The influences of land use changes on the value of ecosystem services in Chaohu Lake Basin, China

The loss of ecosystem services is mainly caused by the land use changes around the world. This study examined the influence of land use changes on the value of ecosystem services in Chaohu Lake Basin, China. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of land use changes on ecosystem services. An analysis of the land use changes was conducted based on Landsat images from 1985, 1995, 2000 and 2007. The method used to estimate the ecosystem service values (ESV) in this study extracted the equivalent weight factors of ecosystem services per hectare of terrestrial ecosystems and modified the value coefficients, and then the ESV were estimated by multiplying the area of a given land use type by the corresponding value coefficient. With the help of a sensitivity analysis, the effect of manipulating these coefficients on the estimated values was detected. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal changes in Chaohu Lake Basin’s ESV using GIS-RS technology during the study period. The results indicated that: (1) the total ESV of the Chaohu Lake Basin was 10.16 billion Yuan in 1985, 10.13 billion Yuan in 1995, 10.03 billion Yuan in 2000 and 11.44 billion Yuan in 2007. There was an increase of approximately 12.61 % over the period between 1985 and 2007, primarily because of increases in woodland and water body, (2) the area with increase in the ESV in study periods declined sharply. Where the areas were 44.24 % of total area from 1985 to 1995, 27.52 % from 1995 to 2000, 18.94 % from 2000 to 2007 and 17.34 % from 1985 to 2007, (3) the change rate of ESV in Chaohu Lake Basin was positive from 1985 to 2007. Generally, it should be emphasized on protecting woodland, water body and farmland as they have high ecosystem service value coefficients and large areas. In this way, a balance between economic development and ecosystem health will be maintained in the future. It is hoped that the results will be helpful for the management of Chaohu Lake Basin’s terrestrial ecosystems.