How would ecological restoration affect multiple ecosystem service supplies and tradeoffs? A study of mine tailings restoration in China

Abstract

Ecological restoration is becoming increasingly important in addressing the global crisis of ecosystem degradation. Ecosystem services, as a concept that connects people and natural ecosystems, can be incorporated into the design, practice and evaluation of restoration projects to promote both the socioeconomic and ecological effects of restoration. However, the full incorporation of ecosystem services in landscape-scale restoration projects is still greatly lacking. In this study, we used the Dashihe mine tailings restoration project in Hebei, China, as a case study and analyzed data from field surveys, remote sensing and literature reviews to study the following two questions: 1) How would multiple ecosystem service supply capabilities and their tradeoffs change after ecological restoration; 2) How can multiple ecosystem service supply capabilities be maximized while minimizing their tradeoffs? The supply capabilities of four important ecosystem services (i.e., soil retention, dust deposition, carbon sequestration and habitat maintenance) and their tradeoff intensities under six restoration scenarios were quantified and compared. The results showed that restored ecosystems outperformed unrestored and even the reference conditions in terms of ecosystem service supply enhancement. However, there is still much room for improvement compared to the recommended restoration scenario. The recommended scenario could result in both higher service supplies and lower tradeoff intensities among the services. On this basis, we call for more incorporation of ecosystem service supply and tradeoff analysis in future ecological restoration projects to reverse the declining trends of ecosystem services across the globe.