How Do Spatial Patterns Impact Regulation of Water-Related Ecosystem Services? Insights from a New Town Development in the Yangtze River Delta, China

Abstract

Scientists have made efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ecosystem service valuation and mapping; yet little actual implementation of new ecosystem service knowledge has been delivered in practice. We explored this gap by developing a spatially explicit and semi-qualitative evaluation approach to clarify how the spatial patterns of new town developments impact three types of water-related regulating ecosystem services, namely water flow regulation, flooding mitigation,and water quality regulation. Based on peer-reviewed publications, we identified key indicators with spatial characteristics that practitioners care about and have control of. We investigated the case of Ling..