Assessment of ecosystem service value variation over the changing patterns of land degradation and land use/land cover

In this study, we used time series Landsat TM and IRS LISS III data and ecosystem services coefficients for Indian ecosystems during 1995-2015 to estimate the influences of degraded lands over land use change on ecosystem services (ES) in parts of Haryana (west), where both socioeconomic progress and the semi-arid environment have considerably affected land-use change. The results show that degraded lands constitute 9.7% of total geographic area for the year 2015. A total of 1501.44 sq. km. area remains degraded in 2015 which declined significantly from 3001.44 sq. km. in 1995 to 1910.04 sq. km. in 2005. Although a progressive decline is found in degraded areas over the study area, the dynamicity of degraded land category is a concern. The degraded lands also aid in declining the ecosystem service value of associated land as illustrated in the paper. The EVF (equivalent value factor) method used for ESV calculation revealed that the ESV for agriculture increased over the land use while the ESV for grasslands was found to decrease drastically. The study is unique to co-relate degraded lands with its corresponding land use to determine the ecosystem service value pertaining to degraded lands over land use category. The obtained accuracy was 90.4% and 93.3% for identified LULC and LDD categories respectively. The ESV for agriculture more or less remained (approx. 80%) same while ESV for grasslands declined gradually over the years (6.72% in 1995 to 2.64% in 2015). The net ecosystem service value (ESV) loss from degraded lands was about 22,738 USD/ha/y for 1995-2005, while, the net ESV profit was about 699,459 USD/ha/y for 2005-2015. These findings are important for maintaining the integrity and sustainability of degraded lands and land use.