Quantitative Assessment of Climate Change, Land Conversion, and Management Measures on Key Ecosystem Services in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of Inner Mongolia, China

Jiayu Geng, Honglan Ji () and Lei Hao
Additional contact information
Jiayu Geng: College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China
Honglan Ji: College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China
Lei Hao: College of Resources and Environmental Economics, Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics, Hohhot 010070, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-22

Abstract: Inner Mongolia, a typical arid and semi-arid region in northern China, has undergone significant ecological transformation over the past two decades through climate shifts and large-scale ecological restoration projects. However, the relative contributions of climate and anthropogenic drivers to these ecological changes have not been sufficiently quantified. This study presents a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the relative contributions of climate change, land conversion, and ecological management to changes in four critical ecosystem services—carbon sequestration, hydrological regulation, soil and water conservation, and windbreak and sand fixation—between 2001 and 2020. Using the residual trend method—a technique to separate climate-driven from human-induced effects—we further decomposed human influence into land conversion and management components. The results show that climate change was the primary driver, enhancing carbon sequestration and hydrological regulation but negatively impacting erosion control, with contributions often over 90%. In contrast, human activities had more spatially variable effects; while land conversion improved several services, it also heightened the vulnerability of sand fixation functions. The analysis further revealed ecosystem-type-specific responses, where grasslands and deserts responded better to management measures and forests and croplands showed greater improvements from land conversion. These findings offer crucial insights into the differentiated mechanisms and outcomes of ecological interventions, providing a scientific basis for optimizing restoration strategies and achieving sustainable ecosystem governance in climate-sensitive regions.

Keywords: ecosystem services; land conversion; management measures; residual trend; ecological restoration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/14/6348/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/14/6348/ (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:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:14:p:6348-:d:1699253

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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