Ecosystem service efficiency assessment method of urban land use: A case study of Changzhou City, China

Background/Question/Methods

Ecosystem service is one of the focuses in ecology research. The output of natural ecosystem services in a special spatio-temporal scale is eco-service efficiency, which can be divided into positive and negative eco-services. Rapid urbanization occupies non-construction areas that are important in maintaining a favorable local environment. This process affects the natural ecosystem service efficiency and results in deterioration of the city’s eco-environment. By using the method of environmental and economic assessment of urban land’s ecosystem services, the results have limited guidance on both urban land resources and urban spatial planning. The study is based on the theory of ecosystem services, takes Changzhou (a typical rapidly urbanizing city in the Yangtze River Delta region of eastern China as a study site, and establishes evaluation index systems and space metrics on urban land complex ecosystem services; the goal is to develop a new method on urban land’s spatial planning and sustainable land management. Under the support of GIS technology, this paper uses methods of grid analysis and complex ecological assessment and establishes the spatial index system for complex eco-services efficiency assessment from both positive and negative eco-services of the current urban land use.

Results/Conclusions

The results show that about 64.5 percent land’s complex ecosystem service efficiency is positive, and 35.5 percent land’s complex ecosystem service is negative. The distribution of ecosystem services efficiency relates to urban development patterns, the more urbanized area has less complex ecosystem service, even represented negative efficiency. According to the city’s current land use planning trend, this would result in more land changing from positive ecosystem services efficiency to negative. Under the background of sustainable development, it is urgent for the local government to present ecological regulation strategies to improve the negative efficiency area, and make changes in the city’s spatial planning. The results provide a scientific reference for decision-making of local land-use planning and management for future urban development.