Changes in total and per-capital ecosystem service value in response to land-use land-cover dynamics in north-central Ethiopia

Emiru Birhane; Emnet Negash; Tesfaye Getachew; Hailemariam Gebrewahed; Eskinder Gidey; Mewcha Amha Gebremedhin; Paidamwoyo Mhangara

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-57151-6

Changes in total and per-capital ecosystem service value in response to land-use land-cover dynamics in north-central Ethiopia

Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 19;14(1):6540. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-57151-6.

Authors

Emiru Birhane^{1

2}, Emnet Negash³, Tesfaye Getachew⁴, Hailemariam Gebrewahed⁴, Eskinder Gidey^{5

6}, Mewcha Amha Gebremedhin^{4

7}, Paidamwoyo Mhangara⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Land Resources Management and Environmental Protection, Institute of Climate and Society, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia. emiru.birhane@mu.edu.et.
² Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås, Norway. emiru.birhane@mu.edu.et.
³ Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁴ Institute of Geo-Information and Earth Observation Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
⁵ School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Land Resources Management and Environmental Protection (LaRMEP), College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mekelle University, P.O Box: 231, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia.
⁷ Department of Water Resources, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
⁸ School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag: 2050, Gauteng, South Africa.

Abstract

Ecosystems provide a wide range of services crucial for human well-being and decision-making processes at various levels. This study analyzed the major land cover types of north-central Ethiopia and their impact on total and per-capita ecosystem service value (ESV). The ESV was estimated using the benefit-transfer method along the established global and local coefficient values for the periods 1973, 1986, 2001, 2016, and 2024. The findings show that agricultural lands continued to expand at a rate of 563.4 ha year^-1, at the expense of forests and grasslands. As a result, the total ESV of the study area declined from $101.4 to $61.03 million and $60.08-$43.69 million, respectively. The ESV per capita was also diminished by $152.4 (37.7%) and $257 (40.6%), respectively. However, land-cover improvement during the period 2001-2016 enhanced the total and per capita ESV in the study area. Therefore, potential future research may be required to develop a valid approach for assessing the robustness and sensitivity of value coefficients for the valuation of the ESV at the landscape level.

Keywords: Benefit transfer; Ecosystem services; Landcover change; Mountain region.