Dynamics and interactions of water-related ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin, China

doi:10.1007/s11442-023-2148-0

Abstract

Abstract:

Climate change and human activities have profoundly altered ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) since the Grain for Green project was implemented, but have not been accurately revealed on a year-by-year scale. This study combined the InVEST model to reveal the year-by-year changes in the water-related ecosystem services (WRESs) in YRB during 1990-2020, including water yield, soil conservation and water purification services. The trade-off/synergy of WRESs and impacts of land management measures on WRESs were assessed fully. The results showed that from 1990 to 2020, cropland and barren land were considerably converted to forest and grassland in YRB. WRESs were continuously improved as a result of increase of water yield and reductions of soil export and nitrogen export, at rates of +1.11 mm·yr^-1, -0.23 t·km^-2·yr^-1 and -1.01 kg·km^-2·yr^-1, respectively. We found that in YRB water purification service showed trade-off relationships with soil conservation and water yield services in recent decades, and water yield and soil conservation maintained a synergitic effect. Additionally, the revegetation measures showed a potential of enhancing soil conservation and water purification, but reducing water yield. This study provided a thorough understanding of WRESs dynamics and a valuable reference for the ecological restoration practices.

Key words: ecosystem service, trade-off and synergy, land use/land cover change, ecological restoration, Yellow River Basin

WANG Peng, XU Mingxiang. Dynamics and interactions of water-related ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin, China[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2023, 33(8): 1681-1701.

Figures/Tables 11

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Types	1990	2000	2010	2020
Cropland	207,040	202,112	188,083	183,597
Forest	75,197	79,173	84,732	92,245
Shrub	5500	5235	4394	3811
Grassland	456,039	458,927	470,648	463,628
Water	5030	4600	5537	5880
Snow	264	289	558	220
Barren land	37,143	32,478	24,265	23,948
Impervious land	8797	12,608	17,486	22,071
Wetland	916	504	223	526

Relationship	SE vs NE	WY vs SE	WY vs NE
High trade-off	136,365	79,246	8,700
Low trade-off	437,605	554,880	63,209
Unrelated	43,828	47,823	41,917
Low synergism	148,423	116,248	175,460
High synergism	49,012	17,036	525,945

Scenario	WY (mm)	SE (t·km^-2)	NE (kg·km^-2)
Baseline	68.82	94.13	304.22
RP	67.74	93.50	268.85
GD	67.43	91.69	256.19
FS	68.18	90.96	309.77