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Trade-offs between carbon sequestration, soil retention and water yield in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China

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Abstract

Natural ecosystems provide human society with very important products and services. With the rapid increase in population and the over-exploitation of natural resources, humans are continually enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. This paper estimates changes in ecosystem services, and the relationship between these services in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China. These ecosystem changes are of great significance to the sustainable development of this economic region. The concept of production possibility frontier (PPF) is applied to evaluate the trade-offs and synergy between carbon sequestration, water yield and soil retention. Three land use strategy scenarios–planning, exploitation and protection–are applied to evaluate potential changes in ecosystem services. This study reveals noticeable trade-offs between carbon sequestration, soil retention and water yield, with synergy between carbon sequestration and soil retention. There are synergies between carbon sequestration, water yield and soil retention in the three scenarios. The protection scenario is the most favourable land use strategy for regulating ecosystem service capacity. This scenario results in the highest carbon sequestration, water yield and soil retention. The results could have implications for natural capital and ecosystem services planning, management and land use decision-making.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Xiaonan Yang & Xingmin Mu

  2. Institute of Water Saving Agriculture in Arid Area of China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Zixiang Zhou

  3. College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710119, China

    Jing Li & Ting Li

  4. College of Urban and Environment Science, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710127, China

    Xin Fu

Authors
  1. Xiaonan Yang
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  2. Zixiang Zhou
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  3. Jing Li
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  4. Xin Fu
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  5. Xingmin Mu
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  6. Ting Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zixiang Zhou.

Additional information

Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41371020; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, No.GK201502010; Innovation Funds of Graduate Programs, Shaanxi Normal University, No.2015CXS045; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation on the 58th Group, No.2015M582706; The Postdoctoral Scientific Research Project Foundation of Shaanxi Province in 2015

Yang Xiaonan (1989–), PhD, specialized in resources and environment remote sensing and GIS.

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Yang, X., Zhou, Z., Li, J. et al. Trade-offs between carbon sequestration, soil retention and water yield in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China. J. Geogr. Sci. 26, 1449–1462 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-016-1337-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-016-1337-5

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