Enhanced Ecosystem Services in China's Xilingol Steppe during 2000-2015: Towards Sustainable Agropastoralism Management

Ecosystem services (ESs) provided by dryland regions are very vulnerable to environmental dynamics and management transformation, and it is still unclear how these services will be affected by the combined effects of accelerated climate variability and land-use changes at a regional macro level. In this study, the status, patterns and trends of ESs provided by the Xilingol steppe were quantitatively evaluated, and the impact of climate and land-use change on ESs were discussed. The results showed that favorable climatic conditions and the implementation of ecological policies had a substantial positive impact on regional vegetation restoration during 2000-2015. As a result of the vegetation greening, water retention and carbon sequestration increased significantly at rates of 16.01 m(3) ha(-1) and 1.75 g C m(-2) yr(-1), respectively. Soil loss caused by wind erosion, an ecosystem disservice, decreased significantly at a rate of -0.57 t ha(-1) yr(-1). Although several environmental factors had differing impacts on the ESs changes in the subregions, including the meadow, typical and desert steppes, the main factors that contributed to the enhancement of overall ESs benefits were the climatic humidification and the reduced grazing pressure in the entire study area. The above conclusion shows that, in the era of climate change, the implementation of sustainable farming-pastoral strategies can realize a "win-win" situation between ecological restoration and socioeconomic development in arid and semi-arid steppes.