Multi-Remote Sensing Data Analysis for Identifying the Impact of Human Activities on Water-Related Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (New Reviewer)
The article Multi-remote sensing data analysis for identifying the impact of human activities on water-related ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China is an interesting manuscript.
I recommend for publication with in form
Author Response
Dear Editor and reviewer:
We would like to thank the editor for giving us a chance to resubmit the paper, and thank the reviewer for recommending our study for publication.
Sincerely yours,
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Reviewer1:
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The article Multi-remote sensing data analysis for identifying the impact of human activities on water-related ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China is an interesting manuscript.
I recommend for publication with in form
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)
As stated, a scientific method to quantify and measures the impact of human activities is essential to evaluate the ESV. The spatial gross domestic product (GDP) distribution was adopted to characterize the intensity of human activi
ties. However, a description of the relation between different types of activities and their intensity and the parapeters in the mathematical model presented in chapter 3 would be useful for a better understanding of the models. A suggestion is to take the most significant human activity as a case study and describe it's impact.
Author Response
Dear Editor and reviewer:
We would like to thank the editor for giving us a chance to resubmit the paper, and also thank the reviewers for giving us constructive suggestions to improve the quality of the paper. Here we submit a point-by-point document to response the reviewers' comments. Following the comments and suggestions, we have corrected the mistakes and mark all the changes in bold blue with italic as follows. The specific change in manuscript are in bold red.
Sincerely yours,
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The following is a point-to-point response to the reviewers’ comments.
Reviewer 2:
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
As stated, a scientific method to quantify and measures the impact of human activities is essential to evaluate the ESV. The spatial gross domestic product (GDP) distribution was adopted to characterize the intensity of human activities. However, a description of the relation between different types of activities and their intensity and the parameters in the mathematical model presented in chapter 3 would be useful for a better understanding of the models. A suggestion is to take the most significant human activity as a case study and describe it's impact.
Response: We appreciate the reviewer’s suggestion. In our study, however, we do not separate the human activities into different types, such as the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. We will follow your suggestion to better reveal the most significant human activities in further studies.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report (New Reviewer)
This is a very interesting paper.
Some points need clarification or correction
Line 18. ‘vital’ in what sense?
Line 25. ‘found’, not ‘noticed for’.
Line 32. ‘Ecosystem services’ not ‘Ecosystem service’; delete ‘production and’.
Line 34. ‘and dynamic evolution’: clarify.
Line 41. ‘techniques’
Lines 42-43. Size of pixels?
Line 45. ‘include the’, not ‘include’.
Line 47. Delete ‘to be noticed that’.
Line 83. Clarify ‘residents living’.
Line 101. ‘largest river by discharge’, not ‘most abundant river’.
Line 112. ‘i.e.’, not ‘including’, since all of the 11 provincial administrations are listed.
Line 119. Does ‘mm’ mean ‘mm per year’.
Line 195. Does the radiation refer to the 400 – 700 nm wavelength range?
Line 206. Define what is meant by ‘first echelon’.
Line 234. What is man by ‘good ecosystem’.
Lines 247-278. Should ‘the outside stimulate’ be ‘external factors’.
Line 249. ‘the pollutants expand’ should presumably be ‘the pollutants increase’.
Line 267. ‘mainly’ implies that other processes fix carbon and release oxygen, The weathering of silicate rocks fixes carbon dioxide, but what processes other than photosynthesis release oxygen?
Line 269. Is ‘the utility of’ needed?
Line 294. Why does ‘yield’ have a capital ‘Y’?
Line 327. ‘gradually came to play’.
Line 337. Clarify ‘induce land cover change’
Line 352. ‘This may be because’.
Line 386. Would ‘hilly’ be better as ‘steep’?
Line 400. ‘slight’, not ‘slightly’.
Lines 425. ‘high’, not ‘highly’.
Line 434. ‘but because’ rather than ‘while raise’.
Lines 435-438. Clarify this sentence.
Line 449. ‘Identification of driving factors’
Line 456. ‘showed a’, nor ‘present’.
Line 459. Delete ‘they’.
Line 466. What is meant by ‘gathering areas’?
Line 468. ‘relocating’, not ‘immigrating’.
Lines 517-518. ‘It is significant’, not ‘To be noticed’.
Table 2. ‘phosphorus’, not ‘phosphorous’.
Lin 533. Delete ‘the’.
Author Response
Dear Editor and reviewer:
We would like to thank the editor for giving us a chance to resubmit the paper, and also thank the reviewers for giving us constructive suggestions to improve the quality of the paper. Here we submit a point-by-point document to response the reviewers' comments. Following the comments and suggestions, we have corrected the mistakes and mark all the changes in bold blue with italic as follows. The specific change in manuscript are in bold red.
Sincerely yours,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a point-to-point response to the reviewers’ comments.
Reviewer 3:
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
This is a very interesting paper.
Some points need clarification or correction
1.Line 18. ‘vital’ in what sense?
Response 1: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: though the YREB has experienced rapid urbanization during the study period,
2.Line 25. ‘found’, not ‘noticed for’.
Response 2: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Moreover, the NPP has been found not be mainly affected by human activities
3.Line 32. ‘Ecosystem services’ not ‘Ecosystem service’; delete ‘production and’.
Response 3: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Ecosystem services (ESs) are essential for human life, which is pro-vided by ecosystems
4.Line 34. ‘and dynamic evolution’: clarify.
Response 4: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: including material, energy, chemistry, and information, and is extremely sensitive to environmental changes
5.Line 41. ‘techniques’
Response 5: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The development of remote sensing techniques and models have made it possible to evaluate and monitor the spatial distribution of ESs
6.Lines 42-43. Size of pixels?
Response 6: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: monitor the spatial distribution of ESs and ESV at pixel scale (meters×meters).
7.Line 45. ‘include the’, not ‘include’.
Response 7: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Generally, the ES models include the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade off) model,
8.Line 47. Delete ‘to be noticed that’.
Response 8: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: To be noticed that The InVEST model is the most widely used and applicable ES model
9.Line 83. Clarify ‘residents living’.
Response 9: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: which may reduce the accuracy for detecting the strength of social development and residents activities.
10.Line 101. ‘largest river by discharge’, not ‘most abundant river’.
Response 10: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The Yangtze River is the largest river by discharge in China,
11.Line 112. ‘i.e.’, not ‘including’, since all of the 11 provincial administrations are listed.
Response 11: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: covers 11 provincial administrative areas, i.e. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Gui-zhou, and Yunnan.
12.Line 119. Does ‘mm’ mean ‘mm per year’.
Response 12: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The annual average precipitation is about 1268 mm,
13.Line 195. Does the radiation refer to the 400 – 700 nm wavelength range?
Response 13: Thank you for pointing out this typo, we do not find radiation in line 195, you may mention the radiation in data section and CASA model section? The solar radiation is refer to the 400-700nm wavelength range.
14.Line 206. Define what is meant by ‘first echelon’.
Response 14: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows. The first echelon means first laddered water price, in China three laddered water price have been published to encourage people saving water. The first laddered water price is the cheapest among second and third laddered water price, when people use less water.
After: In this study, the average water price of the first laddered of residents in major cities
15.Line 234. What is man by ‘good ecosystem’.
Response 15: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Ouyang has found in his research that the economic benefits of soil conservation mainly come from the well functioned ecosystem
16.Lines 247-278. Should ‘the outside stimulate’ be ‘external factors’.
Response 16: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The ecosystem has a self-regulation ability when disturbed and threatened by the external factors to ensure that the ecological process can be carried out stably
17.Line 249. ‘the pollutants expand’ should presumably be ‘the pollutants increase’.
Response 17: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: When the pollutants increase, elements in the ecosystem,
18.Line 267. ‘mainly’ implies that other processes fix carbon and release oxygen, The weathering of silicate rocks fixes carbon dioxide, but what processes other than photosynthesis release oxygen?
Response 18: Thank you for pointing out this typo, we delete the mainly, and make the revision as follows
After: Carbon fixation and oxygen release mainly come from the photosynthesis of veg-etation [26].
19.Line 269. Is ‘the utility of’ needed?
Response 19: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: In the study, NPP (net primary productivity of vegetation) is used to characterize the utility of the carbon fixation and oxygen release function of photosynthesis.
20.Line 294. Why does ‘yield’ have a capital ‘Y’?
Response 20: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: water yield, soil retention, water purification, carbon fixation and oxygen release
21.Line 327. ‘gradually came to play’.
Response 21: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: During the study period, the provincial capitals of the YREB gradually came to play a leading role in driving the rapid development of surrounding cities
22.Line 337. Clarify ‘induce land cover change’
Response 22: Thank you for pointing out this typo, in this section, we address the land use and land cover characteristics in different watersheds of the YREB, rather than to describe the causes of land cover change. We make the revision as follows
After: Due to the different functional positioning and development pace, the land use and land cover distribution characteristics are quite different around the YREB.
23.Line 352. ‘This may be because’.
Response 23: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: This may be because the urban expansion is relatively limited
24.Line 386. Would ‘hilly’ be better as ‘steep’?
Response 24: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: the steep mountains may one of the main causes for the relatively low soil retention ability.
25.Line 400. ‘slight’, not ‘slightly’.
Response 25: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The slight difference may owing to the different interception efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus
26.Lines 425. ‘high’, not ‘highly’.
Response 26: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The high NPP (NPP > 1000 gC/m2) areas in the YREB
27.Line 434. ‘but because’ rather than ‘while raise’.
Response 27: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: The integrated ESV become lower in 2003-2012, while higher in 1999-2002 and 2016-2018.
28.Lines 435-438. Clarify this sentence.
Response 28: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Different with the current studies, which are based on land use types and parameters, rather than ecological processes. This study uses ecological models and considers more characteristics of annual changes in climate, topographic, and geomorphic factors, etc..
29.Line 449. ‘Identification of driving factors’
Response 29: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Identification of driving factors
30.Line 456. ‘showed a’, nor ‘present’.
Response 30: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: and Anhui provinces showed a relatively obvious negative correlation.
31.Line 459. Delete ‘they’.
Response 31: Thank you for pointing out this typo, the revision has been made in the manuscript.
32.Line 466. What is meant by ‘gathering areas’?
Response 32: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: the soil retention in the forest gathering areas has not been interrupted by limited human activities
33.Line 468. ‘relocating’, not ‘immigrating’.
Response 33: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: the conservation area can improve the soil retention services without relocating the residents to other regions
34.Lines 517-518. ‘It is significant’, not ‘To be noticed’.
Response 34: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: It is significant, although the development of urban agglomerations and the eco-nomic and social development of the YREB
35.Table 2. ‘phosphorus’, not ‘phosphorous’.
Response 35: Thank you for pointing out this typo, the revision has been made in the manuscript.
36.Lin 533. Delete ‘the’.
Response 36: Thank you for pointing out this typo, and we make the revision as follows
After: Therefore, the further studies on the InVEST model could focus on providing a module for researchers to
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
1. Lines 42-43: Spatial resolution is also a critical issue of remote sensing technology. This statement should be clarified.
2. Complete words of many abbreviations in this study should be noted with the first time mentioned, such NDVI, GDP, NPP.
3. What is the most significant difference between this study and previous studies, including ref. 16, 17, and 18?
4. Lines 83-86: This statement is not specific. Satellite is usually the main source of land use investigation. Why the land use is not representative of human activity?
5. Citations of model theory should noted in manuscript, e.g equations 1 and 9.
6. Per InVest model, how has ES calculated the ESV? For example, eq. 4 and eq. 6.
7. Per section 3.2.4, is the result calculated by this study? The authors have to describe the method.
8. Figure 4 should be moved to after section 4.2.1.
9. Many provinces have been mentioned in the entire manuscript. However, it is difficult to understand the spatial distribution.
10. Lines 349-353: This paragraph is not easy to understand.
11. Line 396: The results of this study is difficult to support this opinion.
12. Lines 406-409: The U-shape can not be statistically proved. No obvious trend for integrated ESV can be found.
13. Lines 417-420: References are necessary to support this interruption.
14. Lines 459-464: The first and last sentences are contradictory.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
an interesting paper although it does not seem to me to fit within the journal scope.
Moreover, some other issues have emerged during the review, details that should be improved for future publication.
1- Abstract should clearly define what do you want to do, what is the main objective of the research. Furthermore, the abstract includes includes statements that I do not see developed in the text as well as acronyms that are not explained when they appear, thus confusing the reader.
2- A whole rewriting of the paper, with the help of an English native speaker is strongly recommended.
3- Data sources need a clearer explanation. What are they used for? How have they been obtained?
4- Methods section must be improved in terms of structure and explanations. For example, subsection 3.1.1 states the use of "photosynthetic effective radiation" but where it comes from has not been explained.
5- Results have more to do with economics than with water and hydrological issues. Regarding section 5, a larger explanation of how it may affect your research and some possible solution should be included.
Best wishes,
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
It is my pleasure to review water-2112414 “Multi-remote sensing data analysis for identifying the impact of human activities on water-related ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China” by Wu et al. Water yield, soil retention, water purification, and NPP, four vital important water-related ESs, are quantified by InVEST model and CASA model to detect how the structure and function of ecosystems had changed in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 1999-2018. Additionally, correlation analysis and attribution analysis are used to identify the impact of human activities on water-related ecosystem services in the YREB. All these results may help policymakers address reliable determinates in future for improving the water -related ecosystem qualities.
Given the importance of this work and its potential impact, I would recommend that this paper is to be accepted by water once upon the following issues to be addressed.
Minor comments:
1) The first appearance of special terms in abstract or in context should be given the full name: NPP at Line 46; NDVI at Line 55; GDP at Line 88; NPP at Line 92; LULC at Line 122;
2) Lines 127-129: The website “http://westdc.westgis.ac.cn” for “Cold and Arid Regions Sciences Data Center” is not valid, and it has been integrated into National Tibetan Plateau Data Center / Third Pole Environment Data Center (https://data.tpdc.ac.cn). The author is strongly recommended to insert data citation in references;
3) In Section 2, NDVI data and FPAR data should be described in detail due to they are used in equation (3) of Section 3;
4) Lines 134-136: Please add reference to support that GDP can be inversed from the Night light Data;
5) Line 157: Please clarify how to get FPAR data in equation (2); Line 188: Please clarify how to get Vwy data in equation (6); Line 203: Please clarify how to get data for every element in equation (7); Line 214: Please clarify how to get data for Vsoil in equation (8); Line 226: Please clarify how to get data for pol(x) in equation (9);
6) Line 235: “3.2.4 Water purification” is same to 3.2.3, is it “Net primary productivity”?
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
