The effects of land-use change on ecosystem service value of desert oasis: a case study in Ugan-Kuqa River Delta Oasis, China.

摘要

Ecosystem service valuation has been a hot topic in ecological economic research. The objective of this study was to analyze the changes in ecosystem services in response to oasis land-use change. Landsat images of September 2000 and ALOS images of September 2008 were combined with the published ecosystem service value coefficients about the world and China ecosystem to quantify land-use and ecosystem service changes. A sensitivity analysis was employed to determine the effect of manipulating these coefficients on the estimated values. The results indicate that: (1) the total value of ecosystem services in the Ugan-Kuqa River Delta Oasis increased from 8012 million Yuan in 2000 to 8323 million Yuan in 2008, mainly caused by the increasing areas of wetland and high-cover grassland. Forestland produced most of the ecosystem services value of the study area, about 22% of the total value; (2) the aggregated ecosystem service value of forestland, cropland, medium-cover grassland, wetland, and water body was about 85% of the total value, indicating that these land-use categories play important roles in ecosystem services of the area; (3) waste treatment and soil formation were the top two ecological functions with high service value, contributing about 37% of the total services value; and (4) results of sensitivity analysis showed that the total ecosystem services value estimated in this study area was relatively inelastic with respect to the value coefficients. Therefore, the estimation in this study area was robust in spite of uncertainties on the value coefficients. The study suggests that a reasonable land-use plan should be made with emphasis on protecting wetland and grassland for maintaining stability and sustainable development of oases.