Practical research on wetland ecosystem services and traditional plant protection in the biosphere reserves of Yunnan: A biomechanics perspective

Yunnan’s wetland ecosystems are essential for ecological services like water conservation and biodiversity sustenance. Analogously to biological systems in biomechanics, they are subject to diverse forces. Here, natural and anthropogenic factors act as external stimuli. Utilizing multi-source data, an evaluation index system for ecological service functions was established, similar to characterizing the biomechanical properties of an organism. Analyzing wetland dynamics and traditional plant resources is comparable to studying the structural and functional alterations of a biomechanical entity. The growth in wetland area and vegetation coverage can be regarded as a response to favorable biomechanical conditions, with the water conservation function as a crucial biomechanical attribute maintaining the system’s stability, much like a key structural element in a biological tissue. However, agricultural pollution and climate change pose challenges, acting as adverse biomechanical stressors. Agricultural pollution is like a harmful agent disrupting the normal biomechanical processes, and climate change resembles a fluctuating external force. To address these, strategies are proposed. Enhancing ecological compensation is similar to providing supplementary biomechanical energy to repair and strengthen the system. Optimizing land use structures is akin to adjusting the spatial organization of biomechanical components for enhanced efficiency. Improving management policy execution is like strengthening the regulatory biomechanical mechanisms. Through these, sustainable management of wetland resources and the enhancement of ecological service functions can be achieved, similar to restoring and optimizing the biomechanical health and functionality of a living system, ensuring the long-term viability and performance of Yunnan's wetland ecosystems in the face of complex environmental pressures.