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Valuation of mangrove ecosystem services based on emergy: a case study in China
Zhao, S. & Wu, C.
Abstract
The mangrove ecosystem is a very important
coastal ecosystem in China. However, the mangrove area of
China has been severely reduced during the past 50 years.
An important reason is that their values are not adequately
represented in decision-making. Often the economic valuations
of mangroves include only direct uses and products of
mangroves, which only represent part of the total value of
mangrove ecosystem services. Using the emergy synthesis
method, this paper aims at assessing the emergy value of
mangrove ecosystem services in China. The emergy synthesis
method can be usefully applied to value ecosystem
services from a ‘donor-side’ perspective. It provides an ecocentric
value of goods and services based on the inputs and
outputs that support a system rather than the generated outputs
(ecosystem services) that are useful for humans. In this
study, the amounts of ecosystem services (outputs) have
been converted to a common unit using the emergy synthesis
method. We present a possible perspective for ecosystem
service (user-side) valuation using the emergy synthesis
method (donor-side approach). The ecosystem services of
mangroves in China evaluated in our synthesis include
organic matter production, raw materials, habitat, disturbance
regulation, waste treatment and scientific research.
The results show that the total emergy value of mangrove
ecosystem services in China, which covers 22,752 ha, adds
up to 7.56E+08 Em$ or 33,219.71 Em$/ha. The results
from the valuation of selected mangrove ecosystem services
suggest that mangroves are of significant importance to
human well-being.
Keywords
Mangrove; Ecosystem services; China; Emergy value
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