Value of ecosystem services in China

The function and services are the important components of the life-support system in the planet, as well as the basic elements for sustainable development of environment and society.It is a must to evaluate it for incorporating it with the social-economic system.It is also an important approach to draw the public attention on the environmental and ecosystem conservation.In this study, the ecosystem function and services in China were estimated by employing the classification and economic parameters from Costanza et al.The type and area of terrestrial ecosystems were extracted from Vegetation Map of China (1:4 000 000), and then the distribution map of ecosystem services of China was drawn.According to our calculation, the total value of ecosystem services in China is 77 834.48′108 RMB yuan per annum.The value for terrestrial ecosystem is 56 098.46′108 yuan per annum, and that for marine ecosystem is 21 736.02′108 yuan per annum.The value of ecosystem services in China is 1.73 times bigger than GDP in 1994.The value for forest ecosystem services is 15 433.98′108 yuan per annum, which is 27.51% of the total annual ecosystem services in China.Although wetland is little in area, its ecosystem service value is huge, which is 26 736.9′108 yuan per annum.The value for grassland ecosystem is 8 697.68′108 yuan per annum.Coastal ecosystem service is 12 223.04′108 yuan per annum.Overall, the ecosystem service in China contributes 2.71% to that of our planet.The estimation method employed in this study was a conservative one, and should be improved in the future studies.     

Spatiotemporal variation in alpine grassland phenology in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from 1999 to 2009

Plant phenology is the most salient and sensitive indicator of terrestrial ecosystem response to climate change.Studying its change is significantly important in understanding and predicting impressively changes in terrestrial ecosystem.Based on NDVI from SPOT VGT,this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in alpine grassland phenology in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from 1999 to 2009.The results are enumerated as follows:(1) The spatial distribution of the average alpine grassland phenology from 1999 to 2009 is closely related to water and heat conditions.Accompanying the deterioration in heat and water conditions from southeast to northwest,the start of growth season(SOG) was delayed gradually,the end of growth season(EOG) advanced slowly,and the length of growth season(LOG) shortened gradually.Elevation played an important role in the regional differentiation of phenology,but a dividing line of approximately 3500 m existed.Below this line,the phenology fluctuated irregularly with altitude change,whereas above the line,the phenology is closely related to altitude change.(2) From 1999 to 2009,SOG of the alpine grassland came earlier by six days per decade(R2=0.281,P=0.093),EOG was late by two days per decade(R2=0.031,P=0.605),and LOG lengthened by eight days per decade(R2=0.479,P=0.018).The early SOG,the late EOG,and the extended LOG mainly occurred at the center and east of the Plateau.SOG in most of the Plateau advanced significantly,especially in the eastern Plateau.(3) The inter-annual phenology changes of the alpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau exhibited significant differentiation at different elevation and natural zones.The inter-annual changes at high altitude were more complicated than that at low altitude.The most significant phenology changes were found in the eastern Qinghai-Qilian montane steppe zone,and non-significant changes occurred in the Southern Tibet montane shrub-steppe zone.     

Changes in plant community diversity and aboveground biomass along with altitude within an alpine meadow on the Three-River source region

The grassland is an important component of terrestrial ecosystems and plays a significant role in biodiversity and ecosystem functions.In the present study,the changes of plant species diversity and aboveground biomass productivity were examined along with the altitude in natural alpine grassland in the source region of three rivers on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.Eleven experimental locations were selected with altitudes ranging from 3862 to 4450 m above sea level(a.s.l.).The results indicated that Kobresia pygmaea meadow,Kobresia humilis meadow and Salix cupularis shrub meadow had higher indices of diversity and aboveground biomass.The distribution of species diversity,richness and aboveground biomass showed similarly unimodal patterns across the altitude gradient with the highest indices appeared at mid-altitudes locations.The changing trend of species diversity,richness and evenness also showed significant unimodal patterns with total aboveground biomass,and the highest species diversity occurred at intermediate level of productivities.This research would provide a valuable reference for the protection of grassland biodiversity and maintaining of the grazing ecosystem function in the source region of the Three Rivers.     

Vegetation Restoration Technique System and Its Ecological Functions of the Degraded Ecosystem in the Arid-Hot Valleys —— Taking the Example of Typical Mode in Small Watershed of Yuanmou

This paper concluded the vegetation restoration technique system in the arid-hot valleys and studied the anti-erosion function, environmental function and biological diversity effects of vegetation restoration on the ecosystem in the arid-hot valleys. The results showed that the soil erodibility decreased significantly after the vegetation restoration. The climate environment of the small watershed had a great improvement after the vegetation restoration, of which the temperature decreased, the humidity increased, the harsh environment of dry and hot in this region changed. The studies of the ecosystem biodiversity were mainly on the analysis of the relations between biodiversity and ecological function of the artificial ecological forest pattern and the natural enclosed treatment mode on the severely of degraded land. It could conclude that the natural enclosed treatment mode is helpful to the biodiversity of the ecosystem and the improvement and stability of the ecosystem, and Leucaena artificial forest restoration pattern reduced the species diversity but optimized the ecological function. Therefore, as to the severely and extremely severely degraded ecosystem in the arid-hot valleys, Leucaena pattern of gully control and natural enclosed treatment mode are the relatively optimal choices.     

Ecosystem vulnerability of China under B2 climate scenario in the 21st century

This paper applies climate change scenarios in China based on the SRES assumptions with the help of RCMs projections by PRECIS （providing regional climates for impacts studies） system introduced to China from.the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research at a high-resolution （50 kmx50 km） over China. This research focuses on B2 scenario of SRES. A biogeochemical model ＂Atmosphere Vegetation Integrated Model （AVIM2）＂ was applied to simulating ecosystem status in the 21st century. Then vulnerability of ecosystems was assessed based on a set of index of mainly net primary production （NPP） of vegetation. Results show that climate change would affect ecosystem of China severely and there would be a worse trend with the lapse of time. The regions where having vulnerable ecological background would have heavier impacts while some regions with better ecological background would also receive serious impacts. Extreme climate even would bring about worse impact on the ecosystems. Open shrub and desert steppe would be the two most affected types. When the extreme events happen, vulnerable ecosystem would extend to part of defoliate broad-leaved forest, woody grassland and evergreen conifer forest. Climate change would not always be negative. It could be of some benefit to cold region during the near-term. However, in view of mid-term to long-term negative impact on ecosystem vulnerability would be enormously.     

Carbonate rock dissolution rates in different landuses and their carbon sink effect

Research on karst processes is important for the determination of their carbon sink potential,as is research into terrestrial ecosystems in karst areas.Solutional denudation rates of soils from three karst spring watersheds supporting different land uses were studied.Solution rates showed a distinct pattern based on land use,with a generally higher rate being recorded in forest use soil.The mean values for tablet dissolution from the cultivated land,shrublands,secondary forest,grassland and primary forest were 4.02,7.0,40.0,20.0,63.5 t km-2 a-1 respectively.Changes in vegetation patterns could improve the size of karst carbon sinks;for example,in this study the carbon sink was 3 times higher in primary forest than in secondary forest soil and 9 times higher than under shrubland,equating to an increase from 5.71-7.02 to 24.86-26.17 t km-2 a-1 from cultivated land or shrub to secondary forest and to primary forest,respectively.     

Function of Rural Settlement Complex Ecosystem in Mountain Area：A Case Study of Raosi Village of Zuogong County, Tibet

0IntroductionSettlement refers to the spatial unit of as-sembled human inhabitation,and it is ahuman-activity-dominated complex ecosystemlinking society,economy,and nature[1].Ruralsettlement complex ecosystemrefers to the as-sembled humaninhabitationinthe countryside.The term denotes not only courtyard ecosys-tem,agriculture ecosystem,non-agriculture eco-system,but also the social systemcomposed ofhuman and human activities in the settlementand natural ecosystem-forest,grassland,andwater ecosy…     

Changes in global potential vegetation distributions from 1911 to 2000 as simulated by the Comprehensive Sequential Classification System approach

Vegetation classification models play an important role in studying the response of the terrestrial ecosystem to global climate change. In this paper, we study changes in global Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) distributions using the Comprehensive Sequential Classification System (CSCS) approach, a technique that combines geographic information systems. Results indicate that on a global scale there are good agreements among maps produced by the CSCS method and the globally well-accepted Holdridge Life Zone (HLZ) and BIOME4 PNV models. The potential vegetation simulated by the CSCS approach has 6 major latitudinal zones in the northern hemisphere and 2 in the southern hemisphere. In mountainous areas it has obvious altitudinal distribution characteristics due to topographic effects. The distribution extent for different PNV classes at various periods has different characteristics. It had a decreasing trend for the tundra and alpine steppe, desert, sub-tropical forest and tropical forest categories, and an increasing trend for the temperate forest and grassland vegetation categories. The simulation of global CSCS-based PNV classes helps to understand climate-vegetation relationships and reveals the dynamics of potential vegetation distributions induced by global changes. Compared with existing statistical and equilibrium models, the CSCS approach provides similar mapping results for global PNV and has the advantage of improved simulation of grassland classes.     

Contributions of DPOR at Low Light Intensi.ty to Chlorophyll Biosynthesis and Growth in the Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Introduction Chlorophylls (Chls) and bacteriochlorophylls (Bchls) are two of the most abundant classes of natural pigments, and their biosynthesis is a major metabolic activity in the ecosystem[1]. Protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) is an intermediate in the Chl and Bchl biosynthetic pathway of photosynthetic organisms and its reduction to chlorophyllide (Chlide) is a key regulatory step in the Chl biosynthesis pathway. In this reaction, the porphyrin D-ring of Pchlide is converted to chlorin b…     

GMOs： The new hotspot in ecological research

Gene flow is an important ecological and genetic process, and the fitness conferred by the insertion of a foreiga gene could be important in ecology after it becomes introgressed into the wild genetic background of organisms,which is the determinative factor for the fate of GMOs or foreign genes in natural ecosystem and for the competition with native species. Trophic interrelation fulfilled by food chains is the most important correlation between species in ecosystem and could be affected by the modified genotypes after the introduction of GMOs. The technology enabling the precise manipulation of genotype is a great opportunity for the stndy of ecological genetics in an unknown way prior to the biotechnology era. Especially interesting is the impact of genes on ecosystem function when GMOs are released into environment. A variety of ecological terminology has been frequently used in assessment of ecological risks related to the release of GMOs in environment, e.g. gene flow, fitness,interspecific competition and food chain. The value of GMOs in ecological research is illustrated through several examples in biasafety assessment related to those terms here. It is proposed that ecolegists should pay attention to the study of gene function in ecosystem and take the opportunity to enrich ecological theory with the release of GMOs.     

Variation characteristics of soil respiration fluxes in four types of grassland communities under different precipitation intensity

In the global carbon cycle studies, terrestrial ecosys- tem has become one of the greatest uncertain ecosystems in the current carbon cycle studies owing to the complex- ity of its underlying surface and intense disturbance of anthropogenic activities[1], hence depth studies of it serveas a key in seeking for the “missing carbon sinks” of at-mosphere. In the terrestrial ecosystem, soil organic carbonreservoir is an important component of carbon reservoir inthe system, its carbon …     

Estimation of soil respiration in a paddy ecosystem in the subtropical resion of China

Water vapor, energy exchange, and CO2 flux were measured continuously from 2003 to 2005 using the eddy covariance technique in a paddy ecosystem in the subtropical region of China. The CO2 fluxes at nighttime during fallow periods （from middle October to late April） were used to analyze the dynamics of soil respiration and its relationship with soil temperature, and to simulate the annual dynamics of soil respiration in paddy ecosystems. The variation of soil respiration showed a clear seasonal pattern. The soil respiration rates at night during the fallow periods were 52--398 mg· m^-2· h^-1, and exponentially correlated （P〈0.001） with soil temperatures at different depths of soil （5, 10, and 20 cm）, particularly the temperature measured at a depth of 5 cm. Based on the simulated exponential equations developed, annual average soil respiration rates and total soil respiration of paddy soil in the subtropical region of China were estimated to be 178.5--259.9 mg· m^-2· h^-1 and 1.56--2.28 kg· m^-2· a^-1, respectively. The simulation equations can be applied to evaluating soil respiration in paddy ecosystems during the rice-growing season.     

The contribution of root respiration to soil CO2 efflux in Puccinellia tenuiflora dominated community in a semi-arid meadow steppe

Rising atmospheric CO2 and temperature are altering ecosystem carbon cycling. Grasslands play an important role in regional climate change and global carbon cycle. Below-ground processes play a key role in the grassland carbon cycle because they regulate …     

Fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane from swamp and impact factors in Sanjiang Plain,China

Incomplete decomposition of organic matter results in the accumulation of the carbon and other nutriments in wetlands. The wetland ecosystem gains a large amount of carbon from atmosphere CO2 by photosynthesis, and it loses much of which back into the atmosphere as CO2 and CH4 emission through the decomposition and respiration. Climate change, such as global warming and reduction of precipitation could drive the wetlands from carbon sink to source[1,2]. Wetland plays an important role in car…     

Evaluating the influences of measurement time and frequency on soil respiration in a semiarid temperate grassland

Soil respiration(Soil R)is one of the largest CO2fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere.The largely seasonal and daily patterns of Soil R in semiarid grassland ecosystems indicate that measurement time and frequency would have significant influences on the assessment of seasonal soil carbon release.Based on a three-year continuous measurement of Soil R in a semiarid grassland,we found that the Soil R value measured at around 10:00 o’clock local time was the closest to its daily mean,while the value at 14:00 o’clock was found to be the highest daily rate.A measurement frequency higher than every 10 days was necessary for estimating the seasonal Soil R and its temperature sensitivity(Q10)reasonably.Our study would be useful as guidelines for manual Soil R measurements and model data selection in semiarid temperate grasslands.     

去除和添加凋落物对马尾松×红锥混交林土壤呼吸的影响

为探讨凋落物输入量改变对马尾松×红锥混交林碳排放的影响,以马尾松×红锥异龄混交林为研究对象,通过添加和去除凋落物人为地改变碳输入,研究凋落物处理方式对土壤呼吸的影响。结果表明:(1)去除凋落物可降低土壤湿度、提高土壤温度,而添加凋落物则提高土壤湿度、降低土壤温度。去除凋落物使土壤年均呼吸速率显著降低27.88%,而添加凋落物则使土壤年均呼吸速率显著增加34.02%。(2)去除凋落物能降低四季的土壤呼吸累积排放量,而添加凋落物则提高四季的土壤呼吸累积排放量。对照、去除和添加凋落物的土壤呼吸的年累积排放量(以C计)分别为(9.51±0.12) t·hm~(-2)、(6.88±0.21) t·hm~(-2)和(12.70±0.53) t·hm~(-2),可见去除凋落物使土壤呼吸年累积排放量降低27.66%,而添加凋落物使土壤呼吸年累积排放量提高33.54%。(3)不同凋落物处理方式下土壤呼吸速率与土壤温度均呈显著相关,土壤温度解释了土壤呼吸速率变异程度的74.26%～94.28%。去除凋落物增加了土壤呼吸温度敏感性系数Q10值,而添加凋落物则降低Q10值。凋落物处理方式对马尾松×红锥异龄混交林土壤呼吸产生了显著影响,证明凋落物对于改变森林生态系统土壤呼吸和碳循环具有重要作用。     

Distribution characteristics of ^137Cs in wind-eroded soil profile and its use in estimating wind erosion modulus

~~Distribution characteristics of ~(137)Cs in wind-eroded soil profile and its use in estimating wind erosion modulus1.Tamura, T, Jacobs, D. G, Structural implications in cesium sorp-tion, Health Physics, 1960, 6(2): 391-398. 2.Rogowshi, A. S., Tamura, T, Movement of 137Cs by runoff, erosion and infiltration on the alluvial captina silt loam, Health Physics, 1965, 11(12): 1333-3340. 3.Owens, P. N., Walling, D. E., He, Q. P., The behaviour of bomb-derived caesium-137 fallout in …     

Food-Chain Model of Grassland Degradation and Its Restoration Process in Northern Tibet Plateau：A Case Study in Nierong County

Based on the model of grassland climate ecological productivity, the process of grassland degradation and its restoration mechanism in northern Tibetan Plateau were discussed by the model of food-chain in which the environmental and human factors were corrected. The results of case study in Nierong County showed that： ① the climate trend of becoming warmer, more droughts and gales were conflicted with the restoration of grassland degradation, even under level of perfect management the climate ecological productivity was declined from 89. 3 kg/m^2 of 1983 to 71.8 kg/m^2 of 2003; ② from 1983 to 2003, the population increased fast, while the variation of livestock on hand was little, and the cost of its maintaining is rapid grassland degradation; ③ on the present condition of overgrazing, the livestock on hand can be maintained on the level of theoretical carrying capacity in 2033 by applying the mechanism of food-chain in grassland ecological system controlled with expected coefficients, so that to realize the policy of determining the quantity of livestock according to grass growth.     

不同生态系统呼吸模型在半干旱草原生长季碳循环研究中的比较及应用

利用锡林浩特国家气候观象台涡度协方差通量观测系统记录的湍流数据和土壤温度、湿度数据, 分析2010-2012年锡林郭勒半干旱区针茅草原生态系统的呼吸过程及主要气候影响因子, 探讨以土壤温度和土壤体积比含水量(VWC)为计算参数的3种连乘形式的呼吸模型和Q₁₀呼吸模型在该生态系统的适用性, 在此基础上讨论该生态系统生长季净碳交换速率(NEE)、呼吸速率(R_eco)以及总初级生产力(GPP)的年际变化特征。该草原生态系统的呼吸作用受土壤温度和土壤含水量的共同影响, 其中土壤含水量是重要的限制因子。2010和2011年, 生长季降水量偏少, 该生态系统受到一定程度的干旱胁迫, 当土壤含水量处于12%~20%区间时, 呼吸速率随其升高而显著增加, 而当土壤含水量<12%或>20%时, 呼吸速率对其变化不敏感; 2012年降水充沛, 呼吸速率与土壤温度的变化趋势相关性更显著。4种呼吸模型的拟合结果表明, Q₁₀模型的表现(R²=0.64)优于其他3 种连乘模型。使用Q₁₀模型模拟的2010, 2011和2012年生长季呼吸作用的累积碳交换量分别为157.32, 138.75和 246.32 gC/m²。该草原生态系统在这3年生长季中均表现出较显著的碳汇功能, 净碳交换累积总量分别为−110.28, −68.79和−310.05 gC/m², 总初级生产力累积总量分别为267.52, 207.57和555.85 gC/m²。干旱胁迫对光合作用的影响大于呼吸作用, 与总初级生产力和呼吸作用相比, 净碳交换量的年际差异更明显。     

Variation of δ13C in karst soil in Yaji Karst Experiment Site, Guilin

This study deals with δ₁₃ C variation in karst soil system of Yaji Karst Experiment Site, Guilin, a typical region of humid subtropical karst formations. Samples of near ground air, plant tissue, soil and water (soil solution and karst spring) were respectively collected on site in different seasons during 1996–1999. Considerable variation of δ₁₃ C values are not only found with different carbon pools of soil organic carbon, soil air CO₂ and soil water HCO₃⁻, but also with the soil depths and with different seasons during a year. The °₁₃ C values of CO₂ both of near ground air and soil air are lower in July than those in April by 1‰–4‰ PDB. Our results indicate that the δ₁₃ C values of carbon in the water and air are essentially dependent on interface carbon interaction of air-plant—soil-rock—water governed by soil organic carbon and soil CO₂ in the system.