What Ecosystem Services Flowing from Linpan System—A Cultural Landscape in Chengdu Plain, Southwest China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper has serious problems that the many contents of Introduction, Results, and Discussion look similar and redundant. The aim stated in the Introduction (and the beginning of Materials and Methods) was not well accomplished in the Discussion and Conclusion.

The authors conducted the original interview, field work, and geospatial analysis, but the methods are not explained well. Moreover, many sentences seemed lacking evidence because none of the literature or their analytical results were properly referred (e.g. from the line 315 to 327, line 467 to 472).

I don't understand the meaning of "tradoff options" in Fig.4.

Although I admit the authors collecting the many literature on linpan, I would like to recommend them to review their research approach. If possible, they should compare the ecosystem services of linpan and other landscapes by qualitative approaches. In another approach, the comparison among the traditional rural linpan landscapes, transitional ones, and completely urban landscapes should be conducted.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

1. The researchers conducted field works and semi-structural interviews during 2017- 2019. However, it is not clear in ‘materials and methods’ session about the details of data collection design, e.g. the locations, selections, numbers and backgrounds of the interviewees.
2. One of the important questions of the study is to explore the rural-urban interaction. The finding shows rural markets play the role, especially for residents in linpan. However, it is not clear about to what extent the urban areas to be discussed. It is expected to see the study could reveal the interaction between linpan areas and nearby specific towns or cities.
3. The study employs geospatial tools to analyze the spatial pattern of the linpan landscape. However, figure 2 only shows the schematic major components of a linpan unit. It is expected to see the spatial patterns of the linpan landscapes of the two case study areas.
4. The study employs the framework of four categories of ecosystem services to discuss what ecosystem services flowing from Linpan System. However, the supporting services may be more like ecological functions underpinning structures and processes that give rise to ecosystem services. Besides, the perceptions of regulating services involve good understandings of landscape ecology. It is expected to see some difficulties while interviewing with local farmers or residents about their understandings or perceptions concerning supporting and regulating services. The details of the data inquiry, analysis and outcomes of above concerns in the study need to be elaborated.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The paper is well-structured with coherent discussion. The authors have provided a sound theoretical framework for analysis. There are two main issues that I would recommend the authors to address: (1) the literature review seems to be a bit weak. In particular, I would expect a good discussion on ecosystem service and the role of culture in it. That brings me to the second question: how the author's discussion related to the existing body of literature. How would your discussion add value to the discussion on ecosystem services?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear Authors, thank for your article, presenting a very interesting study on the actuation of very popular and important environmental services: the linpan system - an agricultural and cultural landscape scattered from peri-urban to rural areas in Chengdu Plain, southwest China.

It has been much improved in this article, compared to previous versions, thanks to which it is easier to read, methodically correct, a good source of information about the described area, its socio-ecological system and its impact on the general development foundations. The approach to the management of ecological services is presented, indicating its potential application in the planning of regional policies. The article can be an interesting material for readers dealing with economic policy in the context of ecological services, and researchers dealing with this issue.

I guess, It would be useful to better summarise the various aspects of the study and indicate their applicability for future research and practice.

Good luck!

Author Response

Thanks for the suggestion.

We have indicated the applicability for future research and practice in the Conclusion section from line 1067 to line 1070 as follows:

For synergizing multiple services of linpan system into holistic and inclusive strategies regarding to city development, the results of this study are hopeful to be applied in the following planning and management practices and contribute to explore new approaches for quantitatively and qualitatively assessing both tangible and intangible values of rural landscape.

Reviewer 5 Report

1) As I am only dealing with the third version (“v3”) of the paper I may, therefore, recognize that a huge amount of changes seem to have been made to the previous ones given higher academic and scientific values to the current version;

2) In particular, two sections such as “2. Materials and Methods” and “4. Discussion” seem to have undergone an in-depth reformulation by integrating some subsections that apparently appear to be a complete novelty (See for instance, subsections “2.3 Linpan’s definition ”, “2.4 Geographical pattern of linpan ”), “4.1 Considering dynamics of services delivery in cultural landscape management “, “4.2 Linking material and non-material values in agricultural heritage preservation” and “4.3 Integrating linpan’s services for holistic and inclusive development” ;

3) Despite the comments I have just made above, there are still some additional “tips” listed below that may also contribute to improving the quality of the paper and should be addressed by the authors:

• Apparently a “subsection 2.1” seems to be missing?
• Figure 1. : the numbers “(1)” and “(2)” referred to the “case-study sites” should be removed if not included on the “Location map”; (“Location map showing case-study sites in Dujiangyan Irrigation System watershed, Chengdu Plain of China, including (1) Paotong Village, Pidu District; and (2) Dantu village, Tianfu District.”);
• Figure 2. : the letters “(a)” and “(b)” referred to the “linpan unit” and the “linpan landscape”, respectively, “should be removed if not included on the “Drone photography”; (“Drone photography showing linpan unit (a: left) and linpan landscape (b: right) in Chengdu plain”);

• Figure 4. : the letters “(a)” and “(b)” referred to “Dantu village” and “Paotong village”, respectively, “should be removed if not included in the figure ; (“The spatial distribution of linpan agglomeration (green dots) with roads (brown line) and water system (blue) in case-study sites, Dantu village (a: left) and Paotong village (b: right), which were visualized with satellite imagines”);

• Figure 5.: check “the correctness of” its content;

• lines 71-73: there is an extra “.”, please remove it; “However, after the earthquake, government realized the self-supportive model of rural life can be resistant to hazards and thus dispersal dwellings were developed accordingly. .”;

• lines 177 -178: check English; “Dantu Village, Tianfu District: Located to the south of Chengdu city, this area with an area of 6.45 km² “;

• lines 437-438: check English: a “comma” appears to be missing; “The term “ecosystem services” refers to the benefits gained from the complicated interactions between the human,? environment and the functions of an ecosystem”;
• lines 682-684: check English: “Some linpan’ residents living in the linpan clusters to the east of Chengdu nowadays still speak Ke Jia dialect (a kind of Cantonese), who were/are??? immigrants in the early Qing Dynasty (about 300 years ago) from southeast China.”

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thanks a lot for your valuable suggestions. We would like to respond to your comments point-by-point as follows:

• As I am only dealing with the third version (“v3”) of the paper I may, therefore, recognize that a huge amount of changes seem to have been made to the previous ones given higher academic and scientific values to the current version;
• A: Thanks a lot for the comments.
•  
• In particular, two sections such as “2. Materials and Methods” and “4. Discussion” seem to have undergone an in-depth reformulation by integrating some subsections that apparently appear to be a complete novelty (See for instance, subsections “2.3 Linpan’s definition ”, “2.4 Geographical pattern of linpan ”), “4.1 Considering dynamics of services delivery in cultural landscape management “, “4.2 Linking material and non-material values in agricultural heritage preservation” and “4.3 Integrating linpan’s services for holistic and inclusive development” ;
• A: Thanks for the comments. Yes, we have added sub-titles so that it could be easily read and clearly understand by audience.
•  
• Despite the comments I have just made above, there are still some additional “tips” listed below that may also contribute to improving the quality of the paper and should be addressed by the authors:
•  
• Apparently a “subsection 2.1” seems to be missing?
• A: Subsection 2.1 is “Study sites” which introduces the background of case study site, seeing line 155 (at the end).
•  
• Figure 1. : the numbers “(1)” and “(2)” referred to the “case-study sites” should be removed if not included on the “Location map”; (“Location map showing case-study sites in Dujiangyan Irrigation System watershed, Chengdu Plain of China, including (1) Paotong Village, Pidu District; and (2) Dantu village, Tianfu District.”);
• A: Thanks for the suggestion. We removed the (1) and (2), and changed it as follows: 
• Figure 1. Location map showing case-study sites in Dujiangyan Irrigation System watershed, Chengdu Plain of China, including Paotong Village, Pidu District; and Dantu village, Tianfu District.
•  
• Figure 2. : the letters “(a)” and “(b)” referred to the “linpan unit” and the “linpan landscape”, respectively, “should be removed if not included on the “Drone photography”; (“Drone photography showing linpan unit (a: left) and linpan landscape (b: right) in Chengdu plain”);
• A: Thanks for the suggestion. We removed the “a” and “b” in the text and changed it as follows: 
• Figure 2. Drone photography showing linpan unit (left) and linpan landscape (right) in Chengdu Plain

• Figure 4. : the letters “(a)” and “(b)” referred to “Dantu village” and “Paotong village”, respectively, “should be removed if not included in the figure ; (“The spatial distribution of linpan agglomeration (green dots) with roads (brown line) and water system (blue) in case-study sites, Dantu village (a: left) and Paotong village (b: right), which were visualized with satellite imagines”);
• A: Thanks for the suggestion. We removed the “a” and “b” in the text and changed it as follows: 
• Figure 4. The spatial distribution of linpan agglomeration (green dots) with roads (brown line) and water system (blue) in case-study sites, Dantu village (left) and Paotong village (right), which were visualized with satellite imagines
•  
• Figure 5.: check “the correctness of” its content;
• A: Thanks. We have modified some words of the contents. Please see the updated figure.
•  
• lines 71-73: there is an extra “.”, please remove it; “However, after the earthquake, government realized the self-supportive model of rural life can be resistant to hazards and thus dispersal dwellings were developed accordingly. .”;
• A: Thanks. We removed it.

•  
• lines 177 -178: check English; “Dantu Village, Tianfu District: Located to the south of Chengdu city, this area with an area of 6.45 km² “;
• A: Thanks. We have modified the sentence as follows: 
• Dantu Village, Tianfu District, located to the south of Chengdu city with an area of 6.45 km² and a population of 3,212 in 2018, is a gently hilly and relatively low fertile area.
•  

• lines 437-438: check English: a “comma” appears to be missing; “The term “ecosystem services” refers to the benefits gained from the complicated interactions between the human,? environment and the functions of an ecosystem”;
• A: Thanks. We changed the sentence as follows: 
• The term “ecosystem services” refers to the benefits gained from the complicated interactions between human and environment including various functions of an ecosystem.
•  
• lines 682-684: check English: “Some linpan’ residents living in the linpan clusters to the east of Chengdu nowadays still speak Ke Jia dialect (a kind of Cantonese), who were/are??? immigrants in the early Qing Dynasty (about 300 years ago) from southeast China.”
• A: Thanks a lot. We added the word “posterity” and changed the sentence as follows: 
• Some linpan’ residents living to the east of Chengdu nowadays still speak Ke Jia dialect (a kind of Cantonese), who are posterity of immigrants in the early Qing Dynasty (about 300 years ago) from southeast China.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I understand that authors tried to improve their discussion by adding original analysis seen in Fig. 6, 7, 8. However, the results are too much simple calculation from two regions, which lacks replicates needed for statistical analysis. Most parts of Results are dependent on previous studies as narrative review style. These parts look too long to be seen as Article in the journal. The authors conducted their original analysis simultaneously. These review parts and analysis parts does not match well to conclude their discussion. I would like to recommend the authors to separate the review parts as a narrative review paper and original analysis parts as another original article if more analytical results not shown in this manuscript were available.

Redundant expressions remain still. For example the definition of linpan seen in L143-5, 243-5, and 327-30 in Materials and Methods and Results.

Minor points:

L135-6: Ecosystem systems should be ecosystem services?

L194: Not as “e.g. GIS”, authors need to show precise software as FRAGSTATS. I guess it may be ArcGIS or Quantum GIS or others. Their download source should be also noted.

L296: tow linpan should be two linpan?

L519: How many participants answered like this? The authors need to show the number of answers or proportions.

Author Response

Responses to Reviewer 1

• L135-6: Ecosystem systems should be ecosystem services?

Yes, we have changed ‘systems’ into ‘services’. (current Line 144)

• Redundant expressions: For example the definition of linpan seen in L143-5, 243-5, and 327-30 in Materials and Methods and Results.

We have reduced the redundant expressions and kept only one in the current section 2.3. (previous Line 243-245; current Line 262-264).

• L194: Not as “e.g. GIS”, authors need to show precise software as FRAGSTATS. I guess it may be ArcGIS or Quantum GIS or others. Their download source should be also noted.

We used ArcGIS in the research so we have changed ‘e.g. GIS’ into ‘i.e. ArcGIS’. The download sources were added in the reference list. The sentences were modified as:

“Geospatial tools (i.e. ArcGIS) [46] were used to analyze the landscape configuration and visualize the findings. Landscape metrics such as linpan size, area, and density were calculated with computer based software FRAGSTAS [47].” (current Line 216-219)

• L296: tow linpan should be two linpan?

Yes, it should be ‘two linpan’. We have made change. (current Line 302)

• L519: How many participants answered like this? The authors need to show the number of answers or proportions.

We have added the proportions of respondents. The sentence was changed as:

“During the interviews, the participants reported that trees and bamboo groves around their houses can function as a shelter for weather extremes, buffering the strike of high wind, heat wave and cold wave which were recognized by as high as 76% of respondents in Dantu village and 80% in Paotong village, and avoiding the threat of natural hazards including mainly flood and drought (by 36% and 27.5% of interviewees respectively in Dantu and Paotong village).” (current Line 629-633)

Reviewer 2 Report

1. many referring pages of author's reply are inconsistent with the revised draft.
2. one of the keywords 'important agricultural heritage' with or without 'systems'? please consider
3. The revision changed the overall goal of the paper about improving our understanding on linpan system and the plenty of services it provides to 'both rural and urban people' into 'local people' only. Please explain in more details because it relates to the importance of the study. 

Author Response

Responses to Reviewer 2

• Many referring pages of author's reply are inconsistent with the revised draft.

Sorry, in our reply we used the page numbers of finalized clean version (see PDF version) rather than the version with tracking changes (Word version). Perhaps this led to the inconsistence. This time the page numbers is in line with the Word version of tracking change.

• One of the keywords 'important agricultural heritage' with or without 'systems'? please consider

Thanks for the suggestion. Considering the term ‘GIAHS’ (Global Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) used by FAO, we would like to use ‘important agricultural heritage system’ as a key word. The word ‘system’ here is singular rather than plural (systems), for which we consider the whole linpan landscape in Chengdu Plain as one system.

• In the conclusion add a comment on how the linpan system and the plenty of services it provides to 'local people' is important

In the conclusion, we changed the sentences of second paragraph as follows:

“This study shows that linpan system is a kind of specific ecosystem complex in Chengdu Plain integrated with forests, wetlands, farming fields and humans’ dwellings. It is very important for local people due to not only the provision of food security and material products, but also climate regulation, air and water purification, and cultural values. Various services including material and non-material values delivered by linpan system were highly recognized by local people, but the perceived importance of services was changeable with the socio-economic development, market fluctuation, and people’s awareness rise.” (Line 1058-1064)

• The revision changed the overall goal of the paper about improving our understanding on linpan system and the plenty of services it provides to 'both rural and urban people' into 'local people' only. Please explain in more details because it relates to the importance of the study

In the context the 'local people' means the people living in Chengdu Plain including both rural and urban people. Sometimes it is difficult to identify clearly who are rural or not since the quick urbanization and rural-urban migration. The term 'local people' perhaps is more inclusive.