Assessing Changes in Ecosystem Service Values in Response to Land Cover Dynamics in Jiangxi Province, China.

Xinmin Zhang,Tiangui Lv,Wangda Liu,Jiaying Shi,Caihua Zhou,Hualin Xie

doi:10.3390/ijerph17093018

Abstract

This paper examines the ecosystem service values of Jiangxi province, China using the benefit transfer approach. The land cover dynamics results show that cropland and forest are the main land cover types in Jiangxi province. Urban land drastically increased after 2000, expanding from 846.54 km2 in 2000 to 2317.48 km2 in 2015. Forest and water obviously decreased across the study periods. Consequently, the total ecosystem service values decreased from 37.91 × 1010 Yuan in 1995 to 35.27 × 1010 Yuan in 2015. The values showed a declining trend, especially during the 1995–2000 period. The largest declines in ecosystem service values were caused by decreases in forest and water cover. Regulating services experienced the largest declines in ecosystem services value. Moreover, water supply showed the largest decline in ecosystem service value between 1995 and 2015. Not surprisingly, food production increased in the whole period, especially in the 1995–2000 period. Forest and cropland played the most important roles in the total ecosystem service values of Jiangxi province. We then discussed the relationship among ecosystem services based on the ecosystem service trade-off degree. The results show that the dominant relationship among ecosystem services in Jiangxi province was synergy; thus synergy mostly occurred in all ecosystem services except for food production from 1995 to 2015. However, during the 1995–2000 period, trade-offs mainly existed in both food production and waste treatment. The proportion of synergy greatly increased in the 2000–2015 period, and the synergistic relationship between waste treatment and other ecosystem services increased. However, the trade-off relationship between food production and other ecosystem services still has not improved, which should be concerned in the future. Changes in the percentage share of cropland showed a declining trend; thus, the potential risk of cropland loss should be monitored.

Highlights

IntroductionEcosystem services include ecosystem products (e.g., food) and services (e.g., waste assimilation), and the term refers to the benefits directly or indirectly obtained from ecosystem functions [1]
Ecosystem services include ecosystem products and services, and the term refers to the benefits directly or indirectly obtained from ecosystem functions [1].By providing natural environmental conditions and utility for human survival [2], ecosystem services are closely related to human well-being
The water area is mainly located in Poyang Lake; the shrinkage of Poyang Lake directly affected the decline of the water area in Jiangxi province

Summary

Introduction

Ecosystem services include ecosystem products (e.g., food) and services (e.g., waste assimilation), and the term refers to the benefits directly or indirectly obtained from ecosystem functions [1]. By providing natural environmental conditions and utility for human survival [2], ecosystem services are closely related to human well-being. Land is the basic carrier of socioeconomic activities. Land use/cover change affects ecosystem service functions by changing biodiversity, ecosystem structure, and habitat, and land use/cover change is one of the most important ways in which human activities affect ecosystems [3]. In 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) report noted that in the. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 3018; doi:10.3390/ijerph17093018 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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Discussion

Conclusion