%A JinChang Li, HaiXia Liu, ZhiZhu Su, Yong Liu, YongGang Yang %T Characterizing changes in ecosystem service values in China's eastern Loess Plateau %0 Journal Article %D 2015 %J Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions %R 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2015.00272 %P 272-281 %V 7 %N 3 %U {http://www.scar.ac.cn/CN/abstract/article_234.shtml} %8 2015-06-01 %X Human activities such as the implementation of ecological protection projects and expansion of construction land can cause complex land use changes that affect ecosystem service values (ESV). In this study, we investigated changes in ESV in response to land use changes in Ningwu County, in eastern Loess Plateau of China. Our aim is to provide guidance for sustainable land use planning in this region. We used remote sensing to evaluate land use changes, and applied a fast, proxy-based method for evaluating ESV at three points in time: 1990, 2000, and 2010. More than 89% of the total ESV in Ningwu County was attributable to woodland and grassland. The ESV in western mountain areas show the greatest increase from 1990 to 2010, but ESV decreased the most in the low-elevation northeastern area of flat terrain. These tradeoffs led to a slight net decrease (1.0%) in Ningwu County's total ESV. Although the decline in ESV was relatively low compared to the rate of economic growth, total ESV was much lower than global and national average levels at the end of the study period.