A review of village ecosystem services and insights into karst desertification control

Village ecosystems (VEs), as small-scale interaction units between humans and nature, play a crucial role in sustainable development by providing ecological services to support residents' production and life and to cope with ecological and environmental problems. Karst desertification (KD) hinders the sustainable development of karst areas, and village ecosystem services (VES) provide an essential perspective during the transition of karst desertification control (KDC) strategies. In the present study, we used a systematic quantitative assessment method to conduct a literature review of 194 relevant studies on VES in Scopus. Studies have shown that research on VES is increasing but is in its infancy. Significant progress has been made in six primary research components: vulnerability and resilience, structure and function, service valuation, trade-offs and synergistic assessments, payments for ecosystem services, and human well-being. These are mapped at five levels: system elements, structure function, service assessment, service management, and sustainable development. Based on this hierarchy, we have proposed five key scientific issues, focusing on the identification of the determinants of vulnerability and resilience, the characterization of system structure and interconnections, the quantification of irreversible thresholds in the trade-offs of services, the identification and management of service flows, and the assessment of sustainability after the cessation of payments. Finally, four insights into KDC are presented based on the recursive relationships among the five levels: reducing anthropogenic vulnerability and enhancing overall resilience to promote system structural stability, assessing service trade-offs and synergistic relationships to formulate multifunctional landscapes, optimizing structure and function through landscape design to enhance service provision, and achieving the economic transformation of service values to enhance human well-being for sustainable development. The systematic review of literature in the present study is expected to provide scientific references for researchers related to both rural environmental management and ecological governance, and the insights into KDC are expected to help in regional responses to the challenges of global environmental change and the realization of sustainable development.