Indicators for spatial–temporal comparisons of ecosystem service status between regions: A case study of the Taihu River Basin, China

Abstract

With the development of ecological science, the demand to integrate ecosystem services into ecological management is increasing. Stakeholders are interested in comparing stocks and ability to supply ecosystem services in different regions. However, different areas may have different primary ecosystem service sand knowledge of the aggregated value of ecosystem services may be lacking, making comparisons difficult. Relevant indicators that can integrate a group of ecosystem services for comparison are therefore needed. This paper formulated two indicators, ecosystem service supply rate and supply–demand ratio,and applied them in a case study to compare and map the spatial–temporal status of ecosystem services and the ability to supply these in different regions. Using nine regions in the Taihu River Basin in China as an example, data obtained from high-resolution spatial land use, land cover maps and stakeholder interviews were used to identify the spatial–temporal potential supply and flow of ecosystem services and human demand patterns. The results showed that ecosystem service supply rate had declined from2000 to 2010, indicating that the overall proportion of potential ecosystem services turned into flow in the Taihu River Basin declined. Determination of supply–demand ratio revealed that the status of ecosystem service provision in the basin is in deficit, with the deficit increasing between 2000 and 2010. These findings indicate that ecosystem service supply rate and supply–demand ratio are useful indicators of ecosystem service status and can permit comparisons between regions on both a spatial and temporal scale.