Effects of Global Household Proliferation on Ecosystem Services - Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Environment and Culture - page 106

Fig. 6.4 Fuelwood consumption per capita under different household sizes (Liu et al. 2005 )

of ecosystem services. Some households also plant trees and protect forests that
sequester CO 2 , such as those who reduce greenhouse emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation (REDD) (The United Nations Collaborative Programme on
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing
Countries 2012 ), and who monitor forests from illegal harvesting, such as in
China's National Forest Conservation Program (Liu et al. 2008 ). However, the
supply of ecosystem services from households is much less than the demand for
ecosystem services. As a result, ecosystem services continue to degrade rapidly
(MA 2005 ).

6.3.2 Impacts on Ecosystem Services

Household impacts on ecosystem services are enormous (Table 6.1 ). In this sec-
tion, two examples are given to illustrate the impacts.

6.3.2.1 Impacts of Household Proliferation on Forests
and Panda Habitat

Household proliferation is an important contributor to the significant changes in
forests and panda habitat in Wolong Nature Reserve. From 1965 to 1997, forest
cover and suitable panda habitat in Wolong was substantially reduced (Liu et al.
2001 ) (Fig. 6.5 ) because people had used ecosystem services (e.g., fuelwood and
timber) in areas that pandas use. Both people and pandas prefer areas that are not
too steep. The suitable panda habitat has been much fragmented by human
activities (e.g., fuelwood collection, timber harvesting, road construction, and
home building). With increases in the total amount of fuelwood consumption and