Relationships between ecosystem services and human well-being changes based on carbon flow—A case study of the Manas River Basin, Xinjiang, China

Zihan Xu, Hejie Wei, Weiguo Fan, Xuechao Wang, Peng Zhang, Jiahui Ren, Nachuan Lu, Zhicheng Gao, Xiaobin Dong and Weidong Kong

Ecosystem Services, 2019, vol. 37, issue C, -

Abstract: The current understanding of how ecosystem services flow affects human well-being is not sufficient. As an important component of the biogeochemical cycle, carbon flows through various natural and artificial processes. Therefore, carbon can be used as a research vector to explore the relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being. This study proposed a method for a quantitative assessment of “ecosystem services-human well-being” based on carbon flows. The assessment of the changes in ecosystem services and human well-being based on carbon in the Manas River Basin from 1990 to 2015 revealed the complex relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being. The results were as follows: (1) The development of ecosystem services was uneven, with increasing provisioning services and decreasing regulating, supporting and cultural services. (2) The basic materials for a good life and health in human well-being showed an upward trend, and the security indicator showed a downward trend. (3) The indicators of the basic materials for a good life and health were significantly positively correlated with provisioning services and were significantly negatively correlated with the other three services. Moreover, the internal structure of the security and health indicators were malformed. (4) Over time, the impact of provisioning services on the well-being indicators has gradually weakened, and the influence of regulating, supporting and cultural services has continually increased. In general, this study evaluated the complex relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being through carbon flow quantification, which can not only unify the dimensions for comparison, but also eliminate the impact of subjective factors to achieve a scientific nature. It is not only helpful to provide theoretical and practical basis for scientific management of Manas River Basin, but also to explore a larger scale and a wider area in the world through selecting indicators according to local conditions.

Keywords: Carbon flow; Ecosystem services; Human well-being; The Manas River Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:37:y:2019:i:c:24

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100934

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