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In order to better understand the developmental conditions and trends of the biodiversity at agricultural heritage sites, the structure and function of the ecosystem and ecological environment in Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System is examined in the decade since the implementation of the GIAHS project. Through the collection of historical data and sample-plot survey, this study collates the data from 2005 to 2013 related to the heritage site to evaluate the ecological benefit of the Agricultural Heritage System conservation. The results show that: (1) Since the implementation of heritage conservation, the variety of traditional rice grown at the heritage sites basically remains stable, the varieties of other crops basically remain unchanged and the varieties of fruit trees and medicinal plants have developed at faster rates. As the ecological environment at the heritage sites gradually improved, the species and richness of the biodiversity in the ecosystem have increased, especially the increasing growth of egrets and boars. (2) From 2005 to 2013 in the Fangshan Town of Qingtian County, the ecosystem areas identified as river, forest, urban and bare land have increased. The increased area of the urban ecosystem is the largest one of them, which is up to 20.30 ha; while the area of the forest ecosystem has increased to 7.29 ha. The areas of wetland, reservoir, farmland and grassland have been reduced, and the area of grassland ecosystem has been reduced the most with a reduction of 28.87 ha. From the changes in the values of the ecosystem services of different ecosystem types, the values of forest ecosystem services have achieved the most growth, reaching up to 92000 yuan yr-1 and the growth of the river and bare land ecosystem service values are not obvious. (3) Over nearly a decade, the soil nutrients and the water quality of rice fields at the heritage site have not obviously changed and the plant diseases and insect pests in the rice fields have not been aggravated. The monitoring indexes are far better than the standard values. With the great support of the local government, the production and living conditions and the living environments of farmers in the villages of the heritage sites have been greatly improved through road reconstruction, water improvement, toilet enhancements and the greening, brightness and beautification of the villages.

Based on the basic selection criteria of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and food and livelihood security research trends, this paper established an evaluation framework and indicator system for food and livelihood security in GIAHS and selected the first GIAHS site in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a case for empirical evaluation. The results demonstrate that the food and livelihood security of farmers at this site was at a medium level, with an average evaluation value of 2.91, which still lagged behind the level of better food and livelihood security. Specifically, the average values of farmers' evaluation of food security and livelihood security were 1.43 and 1.48, respectively, which show that farmers' food security in the study area was at a medium level and that of livelihood security was relatively good. Simultaneously, the more simple a farmers' economic activities (i.e., agriculture-oriented economic activities or non-agriculture-oriented economic activities), the worse their food and livelihood security; while the more diversified the economic activities (i.e., engaged in part-time economic activities), the better the food and livelihood security.