Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan

Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world’s population; they host the world’s principal biomes and supply a diverse array of ecosystem services. But they are also highly sensitive to both natural and human induced changes, which can affect service...

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Autores principales:	Sunita Chaudhary, Dago Tshering, Tshering Phuntsho, Kabir Uddin, Bandana Shakya, Nakul Chettri
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Taylor & Francis Group 2017
Materias:	Bhutan ecosystem services land cover change local community Phobjikha valley Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/45fbe63f7c0642118990b7cdfb37dd2d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:45fbe63f7c0642118990b7cdfb37dd2d2021-12-02T14:20:58ZImpact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan2096-41292332-887810.1080/20964129.2017.1393314https://doaj.org/article/45fbe63f7c0642118990b7cdfb37dd2d2017-09-01T00:00:00Zhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1393314https://doaj.org/toc/2096-4129https://doaj.org/toc/2332-8878Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world’s population; they host the world’s principal biomes and supply a diverse array of ecosystem services. But they are also highly sensitive to both natural and human induced changes, which can affect service provision meant for one third of humanity. Systematic research on impacts of land cover change from mountains at the local scale are limited, especially in developing countries, which poses a barrier to informed planning for sustainable management. Bhutan being in the forefront as contributor towards global conservation goals, a case study following a systematic research framework considering quantitative, qualitative and geospatial tools was experimented. Outcome: Respondents identified and ranked 24 ecosystem services, among which the provisioning services were the most important, followed by cultural, regulating, and supporting services. Forest was the most important land cover type for services, followed by marsh, scrub, water bodies, and agriculture. The area of forest declined by 2% and marsh by 7% over the 32-year period, suggesting a potential decrease in ecosystem services, which was also observed by the local community. Discussion: It was observed that 80% of the local people are still directly dependent on the diverse ecosystems for services. Though subtle, the decrease in land cover has implications for livelihoods of the people and the rich biodiversity of the area. Aspiring communities for local development needs guidance for identifying trade-offs in land cover types in sustainable management. An integrated and holistic approach focusing on both conservation and community development should be used to manage and develop the valley and the region sustainably. Conclusion: We recommend diversifying the limited livelihood strategies (potato farming and livestock grazing) to reduce the potential vulnerability of the local community and reduce the pressure on forest and marsh. Proper land use planning in the valley would be beneficial to maintain and regulate land uses in an effective way and avoid possible conflicts between settlement, agriculture, forest, and marsh.Sunita ChaudharyDago TsheringTshering PhuntshoKabir UddinBandana ShakyaNakul ChettriTaylor & Francis GrouparticleBhutanecosystem servicesland cover changelocal communityPhobjikha valleyEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcosystem Health and Sustainability, Vol 3, Iss 9 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Bhutan ecosystem services land cover change local community Phobjikha valley Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Bhutan ecosystem services land cover change local community Phobjikha valley Ecology QH540-549.5 Sunita Chaudhary Dago Tshering Tshering Phuntsho Kabir Uddin Bandana Shakya Nakul Chettri Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan
description	Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world’s population; they host the world’s principal biomes and supply a diverse array of ecosystem services. But they are also highly sensitive to both natural and human induced changes, which can affect service provision meant for one third of humanity. Systematic research on impacts of land cover change from mountains at the local scale are limited, especially in developing countries, which poses a barrier to informed planning for sustainable management. Bhutan being in the forefront as contributor towards global conservation goals, a case study following a systematic research framework considering quantitative, qualitative and geospatial tools was experimented. Outcome: Respondents identified and ranked 24 ecosystem services, among which the provisioning services were the most important, followed by cultural, regulating, and supporting services. Forest was the most important land cover type for services, followed by marsh, scrub, water bodies, and agriculture. The area of forest declined by 2% and marsh by 7% over the 32-year period, suggesting a potential decrease in ecosystem services, which was also observed by the local community. Discussion: It was observed that 80% of the local people are still directly dependent on the diverse ecosystems for services. Though subtle, the decrease in land cover has implications for livelihoods of the people and the rich biodiversity of the area. Aspiring communities for local development needs guidance for identifying trade-offs in land cover types in sustainable management. An integrated and holistic approach focusing on both conservation and community development should be used to manage and develop the valley and the region sustainably. Conclusion: We recommend diversifying the limited livelihood strategies (potato farming and livestock grazing) to reduce the potential vulnerability of the local community and reduce the pressure on forest and marsh. Proper land use planning in the valley would be beneficial to maintain and regulate land uses in an effective way and avoid possible conflicts between settlement, agriculture, forest, and marsh.
format	article
author	Sunita Chaudhary Dago Tshering Tshering Phuntsho Kabir Uddin Bandana Shakya Nakul Chettri
author_facet	Sunita Chaudhary Dago Tshering Tshering Phuntsho Kabir Uddin Bandana Shakya Nakul Chettri
author_sort	Sunita Chaudhary
title	Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan
title_short	Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan
title_full	Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan
title_fullStr	Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan
title_full_unstemmed	Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan
title_sort	impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the phobjikha valley, bhutan
publisher	Taylor & Francis Group
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/45fbe63f7c0642118990b7cdfb37dd2d
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Impact of land cover change on a mountain ecosystem and its services: case study from the Phobjikha valley, Bhutan

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