Assessment of the effectiveness of China's protected areas in enhancing ecosystem services

Chaoyue Yu; Zhonghao Zhang; Erik Jeppesen; Yang Gao; Yuexin Liu; Yongjie Liu; Qingling Lu; Chenxu Wang; Ximan Sun

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101588

Assessment of the effectiveness of China's protected areas in enhancing ecosystem services

Chaoyue Yu, Zhonghao Zhang^*, Erik Jeppesen, Yang Gao, Yuexin Liu, Yongjie Liu, Qingling Lu, Chenxu Wang, Ximan Sun

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Ecoscience - Freshwater Ecology

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Protected areas are critical for providing ecosystem services. However, studies on the effect of protected areas on ecosystem service enhancement remain lacking, which restricts efficient protected area management. In this study, a statistical matching approach was used to analyze the role of 637 protected areas in China in enhancing ecosystem services. The drivers that influence the effectiveness of protected areas were also explored. The results show that 94% of the protected areas enhanced at least one type of the selected ecosystem services compared with the controls (unprotected areas), and protected areas in areas with high human activity disturbance or ecological fragility were more effective in enhancing ecosystem services than in other areas. At the national scale, the effectiveness of protected areas for carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and water yield services was mainly influenced by physical geographic variables (e.g., mean annual temperature, annual precipitation), and of habitat quality service also by socio-economic variables (e.g., road network density, distance to the nearest cropland). The main drivers in the various dry and wet climate regions differed from those operating at national scale, reflecting the spatial heterogeneity of natural and socio-economic conditions. Our results provide useful information for application in protected area management.

Original language	English
Article number	101588
Journal	Ecosystem Services
Volume	65
ISSN	2212-0416
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101588
Publication status	Published - Feb 2024

Keywords

China
Ecosystem services
Management effectiveness
Protected areas
Statistical matching approach

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10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101588

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title = "Assessment of the effectiveness of China's protected areas in enhancing ecosystem services",

abstract = "Protected areas are critical for providing ecosystem services. However, studies on the effect of protected areas on ecosystem service enhancement remain lacking, which restricts efficient protected area management. In this study, a statistical matching approach was used to analyze the role of 637 protected areas in China in enhancing ecosystem services. The drivers that influence the effectiveness of protected areas were also explored. The results show that 94% of the protected areas enhanced at least one type of the selected ecosystem services compared with the controls (unprotected areas), and protected areas in areas with high human activity disturbance or ecological fragility were more effective in enhancing ecosystem services than in other areas. At the national scale, the effectiveness of protected areas for carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and water yield services was mainly influenced by physical geographic variables (e.g., mean annual temperature, annual precipitation), and of habitat quality service also by socio-economic variables (e.g., road network density, distance to the nearest cropland). The main drivers in the various dry and wet climate regions differed from those operating at national scale, reflecting the spatial heterogeneity of natural and socio-economic conditions. Our results provide useful information for application in protected area management.",

keywords = "China, Ecosystem services, Management effectiveness, Protected areas, Statistical matching approach",

author = "Chaoyue Yu and Zhonghao Zhang and Erik Jeppesen and Yang Gao and Yuexin Liu and Yongjie Liu and Qingling Lu and Chenxu Wang and Ximan Sun",

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AU - Yu, Chaoyue

AU - Zhang, Zhonghao

AU - Jeppesen, Erik

AU - Gao, Yang

AU - Liu, Yuexin

AU - Liu, Yongjie

AU - Lu, Qingling

AU - Wang, Chenxu

AU - Sun, Ximan

PY - 2024/2

Y1 - 2024/2

N2 - Protected areas are critical for providing ecosystem services. However, studies on the effect of protected areas on ecosystem service enhancement remain lacking, which restricts efficient protected area management. In this study, a statistical matching approach was used to analyze the role of 637 protected areas in China in enhancing ecosystem services. The drivers that influence the effectiveness of protected areas were also explored. The results show that 94% of the protected areas enhanced at least one type of the selected ecosystem services compared with the controls (unprotected areas), and protected areas in areas with high human activity disturbance or ecological fragility were more effective in enhancing ecosystem services than in other areas. At the national scale, the effectiveness of protected areas for carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and water yield services was mainly influenced by physical geographic variables (e.g., mean annual temperature, annual precipitation), and of habitat quality service also by socio-economic variables (e.g., road network density, distance to the nearest cropland). The main drivers in the various dry and wet climate regions differed from those operating at national scale, reflecting the spatial heterogeneity of natural and socio-economic conditions. Our results provide useful information for application in protected area management.

AB - Protected areas are critical for providing ecosystem services. However, studies on the effect of protected areas on ecosystem service enhancement remain lacking, which restricts efficient protected area management. In this study, a statistical matching approach was used to analyze the role of 637 protected areas in China in enhancing ecosystem services. The drivers that influence the effectiveness of protected areas were also explored. The results show that 94% of the protected areas enhanced at least one type of the selected ecosystem services compared with the controls (unprotected areas), and protected areas in areas with high human activity disturbance or ecological fragility were more effective in enhancing ecosystem services than in other areas. At the national scale, the effectiveness of protected areas for carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and water yield services was mainly influenced by physical geographic variables (e.g., mean annual temperature, annual precipitation), and of habitat quality service also by socio-economic variables (e.g., road network density, distance to the nearest cropland). The main drivers in the various dry and wet climate regions differed from those operating at national scale, reflecting the spatial heterogeneity of natural and socio-economic conditions. Our results provide useful information for application in protected area management.

KW - China

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Management effectiveness

KW - Protected areas

KW - Statistical matching approach

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DO - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101588

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Assessment of the effectiveness of China's protected areas in enhancing ecosystem services

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Keywords

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