Abstract [Background] Evaluation of Ecological Services Value (ESV) is fundamentally important for measuring the sustainable level of social and economic development. Land use change affects ecosystem service value, through the interaction between ecological processes and services. In order to quantify the effects of land use change on the ESV in rocky desertification region,two counties (Longlin and Xilin) with rocky desertification in Guangxi were taken as research area. [Methods] Land use change of the research area during 2004 2010 was analyzed, based on remote sensing data validated with field investigation. The Costanza's calculation method was employed to quantitatively evaluate 9 types of ecological service values (i. e. , gas regulation, climate regulation, water conservation, soil formation and protection, waste treatment, biodiversity conservation, food production, raw materials, and aesthetic landscape). On the basis of the Xie Gaodi's equivalent weight factor of ESV, as well as combining with the local economic value of grain yield and costs of farmland, the coefficients of ESV of different land use type (per unit area) in the research area were estimated. [Results] Results showed that the areas of forest land, grassland, and construction land increased in both Longlin and Xilin, while arable land, water area, and unused land declined during 2004 2010. The coefficients of ESV in Xilin were higher than those of Longlin. The total ESV of Longlin and Xilin increased by 6.14 *108 and 3.27 *108 Yuan,respectively. The ESV of waste treatment and food production reduced, while the other 7 ESVs increased. The ESV of forest land was the dominant component. In order to verify the reliability of coefficients of ESV, the coefficients of ESV adjusted up or down 50%, respectively, the sensitivity coefficients of each land use type was less than 1. Sensitivity analyses indicated that ESVs were relatively stable in the research area and the results were credible. Analyses of eco-economic harmony degree indicated that eco-economic system was moderate in Longlin, and in the potential crisis in Xilin,respectively. [Conclusions] This study revealed that the total ESV increased was mainly due to the improvement of forest cover. The ESV of forest land was the major ecosystem service value. Ecological value is much greater than productive value of the ecosystem. The ecological environment has been improved in Longlin, but the ecological and economic development was in a low level in Xilin.Therefore, the ecological environment should be maintained in Longlin, and strengthened in Xilin. The ESV can be used as a comprehensive indicator to weigh the sustainable development of ecological environment in the rocky desertification region,which may provide reference for formulating the policies on ecological environment.
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