A landscape management analysis framework and its preliminary application in Ejina Oasis, Northwest China

Abstract

The implementation of integrated landscape management to support local and regional human well-being is crucial in arid regions, but its application to date is very limited. Although analytical frameworks have been established to maximize ecosystem services via trade-offs between different landscape configurations, consumption factors such as water resources are rarely and weakly considered in such frameworks. In this paper, an improved integrated landscape-management analysis framework, called the Consumption-integrated Landscape Management to Ecosystem Service (CLMES), is proposed. In this framework, consumption factors are integrated at the same level as ecosystem services. The improved analytical framework is then used to assess and optimize landscape design in the Ejina Oasis, an extremely arid region in western China. Three landscape conditions (past, current, and future) are evaluated, based on the CLMES. Our results indicate that the Heihe River water-allocation program effectively promoted ecosystem services in the Ejina Oasis from 2000 to 2011. However, the excessive expansion of cropland led to a slight decline in habitat quality. An optimized landscape configuration and policy suggestions are proposed, which may be beneficial to the improvement of total water-use efficiency, oasis stability, and resilience of the ecological-social system in the Ejina Oasis.