Abstract
The scientific assessment of regional ecosystem service value (ESV) is helpful in developing scientific ecological protection plans and compensation policies. However, an ESV evaluation method that can adapt to the complex and diverse characteristics of the ecological environment has not been established. This study takes Gansu Province in China as an example, fully considering the regional differences in ecosystem service function. Five correction indices for the value equivalent factor per unit area were constructed on a provincial scale, and a regional difference adjustment index for 11 categories of ecosystem services was constructed on a regional scale. In this way, a value evaluation model based on regional differences was established. The results show that in 2015, the total ESV reached 2,239.56 billion yuan in Gansu Province, with ESV gradually increasing from the northeast to the southwest, and the high-value areas of service function being located in Qilian and Longnan Mountains. The forest and grassland ecosystems contributed the most to the ESV. From the perspective of value composition, local climate regulation and biodiversity maintenance functions are the main service functions of Gansu Province. From 2000 to 2015, ESV increased by 3.43 billion yuan in the province. The value of forest and urban ecosystems continued to increase, whereas the value of cultivated land ecosystem continued to decrease. In terms of spatial characteristics of the service value change, the area that experienced value reduction gradually moved from the central part of Gansu Province to the surrounding areas. The evaluation method proposed in this paper provides a relatively comprehensive evaluation scheme for the spatiotemporal dynamic evaluation of ESV in complex ecological environments.
Highlights
Ecosystems provide various raw materials or products directly for human survival, and have other functions such as regulating climate, reducing pollution, conserving water sources, maintaining soil quality, preventing wind and sand erosion, reducing disasters such as floods and fires, and protecting biodiversity
Desert is mainly found in the north of Gansu; grasslands are mainly distributed in the Gannan Plateau in central and eastern Gansu; cultivated land is mainly distributed in the central area of Gansu and Hexi Corridor; and forests are mainly found in the Longnan, Ziwuling, and Qilian Mountains
Based on the characteristics of ecosystems in Gansu Province, this study developed a revised index based on an increase in some ecosystem equivalent factors, and revised the equivalent factors studied by Xie et al [3] to form an equivalent factor table in line with ecosystem service valuation in Gansu Province
Summary
Case studyThe case study region is located in northwest China (Fig 1), at the intersection of three major plateaus—the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and the Inner Mongolia Plateau—and three natural regions—the northwest arid region, the Qinghai Tibet alpine region, and the eastern monsoon region. The Gansu region forms part of China’s “two screens and three belts” strategic ecological security barrier policy, which aims to maintain and protect the survival and reproduction of organisms, maintain the natural ecological balance, and guarantee people’s livelihoods on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, the Sichuan– Yunnan Loess Plateau and the north sand belt. It is an important water conservation and supply area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.
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