Abstract
Mapping the human footprint (HF) makes it possible to quantify human influence, which has had an unprecedented impact on the global ecosystem. Using five categories of human pressure data, this study mapped the HF of the Hengduan Mountain region and assessed the effectiveness of nature reserves in reducing human impacts. The results showed that the HF of the Hengduan Mountain region was generally higher in the south and lower in the north. The HF increased by 11.24% over the past 25 years, with faster growth in the southeast. The HF growth rate in nature reserves was much lower than that across the region, which indicated that nature reserves played an important role in reducing the impact of human pressure. A study of Baimaxueshan nature reserve found that establishing nature reserves could effectively reduce the impact of human activities, and no “leakage” occurred. Population growth was an important reason for the increased HF in nature reserves. The development of ecotourism in nature reserves must be based on ecological protection. Strengthening the long-term monitoring, evaluation, and management of nature reserves is a basic requirement for their long-term development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boivin N L, Zeder M A, Fuller D Q et al., 2016. Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(23): 6388–6396.
Burton A C, Huggard D, Bayne E et al., 2014. A framework for adaptive monitoring of the cumulative effects of human footprint on biodiversity. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 186(6): 3605–3617.
Carpenter S R, Mooney H A, Agard J et al., 2009. Science for managing ecosystem services: Beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(5): 1305–1312.
Crutzen P J, 2002. The Anthropocene: Geology of mankind. Nature, 415: 23–24.
Das M, Chatterjee B, 2015. Ecotourism: A panacea or a predicament? Tourism Management Perspectives, 14: 3–16.
Dietz T, Rosa E A, York R, 2009. Environmentally efficient weil-being: Rethinking sustainability as the relationship between human well-being and environmental impacts. Human Ecology Review, 16(1): 114–123.
Doney S C, 2010. The growing human footprint on coastal and open-ocean biogeochemistry. Science, 328(5985): 1512–1516.
Ewers R M, Rodrigues A S, 2008. Estimates of reserve effectiveness are confounded by leakage. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 23(3): 113–116.
Federico M, M M, M B et al., 2007. The human footprint in the carbon cycle of temperate and boreal forests. Nature, 447(7146): 848–850.
Foley J A, DeFries R, Asner G P et al., 2005. Global consequences of land use. Science, 309(5734): 570–574.
Gallardo B, Zieritz A, Aldridge D C, 2015. The importance of the human footprint in shaping the global distribution of terrestrial, freshwater and marine invaders. PloS One, 10(5): e0125801.
Geneletti D, 2003. Biodiversity impact assessment of roads: An approach based on ecosystem rarity. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 23(3): 343–365.
Gonzálezabraham C, Ezcurra E, Garcillán P P et al., 2015. The human footprint in Mexico: Physical geography and historical legacies. PloS One, 10(5): e0128055.
Halpern B S, Walbridge S, Selkoe K A et al., 2008. A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science, 319(5865): 948–952.
Hooftman D A P, Bullock J M, 2012. Mapping to inform conservation: A case study of changes in semi-natural habitats and their connectivity over 70 years. Biological Conservation, 145(1): 30–38.
Lee M A, Davies L, Power S A, 2012. Effects of roads on adjacent plant community composition and ecosystem function: An example from three calcareous ecosystems. Environmental Pollution, 163: 273–280.
Li S, Wu J, Gong J et al., 2018. Human footprint in Tibet: Assessing the spatial layout and effectiveness of nature reserves. Science of Total Environment, 621: 18–29.
Liu C, Li J, Pechacek P, 2013. Current trends of ecotourism in China’s nature reserves: A review of the Chinese literature. Tourism Management Perspectives, 7: 16–24.
Luck G W, Daily G C, Ehrlich P R, 2003. Population diversity and ecosystem services. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 18(7): 331–336.
Luo J C, Zheng J M, 2008. Ecotourism in nature reserves in China: Current situation, problems and solutions. Forest Ecosystems, 10(2): 130–133.
Han N Y, Ren Z G, 2001. Ecotourism in China’s nature reserves: Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9(3): 228–242.
Nordhaus W, Chen X, 2014. A sharper image? Estimates of the precision of nighttime lights as a proxy for economic statistics. Journal of Economic Geography, 15(1): 217–246.
Rao E M, Xiao Y, Ouyang Z Y et al., 2016. Changes in ecosystem service of soil conservation between 2000 and 2010 and its driving factors in southwestern China. Chinese Geographical Science, 26(2): 165–173.
Ren G, Young S S, Wang L et al., 2015. Effectiveness of China’s national forest protection program and nature reserves. Conservation Biology, 29(5): 1368–1377.
Sanderson E W, Jaiteh M, Levy M A et al., 2002. The human footprint and the last of the wild. Bioscience, 52(10): 891–904.
Senbel M, McDaniels T, Dowlatabadi H, 2003. The ecological footprint: A non-monetary metric of human consumption applied to North America. Global Environmental Change, 13(2): 83–100.
Shen B, 1998. Studies on the resource exploitation and biodiversity conservation in Dali Cangshan-Erhai Nature Reserve. Chinese Biodiversity, 6(2): 151–156.
Sherman R, Mullen R, Haomin L et al., 2008. Spatial patterns of plant diversity and communities in alpine ecosystems of the Hengduan Mountains, northwest Yunnan, China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 1(2): 117–136.
Shi Z, Deng W, Zhang S, 2018. Spatio-temporal pattern changes of land space in Hengduan Mountains during 1990–2015. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 28(4): 529–542.
Tapia-Armijos M F, Homeier J, Draper Munt D, 2017. Spatio-temporal analysis of the human footprint in South Ecuador: Influence of human pressure on ecosystems and effectiveness of protected areas. Applied Geography, 78: 22–32.
Venter O, Sanderson E W, Magrach A et al., 2016. Sixteen years of change in the global terrestrial human footprint and implications for biodiversity conservation. Nature Communication, 7: 12558.
Vitousek P M, Mooney H A, Lubchenco J et al., 1997. Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems. Science, 277(5325): 494–499.
Vörösmarty C J, Mcintyre P B, Gessner M O et al., 2010. Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature, 467(7315): 555–561.
Woolmer G, Trombulak S C, Ray J C et al., 2008. Rescaling the Human Footprint: A tool for conservation planning at an ecoregional scale. Landscape and Urban Planning, 87(1): 42–53.
Wu J, Gong Y, Wu J J, 2018. Spatial distribution of nature reserves in China: Driving forces in the past and conservation challenges in the future. Land Use Policy, 77: 31–42.
Wu R, Zhang S, Yu D W et al., 2011. Effectiveness of China’s nature reserves in representing ecological diversity. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 9(7): 383–389.
Xu J, Zhang Z, Liu W et al., 2012. A review and assessment of nature reserve policy in China: Advances, challenges and opportunities. Oryx, 46(4): 554–562.
Xu J, Wilkes A, 2004. Biodiversity impact analysis in northwest Yunnan, southwest China. Biodiversity & Conservation, 13(5): 959–983.
Young J, Watt A, Nowicki P et al., 2005. Towards sustainable land use: Identifying and managing the conflicts between human activities and biodiversity conservation in Europe. Biodiversity and Conservation, 14(7): 1641–1661.
Zhang H P, Jiang Z D, 2004. Analysis to ec-ecological contradiction of nature reserves. Problems of Forestry Economics, 24(5): 306–308. (in Chinese)
Zhang L, Luo Z, Mallon D et al., 2017. Biodiversity conservation status in China’s growing protected areas. Biological Conservation, 210: 89–100.
Zhao G H, Tian Y, Tang Z Y et al., 2013. Distribution of terrestrial national nature reserves in relation to human activities and natural environments in China. Biodiversity Science, 21(6): 658–665.
Zhao Y J, Gong X, 2015. Diversity and conservation of plant species in dry valleys, southwest China. Biodiversity and Conservation, 24(11): 2611–2623.
Zheng D, Yang Q Y, 1987. Some problems of natural regionalization in Hengduan mountain area. Mountain Research, 5(1): 7–13. (in Chinese)
Zheng H, Ouyang Z Y, Zhao T et al., 2003. The impact of human activities on ecosystem services. Journal of Natural Resources, 18(1): 118–126. (in Chinese)
Zhu P, Huang L, Xiao T et al., 2018. Dynamic changes of habitats in China’s typical national nature reserves on spatial and temporal scales. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 28(6): 778–790.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation: The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41571098, No.41530749; Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.XDA19040304; National Key R&D Program of China, No.2017YFC1502903, No.2018YFC1508805; Key Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.ZDRW-ZS-2016-6-4-4
Author: Yin Le (1990-), PhD
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yin, L., Dai, E., Zheng, D. et al. Spatio-temporal analysis of the human footprint in the Hengduan Mountain region: Assessing the effectiveness of nature reserves in reducing human impacts. J. Geogr. Sci. 30, 1140–1154 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-020-1774-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-020-1774-z