Variation in ecosystem service values in response to land use changes in Zhifanggou watershed of Loess plateau: a comparative study

Abstract

Background: Anthropological activities could lead to various land use changes. This subsequently exerts impacts on the Ecological status as the land is the carrier of Ecosystems and their services. Ecosystem Services Values (ESVs) are monetary assessment of ecosystems services. The choice of ecosystem services valuation methods highly depends on the type and conditions of the ecological environment. Results: In this paper, Zhifangou watershed, a watershed with fragile environments in Loess Plateau, is analyzed in terms of the historical changes of land uses and their impact on Ecosystem Services Values (ESVs). The analysis presents that the watershed had seen a large cover of forest (689.8 hectare) and grassland (97.08 hectare) until 1938, which were substituted with a cropland of 663.56 hectare in the following years, and then a gradual recovery of natural land from 1978. During these years, the human activities have ranged from little disruption, to excessive cultivation, and finally to an integrated management of the watershed. The ESVs were highest at $121.77 × 10 4 in 1938, lowest at $43.75 × 10 4 in 1958, and then rebounded to $113.44 × 10 4 in 1999.

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Ecosystem Service Values in Relation to Land Use Pattern in the Loess Plateau of China at Town Scale

“…The increase of ESVs due to the increase of forestland occupied 46.28% of the total ESVs in 2008 ( Table 4 ). The result of the correlation analysis between ESVs and PLAND reflected that vegetation recovery could strongly enhance ecosystem service, and it was coincident with many other studies on the Loess Plateau [17] , [18] , [23] , [45] . LUII, which also related to the proportion of land use types, implied the intensity of human activities.…”

“…However, minor adjustments were made. The equivalent weight factor of orchard which was not put forward clearly in Xie et al’s model was determined by the mean of grassland and forestland by referring some researches [5] , [18] . The factor of unused land equates to that of barren land, and that of residential land was determined to zero.…”

“…The growing body of literatures focused on how ecosystem service changes in response to land use change of different regions [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] . However, these studied focus on the impact of land use type on ecosystem service, while the spatial pattern of land that reflects ecological processed and functions [19] get less attention.…”

“…Studying the ecosystem service in relation to land use change before and after the Grain to Green project was crucial for ecosystem protection and agricultural sustainability for the area. Researchers have analyzed ecosystem service at different scales within the Loess Plateau [17] , [18] , [23] . However, town is a basic administrative area in China.…”

Variations of Ecosystem Service Value in Response to Land-Use Change in the Kashgar Region, Northwest China

“…Under certain geographical conditions and to meet increasing demands, population growth has often influenced and modified the natural landscape on different scales [45]. Kashgar is a multi-ethnic region, and most populations in Kashgar region are rural, which are the main driving forces in LULCC and economic structure change.…”