Forestland landscape change induced spatiotemporal dynamics of subtropical urban forest ecosystem services value in forested region of China: A case of Hangzhou city

Understanding of urban forestland both type structure and change and their effects on forest ecosystem services (ES) is important for maintaining and enhancing the quality of life as well as ensuring sustainable urban planning in cities. In Hangzhou city of Zhejiang province in Southeast China, forestland covers more than 71% of its total land area, thereby providing a high variety of ES. Many studies have focused on the effects of land use change on ES value (ESV), but these have only applied to the first-level classification of land use. So there is an urgent need for studies to measure the effects of land use change on ESV applied to the second-level classification of land use. In this present study, from a rare insight into the forestland landscape change of Hangzhou city, the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban forest ESV (UFESV) during the period of 2000-2015 are analyzed based on the combination of remote sensing and a light-use-efficiency model (CASA). The results indicate that the total value of urban forest ES increases from 9.79 x 10(8) Yuan in 2000 to 12.31 x 10(8) Yuan in 2015, with a net increase of 2.52 x 10(8) Yuan in Hangzhou city, and forested land has the highest UFESV, contributing about 99.49% of the total services value, although the area of forestland decreases by 101.99 km(2) over the past 15 years. Carbon fixation and oxygen release and organic matter production are the two dominant service functions, accounting for 87.56% of the total on average. The construction and planning of Hangzhou's forest city has a positive impact on the value of urban forest ES during 2000-2015.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban forest ecosystem services in Hangzhou city from 2000 to 2015, revealing that despite a decrease in forested land area, the total value of urban forest ecosystem services increased. Carbon fixation, oxygen release, and organic matter production were identified as the dominant service functions contributing to the overall value.