Challenge for Land Use and Biodiversity

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2023) | Viewed by 2332

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
The Rydberg Laboratory for Applied Sciences, Halmstad University, P.O. Box 803, 30118 Halmstad, Sweden
Interests: odonata; evolution; community ecology; climate change; morphological; environmental drivers

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Guest Editor
Biology Graduate Program, UNISINOS University, São Leopoldo, RS 93022-750, Brazil
Interests: community ecology; environmental monitoring; freshwater ecology

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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution, Vale do Taquari University – UNIVATES, Lajeado, RS 95914-014, Brazil
Interests: landscape ecology; community ecology; conservation biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

Land use change is an increasing threat to biodiversity, causing a worldwide decline in species richness and abundance and affecting the composition of biological communities. The expected impact of land use changes on biodiversity depends on a range of factors, such as the research methods used and how biodiversity is analyzed. For instance, functional diversity has been an important target, in addition to, or as a substitute for taxonomic approaches. Fewer studies have assessed temporal trends in land use or carried out case studies of landscape management. The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight advances in our knowledge of the relationship between landscape patterns and ecosystem functionality, and their effects on biodiversity. Contributions discussing approaches to better account for landscape multi-scale interactions, considering multi-taxon approaches as well as the provision of ecosystem services are especially welcome. We are also open to studies on other dimensions of changes in land use and biodiversity, for instance, studies using methodologies derived from engineering, geography, geology, and chemistry. Researchers are invited to help advance the dialogue and direction of research to address emerging challenges in land use management and its effects on diversity.

Prof. Dr. Göran Sahlén
Dr. Mateus Marques Pires
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Perico
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • landscape ecology
  • interdisciplinary approach
  • multi-scale approach
  • taxonomic and functional diversity
  • land management
  • ecosystem services

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 4849 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study on the Temporal and Spatial Evolution of the Ecosystem Service Value of Different Karst Landform Types: A Case Study in Guizhou Province, China
by Qingping Lu, Cuiwei Zhao and Huiyu Huang
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12801; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app122412801 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1530
Abstract
Paying attention to the ecosystem service value (ESV) of different karst landform types is of great benefit to the green, sustainable, and high-quality development of the ecological environment in Guizhou Province. Based on the eight-period China Land Cover Dataset (CLCD) from 1985 to [...] Read more.
Paying attention to the ecosystem service value (ESV) of different karst landform types is of great benefit to the green, sustainable, and high-quality development of the ecological environment in Guizhou Province. Based on the eight-period China Land Cover Dataset (CLCD) from 1985 to 2020, we compared and analyzed the ecosystem service value and its temporal and spatial variation characteristics of different karst landforms with the equivalent factor method in the study. The results revealed that the overall ecological environment of Guizhou Province showed a tendency to improve. Over the past 35 years, the net increase in the ecosystem service value in Guizhou Province was USD 385 million, with the largest increase occurring from 2015 to 2020. The overall spatial distribution is characterized by continuous low values in the middle and concentrated high values in the surrounding areas. Some of the local ecological environment in Guizhou Province is still not well-preserved. The ecosystem service value in the pure-karst area has decreased by USD 122 million over the past 35 years, mainly in Dushan County and Libo County, Qiannan Prefecture. The semi-karst area has increased by USD 367 million, concentrated in the northern and central areas of Guizhou Province. The non-karst area increased by USD 140 million, mostly distributed in Pu’an County, Xingyi City, and Yanhe County. In terms of the ecosystem service value per unit area, the results were as follows: non-karst areas > pure-karst areas > semi-karst areas. The ecosystem service value of each geomorphological area varied with the elevation and slope, showing an inverted “V” trend, first increasing and then decreasing. The maximum ecosystem service value in the pure-karst and semi-karst areas was between 800 m and 1100 m above sea level, and the non-karst area was in the range of 500 m to 800 m. The maximum ecosystem service value in the non-karst areas and semi-karst areas was within the gradient of 15° to 25°, and the pure-karst area was between 6° and 15°. The forest contributed most to the ecosystem service value of each karst landform, followed by cropland, and finally shrubland and grassland. Guizhou Province should pay attention to the protection of forest and cropland ecosystems in terms of future land management, especially with regard to ecological construction in pure-karst landform areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenge for Land Use and Biodiversity)
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