Quantifying the Landscape’s Ecological Benefits—An Analysis of the Effect of Land Cover Change on Ecosystem Services

J. Carl Ureta, Lucas Clay, Marzieh Motallebi and Joan Ureta
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J. Carl Ureta: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Lucas Clay: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Marzieh Motallebi: Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Sciences, Clemson University, Georgetown, SC 29440, USA
Joan Ureta: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA

Land, 2020, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: The increasing pressure from land cover change exacerbates the negative effect on ecosystems and ecosystem services (ES). One approach to inform holistic and sustainable management is to quantify the ES provided by the landscape. Using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, this study quantified the sediment retention capacity and water yield potential of different land cover in the Santee River Basin Network in South Carolina, USA. Results showed that vegetated areas provided the highest sediment retention capacity and lowest water yield potential. Also, the simulations demonstrated that keeping the offseason crop areas vegetated by planting cover crops improves the monthly ES provision of the landscape. Retaining the soil within the land area prevents possible contamination and siltation of rivers and streams. On the other hand, low water yield potential translates to low occurrence of surface runoff, which indicates better soil erosion control, regulated soil nutrient absorption and gradual infiltration. The results of this study can be used for landscape sustainability management to assess the possible tradeoffs between ecological conservation and economic development. Furthermore, the generated map of ES can be used to pinpoint the areas where ES are best provided within the landscape.

Keywords: ecosystem services; InVEST model; sustainable farming practices; land cover change effect; cover crops (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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