Water Ecosystem Services and their Value — A Case Study in Luan River Basin, North China

Abstract

Under a scenario of global climate change, the water ecosystem services of Luan River basin have attracted considerable public attention. In this paper, the term of water ecosystem services is described as Green water and blue water formed from the water cycle process to provide the conditions and utility for maintaining the structure and process of forest, grassland, wetland, lake, river ecosystem. In this study, we estimated the magnitudes and economic values of the water ecosystem services in Luan River basin. The economic value of water ecosystem services in Luan River basin was estimated to be 778.32×108Yuan in 2000. The ratios of the economic values of water direct ecosystem services were 5.89%, and rest 94.11% of the all monetary value was water indirect ecosystem services. Among the water ecosystem services indicators we estimated, fruit, timber, fishery products, Fresh water supply, Hydropower and recreation were measured in the social economic system, about 59.81% of the monetary value of water ecosystem services is measured to reflect water resources ecological value.