Ecosystem services of forests for snail control and schistosomiasis prevention in the Yangtze River Basin

Abstract

To assess the ecosystem services value of forests for snail control and schistosomiasis prevention in the Yangtze River Basin, The Benefit Of Forestry Schistosomiasis Prevention Ecological Project, referenced as Specifications for Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Services in China (LY/T 1721-2008), was evaluated scientifically by market value method and shadow engineering method selecting water conservation, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, oxygen released, biodiversity conservation, snail control and schistosomiasis prevention to value ecosystem services. Results showed that ecosystem service ecological benefit of forests for snail control and schistosomiasis prevention in the Yangtze River Basin was great from 2006-2013 with water conservation totaling 16.16×108 tons, soil conservation 1.46×108 tons, carbon sequestration 0.10×108 tons, oxygen released 0.29×108 tons, snail area decreasing 24.35×107 square meters, and the number of schistosomiasis patients decreasing by 613.1 thousand. This was a saving of about 967.20×108 Yuan in all. Snail control and schistosomiasis prevention had the greatest value accounting for 35.87%, oxygen release accounted for 33.06%, carbon sequestration accounted for 13.02%, water conservation accounted for 9.17%, soil conservation accounted for 7.31%, and biodiversity conservation had the least value, accounting for 1.57%. The ecosystem services value for different provinces was Hunan > Hubei > Jiangxi > Anhui > Jiangsu > Sichuan > Yunnan. Of the seven provinces, snail control and schistosomiasis prevention of Anhui Province was greatest accounting for 18.17%. The other five function values were largest in Hunan Province. The study found that the comprehensive ecosystem service of snail prevention and control, oxygen release, carbon sequestration, water conservation, and soil conservation accounted for 98.43% of the ecosystem service value. The government of Hunan Province attached great importance to the prevention and treatment of schistosomiasis and undertook suppressing snail work the most. In hilly regions of Yunnan Province, Oncomelania Snail has a variety of environment, and its vitality is strong and its reproduction is fast, the difficulty of the prevention and control of schistosomiasis is relatively large, and the benefit of the snail suppression is not significant. This study provided a scientific basis for understanding the ecological role of snail prevention and control.