Response of ecosystem services to land use change in county scale of Fengqiu, Henan Province, China

Abstract

Population growth and increasing economic activities cause a large amount of natural lands to be converted into artificial areas, which is one of the most direct and important drivers of ecosystem services (ES) degradation. To protect and recover ES, governments need more information about the relationship between land use and ecosystem services. Based on GIS platform, three periods of remote sensing images were processed to be land use maps. Then we analyzed the change of ecosystem services with land use from 2002 to 2013 by mathematical models. Result showed the whole ES degenerated from 2002 to 2013; all land use types except settlements and mining sites (SMS) had a positive effect on the total ES value in the whole period; the main land use type is agricultural landscapes, but in ecological sense, it was not the best efficient land use type. Subsequently, an improved Markov model was used to predict the ES change trendy with land use in the year of 2017. These information of ES change with land use can be used for making sustainable land use plan.