Impact of Urbanization on the Value of Ecosystem Services in Nanping City, China
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Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 30, No. 1 (2021), 965-975 DOI: 10.15244/pjoes/124175 ONLINE PUBLICATION DATE: 2020-09-18 Original Research Impact of Urbanization on the Value of Ecosystem Services in Nanping City, China Lili Zhao1,2, Xuncheng Fan1,2*, Han Lin2, Tao Hong2, Wei Hong2 1College of Urban and Rural Construction, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang, 422000 China 2Forestry College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 350002 Fuzhou, China Received: 23 April 2020 Accepted: 18 June 2020 Abstract The optimization of regional land use structures and functions and the sustainable use of the ecological environment are very important in the process of urbanization. In this study, based on the Landsat 7+ETM images of Nanping City from 2015, the object-oriented land use classification method was used to calculate the value of ecosystem services in Nanping City and various counties (districts).The spatial distribution characteristics between the levels of population urbanization, spatial urbanization, economic urbanization, and living urbanization and the value of ecosystem services were quantitatively analyzed by utilizing spatial measurement methods. The impact of the levels of four types of urbanization on the spatial distribution of ecosystem services values was explored using the bivariate spatial autocorrelation method. The results showed that there was a significant negative spatial correlation between population urbanization and the total value of ecosystem services. Specifically, the negative correlation between population urbanization and food production services was the most significant. Additionally, there was a certain positive correlation between economic urbanization and waste disposal services. Further, the bivariate LISA figures between different urbanization levels and the values of ecosystem services showed that a high urbanization-low ecosystem services value (High-Low) appeared in Jian’ou and Shaowu, while the regions of Guangze and Shunchang reflected a low urbanization-high ecosystem services value (Low-High).The findings of this study can provide information for decision-making regarding the sensible use of regional land resources and the improvement of ecological and environmental quality. Keywords: land use, bivariate spatial autocorrelation, Fujian, non-agricultural industries Introduction societies and has occurred with the development of social productivity, advances in technology, and Urbanization is a historical process that has gradually the readjustment of the industrial structure of a transformed traditional rural societies to modern urban country or region [1-2]. Urbanization is the movement of human society towards economic development and is of great significance to the improvement of the quality of life. Urbanization is an important indicator of the levels of economic, societal, cultural, *e-mail: [email protected] 966 Zhao L., et al. and technological development in a country or region economy on a global scale. Nanping City forms the [3-5]. Furthermore, the urbanization process has study area for our research and is the main location an extensive and profound influence on the structure, for economic development within the development function, and processes of ecosystems [2]. zone. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Nanping Ecosystem services are all the benefits that humans City increased from 62.2 billion yuan in 2009 to gain from ecosystems, including supply services (such 133.9 billion yuan in 2015, with an average annual as providing food and water), regulating services (such growth of nearly 12 billion yuan due to the official as controlling floods and diseases), cultural services establishment of the development zone in 2009. The (such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits), rapid economic development and the acceleration of and support services (such as maintaining a nutrient urbanization in Nanping City will inevitably affect the cycle in the living environment of the earth) [6]. value of ecosystem services. Therefore, due to the high The resources needed for human survival and rate of urbanization, Nanping City was selected as the development are ultimately derived from natural study area. The spatial differentiation characteristics ecosystems. They not only provide food, medicine, between urbanization and the value of ecosystem and other raw materials for production, but also create services were analyzed using spatial measurement and maintain the life support system of the earth and methods, and their relationships were investigated by form the environmental conditions necessary for human applying the bivariate spatial autocorrelation method. survival. They also offer opportunities and spaces for Spatial measurement methods refers to a series of leisure activities and entertainment, provide aesthetic methods for studying various characteristics caused resources, and supply the material basis for sustainable by space in the statistical analysis of regional scientific development [7-8]. models [18-20]. This methods were used in this study to The mechanism of interaction between urbanization analyze population urbanization, spatial urbanization, and ecosystem services is complex. On the one economic urbanization, living urbanization and the hand, cities optimize the ecological environment and spatial differentiation characteristics of ecosystem improve ecosystem services by exerting scale effects, service value in the study area. The purpose of this optimizing industrial structure, and improving the study is to reveal the impact of the development quality of life of the urban population as well as the of urbanization in Nanping City on the spatial level of urban management [9]. A good ecosystem can heterogeneity of the value of ecosystem services, and provide the necessary materials and resources such as to provide a reference for decision-making regarding land, water, and fresh air to enhance a city's ecological regional urbanization construction and ecological competitiveness and improve the quality of life, thus environment management. supporting the sustainable development of a city [10-11]. On the other hand, changes in land use types caused by human activities often cause ecosystem degradation Material and Methods in the process of urbanization [12-14]. Liu et al. [15] found that urban expansion, manufacturing, mining and Study Area ports, and other human activities had a profound impact on the ecosystem value of the Bohai Rim coastal area. Nanping City (26°15′-28°19′N, 117°00′-119°17′E) González-garcía et al. [16] found that urban expansion covers an area of 26,300 km2, and it is the largest led to an imbalance between the supply and demand municipal area in Fujian Province (Fig. 1). The forest of ecosystem services in the Madrid region (Spain). cover in Nanping is 74.75% and it has a subtropical Dewan and Yamaguchi et al. [17] discovered that urban monsoon climate, with the local mountainous area expansion caused by elevation, population growth, and having a subtropical mountain climate. At the end economic growth led to a significant reduction in the of 2015, Nanping City had a registered population of area of water bodies, cultivated land, vegetation, and 3.2 million of which 2.64 million were permanent wetlands in the Dhaka area. Therefore, studying the urban residents), and the level of urbanization was spatial correlation characteristics of urbanization and 54%.The city consists of two municipal districts, three the value of ecological services can not only optimize county-level cities, and five counties, of which Jian’ou, the regional land use structure and functions in the Wuyishan, and Shunchang are called “Chinese Bamboo process of rapid urbanization, but can also provide Towns”, Jian’ou, Jianyang, and Zhenghe are known a scientific basis for ecosystem conservation and the as “Chinese Castanea henryi Towns”, and Shunchang maintenance of ecological security. is the only “Chinese Fir Town”. Forestry plays an Nanping City is located in the southeast of China, important role in the economy and is the main source of 330 km from Taiwan Island (linear distance). Nanping income for hill farmers. Nanping possesses five nature City, including the surrounding areas, is based in Fujian reserves at or above province level, covering an area Province and is a regional economic complex located of 720 km2. There are 1283 small nature reserves in the core of the economic development zone on the covering an area of 846.7 km2. Wuyishan City is one west side of the strait. It is involved in working with of the only four “World Natural and Cultural Heritage Taiwan, unifying China, and furthering the Chinese Sites” in China, and is not only a national scenic area Impact of Urbanization on the Value... 967 Fig. 1. Map of the study area. and a nature reserve, but also falls within a tourism grassland, water, unused land, and construction land. It economic development zone in Fujian province. can be seen from the accuracy evaluation results that the Kappa coefficient is 0.9, which lies between 0.8 and Data Source and Preprocessing 1, and indicates that the classification system has a high precision and can be used for further analyses. Data regarding urbanization levels was taken from the 2015 statistical yearbook of Nanping City. The Determination of Urbanization Indicators remote sensing image from Landsat-7 +ETM of Nanping City in 2015 was downloaded from the Geospatial Data Urbanization is mainly affected by indicators Cloud Platform of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.