Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China
Water ecosystem services dynamically connect human society and the biosphere across spatiotemporal scales to finally support socioeconomic development and human well-being. Water ecosystem services are usually abundant in the so-called water tower regions which comprise mainly the mountains and plat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989421004959 |
| _version_ | 1819102060454346752 |
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| author | Da Lü Yihe Lü Guangyao Gao Shuguang Liu Bingfang Wu Bojie Fu |
| author_facet | Da Lü Yihe Lü Guangyao Gao Shuguang Liu Bingfang Wu Bojie Fu |
| author_sort | Da Lü |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Water ecosystem services dynamically connect human society and the biosphere across spatiotemporal scales to finally support socioeconomic development and human well-being. Water ecosystem services are usually abundant in the so-called water tower regions which comprise mainly the mountains and plateaus where many big rivers originate. However, these water tower regions are also ecologically vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Furthermore, the effectiveness of conservation management on water ecosystem services in these regions is still not so clear. We developed a biophysical-based composite water ecosystem service index (ESw) for quantifying and mapping the spatial patterns and temporal changes of water ecosystem services on a large regional scale. We apply this approach to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) in southwestern China, the world’s largest and most highly protected water tower region. The results show that the areas with a high level of ESw as the priority areas for conservation account for 39.88% of the QTP with a spatially heterogeneous distribution among river basins and nature reserves. But these nature reserves accommodate only 22.52% of the priority areas with large conservation gaps in the river basins and at local scales. The nature reserves are effective in mitigating water ecosystem services degradation and facilitating their restoration. Therefore, the spatial optimization of nature conservation can be addressed for the sustainable management of the ecosystems and their water ecosystem services to support well-being of local and downstream societies. The assessment method formulated in this research is adaptable to other similar water tower regions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T01:28:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e05a05f6686c48ad9ae74afe6d84e8da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T01:28:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-e05a05f6686c48ad9ae74afe6d84e8da2022-12-21T18:43:34ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942021-12-0132e01945Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China Da Lü0Yihe Lü1Guangyao Gao2Shuguang Liu3Bingfang Wu4Bojie Fu5State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China.State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 2871, Beijing 100085, ChinaNational Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in Southern China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 100094, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, ChinaWater ecosystem services dynamically connect human society and the biosphere across spatiotemporal scales to finally support socioeconomic development and human well-being. Water ecosystem services are usually abundant in the so-called water tower regions which comprise mainly the mountains and plateaus where many big rivers originate. However, these water tower regions are also ecologically vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Furthermore, the effectiveness of conservation management on water ecosystem services in these regions is still not so clear. We developed a biophysical-based composite water ecosystem service index (ESw) for quantifying and mapping the spatial patterns and temporal changes of water ecosystem services on a large regional scale. We apply this approach to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) in southwestern China, the world’s largest and most highly protected water tower region. The results show that the areas with a high level of ESw as the priority areas for conservation account for 39.88% of the QTP with a spatially heterogeneous distribution among river basins and nature reserves. But these nature reserves accommodate only 22.52% of the priority areas with large conservation gaps in the river basins and at local scales. The nature reserves are effective in mitigating water ecosystem services degradation and facilitating their restoration. Therefore, the spatial optimization of nature conservation can be addressed for the sustainable management of the ecosystems and their water ecosystem services to support well-being of local and downstream societies. The assessment method formulated in this research is adaptable to other similar water tower regions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989421004959Spatial optimizationNature reserveSpatiotemporal variabilityConservation effectivenessQinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Da Lü Yihe Lü Guangyao Gao Shuguang Liu Bingfang Wu Bojie Fu Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China Global Ecology and Conservation Spatial optimization Nature reserve Spatiotemporal variability Conservation effectiveness Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title | Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China |
| title_full | Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China |
| title_fullStr | Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China |
| title_short | Existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China |
| title_sort | existent nature reserves not optimal for water service provision and conservation on the qinghai tibet plateau of china |
| topic | Spatial optimization Nature reserve Spatiotemporal variability Conservation effectiveness Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989421004959 |
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