Changes in land use can cause significant changes in the ecosystem structure and process variation of ecosystem services. This study presents a detailed spatial, quantitative assessment of the variation in the value of ecosystem services based on land use change in national nature reserves of the Ningxia autonomous region in China. We used areas of land use types calculated from the remote sensing data and the adjusted value coefficients to assess the value of ecosystem services for the years 2000, 2005, and 2010, analyzing the fluctuations in the valuation of ecosystem services in response to land use change. With increases in the areas of forest land and water bodies, the value of ecosystem services increased from 182.3×107 to 223.8×107 US$ during 2000–2010. Grassland and forest land accounted for 90% of this increase. The values of all ecosystem services increased during this period, especially the value of ecosystem services for biodiversity protection and soil formation and protection. Ecological restoration in the reserves had a positive effect on the value of ecosystem services during 2000–2010.
College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China;Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Nanjing, China;College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China;Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Nanjing, China;College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China;Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Nanjing, China
Recommended Citation:
Yan Wang,Jixi Gao,Jinsheng Wang,et al. Value Assessment of Ecosystem Services in Nature Reserves in Ningxia, China: A Response to Ecological Restoration[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(2)