Abstract
As an important ecological barrier in Southwest China, the Qingjiang river basin plays a vital role in shaping the mountainous terrain. This paper analyzes the Ecosystem Services Value (ESV) using a series of methods based on the data of changes in land use from 2000 to 2015 and the statistical yearbook. The changes in land use between 2000 and 2015 were dominated by forest land, which accounted for 60.63% of the total area, followed by arable landwhich accounted for about 22.26%, while grassland and other land use contribution rates were the lowest, accounting for only about 17.11%. Environmental changes and economic development were uneven. The regional comprehensive strength of En’shi City, Changyang County, and Yidu City were among the highest, while Badong County, Hefeng County, and Wufeng County were among the lowest in the area under study. In addition, the ESV in 2035 was estimated to be 1.56 billion dollars, a decrease of 27.64% when compared with the year 2000. The ESV of Yidu City, Lichuan City, Jianshi County, and Hefeng County grew faster, at the rates of 94.76%, 65.12%, 96.96%, and 92.38%, respectively. However, the ESV of En’shi City, Badong County, Wufeng County and Xuan’en County showed a downward trend, at the rates of −32.53%, −487.80%, −368.07%, and −181.52%, respectively.
Highlights
The physical environment provides ecological goods and services for human beings
There has been a paucity of research on the classification of regional ecological systems, apart from such cases as that by Li et al [16], who analyzed the effect of ecological vulnerability and sensitivity in the ecosystem services value (ESV) of Shiyang river basin in Northwest China
The results calculated by Formulas (7)–(11) reveal that the ESV of the Qingjiang river basin from 2000 to 2015 was 1.8 billion dollars, accounting for 62.20% of the gross national product in the Qingjiang river basin
Summary
The physical environment provides ecological goods and services for human beings. The increasing pace of industrialization and urbanization today has challenged the ecosystem, resulting in an increasing scarcity of ecosystem services (ES). Chinese scholars have intensively examined the ecosystem services value (ESV) measurement in many regions, and the ESV calculation proposed by Ouyang et al [11,12,13,14,15] is among the most influential. These studies did not consider the spatial heterogeneity due to the spatial variation of land use change. There has been a paucity of research on the classification of regional ecological systems, apart from such cases as that by Li et al [16], who analyzed the effect of ecological vulnerability and sensitivity in the ESV of Shiyang river basin in Northwest China.
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