Spatial and Temporal Changes of Landscape Patterns and Their Effects on Ecosystem Services in the Huaihe River Basin, China

Haoran Wang, Mengdi Zhang, Chuanying Wang, Kaiyue Wang, Chen Wang, Yang Li, Xiuling Bai and Yunkai Zhou
Additional contact information
Haoran Wang: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Mengdi Zhang: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Chuanying Wang: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Kaiyue Wang: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Chen Wang: Zhejiang Development & Planning Institute, Hangzhou 310030, China
Yang Li: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Xiuling Bai: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Yunkai Zhou: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Landscape pattern changes caused by human activities are among the most important driving factors affecting ecosystem spatial structure and components, and significantly impact ecosystem services. Understanding the relationship between landscape patterns and ecosystem services is important for improving regional conservation and establishing ecosystem management strategies. Taking the Huaihe River Basin as an example, this study used land-use data, meteorological data, and topographic data to analyze the spatial and temporal changes in landscape patterns via landscape transfer matrix and landscape indices, and measured four ecosystem services (water retention, soil retention, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation) with the InVEST models. Furthermore, correlation analysis and global spatial autocorrelation coefficient were used to analyze the impact of landscape pattern changes on ecosystem services. The results showed grassland and farmland areas had continuously decreased, while built-up land and affected water had significantly increased. Landscape fragmentation was reduced, the connectivity between patches was weakened, landscape heterogeneity, evenness, and patch irregularity were increased. Changes in landscape composition and configuration have affected the ecosystem services of the Huaihe River Basin. The reduction in grassland areas and the increase in built-up land areas have significantly reduced the capacity for soil retention, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation. Spatially, regions with low landscape fragmentation and high patch connectivity had a higher water retention capacity and biodiversity conservation, while soil retention and carbon storage were opposite. Temporally, reduction of landscape fragmentation and increase of patch shape irregularity had a negative effect on water retention, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation, while soil retention was not sensitive to these changes. The findings in this paper promote an understanding of the relationship between landscape patterns and ecosystem services on a large scale and provide theoretical guidance for ecosystem management and protection planning in the Huaihe River Basin, China.

Keywords: landscape pattern; ecosystem services; InVEST models; global bivariate spatial correlation; Huaihe River Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/513/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/513/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:4:p:513-:d:785522

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().