Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, PR China.
Shanghai Municipal Landscape Management and Instructional Station, Shanghai, PR China.
J Environ Manage. 2023 Oct 15;344:118722. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118722. Epub 2023 Aug 3.
Identifying priority areas for conservation is an effective measurement for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services (ESs) under threats globally. Although many approaches have been developed to identify conservation priority areas by combining supply and demand of ESs, the integration of ESs flows into the identification still need further exploration. For ESs like freshwater supply services, the processes of freshwater flows across multiple scales are crucial. This study aimed to propose a new study framework to identify priority areas for freshwater supply conservation by integrating the multi-scale (i.e., sub-watershed, tributary, and mainstream) freshwater flows, using the Yangtze River Delta as the study area. The results suggested that spatial mismatches between the supply and demand of freshwater supply services existed at different scales. There were approximately 129, 58, and 55 pairs of freshwater flows in sub-watersheds, tributaries, and mainstreams, respectively, which transported 5.98 × 10 m, 2.07 × 10 m and 2.50 × 10 m of freshwater. The results of multi-scale freshwater flows were integrated into conservation target goals, and the identified priority areas for freshwater supply conservation were selected at three scales. The priority areas selected at the sub-watershed scale were the largest. Compared with the traditional method of identifying priority areas without considering freshwater flows, the priority areas identified in this study included both sites with a high supply capacity and sites with a relatively low supply capacity, as they were significant for meeting the local freshwater demand. The increasing understanding of freshwater flows and the integration of the flows for the identification of priority areas for freshwater supply conservation are important for the development of more practical and rational policies or ecological management for the sustainable conservation of ESs.
确定保护的优先领域是在全球范围内应对威胁、可持续提供生态系统服务（ESs）的有效措施。尽管已经开发了许多方法来通过组合 ESs 的供给和需求来确定保护的优先领域，但将 ESs 流纳入识别中仍需要进一步探索。对于像淡水供应服务这样的 ESs，跨越多个尺度的淡水流动过程至关重要。本研究旨在提出一个新的研究框架，通过整合多尺度（即子流域、支流和主流）的淡水流动，以长江三角洲为研究区，确定淡水供应保护的优先领域。研究结果表明，不同尺度上的淡水供应服务的供给和需求之间存在空间不匹配。在子流域、支流和主流中，分别有大约 129、58 和 55 对淡水流动，分别输送了 5.98×10^9、2.07×10^9 和 2.50×10^9 立方米的淡水。将多尺度淡水流动的结果整合到保护目标中，并在三个尺度上选择了淡水供应保护的优先领域。子流域尺度上选择的优先领域最大。与不考虑淡水流动的传统方法相比，本研究中确定的优先领域包括供应能力高和供应能力相对较低的地点，因为它们对满足当地淡水需求很重要。对淡水流动的认识不断提高，以及将流动纳入淡水供应保护优先领域的识别中，对于制定更实用和合理的政策或生态管理措施，以实现 ESs 的可持续保护具有重要意义。
