| Ecosystem services are the products,services,and other benefits obtained by humans from ecosystems.They are the environmental and material basis for national sustainable development,regional social and economic green development,and ecological civilization construction.They have been a hot topic in ecology,social development,and environmental economics over the past 30 years.Since 1980s,the rapid urbanization in rural areas has promoted social and economic development and the improvement of residents' living standards in China.However,urbanization has also imposed significant pressure on the rural ecological environment and ecosystem functions.As the transition zone between cities and the natural environment,the villages are under great stress in terms of land-use change and population migration during rapid urbanization.Hence,a rural-scale ecosystem services assessment framework is critically necessary to promote accurate evaluation of rural ecosystem services values.It can enable the construction of ecological civilization,ecological protection,rural policies,and ecological function and can provide a scientific basis for decision making for ecological compensation policies,rural revitalization planning,rural green development and high-quality development transformation.It can also supplement the necessary content and data for a complete and comprehensive ecosystem services assessment in China.However,in terms of a full accounting of ecosystem services,previous studies have focused on large and medium scale(e.g.,a particular area,city,or river basin scale).Aiming at rural ecological management units,our research focuses on the following scientific questions:(1)what are the characteristics of rural ecosystem services in Eastern China?What are the relationships between different types of ecosystem services?How to evaluate scientifically?(2)What are the factors affecting rural ecosystem services in eastern China?What are the key factors?What are the mechanisms by which these factors influence different types of ecosystem services and their relationships?(3)What is the relationship between ecosystem service characteristics and rural development models?How to evaluate and classify the rural development model scientifically and reasonably?The characteristics of ecosystem services include the composition of ecosystem services,the relationship between different types of ecosystem services and degree of marketization of ecosystem services.In our research,the villages in densely populated areas in the eastern part of China(villages in the southeast of the Hu Line,covering 22 provinces),were taken as the research object.Among them,100 villages from 22 provinces(including 15 villages in Shandong Province)were used to analyze the characteristics and driving factors of rural ecosystem services,and 30 villages from Shandong Province(including 15 duplicate villages)were used to find the development mode of coordinated growth of rural ecosystem services and household income.The large and medium scale ecosystem services evaluation results,integrated the characteristics of rural areas,face-to-face questionnaire surveys,and site investigation data were used as the basis to analyze the characteristics of rural ecosystem services,the main influencing factors and the rural development model based on rural ecosystem services.First,the questionnaire was designed based on the principles of social economics and statistics.Investigators were trained on the contents and methods of the questionnaire,they participated in a face-to-face questionnaire survey to the villages committees of 100 villages in densely populated areas of China.Under the guidance of the investigators and based on the official statistics of the village committee,the members of the village committee filled in the data in the questionnaire,and the final data was carefully checked by the village committee members and confirmed with the official seal of the village committee.Basic information such as the population,economy,land-use type,and food production of each village was obtained in this investigation,It also analyzes the natural and economic-social characteristics in the rural.Second,based on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services Version 4.3,the indicator and methodology framework of the rural-scale ecosystem service assessment was constructed.By expert consultation,literature review and model test,we determine the assessment model of full-account ecosystem service value in medium and small scale.We use these methods to analyze values and composition of the ecosystem services including provisioning services and regulating services in 100 villages of densely populated areas,and analyze the characteristics of ecosystem services in the survey area as a whole.Third,based on previous large-scale research results and experience,a number of factors,including land-use and urbanization factors,were selected to screen out the most significant factors affecting the ecosystem services at the rural scale through correlation analysis and linear fitting methods.Fourth,we sampled 30 villages in Shandong Province for detailed investigation(contains 15 duplicate villages,duplicate villages were also detailed investigation),and constructed a classification framework for rural development models based on the characteristics of rural areas in China,the evaluation value of ecosystem services and the marketization degree of ecosystem services.Based on the detailed survey results for 30 villages in Shandong Province,we comprehensively classified different development modes in the villages to explore the impact of the development models on the rural ecosystem services and household incomes,in order to build the synergism development mode of the ecosystem services and household incomes to promote the villages development.In our research,we carried out the quantitative assessment of the ecosystem services in a monetized way to achieve a unified quantitative treatment.In this way,it is easier for decision makers to obtain a direct understanding of the ecosystem services,and to apply to decision-making related to rural ecological protection and development.In our research,the composition,characteristics and influencing factors of the rural ecosystem services in the densely populated areas of China were explored from four levels,and the effects of the village development model on the ecosystem services and the household incomes were discussed.The main results of our research are as follows.(1)The natural economic-social characteristics of rural ecosystem are diverse,thus forming diverse rural ecosystem service characteristics.The rapid urbanization has led to different land-use types and development models of villages in densely populated areas,which have exerted a huge impact on the utilization of the natural resources and ecosystem services.Based on face-to-face questionnaire surveys and statistical yearbook data,we clarify the basic situations of the villages in the densely populated areas.Therefore,a variety of rural ecosystem service characteristics were formed.Among the 100 villages in the survey,due to the influence of the rural restructuring in recent years and the rapid urbanization,we found that the different villages have different development situations,which are mainly reflected in the allocation of land use types by the village committees in different villages.Some villages still retain a large amount of arable land and rely on traditional agriculture as their main source of income,whereas others have made the transition to cities.Different villages also use woodland in significantly different ways.Although the forest cover of villages follows the standard for the construction of beautiful villages,this is not the aspect that every village focuses on.In terms of food production,for some villages food production is not the main means of revenue.Food productions in some villages which had already made the transition to urban areas are quite low.However,many villages by the red line have maintained a high level of food production,and food production is still the main source of income for those village.Some villages have even retained a very small amount of arable land,shifting the main production to the secondary and tertiary industries.Some villages,especially in mountainous and hilly areas,still retain a large amount of undeveloped forest,which provides rich ecosystem services to the surrounding areas.However,due to the lack of reasonable development to utilize these ecosystem services,they do not directly translate into household income.The impact of land use on household income is complex.The proportion of construction land,the proportion of water area,and the proportion of arable land also had significant impacts on the household incomes.The proportion of construction land and the proportion of water area were positively correlated with the household income.The proportion of arable land was negatively correlated with the household income.Due to the existence of such a complex mechanism of impression,under the multiple effects of natural,economic and social factors in rural areas,different rural areas have formed diversified ecosystem service characteristics.(2)Food supply is still the main ecosystem service in densely populated areas villages and regulating services are not the main ecosystem services in rural areas.It is urgent and important to enhance regulation service.Based on the rural-scale ecosystem services assessment framework,we evaluated the ecosystem services of the selected villages,and we found that food supply is still the main ecosystem service in densely populated areas villages and regulating services are not the main ecosystem services in rural areas.The analysis of the composition of rural ecosystem services revealed that the provisioning value is still the most important component of the rural ecosystem services.Despite the impact of rapid urbanization,rural population migration,conversion of farmland to forests,ecological compensation,and other factors,we found that the provisioning services,especially the food supply,is still the most important ecosystem service provided by villages.In the 100 villages surveyed,only 22 of the 100 villages surveyed,provisioning(nutrition)services are not the main ecosystem services.In 64 villages,provisioning(material)value and regulating value occupy a similar proportion,but are significantly less than provisioning value.On average,provisioning value accounted for 82.45%of the total value of the ecosystem services.On average,the nutrition provisioning value accounted for 63.88%of the total provisioning value.Moreover,the food supply played a major role in the nutrition provisioning value.Compared with the provisioning service value,the regulating value accounted for 14.36%of the total value of the rural ecosystem services on average.For most villages,the regulating value was relatively low.Regulating services was not the main ecosystem services.The rural areas in different regions have different natural economic backgrounds.Some of the villages close to large cities completed urbanization first,and these villages can only provide small ecosystem service values,mainly provisioning value.Some villages,which are located in mountainous and hilly areas,have a large area of forestland and a small area of cultivated land.This type of village provides a large regulating value,and their provisioning value is mainly provisioning(material)value.(3)Land-use type was the most important factor affecting the rural ecosystem services.Among the land-use types,the proportion of woodland and water area were the most significant factor.By correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis,we revealed that land-use was the main factor affecting the rural ecosystem services.Among those factors,land-use factors such as the proportion of arable land,the forest cover,the proportion of water area,and the proportion of construction land all had different degrees of influence on the ecosystem services.The proportion of arable land was positively correlated with the provisioning value(nutrition)and was negatively correlated with the provisioning value(material)and regulating value.Forest cover was positively correlated with the provisioning value(material)and the regulating value and was negatively correlated with the provisioning value(nutrition).The proportion of the water area was positively correlated with the regulating value and the provisioning value(material).The proportion of construction land was negatively correlated with the provisioning value(nutrition),the provisioning value(material),and the regulating value.The regression analysis revealed that the forest cover and the proportion of water area were the most important factors that significantly affected the provisioning value(material)and the regulating value,while the other ecosystem service values did not have decisive relationships with those factors.For the provisioning value(material)and regulating value,the proportion of the water area and the forest cover were the most important factors.(4)The different development models affect the ecosystem services values and their synergistic growth with household incomes.The development models of villages can be reflected by the characteristics of ecosystem services,such as the degree of marketization of ecosystem services.The different development models affect the ecosystem services values and their synergistic growth with household incomes.Under the appropriate development model,the rural ecosystem services values can promote the transformation of ecosystem service value to household income and increase synergistically with household income.Based on the ecosystem services values and their influencing factors,we selected 30 villages in Shandong Province and classified their development models.The forest cover in type A is high,and the marketable value is high.The forest cover in type B rural is high,and the marketable value is low.The forest cover in type C is low,and the marketable value is high.The forest cover in type D is low,and the marketable value is low.Based on the classification results,both type A and type B villages retained more ecosystem service values,but the type A village is the best model for achieving synergistic growth of ecosystem services and household incomes.In contrast,type C and D villages have fewer ecosystem services and lower household incomes due to low forest cover or the fewer marketable ecosystem services.This result shows that the development model for villages is mainly affected by the land-use type,which affects the ecosystem service values and the household incomes.Under an appropriate development model,the improvement of ecosystem service values and the increase of household incomes are not contradictory,and they can promote each other and grow synergistically.Our research is innovative in the following aspects.(1)A new index and methodology framework for the full-accounting rural-scale ecosystem service assessment was developed.Based on the value assessment of rural ecosystem services,the characteristics of rural ecosystem services was analyzed to put forward the countermeasures and suggestions.(2)Based on the analysis of characteristics of rural ecosystem services,we discussed the conflict between provisioning services and regulating services in densely populated areas,revealed the key factors that affect the ecosystem services values,and the relationship between ecosystem services values and the economic-social factors.(3)Based on the analysis of characteristics of rural ecosystem services,our research summarizes and classifies the development modes of the different types of villages and reveals the impact of the development modes on the ecosystem services and household incomes,thus identifying the possible methods of synergistic development of rural ecosystem services and household incomes.The significance of our research lies in the theoretical construction of a rural-scale full-accounting ecosystem service assessment index and methodology framework,which provides theoretical and methodological support for rural-scale ecosystem service management and value realization of ecological products.In terms of application,our research analyzes the effects of the land-use and social development factors on the ecosystem service,household income and rural development mode.In addition,the ecosystem services and the approach to income growth are combined to find a method for synergistically improving the ecosystem services and value realization to improve residents' income and to promote rural green development.This provides a model for improving ecosystem services and achieving rural revitalization,high-quality development,and ecological civilization construction.The evaluation framework of the ecosystem service values and the development model classification method constructed in our research can be extended to other medium and small scale ecosystem service management researches,such as rural areas and farms,providing support for ecosystem service management and decision-making. |
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