Si, J;
Nasiri, F;
Han, P;
Li, T;
(2014)
Variation in ecosystem service values in response to land use changes in Zhifanggou watershed of Loess plateau: a comparative study.
Environmental Systems Research
, 3
, Article 1. 10.1186/2193-2697-3-2.
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Abstract
Background: Anthropological activities could lead to various land use changes. This subsequently exerts impacts on the Ecological status as the land is the carrier of Ecosystems and their services. Ecosystem Services Values (ESVs) are monetary assessment of ecosystems services. The choice of ecosystem services valuation methods highly depends on the type and conditions of the ecological environment. Results: In this paper, Zhifangou watershed, a watershed with fragile environments in Loess Plateau, is analyzed in terms of the historical changes of land uses and their impact on Ecosystem Services Values (ESVs). The analysis presents that the watershed had seen a large cover of forest (689.8 hectare) and grassland (97.08 hectare) until 1938, which were substituted with a cropland of 663.56 hectare in the following years, and then a gradual recovery of natural land from 1978. During these years, the human activities have ranged from little disruption, to excessive cultivation, and finally to an integrated management of the watershed. The ESVs were highest at $121.77 × 104 in 1938, lowest at $43.75 × 104 in 1958, and then rebounded to $113.44 × 104 in 1999. Conclusions: The analysis reveals that the values of soil formation and retention, biodiversity protection, and climate regulation have been associated with the largest share of the total ESVs. Among them, soil formation and retention was recognized as the most impacted service by land use changes.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Variation in ecosystem service values in response to land use changes in Zhifanggou watershed of Loess plateau: a comparative study |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1186/2193-2697-3-2 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2193-2697-3-2 |
| Additional information: | © 2014 Si et al.; licensee Springer. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Land use change; Ecosystem services; Valuation; Anthropological activities; Zhifanggou watershed; |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1422130 |
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