Abstract
Monitoring the interannual changes in land use and the temporal and spatial characteristics of the ecosystem services value (ESV) can help to comprehensively and objectively understand the distribution of regional ecological patterns. The mountain–oasis–desert transition zone in the northern Tianshan Mountain region of Xinjiang, China, is a geographically unique area with a highly sensitive ecosystem. As a data source, the study uses Landsat TM images from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018 along with GIS-extracted data to calculate the dynamic degree of land use. As well, the spatial and temporal patterns of land use change and ESV are quantitatively analyzed by using the equivalent factor method, sensitivity index, and spatial correlation studies. The results reveal the following: (1) From 1990 to 2018, the land use changes in the northern Tianshans are relatively drastic, mainly due to the increase in cultivated land, grassland and construction land, and the decrease in forest land, water, and unused land. (2) The ESV increases and then decreases, for a total loss of about 271.63 × 108 yuan. The largest decrease is in forest value, and the largest increase (around 129.94%) is in construction land. (3) The spatial distribution pattern of ESV in the northern Tianshans is apparent, showing high in the north and southwest, and low in the central and southeast portions of the study area. Additionally, there is a visible spatial correlation and aggregation in ESV. The present research can provide theoretical support for the environmental protection of the ecologically vulnerable area of the northern Tianshans as well as for further construction across the region.
Highlights
Land use/cover change (LUCC), which describes the interaction between the human/land relationship and the ecosystem, is an important driving force that affects the transformation of ecosystem structure and function [3]
Closely linking LUCC with human well-being is of great significance for ensuring regional ecological security and socio-economic development [4,5,6]
Grassland area is second only to unused land, with a multi-year average proportion of 33.6%, while cultivated land is the most advantageous land use type in the study area, showing the largest increase in area (2.61%)
Summary
‘Ecosystem services’ refer to the direct or indirect contributions and services of ecosystem structures, processes and functions to humans [1,2]. Land use/cover change (LUCC), which describes the interaction between the human/land relationship and the ecosystem, is an important driving force that affects the transformation of ecosystem structure and function [3]. Closely linking LUCC with human well-being is of great significance for ensuring regional ecological security and socio-economic development [4,5,6]. Costanza [12] combined ecology and economics to quantitatively study the value of ecosystem services, in the process establishing a global ecosystem service value. Hassan [13] argues that using the same ESV coefficient in different research areas to assess the value of ecosystem services will cause significant errors and spatial heterogeneity
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