Spatial heterogeneity analysis of matching degree between endangered plant diversity and ecosystem services in Xishuangbanna

Fan Zhang; Huimin Wang; Juha M Alatalo; Yang Bai; Zhou Fang; Gang Liu; Yang Yang; Yanling Zhi; Shiliang Yang

doi:10.1007/s11356-023-29172-7

Spatial heterogeneity analysis of matching degree between endangered plant diversity and ecosystem services in Xishuangbanna

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Sep;30(43):96891-96905. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29172-7. Epub 2023 Aug 16.

Authors

Fan Zhang^{1

2

3}, Huimin Wang^{1

3}, Juha M Alatalo⁴, Yang Bai^{5

6}, Zhou Fang^{1

3}, Gang Liu⁷, Yang Yang¹, Yanling Zhi^{1

3}, Shiliang Yang^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Management Science, Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China.
² Center for Integrative Conservation & Yunnan Key Laboratory for Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Asian Elephants, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Hydrology Water Resource and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China.
⁴ Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, P.O.Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar.
⁵ Center for Integrative Conservation & Yunnan Key Laboratory for Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Asian Elephants, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China. baiyang@xtbg.ac.cn.
⁶ Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Southeast Asia Biodiversity Conservation, Menglun, 666303, China. baiyang@xtbg.ac.cn.
⁷ Department of Economics and Management, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.

PMID: 37584796
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29172-7

Abstract

Biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESs) are closely linked. Human activities have caused critical damage to the habitat and ecosystem function of organisms, leading to decline in global biodiversity and ecosystem services. To ensure sustainable development of local ecological environments, it is critical to analyze the spatial matching degree of biodiversity and ESs and identify ecologically vulnerable areas. Taking Xishuangbanna, southern China, as an example, we constructed a pixel-scale matching degree index to analyze the spatial matching degree of endangered plant diversity (EPD) and four ESs and classified the matching degree into low-low, low-high, high-low, and high-high four types. The results revealed a mismatch relationship of EPD and ESs in more than 70% of areas. Under the influence of altitude and land use/land cover (LULC) type, the matching degree of EPD and ESs showed obvious spatial heterogeneity. In low-altitude areas in the south of Xishuangbanna, EPD and ESs mainly showed mismatch, while high-altitude areas in the west had a better match. Natural forest was the main land cover in which EPD and ESs showed high-high match and its areal proportion was much larger than that of rubber plantation, tea plantation, and cropland. Our findings also stress the need to concentrate conservation efforts on areas exhibiting a low-low match relationship, indicative of potential ecological vulnerability. The pixel-scale spatial matching degree analysis framework developed in this study for EPD and ESs provides high-resolution maps with 30 m × 30 m pixel size, which can support the implementation of ecological protection measures and policy formulation, and has a wide range of applicability. This study provides valuable insights for the sustainable management of biodiversity and ESs, contributing to the strengthening of local ecological environment protection.

Keywords: Ecosystem services; Endangered plant diversity; High-resolution maps; Pixel-scale matching degree analysis; Xishuangbanna.

MeSH terms

Biodiversity
China
Conservation of Natural Resources* / methods
Ecosystem*
Humans
Spatial Analysis
Sustainable Development