How payment for wetland ecosystem services drives ecological restoration and landscape patterns to enhance ecosystem services and endangered species habitat: A decade of evidence from Southwest China.

Understanding how Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs influence Ecosystem Services (ESs) by reshaping landscape configuration is critical for integrating these management interventions into natural resource and ecosystem management strategies. Focusing on a pilot Payment for Wetland Ecosystem Services (PWES) program in the Dashanbao Protected Area (DPA) of Southwest China, this study investigates whether a decade of PWES implementation has driven landscape changes that enhance both ESs and habitat suitability for the endangered Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis). Utilizing field survey data from pre-PWES (2013-2015) and post-PWES (2023-2025) periods, we assessed changes in foraging habitat quality and evaluated the effects of PWES on key ESs, including carbon storage, soil conservation, water yield, and recreation. Furthermore, we analyzed how PWES-induced landscape pattern alterations influenced the provision of total ecosystem services (TES). Our results revealed that following PWES implementation, TES increased by an average of 23.5% across the DPA. Habitat support services improved across 87.5% of the area, alongside increases in carbon storage and recreation services. Within the specific PWES intervention zone, the majority of ESs showed positive gains. Landscape analysis identified the patch cohesion index as the most influential metric affecting habitat support services and TES in swampy meadows, with a threshold value of 93% in both cases. These findings demonstrate that PES programs can amplify ES gains by optimizing landscape configuration, particularly through enhanced wetland connectivity. This study provides evidence-based guidance for designing landscape-sensitive PES frameworks to support multifunctional ecosystem management and endangered species conservation in protected wetlands, offering transferable insights for other wetland restoration initiatives globally.