Ecosystem services of Chongyi Hakka Terraces

doi:10.13287/j.1001-9332.201705.015

Abstract

Abstract: An economic evaluation of the main ecosystem services of Chongyi Hakka Terraces can help to demonstrate the contributions of the terrace system to Hakka society, on the basis of which the protection of Hakka Terrace system could be undertaken by the local government. In view of the social and economic characteristics of Chongyi Hakka Terrace ecosystem and its location, an index system was established to evaluate the service function, and a qualitative analysis was conducted for these functions and their importance. Besides, based on the data collected in 2014, with a combination of physical quality and economic value, a quantitative analysis was carried out for its nine ser-vice indicators. The findings were as follows: firstly, among the nine evaluation indicators, the phy-sical quality and the economic value of soil conservation both ranked the highest, the former being 76457 kg·hm^-2 and the latter 105033 yuan·hm^-2, accounting respectively for 72.2% and 30.0% of the total mass and total value of the Hakka Terrace ecosystem. Secondly, the unique service functions of Hakka Terrace ecosystem could be embodied in its cultural heritage and landscape, the corresponding economic values reaching up to 100000 yuan·hm^-2 and 46333 yuan·hm^-2 respectively, ranking the second and third highest among the nine indicators. Thirdly, the agricultural pro-ducts from the Hakka Terrace were vital welfare for the local residents, but their physical quality and the economic value only accounted for 6.1% and 10.4% of its total mass and total value respectively. As a result, the service functions of the Hakka Terrace ecosystem would be dramatically undervalued with respect to agricultural products only. These economic figures could reveal the huge contributions which the Hakka Terrace ecosystem had made to the society, not only raising awareness of the necessity to preserve the agricultural heritage by the administrators and the public, but also providing efficient data support for the government when making ecological compensation criteria for the Hakka Terrace system.

Key words: China nationally important agricultural heritage system, ecosystem services, ecological compensation, Chongyi Hakka Terrace system, economic evaluation

MIAO Jian-qun, WANG Zhi-qiang, YANG Wen-ting, SUN Song, HUANG Guo-qin. Ecosystem services of Chongyi Hakka Terraces[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2017, 28(5): 1642-1652.

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