Spatio-temporal variations of conservation hotspots based on ecosystem services in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 12;12(12):e0189368. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189368. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) has been viewed as an appropriate approach to identifying conservation priorities. Taking Xishuangbanna tropical region in Southwest China, different BESs (habitat quality [used as a proxy for biodiversity], carbon storage, and water yield) were quantified using the InVEST model and conservation hotspots from 1976, 1990, and 2010 were identified by overlapping and ranking the service layers. Results showed that BESs areas were unevenly distributed. High habitat quality and carbon storage areas located in the eastern part of the region were mainly occupied by broad-leaved forest, while high water yield areas were covered by grassland and tropical forests. Recognized hotspots were primarily composed of the broad-leaved forest and shrub grassland. However, these habitat types declined by nearly 50% from 1.25×105 ha to 0.63×105 ha and became more fragmented during the study period. We also found that the sub-watersheds which decreased in BES had fewer hotspots distributed and suffered greater landscape fragmentation. Our study further explored the impacts of land-use conversion on BES, and illustrated the necessity and feasibility of BESs in identifying potential conservation areas.

MeSH terms

  • Biodiversity
  • China
  • Conservation of Natural Resources / methods*
  • Ecosystem*

Grants and funding

The research was supported by the National key research and development project of China (No.2016YFC0502103) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.41571173). Shiliang Liu is the recipient of these two National Fundings. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.