Although the number of studies on ecosystem service value (ESV) has steadily increased, large variations and inconsistent patterns in the estimated results have motivated us to systematically explore the factors underlying such discrepancies. Therefore, this study aims to explore the role of different ecosystems, ESs, valuation methods, and economic development in the ESV by employing a meta-analysis of valuation research conducted on China's ES based on 3356 observations from 140 studies. The results show that wetlands ecosystem has the highest value among the seven major ecosystems, and regulation of water flows service is more valuable than the other services. We also provide a matrix of monetary values for different categories of ecosystems and their services, which can be used as a quick tool to predict ESVs in China and assess the value changes caused by land-use changes. We find that the ESVs estimated following the equivalent factor method are different from those estimated by the other methods, indicating that researchers should be very careful when selecting valuation methods for evaluating ESs. The economic development level has different impacts on different ESs, that is, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has a high, positive correlation with the recreational service value, but has no correlation with the habitat service value.
Keywords: China; Ecosystem service; meta-analysis; monetary valuation.
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