Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015
Geopark ecosystem function assessments form an essential knowledge base for natural resource conservation and sustainable development. In this study, we evaluated changes in water retention and carbon sequestration in forests in the Huangshan United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Orga...
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doaj-6a0ef9713f7140238b6f5e2e2a711d722020-11-25T04:01:39ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072020-10-01111152115210.3390/f11111152Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015Ruikun Gou0Wei Li1Yanzheng Yang2Jiankun Bai3Yuchen Meng4Jun Wu5Yali Ding6Zheng Dai7Qi Shi8Shanshan Song9Guanghui Lin10Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaHuangshan UNESCO Global Geopark Administrative Committee, Huangshan 245700, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100085, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaHuangshan UNESCO Global Geopark Administrative Committee, Huangshan 245700, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaDivision of Ocean Science and Technology, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaDivision of Ocean Science and Technology, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaGeopark ecosystem function assessments form an essential knowledge base for natural resource conservation and sustainable development. In this study, we evaluated changes in water retention and carbon sequestration in forests in the Huangshan United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark (HUGG), China, from 2000 to 2015. We analyzed the relationship between these ecosystem functions and various controlling factors. The ecosystem functions in HUGG experienced significant changes during the study period. Water retention function increased slightly (0.15 m<sup>3</sup> hm<sup>−2</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>), while carbon sequestration increased sharply (25.57 g C m<sup>−2</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>), with both showing increased spatial homogenization. Increased precipitation significantly enhanced the water retention function, whereas a temperature increase had a positive effect on the carbon sequestration. Both water retention and carbon sequestration decreased significantly with increased tourist disturbance. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and variance partitioning analysis identified the climate factors and tourist disturbance controlling water retention and carbon sequestration, respectively. The fitted structural equation model showed that climate factors had a greater total impact on water retention than tourist disturbance, while the total impact of climate factors on carbon sequestration was far less than that due to tourist disturbance. This study untangled the relationship between ecosystem functions (water retention and carbon sequestration) and influential factors in the HUGG and clarified that climate factors and tourist disturbance were determinants of changes in these ecosystem functions. The results from this study provide scientific foundations for the sustainable management of natural ecosystems in the HUGG and other geoparks.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/11/1152ecosystem functionscarbon sequestrationwater retentiontourist disturbanceclimate factorsHuangshan UNESCO Global Geopark |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ruikun Gou Wei Li Yanzheng Yang Jiankun Bai Yuchen Meng Jun Wu Yali Ding Zheng Dai Qi Shi Shanshan Song Guanghui Lin |
spellingShingle |
Ruikun Gou Wei Li Yanzheng Yang Jiankun Bai Yuchen Meng Jun Wu Yali Ding Zheng Dai Qi Shi Shanshan Song Guanghui Lin Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015 Forests ecosystem functions carbon sequestration water retention tourist disturbance climate factors Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark |
author_facet |
Ruikun Gou Wei Li Yanzheng Yang Jiankun Bai Yuchen Meng Jun Wu Yali Ding Zheng Dai Qi Shi Shanshan Song Guanghui Lin |
author_sort |
Ruikun Gou |
title |
Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015 |
title_short |
Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015 |
title_full |
Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015 |
title_fullStr |
Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Changes in Water Retention and Carbon Sequestration in the Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark (China) from 2000 to 2015 |
title_sort |
changes in water retention and carbon sequestration in the huangshan unesco global geopark (china) from 2000 to 2015 |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Forests |
issn |
1999-4907 |
publishDate |
2020-10-01 |
description |
Geopark ecosystem function assessments form an essential knowledge base for natural resource conservation and sustainable development. In this study, we evaluated changes in water retention and carbon sequestration in forests in the Huangshan United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark (HUGG), China, from 2000 to 2015. We analyzed the relationship between these ecosystem functions and various controlling factors. The ecosystem functions in HUGG experienced significant changes during the study period. Water retention function increased slightly (0.15 m<sup>3</sup> hm<sup>−2</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>), while carbon sequestration increased sharply (25.57 g C m<sup>−2</sup> year<sup>−1</sup>), with both showing increased spatial homogenization. Increased precipitation significantly enhanced the water retention function, whereas a temperature increase had a positive effect on the carbon sequestration. Both water retention and carbon sequestration decreased significantly with increased tourist disturbance. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and variance partitioning analysis identified the climate factors and tourist disturbance controlling water retention and carbon sequestration, respectively. The fitted structural equation model showed that climate factors had a greater total impact on water retention than tourist disturbance, while the total impact of climate factors on carbon sequestration was far less than that due to tourist disturbance. This study untangled the relationship between ecosystem functions (water retention and carbon sequestration) and influential factors in the HUGG and clarified that climate factors and tourist disturbance were determinants of changes in these ecosystem functions. The results from this study provide scientific foundations for the sustainable management of natural ecosystems in the HUGG and other geoparks. |
topic |
ecosystem functions carbon sequestration water retention tourist disturbance climate factors Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/11/1152 |
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