Effect of land-use change on ecosystem service value in Hefei, China

Ecosystem services represent the benefits that living organisms derive from ecosystem functions to maintain the Earth's life support system. Changes in land use may significantly impact ecosystem services. It is important to analyze the relationship between ecosystem service value and land use change. Effect of land use change on ecosystem service values in the main urban area of Hefei between 1988 and 2008 were investigated in this paper by using dataset deriving from LANDSAT TM images. In the study period, the most notable changes of land use are the decrease of cropland and the increase of build-up land. With the development of urbanization, the increasingly changing lands were occupied for construction purpose. Woodland and cropland are the dominant land use categories providing about 64% of the total ecosystem service value. Ecosystem service valuation results showed that the total ecosystem service value decreased by 1.043 million US$ between 1988 and 2008. Attention should be paid on the conservation of cropland in the development of Hefei city.