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Ecosystem management based on ecosystem services and human activities: a case study in the Yanhe watershed

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Abstract

With activities that alter the structure and function of the habitat, humans have a direct impact on ecosystems and ecosystem services, i.e., the conditions and processes that sustain human life. In this study, 35 townships in the Yanhe watershed in the Loess Plateau of China were selected. The net primary production (NPP), carbon sequestration and oxygen production (CSOP), water conservation, and soil conservation were the ecosystem services selected and valuated. Human activity was quantified by an integrated human activity index (HAI) based on population density, farmland ratio, and the influence of road networks and residential areas. The NPP, CSOP, and water conservation showed a conspicuous spatial pattern fanning outward from the southwest, while the soil conservation showed an obscure spatial pattern distinguished primarily by the peripheral area surrounding the urbanized areas. Total ecosystem services in the Yanhe watershed demonstrated a decreasing pattern from south to north, and the HAI was in proportion to administrative and economic development. Based on the selected ecosystem services and HAI, we mapped the townships of the Yanhe watershed by cluster analysis, and provided sustainable ecosystem management suggestions, tailored to the social-ecological map.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Ian R. Willett from the School of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Australia, for his valuable comments and for the improvements to the English language in the paper. This work was funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2009CB421104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40930528), and the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for the “Ecosystem Processes and Services” Creative Research Teams.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 2871, Beijing, 100085, People’s Republic of China

    Changhong Su, Bojie Fu, Yihe Lü, Guohua Liu & Xiaoming Feng

  2. Australia–China Centre on Water Resources Research/Uniwater, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia

    Yongping Wei

  3. Institute of Natural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Daolong Wang & Kebiao Mao

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  1. Changhong Su
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Correspondence to Bojie Fu.

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Handled by Masataka Watanabe, Keio University, Japan.

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Su, C., Fu, B., Wei, Y. et al. Ecosystem management based on ecosystem services and human activities: a case study in the Yanhe watershed. Sustain Sci 7, 17–32 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-011-0145-1

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