Study on the ecological protection redline (EPR) demarcation process and the ecosystem service value (ESV) of the EPR zone: A case study on the city of Qiqihaer in China

Although ecosystem service values (ESVs) have been widely used in recent decades, the spatiotemporal changes in ESVs and their hotspots that are based on the demarcation of ecological protection redlines (EPRs) are not well understood. This study was intended to estimate the changes in ESVs in an EPR using land-use data from 2000 and 2010 as well as other related data such as meteorological and statistical data in Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang, China. The results showed that the EPR zone in the study area was 9071.29 km(2), accounting for 21% of the total study area. The EPR zone was mainly in the eastern, western and central southern regions of the study area. The main land-use type was cropland, which accounted for 59.69% and 59.80% of total area of the EPR in 2000 and 2010, respectively. From 2000 to 2010, the areas of wetland and water within the EPR decreased, while the areas of cropland, grassland, forestland, construction land and unused land increased. During this 10-year period, the ESV of the EPR zone decreased by 13.48 million yuan (RMB). Among the various ecosystems, forestland, cropland and wetland were systems with ecosystem services, and their values accounted for 86.21% (2000) and 86.27% (2010) of the total ESV. Among the ESVs, the values of climate regulation (CL), water regulation (WA) and waste treatment (WT) were the highest, accounting for approximately 17% of the total value, followed by soil formation and retention (SFR) and biodiversity (BD). On the whole, the identification of the EPR provides a guideline for the protection and improvement of the geographical ecosystem and is the foundation for building a healthy structure for ecological development.