Improvement of ecosystem quality in National Key Ecological Function Zones in China during 2000-2015

Mengyu Zhang; Li Zhang; Honglin He; Xiaoli Ren; Yan Lv; Zhong'en Niu; Qingqing Chang; Qian Xu; Weihua Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116406

Improvement of ecosystem quality in National Key Ecological Function Zones in China during 2000-2015

J Environ Manage. 2022 Dec 15:324:116406. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116406. Epub 2022 Oct 6.

Authors

Mengyu Zhang¹, Li Zhang², Honglin He³, Xiaoli Ren⁴, Yan Lv⁵, Zhong'en Niu⁶, Qingqing Chang¹, Qian Xu¹, Weihua Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; National Ecosystem Science Data Center, Beijing, 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
² Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; National Ecosystem Science Data Center, Beijing, 100101, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China. Electronic address: li.zhang@igsnrr.ac.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; National Ecosystem Science Data Center, Beijing, 100101, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China. Electronic address: hehl@igsnrr.ac.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; National Ecosystem Science Data Center, Beijing, 100101, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; National Ecosystem Science Data Center, Beijing, 100101, China.
⁶ School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Shandong, 264025, China.

PMID: 36352714
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116406

Abstract

Improving ecosystem quality is the ultimate goal of ecological restoration projects and sustainable ecosystem management. However, previous results of ecosystem quality lack comparability among different regions when assessing the effectiveness of ecological restoration projects on the regional or national scales, due to the influence of geographical and climatic background conditions. Here we proposed a new index, ecosystem quality ratio (EQR), by integrating the status of landscape structure, ecosystem services, ecosystem stability, and human disturbance relative to their reference conditions, and assessed the EQR changes in China's counties and National Key Ecological Function Zones (NKEFZs) from 1990 to 2015. The results showed that the average ecosystem quality of China's counties deviated from the reference condition by 28%. EQR decreased by 1.2% during 1990-2000 but increased by 3.7% during 2000-2015. Those counties with increasing EQR in 2000-2015 occupy 64.7%, with obviously increasing counties mainly located in the water conservation, biodiversity maintenance, and water and soil conservation types of NKEFZs. The EQR increase in counties within NKEFZs was 3.65 times that outside of NKEFZs. Remarkable improvement of ecosystem quality occurred in the forest region in Changbai Mountain, biodiversity and soil conservation region in Wuling Mountains, and hilly and gully region of Loess Plateau, where EQR increases mainly resulted from the conversion of farmland to forest or grassland and consequent increases in ecosystem services and stability. The magnitude of EQR enhancement showed a positive relationship with the increase in forest and grassland coverage in NKEFZs. Our results highlight the important role of ecological restoration projects in improving ecosystem quality in China, and demonstrate the feasibility of the new index (EQR) for the assessment of ecosystem quality in terms of ecosystem management and restoration.

Keywords: China's terrestrial ecosystems; Ecological restoration projects; Ecosystem quality; Ecosystem services; National key ecological function zones; Reference conditions.

MeSH terms

Biodiversity
China
Conservation of Natural Resources* / methods
Ecosystem*
Humans
Soil / chemistry

Substances

Soil