Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Wetland Services and Restoration, Institute of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China; Beijing Hanshiqiao National Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Beijing, 101399, China.
Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Wetland Services and Restoration, Institute of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China.
Environ Res. 2023 Dec 15;239(Pt 2):117411. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117411. Epub 2023 Oct 13.
The coastal area of Yancheng, China, is one of the hotspots for ecological research. Under the coupling of human and natural ecosystems, the region has gradually evolved into a coexistence of aquatic, agricultural and mudflat ecosystems. What are the patterns of natural and artificial resource inputs and patterns of change in ecosystems? How can ecological flows be analyzed at a uniform scale? Here, we selected six typical local ecosystems, namely, rice‒wheat for enterprises (RWE), rice‒wheat for smallholder households (RWS), chrysanthemum‒wheat (CW), fish polyculture (FP), juvenile crab farming (JF) and clam polyculture (CP), and analyzed their energy flow flux and sustainability based on emergy theory. The results showed that anthropogenic resource inputs were higher than natural resource inputs in all ecosystems, and the inputs of aquatic ecosystems were greater than those of agroecosystems. The greatest total input was 2.0 E+17 seJ/ha/yr for FP, and the lowest was 1.9 E+16 seJ/ha/yr for RWE. The proportions of renewable and artificial inputs for RWE, RWS, CW, FP, JF and CP were 32.8% vs. 96.1%, 40.3% vs. 96.5%, 34.7% vs. 97.0%, 32.6% vs. 99.4%, 55.1% vs. 98.5%, and 62.5% vs. 98.6%, respectively. The highest input to agroecosystems was nitrogen fertilizer, while in JF and CP, it was water, and feed (63.3%) accounted for the highest percentage of input in FP. JF and CP had lower environmental loads and higher sustainability than other ecosystems, but this still represents a high input compared to agroecosystems. Human-led resource coupling profoundly affects ecosystem sustainability, and various thresholds of energy use and ecological sustainability need to be studied in depth. Continuous exploration of methods and mechanisms for the maintenance and evolution of ecosystems with low total inputs and low inputs of non-renewable resources can contribute to high-quality sustainable development of an area or region.
中国盐城沿海地区是生态研究的热点之一。在人类与自然生态系统的耦合作用下，该地区逐渐演变为水生、农业和泥滩生态系统共存的格局。自然和人工资源投入的模式以及生态系统的变化模式是什么？如何在统一的尺度上分析生态流？在这里，我们选择了六个典型的本地生态系统，即企业稻麦轮作（RWE）、小农户稻麦轮作（RWS）、菊花-小麦轮作（CW）、鱼虾混养（FP）、幼蟹养殖（JF）和贝类混养（CP），并基于能值理论分析了它们的能量流通量和可持续性。结果表明，所有生态系统中人为资源投入均高于自然资源投入，水生态系统的投入大于农业生态系统。最大的总投入是 FP 的 2.0×10^17 sej/ha/yr，最低的是 RWE 的 1.9×10^16 sej/ha/yr。RWE、RWS、CW、FP、JF 和 CP 的可再生和人工投入比例分别为 32.8%对 96.1%、40.3%对 96.5%、34.7%对 97.0%、32.6%对 99.4%、55.1%对 98.5%和 62.5%对 98.6%。农业生态系统的主要投入是氮肥，而在 JF 和 CP 中，主要投入是水，而 FP 中投入最高的是饲料（63.3%）。JF 和 CP 的环境负荷较低，可持续性较高，与其他生态系统相比，但与农业生态系统相比，这仍然代表着高投入。人类主导的资源耦合深刻影响着生态系统的可持续性，需要深入研究能源利用和生态可持续性的各种阈值。不断探索低总投入和低不可再生资源投入的生态系统的维护和演化方法和机制，可以为一个地区或区域的高质量可持续发展做出贡献。
