Assessing the contribution of ecological restoration projects to ecosystem services values in the Chinese loess plateau

Large-scale ecological restoration projects (ERPs) in the Chinese Loess Plateau have been widely reported over the past decades. However, the impacts of land use caused by different ERPs on ecosystem service values (ESV) remain largely unknown in this ecologically fragile region. In this study, we assessed long-term changes in ESV under three typical scenarios of ERPs combinations on the Loess Plateau, using a modified rapid ecosystem services assessment method. From 2000 to 2020, the region experienced substantial changes in land use, with the expansion of forests and the shrinking of grasslands being the dominant characteristics. Forest restoration (1.09 x 106 ha) on the Loess Plateau has experienced obvious increase in ESV (6.26 billion RMB) as a result of the Grain for Green project (GfG) and the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP). These changes have led to an increase in the overall ESV by 1.74 billion RMB in the last 20 years. The ecological conservation scenario demonstrates the highest benefit potential in ESV for increasing ecological services compared to the other two scenarios, with a growth of 1.32 x 106 ha of forest and 9.89 billion RMB, and this increasing trend will continue to be driven by the GfG in the future. We recommend regulating the spatiotempral trade-offs relationships between forests, grasslands, and farmlands, as well as developing diverse projects for ecosystem conservation and restoration on the Loess Plateau.