Abstract
Catchments support the survival and development of humans in a region and investigating the mechanism of land-use changes and ecological responses in catchments is of great significance for improving watershed ecological service functions. Taking the Dongting Lake catchment as the study area, this study used spatial analysis, an ecosystem service value (ESV)-equivalent factor method, grid method, and other spatial analysis methods to explore land-use changes and the corresponding ecological service value response from 1990 to 2015, to provide an important theoretical reference for ecological service management, regional planning and ecological service function improvement in the Dongting Lake Basin. Our findings are as follows: (1) apart from a trend of notable expansion in construction land, the land-use types in the Dongting Lake catchment did not change significantly. (2) Grassland had the fastest transfer-out rate; forest land were cultivated land comparably transferred to each other with a larger area, where both were simultaneously and continuously transferred out as construction land; water areas, wetlands, and construction land were all transferred in, where construction land had the fastest transfer rate. (3) The total ESV of the watershed first increased and then decreased, but the overall change was small; spatially, the wetlands and water areas had a higher ESV, whereas construction land and cultivated land had lower ESVs. (4) Soil protection, gas exchange, climate regulation, biodiversity, and water conservation are always the main ecosystem service functions of a catchment, where the service function of the catchment ecosystem is greater than the productive function. The increase in construction land was the main factor for the increased differences between the spatial distributions of the soil, raw materials, biodiversity protection, and gas exchange.
Highlights
Spatial quantification and collaborative research on land use/cover change (LUCC) are important methods for examining global changes, which have become a research hotspot in geography and ecology [1,2,3]
Ecosystem services can be expressed through an ecosystem service value (ESV) [9,10], which is the representation of economic value assessments on the environmental commodities and resources provided by an ecosystem, which has complex links with LUCC
The spatialized estimation methods of ESVs can be roughly divided into two categories: a “material quantitative method” and “equivalent factor method”
Summary
Spatial quantification and collaborative research on land use/cover change (LUCC) are important methods for examining global changes, which have become a research hotspot in geography and ecology [1,2,3]. Many studies on LUCC and ESV have primarily focused on spatial and temporal comparative analyses of LUCC, evaluations of ecosystem services, and quantitative expressions of the spatial characteristics of two areas [13,14,15]. The selection of reasonable research scales and evaluation units is essential. These allow a seamless connection between territorial spatial planning and ecological compensation policies, which is an important proposition in LUCC and ESV studies using spatial characteristics. Xie, et al (2003) proposed the equivalent factor method with a unit area value equivalent table, which has been applied widely in ESV with a 1 km grid in China [23]. The study used the quantitative factor method to quantize the ESV of Dongting Lake Basin
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
