Assessment methods of regional ecosystem service value and a case study of Dongjiang River basin

To explore the value of regional ecosystem services is an important way to coordinate regional economic development and ecological construction. However, there is no accredited regional ecosystem service value assessment system, and there exist large differences in evaluation results. The common assessment methods of ecosystem services valuation systematically, such as alternative market technology, simulated market technology and equivalent factor method were summarized. Then their advantages and disadvantages were compared from three aspects of evaluation object, scope and process. It is concluded that the equivalent factor method is better suited for assessment of regional ecosystem service value because of its simplicity, comprehensiveness and taking full account of the regional and ecosystem characteristics. Finally, the method was applied to evaluate the ecosystem services value of the Dongjiang River basin. The results show that the total value of the ecosystem services in the Dongjiang River basin is 197.663 billion yuan. Among them, the ecosystem service value of forest, water, wetlands, farmland, grassland, unused land and construction land was 153.674 billion yuan, 15.642 billion yuan, 14.581 billion yuan, 7.574 billion yuan, 4.241 billion yuan, 228.9 thousand yuan and 0 yuan, respectively.