Marine Ecosystem Services In Luoyuan Bay Of Fujian Province: Valuation And Spatial Difference

Ecosystem services and eco-services valuation are among hot issues in ecology study at home and abroad. Marine ecosystem is one of three major ecosystems at global level, and as a part of which, bay ecosystems are throughout the world under intensive utilizations and developments. Bay ecosystems in the subtropics are very much closely related to production and human life. The valuation of subtropical bay eco-services is of great importance in terms of application and scientific research, which would lay foundations in many aspects, such as the developments of marine resources, the revision of marine function zoning systems, the management of sea areas, the researches about marine environmental protection, the classification of sea areas, the imposition of sea use, the compensation of marine pollution accidents and the determine of sea eco-compensation standards.This work takes Luoyuan Bay in Fujian province as study area. It deals with the valuation of 8 core functions of marine ecosystem in the bay, by using various methods, such as Market Price Method, Replacement Cost Method, Willingness to Pay Method, and so on. Although the results are still of preliminary estimates, they are worthy of being promoted and applied. According to the estimates, the total annual eco-services in the bay amounts to 3323.31 million Yuan, of which,1721.63 million is contributed by food provision,985.84 million by sea primary production,450.95 million by waste treatments, 69.64 million by climate regulation,34.44 million by habitat,48.25 million by gas regulation 9.68 million by nutrient recycling,and 2.88 million by research and cultural services. The study shows that food provision function, accounting for 51.80% of the total, is very prominent. This reflects its importance as a production base of aquaculture in Fujian province. As to spatial distribution, the eco-services are progressively decreasing from the mouth of the bay to the inner of the bay. And, sea areas around Cattle Pit Bay have relatively higher eco-services value, meaning that it should be very careful to carry out reclamations thereby.