Abstract
Conservation priority setting is the critical process of allocating the limited resources available for nature conservation and; safeguarding the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESs). It is difficult, however, to achieve the goal of simultaneously conserving both biodiversity and ESs, not only because of the potential trade-offs between biodiversity and ESs, but also because of the trade-offs between multiple ESs. Thus far, research has focused on the trade-offs between ESs caused by spatial competition resulting from land use change or by the destruction of biophysical interaction between multiple ESs. Few studies, however, have paid attention to the trade-offs induced during the decision-making process. Approaches for measuring the trade-offs between multiple ESs in decision-making processes would thus prove to be extremely helpful. In this paper, we map the water supply, soil conservation, and net primary production as ESs in the Jiangxi province of China in the year 2010, and use risk, tradeoff, and spatial efficiency indices to measure the conservation efficiency of seven established ordered weighted averaging (OWA) scenarios under two conservation levels (conserving the top ESs at 10 or 20 % of the area of the Jiangxi province). The main results are as follows: (1) conserving one ES may result in inefficient conservation of other ESs; and (2) conserving multiple ESs and the use of GIS-based OWA methods can balance conflicts among multiple ESs and can significantly enhance the spatial efficiency of the identified priority areas. Decision-makers may combine the spatial efficiency, risk and tradeoff levels of each OWA scenario with other specific conservation demands of their own specific cases in order to achieve the optimal identification of priority areas for the simultaneous conservation of multiple ESs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amiri MJ, Mahiny AS, Hosseini SM, Jalali SG, Ezadkhasty Z, Karami S (2013) OWA analysis for ecological capability assessment in watersheds. Int J Environ Res 7(1):241–254
Balvanera P, Daily GC, Ehrlich PR, Ricketts TH, Bailey SA, Kark S, Kremen C, Pereira H (2001) Conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. Science 291:2047
Bennett EM, Peterson GD, Gordon LJ (2009) Understanding relationships among multiple ecosystem services. Ecol Lett 12:1394–1404
Brooks TM, Mittermeier RA, da Fonseca GA, Gerlach J, Hoffmann M, Lamoreux JF, Mittermeier CG, Pilgrim JD, Rodrigues AS (2006) Global biodiversity conservation priorities. Science 313(5783):58–61
Budyko MI (1974) Climate and life. Academic Press, San Diego
Burkhard B, Kroll F, Nedkov S, Müller F (2012) Mapping supply, demand and budgets of ecosystem services. Ecol Indic 21:17–20
Butchart SHM, Walpole M, Collen B, van Strien A, Scharlemann JPW, Almond REA, Baillie JEM, Bomhard B, Brown C, Bruno J, Carpenter KE, Carr GM, Chanson J, Chenery AM, Csirke J, Davidson NC, Dentener F, Foster M, Galli A, Galloway JN, Genovesi P, Gregory RD, Hockings M, Kapos V, Lamarque JF, Leverington F, Loh J, McGeoch MA, McRae L, Minasyan A, Morcillo MH, Oldfield TEE, Pauly D, Quader S, Revenga C, Sauer JR, Skolnik B, Spear D, Stanwell-Smith D, Stuart SN, Symes A, Tierney M, Tyrrell TD, Vié JC, Watson R (2010) Global biodiversity: indicators of recent declines. Science 328(5982):1164–1168
Butler JR, Wong GY, Metcalfe DJ, Honzák M, Pert PL, van Rao N, Griekend ME, Lawson T, Bruce C, Kroon FJ, Brodie JE (2011) An analysis of trade-offs between multiple ecosystem services and stakeholders linked to land use and water quality management in the Great Barrier Reef. Agric, Ecosyst Environ, Australia
Carreño L, Frank FC, Viglizzo EF (2012) Tradeoffs between economic and ecosystem services in Argentina during 50 years of land-use change. Agric Ecosyst Environ 154:68–77
Chan KM, Hoshizaki L, Klinkenberg B (2011) Ecosystem services in conservation planning: targeted benefits vs. co-benefits or costs? PLoS ONE 6(9):e24378
Crossman ND, Burkhard B, Nedkov S, Willemen L, Petz K, Palomo I, Drakou EG, Martín-Lopez B, McPhearson T, Boyanovac K, Alkemade R, Egoh B, Dunbar MB, Maes J (2013) A blueprint for mapping and modelling ecosystem services. Ecosyst Serv 4:4–14
Daily GC (1997) Nature’s services: societal dependence on natural ecosystem services, 1st edn. Island Press, Washington
DeFiniens I (2004) eCognition. Software. http://www.definiensimaging.com. Accessed 17 Dec 2013
Ding QF, Wang JB, Qi SH, Ye H, Huang M, Xu YT, Ying TY, Tao J (2013) Spatial patterns of vegetation net primary productivity in Jiangxi Province of China in relation to climate factors. Chin J Ecol 32(3):726–732 (In Chinese)
Egoh B, Rouget M, Reyers B, Knight AT, Cowling RM, van Jaarsveld AS, Welz A (2007) Integrating ecosystem services into conservation assessments: a review. Ecol Econ 63(4):714–721
Egoh B, Drakou EG, Dunbar MB, Maes J, Willemen L (2012) Indicators for mapping ecosystem services: a review. Report EUR, 25456
Feng X, Fu B, Yang X, Lü Y (2010) Remote sensing of ecosystem services: an opportunity for spatially explicit assessment. Chin Geogr Sci 20(6):522–535
Fischer G, Nachtergaele F, Prieler S, van Velthuizen HT, Verelst L, Wiberg D (2008) Global agro-ecological zones assessment for agriculture (GAEZ 2008). IIASA, FAO, Laxenburg
Fisher B, Bradbury RB, Andrews JE, Ausden M, Bentham-Green S, White SM, Gill JA (2011) Impacts of species-led conservation on ecosystem services of wetlands: understanding co-benefits and trade offs. Biodivers Conserv 20(11):2461–2481
Goldman RL, Tallis H (2009) A critical analysis of ecosystem services as a tool in conservation projects. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1162(1):63–78
Gu J, Li X, Huang C, Zhang X, Jin X (2013) Simulating net primary productivity of Chinese terrestrial vegetation during 2000–2010. J Lanzhou Univ (Nat Sci) 49(2):203–213 (In Chinese)
Haase D, Schwarz N, Strohbach M, Kroll F, Seppelt R (2012) Synergies, trade-offs, and losses of ecosystem services in urban regions: an integrated multiscale framework applied to the Leipzig-Halle region Germany. Ecol Soc 17(3):22
Hamon WR (1963) Computation of direct runoff amounts from storm rainfall. Int Assoc Sci Hydrol Pub 63:52–62
He Y, Che T, Wang Y (2012) Ecological footprint and endogenous economic growth in the Poyang Lake area in China based on empirical analysis of panel data model. J Resour Ecol 3(4):367–372
Hussain AM, Tschirhart J (2013) Economic/ecological tradeoffs among ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Ecol Econ 93:116–127
Izquierdo AE, Clark ML (2012) Spatial analysis of conservation priorities based on ecosystem services in the Atlantic forest region of misiones, Argentina. Forests 3(3):764–786
Jax K, Barton DN, Chan K, de Groot R, Doyle U, Eser U, Görg C, Gómez-Baggethun E, Griewald Y, Haber W, Haines-Young R, Heink U, Jahn T, Joosten H, Kerschbaumer L, Korn H, Luck GW, Matzdorf B, Muraca B, Neßhöver C, Norton B, Ott K, Potschin M, Rauschmayer F, von Haaren C, Wichmann S (2013) Ecosystem services and ethics. Ecol Econ 93:260–268
Jiang H, Eastman JR (2000) Application of fuzzy measures in multi-criteria evaluation in GIS. Int J Geogr Inform Syst 14:173–184
Lautenbach S, Volk M, Gruber B, Dormann CF, Strauch M, Seppelt R (2010) Quantifying ecosystem service trade-offs. In: International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs). 2010 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software Modelling for Environment’s Sake. Ottawa, Canada
Li X, Zhuge H, Mengdi L (2013) Gap analysis and conservation network for freshwater wetlands in Central Yangtze Ecoregion. Sci World J. doi:10.1155/2013/918718
Liu Y, Zhang H, Yang X, Wang Y, Wang X (2013) Identifying priority areas for the conservation of ecosystem services using GIS-based multicriteria evaluation. Pol J Ecol 61(1):415–430
Lu J, Sun G, McNulty SG, Amatya DM (2005) A comparison of six potential evapotranspiration methods for regional use in the southeastern United States1. JAWRA J Am Water Resour Assoc 41(3):621–633
Lu J, Chen X, Li H, Liu H, Xiao J, Yin J (2011) Soil erosion changes based on GIS/RS and USLE in Poyang Lake basin. Trans CSAE 27(2):337–344 (In Chinese)
Lu N, Sun G, Feng X, Fu B (2013) Water supply responses to climate change and variability across the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC). J Hydrol 481:96–105
Luck GW, Chan KM, Klien CJ (2012) Identifying spatial priorities for protecting ecosystem services. F1000 Res 1:17
MA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis. Island Press, Washington
Mace GM, Norris K, Fitter AH (2012) Biodiversity and ecosystem services: a multilayered relationship. Trends Ecol Evol 27(1):19–26
Maes J, Paracchini ML, Zulian G, Dunbar MB, Alkemade R (2012) Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe. Biol Conserv 155:1–12
Malczewski J, Chapman T, Flegel C, Walters D, Shrubsole D, Healy MA (2003) GIS-multicriteria evaluation with ordered weighted averaging (OWA): case study of developing watershed management strategies. Environ Plan A 35(10):1769–1784
Malczewski J, Rinner C (2005) Exploring multicriteria decision strategies in GIS with linguistic quantifiers: a case study of residential quality evaluation. J Geogr Syst 7(2):249–268
Margules CR, Pressey RL (2000) Systematic conservation planning. Nature 405(6783):243–253
Martínez-Harms MJ, Balvanera P (2012) Methods for mapping ecosystem service supply: a review. Int J Biodivers Sci, Ecosyst Serv Manag 8(1–2):17–25
Moilanen A Meller L, Leppänen J, Pouzols MF, Arponen A, Kujala H (2013) Spatial conservation planning framework and software ZONATION Version 3.1 User manual. Biodiversity Conservation Informatics Group Department of Biosciences University of Helsinki, Finland, p 288
Nelson E, Mendoza G, Regetz J, Polasky S, Tallis H, Cameron D, Chan KM, Daily GC, Goldstein J, Kareiva PM, Lonsdorf E, Naidoo R, Ricketts TH, Shaw M (2009) Modeling multiple ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, commodity production, and tradeoffs at landscape scales. Front Ecol Environ 7(1):4–11
Paviolo A, di Blanco YE, de Angelo CD, di Bitetti MS (2009) Protection affects the abundance and activity patterns of pumas in the Atlantic Forest. J Mammal 90:926–934
Pimm SL, Russell GJ, Gittleman JL, Brooks TM (1995) The future of biodiversity. Science 269(5222):347–350
Pimm SL, Jenkins CN, Abell R, Brooks TM, Gittleman JL, Joppa LN, Raven PH, Robert CM, Sexton JO (2014) The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection. Science 344(6187):1246752
Polasky S, Johnson K, Keeler B, Kovacs K, Nelson E, Pennington D, Plantinga AJ, Withey J (2012) Are investments to promote biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services aligned? Oxf Rev Econ Policy 28(1):139–163
Potter CS, Randerson JT, Field CB, Matson PA, Vitousek PM, Mooney HS, Klosster SA (1993) Terrestrial ecosystem production: a process model based on global satellite and surface data. Glob Biogeochem Cy 7:811–841
Ricardo DT, Ershun Z, Yang ZH, Arisleydis P (2013) A local spatial decision support system for developing countries based on MCA, fuzzy sets and OWA—case study of a municipality in Cuba. Geo-spatial Inf Sci 16(2):120–129
Rodrigues ASL (2006) Are global conservation efforts successful? Science 313(5790):1051–1052
Sharpley AN, Williams JR (1990). EPIC-erosion/productivity impact calculator: 1. Model documentation. Technical Bulletin-United States Department of Agriculture, (1768 Pt 1)
Singh SP (2002) Balancing the approaches of environmental conservation by considering ecosystem services as well as biodiversity. Curr Sci 82:1331–1335
Robinson TP, van Klinken RD, Metternicht G (2010) Comparison of alternative strategies for invasive species distribution modeling. Ecol Model 221(19):2261–2269
Rodríguez JP, Beard TD, Bennett EM, Cumming GS, Cork SJ, Agard J, Dobson AP, Peterson GD (2006) Trade-offs across space, time, and ecosystem services. Ecol Soc 11(1):28
Tallis H, Goldman R, Uhl M, Brosi B (2009) Integrating conservation and development in the field: implementing ecosystem service projects. Front Ecol Environ 7(1):12–20
Turner WR, Brandon K, Brooks TM, Costanza R, Da Fonseca GA, Portela R (2007) Global conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Bioscience 57(10):868–873
Wang J, Lü Y, Zeng Y, Zhao Z, Zhang L, Fu B (2014) Spatial heterogeneous response of land use and landscape functions to ecological restoration: the case of the Chinese loess hilly region. Environ Earth Sci. doi:10.1007/s12665-014-3175-z
Wilcove DS, Rothstein D, Dubow J, Phillips A, Losos E (1998) Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States. Bioscience 48(8):607–615
Wilcove DS (2008) No way home: the decline of the world’s great animal migrations. Island Press, Washington
Wilson KA, Cabeza M, Klein CJ (2009) Fundamental concepts of spatial conservation prioritization. Spatial Conservation Prioritisation: Quantitative Methods and Computational Tools. Oxford University Press, New York
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1965) Predicting rainfall-erosion losses from cropland east of the rocky mountains-guide for selection of practices for soil and water conservation. US Department of Agriculture, Washington
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1978) Predicting rainfall erosion losses: a guide to conservation planning. Agriculture handbook, vol 537. US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, pp 5–8
Yager RR (1988) On ordered weighted averaging aggregation operators in multi-criteria decision making. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybernet 18(1):183–190
Yu J, Zheng B, Liu Y, Liu C (2011) Evaluation of soil loss and transportation load of adsorption N and P in Poyang Lake watershed. Acta Ecologica Sinica 31(14):3980–3989 (In Chinese)
Zhang L, Dawes WR, Walker GR (2001) Response of mean annual evapotranspiration to vegetation changes at catchment scale. Water Resour Res 37(3):701–708
Zhou Q, Liu X (2006) Digital topography analysis. Science Press, Beijing, pp 79–132 (In Chinese)
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 41230745) and the National Environmental Conservation Research Program (201209027-4).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, L., Fu, B., Lü, Y. et al. Balancing multiple ecosystem services in conservation priority setting. Landscape Ecol 30, 535–546 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0106-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0106-z