气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development

CCPortal

DOI	10.1038/s41893-020-0574-x
	Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development
	Grodsky S.M.; Hernandez R.R.
发表日期	2020
ISSN	2398-9629
起始页码	1036
结束页码	1043
卷号	3 期号:12
英文摘要	Deserts are prioritized as recipient environments for solar energy development; however, the impacts of this development on desert plant communities are unknown. Desert plants represent long-standing ecological, economic and cultural resources for humans, especially indigenous peoples, but their role in supplying ecosystem services (ESs) remains understudied. We measured the effect of solar energy development decisions on desert plants at one of the world’s largest concentrating solar power plants (Ivanpah, California; capacity of 392 MW). We documented the negative effects of solar energy development on the desert scrub plant community. Perennial plant cover and structure are lower in bladed treatments than mowed treatments, which are, in turn, lower than the perennial plant cover and structure recorded in undeveloped controls. We determined that cacti species and Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera) are particularly vulnerable to solar development (that is, blading, mowing), whereas Schismus spp.—invasive annual grasses—are facilitated by blading. The desert scrub community confers 188 instances of ESs, including cultural services to 18 Native American ethnic groups. Cultural, provisioning and regulating ESs of desert plants are lower in bladed and mowed treatments than in undeveloped controls. Our study demonstrates the potential for solar energy development in deserts to reduce biodiversity and socioecological resources, as well as the role that ESs play in informing energy transitions that are sustainable and just. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Arid regions; Biodiversity; Ecosystems; Landforms; Solar energy; Solar power generation; Sustainable development; Concentrating solar power plant; Cultural resources; Ecosystem services; Energy development; Energy transitions; Indigenous people; Native Americans; Plant communities; Solar power plants
来源期刊	Nature Sustainability
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/163207
作者单位	Wild Energy Initiative, John Muir Institute of the Environment, Davis, CA, United States; Department of Land, Air & Water Resources, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Grodsky S.M.,Hernandez R.R.. Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development[J],2020,3(12).
APA	Grodsky S.M.,&Hernandez R.R..(2020).Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development.Nature Sustainability,3(12).
MLA	Grodsky S.M.,et al."Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development".Nature Sustainability 3.12(2020).