Evaluation of ecological effect in land use planning using ecosystem service value method

Abstract: Environmental protection could promote ecological environment into a virtuous circle. The following measures had being taken recently to improve ecological environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Area: Yangtze River shelterbelt was being built, small watershed soil erosion was being controlled, the farmland was being returned to forest and grassland, agro-ecological engineering was being carrying out. Besides the State Council has formally given an official to the Follow-up planning of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area on June 15th, 2011, which has required to enhance ecological environment construction and protection of Three Gorges Reservoir Area, and focused to solve three issues which are improving the social economical development of Three Gorges Reservoir Area, reducing the frequency that geological disasters happened, and protecting ecological environment. This paper took Yunyang county of Chongqing, where was located at the hinterland of the Three Reservoir Area, as a case study and constructed correction coefficients of ecosystem service value in view of multi-functionality in land use among different land-use types based on the basis of Costanza' theories and ecosystem service value coefficient set by Xie Gaodi. And then quantitative analysis was being used to evaluate ecological effect of ecological barrier zone in land use planning from the perspective of ecosystem service value and landscape pattern. The results could be shown in the following aspects: 1) Ecosystem service pattern, forest is of primary importance while cultivated land, garden, grassland are supplementary, of Yunyang county' ecological barrier zone would be initially established in 2020. 2) Ecosystem service value in ecological barrier zone could be raised rapidly by land use planning guided by ecological functional construction, which also could strengthen the ability of ecological barrier zone to adjust the climate, conserve water and soil, and maintain biological diversity. The total ecosystem service value of ecological barrier zone in Yunyang county would be rising from 1.552 billons in 2010 to 1.998 billons in 2020, and average annual change rate would reach to 2.87%. 3) The ecosystem service value, especially its regulation service value and supporting service value, of ecological barrier zone in Yunyang county has shown an obvious spatial diversity. The ecosystem service value of Modao River Basin has been rising largest, and followed by Pengxi River Basin, and the ecosystem service value of Yangtze River has been maintained in a steadily increased, while little change has happened in Changtan River Basin. 4) According to the ecological effects analysis, practical guidance was designed to promote policy makers to evaluate and optimize land use pattern and spatial structure for land use planning. It should clarify the adjusting direction of land use structure through the evaluation of land-use structure adjustment among different land-use types and analysis of ecological effect produced by land structure adjustment, and then would achieve the goal of improving the scientific decision-making level in land use planning and ecological protection.