Fecha de publicación: 26/12/2024 Fuente: Journal of Sustainable Development Abstract
The sustainability of hydrological ecosystem services (HESs), that play a vital role in providing benefits to human beings, is intrinsically connected to the land use and land cover management practices. In this study, we investigated the impact of land use change on the HESs of the Pasak River Basin, Thailand. Using the ecosystem service modeling tool, Land Utilization Capability and Indicator (LUCI), we mapped and quantified flood mitigation, water supply, soil loss, erosion risk, and sediment delivery mitigation services under two land use periods (2020 and 2010), and two developed land use scenarios (pro-agriculture and pro-conservation). This represents the first application of LUCI for a case in Thailand. Our results demonstrate dramatic shifts in land use over the previous decade, with significant expansion of urban built-up and agricultural areas and a decrease in forest cover. Accordingly, landscape features contributing to flood mitigation decreased by 410 km2. In comparison, non-mitigated areas (no longer benefiting from flood mitigation service) increased by 101.16 km2, implying an increased risk of flooding. However, the watershed is not particularly susceptible to severe erosion as moderate-risk and high-risk areas have both significantly decreased. We identified deforestation and agricultural land expansion as the primary causes of HESs deterioration, particularly in flood mitigation services. Additionally, our study also examines the effect of pro-conservation or pro-agriculture scenarios on HESs in the Pasak River Basin in the future. This is a pioneering effort to analyze the sensitivity of land use changes on the delivery of multiple important HESs. The explicit spatial-temporal information on integrated changes in ecosystem services in response to land use changes as reported in this study is much needed to inform decisions to ensure regional ecosystem management and the sustainable provision of HESs in the future.