With the rapid development of the economy and the intensification of human activities, ecological systems have been degraded, especially in arid areas. The lower reaches of the Tarim River represent a typical arid area in China. Since 2000, the Chinese government has been heavily investing in the protection and restoration of the natural ecological environment of the lower reaches of the Tarim River. In this study, we aimed to resolve two key scientific issues: (1) reveal the changing characteristics of land-use in the region and identify the changes in ecosystem service value caused by these land-use changes and (2) evaluate whether the environmental quality has improved or worsened. The objective of this study is to verify whether the ecological water conveyance project promotes an increase in the ecosystem service value, with an improvement in the ecological environment, to thereby provide references for the evaluated effects of ecological water conveyance for the management of water resources. In this way, economic development can support environmental protection. Thus, the economy can be sustainably developed. Hence, based on the remote sensing data of land-use in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2016, with the value coefficients proposed by Constanza in 1997 and changing characteristics in the land-use, the ecological service value, and environmental conditions from 1990 to 2016 were analysed. According to our results, from 1990 to 2016, the ecosystem service value has increased substantially, indicating that the benefits of ecological water conveyance were significant. The environmental condition index increased by 21.14%, showing that the ecological environment has improved. However, the environmental quality remained low. In the future, we should formulate plans for reasonable land-use that control the replacement of woodlands and grasslands with farmlands and construction. The results of this study provide a scientific basis and practical guide for restoring inland river ecosystems in arid regions.

Background: The lower reaches of the Tarim River is an arid region of inland China. In this area, vegetation is sparse and the environment is fragile. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the structure and stability of the plant community and ecosystem in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. It is valuable to increase the understanding of ecological protection and restoration in arid areas. Methods: In this study, four sections, Yingsu, Karday, Alakan, and Yiganbjm, were selected as research sites, and 96 arbor and shrub quadrats and 288 herb quadrats were delimited in these sites. The ecological characteristics of all species in the quadrats were investigated. We selected the surveyed data from 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2019. Based on the data, we analyzed the variations in species composition. We also determined Shannon-Wiener indexes, Alatalo indexes, and ecological dominance to discuss the species diversity and uniformity of plant community. Plant community stability were also evaluated. Results: There were 17 species in 2000 and 31 species in 2019. The proportion of arbor and shrub species decreased, while the understory herbaceous species gradually increased; all of the species become balanced. The stability of the plant community gradually increased; however, it remained unstable. Conclusions: In general, water conveyance in an ecosystem plays a positive role in promoting the restoration of vegetation and ecological stability. This study provides a new method for the evaluation of ecological protection and restoration benefits in arid areas. Our findings can be a good reference for similar studies.

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