Target areas for harmonizing the Grain for Green Programme in China's Loess Plateau

Geng, Q; Ren, Q; Yan, H; Li, L; Zhao, X; Mu, X; Wu, P; Yu, Q

Target areas for harmonizing the Grain for Green Programme in China's Loess Plateau

Geng, Q Ren, Q Yan, H Li, L Zhao, X Mu, X Wu, P Yu, Q

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Publisher:: WILEY
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Land Degradation and Development, 2020, 31, (3), pp. 325-333
Issue Date:: 2020-02-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Geng, Q
dc.contributor.author	Ren, Q
dc.contributor.author	Yan, H
dc.contributor.author	Li, L
dc.contributor.author	Zhao, X
dc.contributor.author	Mu, X
dc.contributor.author	Wu, P
dc.contributor.author	Yu, Q https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6950-1821
dc.date.accessioned	2020-10-21T05:01:04Z
dc.date.available	2020-10-21T05:01:04Z
dc.date.issued	2020-02-15
dc.identifier.citation	Land Degradation and Development, 2020, 31, (3), pp. 325-333
dc.identifier.issn	1085-3278
dc.identifier.issn	1099-145X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/143430
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Widespread land degradation has stimulated the implementation of a large-scale ecological restoration programme in China's Loess Plateau—the Grain-for-Green Programme (GFGP). This programme has substantially increased vegetation cover and served to control soil erosion, but threatened regional food supply due to widespread cropland conversion. Consequently, a strategy balancing green and grain land uses is required. Here, we establish a dominance index of ecosystem services by quantifying the economic value of four key ecosystem services (net primary productivity, soil conservation, water yield, and food production), by combining spatially explicit datasets and census data. Using the dominance index, we identify the optimal areas to target for GFGP in the Loess Plateau. The identified areas (target areas) were the transition zone from low to high value of ecosystem services (ESV). These areas exhibited low grain productivity in addition to having the highest potential for soil conservation. Compared with other regions of the Loess Plateau, the loss of grain production due to cropland conversion in these target areas could decrease by 42%, whereas ESV could increase by 33%. Therefore, despite the fact that over the past 15 years (2000–2014) in these target areas more cropland was converted into ecological use (i.e. forest/grassland), there is still a need to strengthen ecological restoration in this region in the future. This study proposed a strategy for balancing green and grain from a spatial perspective, which could potentially solve land degradation issues and the tradeoff between ecosystem services in a more beneficial and targeted way.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	WILEY
dc.relation.ispartof	Land Degradation and Development
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/ldr.3451
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.subject	03 Chemical Sciences, 04 Earth Sciences, 05 Environmental Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Agronomy & Agriculture
dc.title	Target areas for harmonizing the Grain for Green Programme in China's Loess Plateau
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	31
utslib.for	03 Chemical Sciences
utslib.for	04 Earth Sciences
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2020-10-21T05:00:43Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	31
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Widespread land degradation has stimulated the implementation of a large-scale ecological restoration programme in China's Loess Plateau—the Grain-for-Green Programme (GFGP). This programme has substantially increased vegetation cover and served to control soil erosion, but threatened regional food supply due to widespread cropland conversion. Consequently, a strategy balancing green and grain land uses is required. Here, we establish a dominance index of ecosystem services by quantifying the economic value of four key ecosystem services (net primary productivity, soil conservation, water yield, and food production), by combining spatially explicit datasets and census data. Using the dominance index, we identify the optimal areas to target for GFGP in the Loess Plateau. The identified areas (target areas) were the transition zone from low to high value of ecosystem services (ESV). These areas exhibited low grain productivity in addition to having the highest potential for soil conservation. Compared with other regions of the Loess Plateau, the loss of grain production due to cropland conversion in these target areas could decrease by 42%, whereas ESV could increase by 33%. Therefore, despite the fact that over the past 15 years (2000–2014) in these target areas more cropland was converted into ecological use (i.e. forest/grassland), there is still a need to strengthen ecological restoration in this region in the future. This study proposed a strategy for balancing green and grain from a spatial perspective, which could potentially solve land degradation issues and the tradeoff between ecosystem services in a more beneficial and targeted way.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/143430