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Ecosystem Service Value Distribution Along the Agroecological Gradient in North-Central Ethiopia

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Abstract

Land use and the associated ecosystem service functions vary with changes in agroecological conditions. This study analyzed the distribution of ecosystem service values along the agroecological gradient in Borena landscape. Land-cover information was extracted from Landsat satellite images; and ecosystem service values were estimated using established global and local databases. Land-cover types were constrained in one or two agroecological zones with varying proportions. Cultivated land covering 53.7% of the total landscape area, plantation forest (32.3%) and grassland (9.4%) land-cover types exist in all agroecological zones, with the highest proportion in the humid highland. The highest long-term average ecosystem service value was observed along the humid highland accounting for about 21.8–33.11 million $US. The sub-humid highland consisted 5.67–8.88 million $US. Ecosystem service value showed a decreasing trend between 1973 and 2001 along all agroecological zones and increased in 2016. Moreover, the highest depletion was found along the humid highland (7.27–18.93 million $US) and least depletion was observed along the cold highland (1.79–4.40). Occurrence of the highest depletion along the most inhabited zone, i.e., humid highland, revealed that many of the impacts are human induced. Agroecological gradient substantially determines the amount and distribution of ecosystem service values. Sustainable land management efforts and proper land-use planning are required with special attention to susceptible zones to conserve and increase ecosystem service values.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Climate and Society, Mekelle University, 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia

    Emnet Negash & Emiru Birhane

  2. Department of Land Resource Management and Environmental Protection, Mekelle University, 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia

    Emiru Birhane

  3. Institute of Geo-information and Earth Observation Science, Mekelle University, 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia

    Tesfaye Getachew & Hailemariam Gebrewahed

Authors
  1. Emnet Negash
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  2. Tesfaye Getachew
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  3. Emiru Birhane
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  4. Hailemariam Gebrewahed
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Correspondence to Emnet Negash.

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Negash, E., Getachew, T., Birhane, E. et al. Ecosystem Service Value Distribution Along the Agroecological Gradient in North-Central Ethiopia. Earth Syst Environ 4, 107–116 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-020-00149-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-020-00149-7

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