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Ecosystem services (ES) are considered the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems sustain and fulfil human life. In the decision making process related to the natural resources management, two key-aspects must be taken into account: the economic value of the benefits provided by ES (provisioning, regulating and cultural services) and the spatial distribution of these benefits. The purpose of the paper is to develop a method aimed to capture the economic value of the benefits provided by ES, in order to support the decision makers in the natural resources management. ES are not homogeneous across landscapes nor in space. Consequently, gaining knowledge on the spatial distribution of the economic relevance of ES is a fundamental information to target management actions. This method was tested in a case study in the Austrian Alps (Leiblachtal area in Vorarlberg region), characterized by a high importance of forests and grasslands. The results show that the highest economic values could be achieved for the provisioning services with a range between 200 €/ha year and 1,400€/ha year. The regulating services have also important economic values, but strongly localized in specific areas (i.e. protective forests against natural hazards). The economic values of the cultural services are influenced by the preferences of tourists and varies between 5 €/ha year to 60 €/ha year. The method allowed us to reveal the spatial heterogeneity of provisioning, regulating and cultural ES, depending on the ecological characteristics of the site.

Industrialization has brought serious pollution problems to the eco-environment and severely weakened the ecosystem services in industry-concentrated areas. There are few studies choosing a heavy industrial city to evaluate the impacts of industrial pollution on ecosystem services and examine the relationships between industrial pollution and ecosystem services. This paper selected Taiyuan, an important energy resources and heavy chemical industry base in China, as a case study to quantitatively analyze the relationships between industrial pollution and ecosystem service value (ESV). The results showed that the pollution level of industrial solid waste decreased first and then increased, the pollution level of industrial wastewater presented a downward-upward-downward trend, whereas the pollution level of industrial waste gas continued to decrease during the study period. The total ESV increased from 8.56 billion Yuan in 2005 to 10.49 billion Yuan in 2017. Climate regulation and hydrology adjustment contributed the most value to the total ESV (more than 60%). The ESV of water supply was negative and decreased the most value (−177.52 million yuan). The fitting regression indicated that the ESV and the pollution levels of industrial wastewater, industrial waste gas and industrial solid waste exhibited significant negative correlations, which could be expressed as quadratic functions. These findings could provide valuable references for the coordination between industrial development and ecological conservation.

Land use and land cover change is an important driving force for changes in ecosystem services. We defined several important human-induced land cover change processes such as Ecological Restoration Project, Cropland Expansion, Land Degradation, and Urbanization by the land use/land cover transition matrix method. We studied human-induced land cover changes in the Yellow River Basin from 1980 to 2015 and evaluated its impact on ecosystem service values by the benefit transfer method and elasticity coefficient. The results show that the cumulative area of human-induced land cover change reaches 65.71 million ha from 1980 to 2015, which is close to the total area of the Yellow River Basin. Before 2000, Ecological Restoration Project was the most important human-induced land cover change process. However, due to the large amount of cropland expansion and land degradation, the area of natural vegetation was reduced and the ecosystem value declined. Since 2000, due to the implementation of the “Grain for Green” program, the natural vegetation of upstream area and midstream area of Yellow River Basin has been significantly improved. This implies that under an appropriate policy framework, a small amount of human-induced land cover change can also improve ecosystem services significantly.

Rapid urbanization poses significant challenges to ecosystem services and environmental integrity. This study presents an integrated geospatial approach to analyze Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes and their impact on Ecosystem Service Value (ESV) in Nashik, India, from 2017 to 2023. It employs open-source ESRI LULC datasets developed from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to accurately map built-up areas, forests, agricultural lands, water bodies, and barren lands. ESV estimation utilized the Benefit Transfer Method (BTM) with specific coefficients tailored to different LULC types. Further, an elasticity analysis was conducted to evaluate the responsiveness of ESV to LULC changes, while sensitivity analysis tested the reliability of ESV estimates. From 2017 to 2023, Nashik experienced notable LULC changes: built-up areas expanded by 17.8%, barren lands by 20.1%, and forest cover increased by 59.4%. Meanwhile, agricultural land decreased by 20.1%, and water bodies by 6.5%. These changes resulted in an overall 9.6% decline in ESV, from $3.02 million/ha/year to $2.73 million/ha/year. ESV of water bodies fell from 1.705 to 1.600, forest ESV rose from 0.098 to 0.156, and agricultural ESV declined from 1.215 to 0.971. Elasticity analysis revealed that ESV changes were most sensitive to the expansion of built-up areas and the reduction of agricultural land, while the sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the results, indicating low sensitivity to changes in coefficient values. These results underscore the loss of blue-green spaces and biodiversity due to urban expansion, highlighting the need for regular LULC and ESV assessments for sustainable urban planning and focussed conservation efforts.

This is the first study to provide a systematic monetary benefit matrix, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction benefits and air pollution reduction health co-benefits, for a change in on-the-road transport to low-carbon types. The benefit transfer method is employed to estimate the social cost of carbon and the health co-benefits via impact pathway analysis in Taiwan. Specifically, the total emissions reduction benefits from changing all internal combustion vehicles to either hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or electric vehicles would generate an average of USD 760 million from GHG emissions reduction and USD 2091 million from health co-benefits based on air pollution reduction, for a total benefit of USD 2851 million annually. For a change from combustion scooters to light- or heavy-duty electric scooters, the average GHG emissions reduction benefits would be USD 96.02 million, and the health co-benefits from air pollution reduction would be USD 1008.83 million, for total benefits of USD 1104.85 million annually.

Although there is a consensus that protected areas (PAs) can provide various ecosystem services, it is unclear whether protected areas effectively contribute to the preservation and enhancement of ecosystem services. We conducted a case study of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve (HXNR) in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, in order to examine the effectiveness of PA in the conservation of ecosystem services. First, the dynamics of land use/land cover (LULC) were analyzed based on remotely sensed data sets. Then, the ecosystem service value (ESV) in the PA and non-PA were evaluated using a modified benefit transfer method that had been adjusted using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Finally, hotspot analysis was implemented to reveal the ESV changes for the different districts of the PA. The results of the comparison experiment indicate that: (1) The ESV of the HXNR has considerably increased after it was designated as protected, which had been in decline in the previous stage. The ESVs in a near-by non-PA showed opposite results where the values initially increased but then dropped due to urban expansion and desertification. (2) The areas in HXNR with increased ESV significantly outnumbered the areas that had declining values from 1980 to 2018. For the non-PA, the areas that had increased ESV in 1980–1995 saw a decline in value in 1995–2008; moreover, new areas with decreasing ESV emerged in 2008–2018. (3) The HXNR was found to be more effective than non-PA in improving ecosystem services. (4) The core zone of the nature reserve demonstrated better effectiveness in ecosystem service preservation.

Slope farmland is an important component of farmland resources in China. The utilization and change of slope farmland have significant effects on ecosystems, and understanding the impact of slope farmland change on ecosystem services (ESs) is critical for effective land utilization and ecosystem protection. This study aims to analyze slope farmland changes in China between 2000 and 2020 and quantify the impact of these changes on ESs by the use of a land use dynamic attitude study, and an ecosystem services value (ESV) equivalent. Results show that the area of slope farmland in China was mainly concentrated on slopes of 2°‒6°, and exhibited a downward trend between 2000 and 2020. There were significant differences in the spatial distribution of the farmland, which was mainly located in the Taihang, Qinling, Wushan, and Xuefeng mountains. ESV increased by $179.235 million due to the conversion between slope farmland and forest, grassland, and construction land from 2000–2010. Conversely, from 2010 to 2020, ESV decreased by $2613.919 million due to the conversion of forest and grassland to slope farmland as well as the conversion of slope farmland to construction land.

To satisfy an increasing need for living space and food while preserving ecosystem services remains one of today’s biggest challenges. Oases in arid areas have gradually become the main sources for new cultivated land, affecting the supply and transmission of ecosystem services. Yet, little assessment on predicting the effects of oasis expansion on ecosystem service value (ESV) has been available to guide policy makers and ecologists. Here we addressed the connections between oasis expansion and ESV in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin in northwest China by linking the Logistic-CA–Markov model and the benefit transfer method. The results showed that the oasis was expected to expand by 419.02 km 2 from 2015 to 2029, with the area of farmland and construction land increasing by 18.87% and 39.05%, respectively. With oasis expansion, the total ESV was expected to increase by 104.25 million RMB from 2015 to 2029. However, oasis expansion encroaches on vegetation, resulting in decline of the values of climate regulation, waste treatment, and biodiversity protection. This study will provide a reference for decision-making in trade-offs involved in land management.

Exploring the mechanisms and processes of land-use transitions (LUTs) and their impact on ecosystem services can effectively elucidate the intricate interactions between human and natural systems, which is pivotal for advancing the sustainable development of regional economies and enhancing ecological environments. However, the existing literature lacks comprehensive analysis regarding the spatial and temporal evolution of LUTs, with insufficient integration of the “spatial pattern” and “time process”. Moreover, traditional assessments of the ecosystem services value (ESV) often overlook their negative costs. To address these gaps, this study first utilized the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform and employed the random forest algorithm to conduct supervised classification on Landsat remote-sensing images from the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 within the research area, thereby obtaining land-use data for three distinct periods. And then, we investigated the geographic features of LUTs and their ecological effects in the Ningde City of China from 2000 to 2020. The geo-informatic Tupu model and a newly revised method of benefit transfer were primarily employed for this purpose. The findings indicate the following: (1) Over the study period, the land-use structure of Ningde City predominantly comprised cultivated land and forest land, with continuous decreases in both types and a concurrent increase in built-up land. (2) Significant disparities exist in the spatial distribution of Tupu units, notably with “forest land → cultivated land” and “cultivated land → built-up land” as crucial units influencing ESV changes. (3) The ESV in Ningde City decreased from CNY 1105.54 × 108 to CNY 1020.47 × 108 over 2000–2020, while the ecosystem dis-services value exhibited an opposing trend, rising from CNY 12.68 × 108 to CNY 20.39 × 108. (4) The net ESV in Ningde City showed a decline over the same period, indicating a certain vulnerability in the city’s ecological system structure. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the influence of land-use patterns on ESV, offering valuable insights for regional ecological–environment management and land-use policy formulation, thereby fostering sustainable development in ecological, environmental, and socio-economic dimensions. Furthermore, the results serve as a reference for evaluating net ecosystem services value in other countries/regions.

The growing popularity of social media data brings questions about its accuracy and usefulness for a wide array of cultural heritage projects, often lacking data sources crucial for better planning and implementation. In this paper, we are studying the opportunities offered by the freely available Facebook Ads Manager data on target group sizes in different locations. We conducted a small experiment and a pilot survey to verify if Facebook data concerning its users’ interests is accurate and could be used to facilitate the implementation of projects in the field of adaptive reuse. Despite all discovered limitations of this approach, we point out how Facebook data, along with other social media outlets, can be used to extract some strategic information and add to the socio-cultural assessment toolbox. As such, this type of data could be of use to local leaders planning activities and investments around cultural heritage sites. We also posit that such data can facilitate benefit transfer between cities through better understanding of local preferences and values-orientations.