Spatial and temporal dynamics of land use and its influence on ecosystem service value in Yangtze River Delta

As the most developed area in China, the Yangtze River Delta had undergone rapid urbanization since the reform and opening up in 1978. The ecosystem services and functions were both affected significantly by human activities which can be represented by land use change. Landsat5 TM imageries in 2009 and 2010 covering the Yangtze River Delta were selected and classified for land use with overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient were 87.5% and 0.82 respectively, and seven land use types, specifically, woodland, grassland, farmland, wetland, water body, construction land and unused land were considered. Water conservation, waste treatment, soil formation and protection and biodiversity conservation were the major ecosystem service functions in the Yangtze River Delta.