The Experts below are selected from a list of 45840 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Chong Jiang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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challenging the land degradation in china s loess plateau benefits limitations sustainability and adaptive strategies of Soil and water conservation
Ecological Engineering, 2019Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Xinchi Wang, Haiyan Zhang, Yuqing Feng, Lev LabzovskiiAbstract:Abstract Land degradation is a global environmental problem that threatens human safety and socioeconomic development. In order to alleviate severe Soil erosion, China has implemented historically unprecedented large-scale afforestation. In this study, we selected the most severely eroded Loess Plateau as a case, to assess the effectiveness of Soil and water conservation (SWC) efforts based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. In addition, the underlying drivers for Soil erosion changes and hydrological effects of SWC were investigated, and finally the potential policy implications of our findings were discussed. The Soil erosion intensity from 2000 to 2015 was weakened largely due to favorable climate conditions and SWC efforts, which promoted vegetation restoration and enhanced Soil Retention. However, there was a significant trade-off between water provision and Soil Retention functions. The excessively artificial afforestation reduced sediment yield but depleted surface runoff. Furthermore, artificial afforestation and increasing irrigation water consumption overused groundwater resources and finally lowered groundwater table. The SWC efforts characterized by artificial afforestation induced Soil moisture declining, particularly for the conversion type of farmland to forest/shrub. Our results suggested that afforestation might be a poor choice in arid and semiarid regions, because it did not consider local precipitation conditions, and have exacerbated water shortages and offset SWC efforts. Therefore, the future ecological restoration efforts should be transformed from simple species-based measures to optimal plant species combinations to minimize the tradeoff between water yield and Soil Retention. The strategies for ecological restoration of drylands should also account for water balance to ensure effectiveness and sustainability.
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Non-linear response of water and sediment yields to ecological restoration in degraded drylands
Journal of Arid Environments, 2019Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Xinchi Wang, Haiyan Zhang, Lev D. Labzovskii, Jun Wang, Tong LiuAbstract:Ecological restoration efforts to combat Soil loss often fail to deliver the expected benefits despite enormous investments. Better understanding the close relationships between climate, vegetation, and non-linear ecosystem dynamics can help restoration activities meet their intended goals. The severely eroded Loess Plateau (LP) was selected for a case study to investigate the underlying drivers of Soil Retention change and their non-linear constraint impacts. The Soil Retention function was substantially enhanced during 2000–2015, while the water yield function was weakened. Both the favourable changes in climate conditions (i.e., increasing precipitation and declining evapotranspiration) and governmental policies for Soil and water conservation and ecological restoration promoted vegetation restoration and expansion, thereby strengthening the Soil Retention function. Consequently, water and sediment yields declined significantly. The relationship between water yield and Soil Retention is non-linear and shows that the two ecosystem functions can be either in synergy or in trade-off according to the level of vegetation cover. We observed that the vegetation cover had an upper threshold (i.e., 50%) for controlling the Soil erosion because of the limited water condition (rainfall), which implies that the effect of vegetation on reducing the water erosion reached its maximum capacity when the plant cover was 50%. Considering the limited water conditions in drylands, to minimize the trade-off between the water yield and Soil Retention and to maximize the effectiveness of ecological restoration programs, it is recommended that the overall vegetation cover in the LP be controlled at approximately 30–40%, i.e., without exceeding 50%. Currently, the non-linear constraint effects of the water condition and vegetation cover on the Soil Retention are yet to be thoroughly understood. Moreover, practical policy recommendations require further field-based observations and experimental studies.
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Re-orienting ecological restoration in degraded drylands for a more sustainable Soil–water relationship: Non-linear boundary of limited water resources in combating Soil loss
Journal of Arid Environments, 2019Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Xinchi Wang, Haiyan Zhang, Lev D. Labzovskii, Jun Wang, Tong LiuAbstract:Abstract Ecological restoration efforts to combat Soil loss often fail to deliver the expected benefits despite enormous investments. Better understanding the close relationships between climate, vegetation, and non-linear ecosystem dynamics can help restoration activities meet their intended goals. The severely eroded Loess Plateau (LP) was selected for a case study to investigate the underlying drivers of Soil Retention change and their non-linear constraint impacts. The Soil Retention function was substantially enhanced during 2000–2015, while the water yield function was weakened. Both the favourable changes in climate conditions (i.e., increasing precipitation and declining evapotranspiration) and governmental policies for Soil and water conservation and ecological restoration promoted vegetation restoration and expansion, thereby strengthening the Soil Retention function. Consequently, water and sediment yields declined significantly. The relationship between water yield and Soil Retention is non-linear and shows that the two ecosystem functions can be either in synergy or in trade-off according to the level of vegetation cover. We observed that the vegetation cover had an upper threshold (i.e., 50%) for controlling the Soil erosion because of the limited water condition (rainfall), which implies that the effect of vegetation on reducing the water erosion reached its maximum capacity when the plant cover was 50%. Considering the limited water conditions in drylands, to minimize the trade-off between the water yield and Soil Retention and to maximize the effectiveness of ecological restoration programs, it is recommended that the overall vegetation cover in the LP be controlled at approximately 30–40%, i.e., without exceeding 50%. Currently, the non-linear constraint effects of the water condition and vegetation cover on the Soil Retention are yet to be thoroughly understood. Moreover, practical policy recommendations require further field-based observations and experimental studies.
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Spatially explicit assessment of ecosystem services in China's Loess Plateau: Patterns, interactions, drivers, and implications
Global and Planetary Change, 2018Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Haiyan Zhang, Zhidong ZhangAbstract:Abstract Human demands for natural resources have significantly changed the natural landscape and induced ecological degradation and associated ecosystem services. An understanding of the patterns, interactions, and drivers of ecosystem services is essential for the ecosystem management and guiding targeted land use policy-making. The Losses Plateau (LP) provides ecosystem services including the carbon sequestration and Soil Retention, and exerts tremendous impacts on the midstream and downstream of the Yellow River. Three dominant ecosystem services between 2000 and 2012 within the LP were presented based on multiple source datasets and biophysical models. In addition, paired ecosystem services interactions were quantified using the correlation analysis and constraint line approach. The main conclusions are as follows. It was observed that the warming and wetting climate and ecological program jointly promoted the vegetation growth and carbon sequestration. The increasing precipitation throughout 2000–2012 was related to the Soil Retention and hydrological regulation fluctuations. The vegetation restoration played a positive role in the Soil Retention enhancement, thus substantially reduced water and sediment yields. The relationships between ecosystem services were not only correlations (tradeoffs or synergies), but rather constraint effects. The constraint effects between the three paired ecosystem services could be classified as the negative convex (carbon sequestration vs. hydrological regulation) and hump-shaped (Soil Retention vs. carbon sequestration and Soil Retention vs. hydrological regulation), and the coefficients of determination for the entire LP were 0.78, 0.84, and 0.65, respectively. In the LP, the rainfall (water availability) was the key constraint factor that affected the relationships between the paired ecosystem services. The spatially explicit mapping of ecosystem services and interaction analyses utilizing constraint line approach enriched the understanding of connections between ecosystem services and the potential drivers, which had important implications for the land use planning and landscapes services optimizing.
Lei Zhang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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assessment of the impacts of Soil erosion on water environment based on the integration of Soil erosion process and landscape pattern
Journal of Applied Ecology, 2013Co-Authors: Bingfang Wu, Yuan Zeng, Lei ZhangAbstract:: The integration of the effects of landscape pattern to the assessment of the impacts of Soil erosion on eco-environmental is of practical significance in methodological prospect, being able to provide an approach for identifying water body's sediment source area, assessing the potential risks of sediment export of on-site Soil erosion to the target water body, and evaluating the capacity of regional landscape pattern in preventing Soil loss. In this paper, the RUSLE model was applied to simulate the on-site Soil erosion rate. With the consideration of the Soil Retention potential of vegetation cover and topography, a quantitative assessment was conducted on the impacts of Soil erosion in the water source region of the middle route for South-to-North Water Transfer Project on rivers and reservoirs by delineating landscape pattern at point (or cell) scale and sub-watershed level. At point (or grid cell) scale, the index of Soil erosion impact intensity (I) was developed as an indicator of the potential risk of sediment export to the water bodies. At sub-watershed level, the landscape leakiness index (LI) was employed to indicate the sediment Retention capacity of a given landscape pattern. The results revealed that integrating the information of landscape pattern and the indices of Soil erosion process could spatially effectively reflect the impact intensity of in situ Soil erosion on water bodies. The LI was significantly exponentially correlated to the mean sediment Retention capacity of landscape and the mean vegetation coverage of watershed, and the sediment yield at sub-watershed scale was significantly correlated to the LI in an exponential regression. It could be concluded that the approach of delineating landscape pattern based on Soil erosion process and the integration of the information of landscape pattern with its Soil Retention potential could provide a new approach for the risk evaluation of Soil erosion.
Bo Jiang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Strengthening the effectiveness of nature reserves in representing ecosystem services: The Yangtze River Economic Belt in China
Land Use Policy, 2020Co-Authors: Bo Jiang, Yang Bai, Minkun Chen, Guishan YangAbstract:Nature reserves (NRs) are the main protected areas in China and effective measures for biodiversity conservation. Three key types of ecosystem services, including Soil Retention (potential Soil Retention-SR), carbon sequestration (net primary productivity-NPP), and biodiversity conservation (habitat quality-HQ), were applied to evaluate the effectiveness of national NRs in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt. Ecosystem services were examined from two different scales (grid, individual NR), and different NRs types in 2000–2015, by using the RUSLE, CASA, and InVEST models. The results showed that the NRs had higher ES supply capacity than the non-NRs. SR and NPP showed significant increasing trends in four types of NRs. The HQ of forest ecosystem and wild animal reserves showed an increasing trend, while the HQ of inland wetlands and wild plants reserves showed a decreasing trend. Changes in NPP, SR, and HQ presented significant spatial heterogeneity for different NR types. Comprehensive effects of NRs, dynamic monitoring and evaluation of the conservation effectiveness of NRs, optimizing the institutional system of the NRs and perfecting the property of the NRs are suggested to be strengthened. These findings can provide decision support and methodological information for the effectiveness evaluation of NRs and land use policy in other regions of China and the world.
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Modeling Soil conservation, water conservation and their tradeoffs: A case study in Beijing
Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2012Co-Authors: Yang Bai, Zhiyun Ouyang, Hua Zheng, Changwei Zhuang, Bo JiangAbstract:Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With the rapid increase in human populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans frequently enhance the production of some services at the expense of the others. Although the need for tradeoffs between conservation and development is urgent, the lack of efficient methods to assess such tradeoffs has impeded progress. Three land use strategy scenarios (development scenario, plan trend scenario and conservation scenario) were created to forecast potential changes in ecosystem services from 2007 to 2050 in Beijing, China. GIS-based techniques were used to map spatial and temporal distribution and changes in ecosystem services for each scenario. The provision of ecosystem services differed spatially, with significant changes being associated with different scenarios. Scenario analysis of water yield (as average annual yield) and Soil Retention (as Retention rate per unit area) for the period 2007 to 2050 indicated that the highest values for these parameters were predicted for the forest habitat under all three scenarios. Annual yield/Retention of forest, shrub, and grassland ranked the highest in the conservation scenario. Total water yield and Soil Retention increased in the conservation scenario and declined dramatically in the other two scenarios, especially the development scenario. The conservation scenario was the optimal land use strategy, resulting in the highest Soil Retention and water yield. Our study suggests that the evaluation and visualization of ecosystem services can effectively assist in understanding the tradeoffs between conservation and development. Results of this study have implications for planning and monitoring future management of natural capital and ecosystem services, which can be integrated into land use decision-making.
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Spatial characteristics between biodiversity and ecosystem services in a human-dominated watershed
Ecological Complexity, 2011Co-Authors: Yang Bai, Zhiyun Ouyang, Hua Zheng, Changwei Zhuang, Bo JiangAbstract:Biodiversity and ecosystem services are intrinsically linked. Since human activities have both intensive and extensive impacts on the environment, it is critical to understand spatial relationships between conservation priorities for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The manner in which various aspects of biodiversity relate to ecosystem services and the spatial congruence between biodiversity and these services, is, however, unclear. In the present study in the Baiyangdian watershed, China, we investigated spatial characteristics of biodiversity and ecosystem services using correlation, overlap, and principal component, analyses. The spatial correlations between biodiversity and ecosystem services were found to be high. Biodiversity was positively correlated with Soil Retention, water yield and carbon sequestration and negatively correlated with N/P Retention and pollination. Pairwise overlap was found to be the highest between N and P Retention, biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and biodiversity and water yield. Other couples indicated moderate or small overlap. Principal component analysis indicated that biodiversity and six ecosystem services could be divided into two groups, which could be managed and conserved separately. It can be concluded that biodiversity priorities co-occur with water yield, Soil Retention and carbon sequestration, and do not co-occur with N/P Retention and pollination. Conservation of a biodiversity hotspot was associated with maintaining 45.02% of a carbon sequestration hotspot, 42.05% of a water yield hotspot, and 23.29% of a Soil Retention hotspot, indicating that conserving biodiversity will also result in the protection of these services. The bundling of biodiversity and ecosystem services is thus both possible and practical. Our findings provide valuable information on congruence and divergence among conservation hotspots and the protection of ecosystem services. They also indicate that a systematic and comprehensive approach that can have wide-ranging policy implications in terms of optimizing conservation strategies for multiple ecosystem services.
Haiyan Zhang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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challenging the land degradation in china s loess plateau benefits limitations sustainability and adaptive strategies of Soil and water conservation
Ecological Engineering, 2019Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Xinchi Wang, Haiyan Zhang, Yuqing Feng, Lev LabzovskiiAbstract:Abstract Land degradation is a global environmental problem that threatens human safety and socioeconomic development. In order to alleviate severe Soil erosion, China has implemented historically unprecedented large-scale afforestation. In this study, we selected the most severely eroded Loess Plateau as a case, to assess the effectiveness of Soil and water conservation (SWC) efforts based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. In addition, the underlying drivers for Soil erosion changes and hydrological effects of SWC were investigated, and finally the potential policy implications of our findings were discussed. The Soil erosion intensity from 2000 to 2015 was weakened largely due to favorable climate conditions and SWC efforts, which promoted vegetation restoration and enhanced Soil Retention. However, there was a significant trade-off between water provision and Soil Retention functions. The excessively artificial afforestation reduced sediment yield but depleted surface runoff. Furthermore, artificial afforestation and increasing irrigation water consumption overused groundwater resources and finally lowered groundwater table. The SWC efforts characterized by artificial afforestation induced Soil moisture declining, particularly for the conversion type of farmland to forest/shrub. Our results suggested that afforestation might be a poor choice in arid and semiarid regions, because it did not consider local precipitation conditions, and have exacerbated water shortages and offset SWC efforts. Therefore, the future ecological restoration efforts should be transformed from simple species-based measures to optimal plant species combinations to minimize the tradeoff between water yield and Soil Retention. The strategies for ecological restoration of drylands should also account for water balance to ensure effectiveness and sustainability.
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Non-linear response of water and sediment yields to ecological restoration in degraded drylands
Journal of Arid Environments, 2019Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Xinchi Wang, Haiyan Zhang, Lev D. Labzovskii, Jun Wang, Tong LiuAbstract:Ecological restoration efforts to combat Soil loss often fail to deliver the expected benefits despite enormous investments. Better understanding the close relationships between climate, vegetation, and non-linear ecosystem dynamics can help restoration activities meet their intended goals. The severely eroded Loess Plateau (LP) was selected for a case study to investigate the underlying drivers of Soil Retention change and their non-linear constraint impacts. The Soil Retention function was substantially enhanced during 2000–2015, while the water yield function was weakened. Both the favourable changes in climate conditions (i.e., increasing precipitation and declining evapotranspiration) and governmental policies for Soil and water conservation and ecological restoration promoted vegetation restoration and expansion, thereby strengthening the Soil Retention function. Consequently, water and sediment yields declined significantly. The relationship between water yield and Soil Retention is non-linear and shows that the two ecosystem functions can be either in synergy or in trade-off according to the level of vegetation cover. We observed that the vegetation cover had an upper threshold (i.e., 50%) for controlling the Soil erosion because of the limited water condition (rainfall), which implies that the effect of vegetation on reducing the water erosion reached its maximum capacity when the plant cover was 50%. Considering the limited water conditions in drylands, to minimize the trade-off between the water yield and Soil Retention and to maximize the effectiveness of ecological restoration programs, it is recommended that the overall vegetation cover in the LP be controlled at approximately 30–40%, i.e., without exceeding 50%. Currently, the non-linear constraint effects of the water condition and vegetation cover on the Soil Retention are yet to be thoroughly understood. Moreover, practical policy recommendations require further field-based observations and experimental studies.
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Re-orienting ecological restoration in degraded drylands for a more sustainable Soil–water relationship: Non-linear boundary of limited water resources in combating Soil loss
Journal of Arid Environments, 2019Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Xinchi Wang, Haiyan Zhang, Lev D. Labzovskii, Jun Wang, Tong LiuAbstract:Abstract Ecological restoration efforts to combat Soil loss often fail to deliver the expected benefits despite enormous investments. Better understanding the close relationships between climate, vegetation, and non-linear ecosystem dynamics can help restoration activities meet their intended goals. The severely eroded Loess Plateau (LP) was selected for a case study to investigate the underlying drivers of Soil Retention change and their non-linear constraint impacts. The Soil Retention function was substantially enhanced during 2000–2015, while the water yield function was weakened. Both the favourable changes in climate conditions (i.e., increasing precipitation and declining evapotranspiration) and governmental policies for Soil and water conservation and ecological restoration promoted vegetation restoration and expansion, thereby strengthening the Soil Retention function. Consequently, water and sediment yields declined significantly. The relationship between water yield and Soil Retention is non-linear and shows that the two ecosystem functions can be either in synergy or in trade-off according to the level of vegetation cover. We observed that the vegetation cover had an upper threshold (i.e., 50%) for controlling the Soil erosion because of the limited water condition (rainfall), which implies that the effect of vegetation on reducing the water erosion reached its maximum capacity when the plant cover was 50%. Considering the limited water conditions in drylands, to minimize the trade-off between the water yield and Soil Retention and to maximize the effectiveness of ecological restoration programs, it is recommended that the overall vegetation cover in the LP be controlled at approximately 30–40%, i.e., without exceeding 50%. Currently, the non-linear constraint effects of the water condition and vegetation cover on the Soil Retention are yet to be thoroughly understood. Moreover, practical policy recommendations require further field-based observations and experimental studies.
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Spatially explicit assessment of ecosystem services in China's Loess Plateau: Patterns, interactions, drivers, and implications
Global and Planetary Change, 2018Co-Authors: Chong Jiang, Haiyan Zhang, Zhidong ZhangAbstract:Abstract Human demands for natural resources have significantly changed the natural landscape and induced ecological degradation and associated ecosystem services. An understanding of the patterns, interactions, and drivers of ecosystem services is essential for the ecosystem management and guiding targeted land use policy-making. The Losses Plateau (LP) provides ecosystem services including the carbon sequestration and Soil Retention, and exerts tremendous impacts on the midstream and downstream of the Yellow River. Three dominant ecosystem services between 2000 and 2012 within the LP were presented based on multiple source datasets and biophysical models. In addition, paired ecosystem services interactions were quantified using the correlation analysis and constraint line approach. The main conclusions are as follows. It was observed that the warming and wetting climate and ecological program jointly promoted the vegetation growth and carbon sequestration. The increasing precipitation throughout 2000–2012 was related to the Soil Retention and hydrological regulation fluctuations. The vegetation restoration played a positive role in the Soil Retention enhancement, thus substantially reduced water and sediment yields. The relationships between ecosystem services were not only correlations (tradeoffs or synergies), but rather constraint effects. The constraint effects between the three paired ecosystem services could be classified as the negative convex (carbon sequestration vs. hydrological regulation) and hump-shaped (Soil Retention vs. carbon sequestration and Soil Retention vs. hydrological regulation), and the coefficients of determination for the entire LP were 0.78, 0.84, and 0.65, respectively. In the LP, the rainfall (water availability) was the key constraint factor that affected the relationships between the paired ecosystem services. The spatially explicit mapping of ecosystem services and interaction analyses utilizing constraint line approach enriched the understanding of connections between ecosystem services and the potential drivers, which had important implications for the land use planning and landscapes services optimizing.
Guishan Yang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Strengthening the effectiveness of nature reserves in representing ecosystem services: The Yangtze River Economic Belt in China
Land Use Policy, 2020Co-Authors: Bo Jiang, Yang Bai, Minkun Chen, Guishan YangAbstract:Nature reserves (NRs) are the main protected areas in China and effective measures for biodiversity conservation. Three key types of ecosystem services, including Soil Retention (potential Soil Retention-SR), carbon sequestration (net primary productivity-NPP), and biodiversity conservation (habitat quality-HQ), were applied to evaluate the effectiveness of national NRs in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt. Ecosystem services were examined from two different scales (grid, individual NR), and different NRs types in 2000–2015, by using the RUSLE, CASA, and InVEST models. The results showed that the NRs had higher ES supply capacity than the non-NRs. SR and NPP showed significant increasing trends in four types of NRs. The HQ of forest ecosystem and wild animal reserves showed an increasing trend, while the HQ of inland wetlands and wild plants reserves showed a decreasing trend. Changes in NPP, SR, and HQ presented significant spatial heterogeneity for different NR types. Comprehensive effects of NRs, dynamic monitoring and evaluation of the conservation effectiveness of NRs, optimizing the institutional system of the NRs and perfecting the property of the NRs are suggested to be strengthened. These findings can provide decision support and methodological information for the effectiveness evaluation of NRs and land use policy in other regions of China and the world.
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Identifying ecological red lines in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt: a regional approach
Ecological Indicators, 2019Co-Authors: Guishan Yang, Yan TanAbstract:Abstract ‘Ecological red lines’ (ERL) is currently used as a national policy for protecting ecological systems for sustainable development and safeguarding ecological security. The ERL defines the scale and scope of ecosystem services, and can be applied in policy decision-making and ecological protection. This study employs three ecological models (InVEST, RUSLE, CASA) and uses GIS to consolidate five key indicators (annual available recharge, Soil Retention capacity, net primary productivity, protected areas, lakes and flood storage and Retention areas) that measure ecosystem services and two ecological vulnerability indicators (susceptibility of geological hazards, rocky desertification) to establish a coherent framework and criteria of the ERL. The ERL is spatially delineated in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt on the regional scale. The results show that the total area of ERL amounts to 1.13 million km2, accounting for 55.5% of the total land area within the Belt. Six ERL domains—biodiversity conservation and Soil Retention; Soil Retention; biodiversity conservation; water conservation; Soil Retention and carbon sequestration; and biodiversity conservation and water conservation— make up 82.8% of the total ERL. The findings suggest that implementation of ERL policy is effective when the regional authority acts as an independent and a third-party assessor and enforces the use of a cross-provincial ecological compensation strategy. The coherent framework and criteria of the ERL at the regional scale is applicable to other regions of China.
