Improving Landscape And Designing PES Programs In County Area Based On Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem service has been a hot area of research in recent years as it is an effective way of strengthening the connections between ecosystem and human well-being.However,it is still a big challenge to quantify ecosystem service from agricultural landscape perspective,to make a trade-off among different ecosystem services,and to manage multiple ecosystem services in a limited agricultural-land for improving human well-being.The study was conducted in Mengyin County of Shandong province.This paper puts forward the multiple ecosystem service threat classification framework through the study on the relationship between multiple ecosystem services and socio-economic factors,to explore the application of ecosystem services obtainment and demand trade-offs for landscape planning and design PES program for sustainable management on agricultural landscape.It provides a quantitative reference for improving multiple ecosystem service management and decision making in the research area.(1)The paper analyzes the relationship between the 17 services,and identifies the services that farmers need to pay attention to,and qualitatively analyzes the key drivers of the four types of services.The provision of regulating services(e.g.,pollination and biological pest control)is central to transforming trade-offs into synergies among ecosystem services,and supporting services(e.g.,maintenance of semi-natural habitat)can enhance the provision of multiple services to maximize synergies among ecosystem services.Farmers should not only attach great importance to the maintenance of soil fertility and health but also to the maintenance of semi-natural habitat.(2)In this study,the current state of multiple ES across Mengyin County is classified as'Endangered' classification according to application of threat categorization framework.It indicates that demand does exceed obtainment and reducing the inputs of 492 kg/ha chemical fertilizers and 11 kg/ha pesticides could reverse multiple ES to a new level.Obtaining more services(increasing IMES values)will have decreased population density,and increased proportion of rural population in total and years of rural education.(3)Follow to the suitable principle for the areas,it could emphasis on constructions for staggered landscape of farmlands with other types,settlement patterns with groups form,vegetation cover rate in fields border and the proportion of greening vegetation in the settlement area.It is more comprehensive to use index of multiple ecosystem services(IMES?)to evaluate the landscape value of different landscape character areas,and the vegetation cover rates in field border can be regarded as one of the indicators of improving landscape value in different landscape character areas.For promoting regional multiple ES,attentions should be paid to the deliverability of multiple ES for farmland and quality improvement of land,woodland and farmland.(4)The objective assessment method for evaluating ES by InVEST model and subjective evaluation method based on farmer perception assessment ES are consistent with the spatial pattern distribution trend.The method of subjective evaluation based on farmers' perception is feasible and a sensitive assessment tool,which can be emphasized to apply in social-ecological system.(5)The paper based on the trade-off of multiple ES obtainment-demand,identifies the key services,evaluates the management measures and designs the management measures,to guide landscape planning combining services with farmers' welfare needs.This "bottom-up" planning method reflects the objective and practical needs of farmers for key services,and can highlights that the services which need to improve are different in different areas and the ability to recover key services is different with a physics-biology state in different areas.(6)This paper focuses on farmers' perceptions to design PES programs for managing ecosystem services.Most of the respondents(81.47%)wanted to participate in PES schemes.Farmers are more willing to implement off-field practices than on-field practices.Off-field practices can provide more maintenance of semi-natural habitat,which can enhance the provision of multiple services.If consider farmers' different characteristics,the agricultural PES program will be feasible and as a protection mechanism with economic and environmental benefits.