Evaluation of ecosystem cultural services of urban protected areas based on public participation GIS (PPGIS): A case study of Gongqing Forest Park in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Quantitative evaluation of ecosystem service value and its spatial mapping is an effective way to determine priority conservation areas of cultural ecosystem services (CES). We used a combination of questionnaires and structured interviews with public participatory GIS (PPGIS) in Gongqing Forest Park in Shanghai to connect non-monetary CES values with spatially explicit information. This method applied spatial indicators of abundance, diversity and rarity to quantitatively assess the value of CES and their spatial distribution, and identified priority CES areas. The results showed the value of CES varied among landscape types. Relatively open grassland, riverside, and shrub areas were associated with high aesthetic value. Riverside areas were associated with the CES category concerned with inspiration and supporting social relationships. High diversity values mainly distributed in riverside areas, while forest and grassland areas were associated with high rarity values. The areas with the highest values for the abundance, diversity, and rarity indices were overlaid with eight gradient thresholds, which indicated that defining the 25% of ecological areas with the highest overall rating as CES priority areas was an effective threshold for CES identification and management. The methodology in this study leveraged PPGIS to spatially refe-rence, quantify, and user perception to establish relationships between landscape attributes, space, and experience. These results could provide an important basis for identifying, planning for, and managing priority conservation areas in urban protected areas.