The impacts of land use/land cover changes on the supply-demand budget of urban ecosystem services

Urbanization is proving stressful for the supply-demand budget of ecosystem services (ESS) and a real challenge of the present times. The process is accelerating in Pakistan and demands enhanced focus on ESS research. Keeping in view the contextual constraints, the land cover–based Matrix Model was relied upon for assessments regarding ESS in the present study. The model links the land use/land cover (LULC) types of a contextual setting for the assessments of ESS. The model amalgamates local ecological knowledge (LEK) and expert-based judgments for considerations. The findings of the study divulge that ecological resources are the most proficient contributors to the ESS; their main beneficiaries are the built-up areas. The degeneration in the performances of the ecological infrastructure is more acute in Rawalpindi as compared to Islamabad. The observed variations are rooted in the diverse sociodemographic aspects, planning, and management paradigms. The findings confirmed that the Matrix Model is a pragmatic option for assessing the supply-demand potentials of ESS in the developing regions. © 2021, Saudi Society for Geosciences.