Identification of priority conservation areas for Natural Forest Protection Project in Northeastern China based on OWA-GIS

Abstract

The implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP) in Northeastern China (NC) has improved the ecological environment and the capacity of ecosystem services (ESs), and has also played a positive role in promoting ESs in NC. In the study, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of Soil Conservation (SC), Water Yield (WY), Carbon Storage (CS) and Habitat Quality (HQ) were evaluated based on InVEST and RUSLE models from 2000 to 2020 in NC. Furthermore 11 scenarios were established based on the ordered weighted average (OWA) operator, and regional PCA were selected by comparing the conservation efficiency (CE) of the 11 scenarios. The results showed that the multi-year average values of SC, WY, CS and HQ in the study area were 2.38×108 t, 2.67×1011 m3, 1.45×1010 tC and 0.71 (dimensionless). From a spatial distribution perspective, the high values of HQ, CS and SC in the study area were mainly distributed in the northern part of Inner Mongolia region, northern and north-central Heilongjiang Province, eastern Jilin Province, and eastern Liaoning Province. The high values of WY were mainly distributed in southeastern Liaoning Province, and low values covered almost the whole study area in 2000. Lastly, scenario 2 had the highest PE among 11 scenarios and were therefore selected as the PCA in the study and the CE of this scenario for HQ, SC, CS and WY were 1.31, 2.17, 1.69 and 1.80. The protected area for scenario were 2.24×105 km2, and the mainly land use type were forest. By overlaying NC with NFPP, priority I was chosen as the scope for further implementation of NFPP. The study can provide decision support for forestry policy and the scope of NFPP implementation in the near future.

Keywords

• Priority conservation areas
• Ordered weighted average
• Ecosystem services
• InVEST model
• RUSLE model