Temporal Changes in Multiple Ecosystem Services and Their Bundles Responding to Urbanization and Ecological Restoration in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Metropolitan Area

Yanying Yang, Hua Zheng, Weihua Xu, Lu Zhang and Zhiyun Ouyang
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Yanying Yang: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Hua Zheng: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Weihua Xu: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Lu Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Zhiyun Ouyang: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: By 2050, 70% of the human population is likely to be living in cities, making urbanization an increasing global trend. Detecting changes in ecosystem services (ES) and their bundles in response to urbanization is critical for evaluating land-use policies. We examined changes in the provision of grains, vegetables, fruits, carbon sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, and water retention from 2000 to 2010 in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan area, China; then, using a k-means cluster analysis, we classified 202 counties of this area into groups (bundles) based on their similar sets of ES. We found that (1) urban area, forestland, and grassland increased by 22%, 3.6%, and 1.7%, respectively, while cropland decreased by 4.6%; (2) the provision of grains, vegetables, and fruits increased by 24–90%, despite an overall loss in cropland; carbon storage and sand retention increased by 40% and 7%, respectively, while soil and water retention increased slightly by approx. 1% each; (3) 72 counties changed their ES bundles; and the “agriculture bundle” dominated the landscape in 2000 while it decreased by 50% in 2010 and was mainly transformed to “sub-developed urban bundle”, indicating loss of cropland during that decade. The transformation of ES bundles can be used to understand the effects of urbanization. The study indicated that improved technologies and ecological restoration in rural areas can help sustain multiple ES in our rapidly urbanizing world.

Keywords: urbanization; ecosystem services bundles; ecological restoration; land use change; rural ecosystem; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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