Evaluation of Ecosystem Service Value in Kenli District of Dongying

Abstract This paper analyzes the ecosystem service function and its value in the Kenli District of Dongying City, a major town situated at the Yellow River estuary, using the Xiegaodi classification system and evaluation method. The spatio-temporal variations of four ecosystem service values—habitat quality, carbon storage, water conservation, and soil conservation—are examined from 2000 to 2020 employing the InVEST model and a grid-based approach. The findings reveal declining trends in habitat quality, carbon storage, and soil conservation, contrasted with an upward trend in water conservation from 2000 to 2020 in Dongying. Spatially, the habitat quality in the Kenli District of Dongying City displays a pattern of high values in the southeast and low values in the northwest. Higher carbon storage areas are primarily concentrated in the western, central, and northern regions of the Kenli District, with an observed eastward expansion. Water conservation transitions from low to high. Soil conservation values are higher, and the low-value areas shift from the central and southern parts to the southern regions, along with some parts of the northeast moving to the north. The value of ecosystem services in the Kenli District of Dongying City increases from 1.911 billion yuan in 2000 to 3.597 billion yuan in 2010 and further to 3.747 billion yuan in 2020. The impacts of cultivated land, wetland, and water bodies on the ecosystem service value in the region are more apparent. Specifically, the impacts of cultivated land on the ecosystem service value in 2000, 2010, and 2020 amount to 70.29%, 25.54%, and 25.63%, respectively, while those of wetland are 4.77%, 32.39%, and 31.07%, and for water bodies, the percentages are 33.96%, 45.51%, and 49.92%, respectively. From the perspective of ecological service functions, waste treatment, water conservation, and climate regulation exhibit greater importance. Over the study period, waste treatment contributes 29.25%, 32.19%, and 32.97% to the total value, whereas water conservation accounts for 15.51%, 25.86%, and 26.84%, and climate regulation constitutes 10.66%, 12.68%, and 12.05% of the total value, respectively.