Bundling evaluating changes in ecosystem service under karst rocky desertification restoration: projects a case study of Huajiang-Guanling, Guizhou province, Southwest China

Karst ecosystem services (ES) are a key component of terrestrial ES in the world. Karst rocky desertification is one of the biggest ecological and environmental challenges in China. The Karst Rocky Desertification Project (RDPs) help to promote land use and land cover and management practices, which aimed to alter the supply of ecosystem services and affect the well-being of both humanity and nature to alleviate ecological degradation and ameliorate regional poverty in southwest China. The spatial aggregation and distribution of ecosystem services is a wise evaluation of ecosystem management and landscape planning. The ecological efficiency of KRD restoration control measures on a regional scale can be explored by ecosystem services bundles. Our study takes the Huajiang-Guangling karst plateau-valley experimental site—a core area implementing ecological restoration projects in Guizhou province, China—as a case study. Nine ESs (e.g. soil conservation, habitat quality, carbon sequestration, etc.) were quantified using different models of InVEST. A self-organizing map (SOM) approach is used to define and map the ESB. The results showed that (1) the overall trend of rocky desertification has improved during the study period, especially in the mild and potential rocky desertification areas. (2) The ESs has improved, particularly agricultural provisioning services and soil conservation, habitat quality, and carbon sequestration. (3) There is a stable synergy relationship between provisioning services and most regulatory services, while the trade effects between ESs are weakened, indicating a subtle functional interdependence between ESs. (4) The changes of bundling patterns showed that the change of ES bundle can promote the transfers of several ESs supply and regulation services in a different project promoting periods. This study provides a new perspective for inspecting the interactions between multiple ESs at the small regional ecological scale. And these results provide an important scientific basis for ecological restoration and reconstruction in karst areas, which are of great significance for improving policy responses and ecosystem management.