trend. As the world’s only ecological subsidy policy for grassland ecosystems, it should continue to be implemented and monitored for better recovery of grassland ecology and production activities of herders that are concerned. Full article

Although coal is difficult to replace in the short term, the large-scale production and consumption of coal have significant impacts on the ecological environment. The severe disturbances, such as land excavation and occupation, that accompany the mining of mineral resources have caused dramatic changes in land cover and a significant pressure on the sensitive and fragile ecological environment. To analyze the temporal and spatial evolution trends and the differences in land use in different typical mining areas in Inner Mongolia, as well as the evaluation system and driving mechanisms of land use evolution, this study takes the typical open-pit coal mines in Inner Mongolia as the research objects and, based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, analyzes the dynamic evolution characteristics and driving factors of land use in typical open-pit coal mines in Inner Mongolia from 2001 to 2020. The change trend of land use in typical open-pit mining areas in Inner Mongolia for the past 20 years is obvious, with the highest fluctuations for grassland, mining land, cropland, and residential/industrial land. Land use in the open-pit coal mining area is greatly affected by mining factors. From the perspective of spatial variation, the most important driving factor is the distance from national roads and railways, followed by the annual average temperature and annual average precipitation and topographical conditions, such as elevation. In terms of policy, land reclamation and ecological restoration in mining areas have a positive impact on land use change. Improving the mechanism for environmental compensation in mining areas can promote the efficient and rational use of mining areas and the protection of ecosystems. Full article

In order to curb the phenomenon of grassland degradation caused by human activity, China has begun the exploration of grassland eco-compensation, setting an example for the ecological protection of grasslands and sustainable use of resources around the world. At this stage, China has invested more than 170 billion yuan in grassland eco-compensation, benefiting 12 million farmer and herder households. The related research involves various perspectives, scopes, and methods, but lacks systematic reviewing. This study reviews the relevant theoretical and practical research and explores the connotations and effects of grassland eco-compensation in China. In general, the current grassland eco-compensation in China is a large-scale ecological-economic institutional arrangement with the following five characteristics: (1) the goals are to maintain the grassland ecosystem services and increase the income of herder households; (2) the main bodies are governments and herder households; (3) the main method is financial transfer payments; (4) the compensation standards are based on the opportunity costs of the herder households’ responses as the lower limits and the grassland ecosystem service values as the upper limits; and (5) it is a comprehensive compensation system that requires legal, regulatory, technological support and long-term mechanisms. Since 2011, driven by the grassland eco-compensation policy, the income levels of herder households in each pilot area have generally increased, and the overall ecology of grasslands has slightly improved. However, there are still some areas where overload is common. Additionally, there are regional differences in the satisfaction degree of herder households, which is mainly affected by factors such as family income, compensation cognition and family holding grassland scale. Our analysis shows that the shortcomings of current theoretical research are mainly reflected in the low precision of scientific compensation standards, the lack of a basis for differentiated standards, and the single compensation method. The shortcoming of practical research is that most effect evaluations cannot reflect the role of eco-compensation in it. This study suggests that future work should focus on the response mechanism of herder households and the improvement of the compensation measures. At the same time, the scope of research should be expanded, and we should learn from advanced compensation experience in other fields. Full article

The overexploitation of Grasslands without any return-back and compensation is the major cause of degradation and deterioration of the grassland ecosystem. The Subsidy and Incentive System for Grassland Conservation (SISGC) in China aimed to restore grassland ecology by the reduction of overgrazing, promoting carrying capacity, and increasing alternative employment of herders in non-husbandry sectors. However, the ecological response to the SISGC still remains unclear on the national scale. Here, we used systematic sampling, and satellite image time series data revealed a widespread proliferation of major ecological indicators for grasslands, contrasting climate and actual net primary productivity (NPP) before (2004–2010) and after (2011–2017) the implementation of SISGC founded the contributions to policy, as simulated by the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford-Approach (CASA) model. On average, by two-phase comparison, the actual grassland NPP increased by 11.72%. The contribution of policy implementation and climate factors increased grassland NPP by up to 61.14% and 38.86%, respectively, but the response of the NPP growth of various grassland types exhibited divergence, mainly divided into policy-led (contribution rate of 52.28–97.02%) and climate-led (contribution rate of 57.56–96.00%). Hence, the SISGC policies should be renewed for different grassland types. Full article

Rapid urbanization and industrialization and enhanced ecological protection measures have greatly influenced landscape change, which has exacerbated regional landscape competition and conflicts and indirectly affected the supply of ecosystem services. Clarifying the relationship between ecosystem service change and landscape change is useful for understanding the impact of ecosystem conversion on socio-economic development and providing a knowledge base for relevant policy decisions. In this study, we used remote sensing technology to process Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI imageries, combined with transformation analysis and kernel density analysis to study the spatial and temporal characteristics of land use change in Wuhan City from 1980 to 2020. We also estimated the ESV in the region using the improved unit area value equivalent method to reveal the trends of ESV changes in Wuhan. The results showed that land use changes in Wuhan during 1980–2020 occurred mainly in terms of decreases in farmland, forestland, and bare land, as well as increases in built-up land and water bodies. The built-up land was mainly concentrated in the main urban areas, but its area in each suburban area has increased in recent years. In contrast, farmland was mainly distributed in suburban areas, and its area has been decreasing in recent years due to the impact of urban expansion. However, the reduction is compensated for by the reclamation of ecological land such as grassland and forestland, which has aggravated the loss of ecosystem service values in the study area. In addition, human activities such as urban expansion have increased the demand for water resources, while also leading to ecological problems such as water scarcity and water quality degradation, which have caused serious losses to key ecosystem services in Wuhan city. Therefore, in order to alleviate the competition and conflicts in the landscape and mitigate the loss of ecosystem service values in this area, we have proposed some constructive suggestions for future urban planning and water quality improvements in Wuhan. The focus of these suggestions is on controlling the expansion of built-up land, as well as the conservation of ecological land and resource protection. Meanwhile, our findings can also provide reference information for land resource planning and ecological monitoring, and help researchers to understand the contribution of ecosystem service functions in relation to socio-economic development. Full article

As the “Third Pole”, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is threatened by environmental changes. Ecosystem vulnerability refers to the sensitivity and resilience of ecosystems to external disturbances. However, there is a lack of relevant studies on the driving factors of ecosystem vulnerability. Therefore, based on spatial principal components analysis and geographic detectors methods, this paper evaluates the ecosystem vulnerability and its driving factors on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the years 2005 to 2015. The results were as follows: (1) The ecosystem vulnerability index (EVI) of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is mainly heavy and extreme, showing a gradually increasing trend from southeast to northwest. (2) The spatial heterogeneity of the EVI is significant in the southeast and northwest, but not in the southwest and central parts. (3) Analysis of influencing factors shows that environmental factors have more significant effects on EVI than socioeconomic variables, facilitating the proposal of adequate policy implications. More efforts should be devoted to ecological protection and restoration to prevent grassland degradation and desertification in the high-EVI areas in northwest. The government is also urged to improve the ecological compensation mechanisms and balance ecological protection and residents’ development needs in the southeast. Full article