Longitudinal study of changes in ecosystem services in a city of lakes, Bhopal, India
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Longitudinal study of changes in ecosystem services in a city of lakes, Bhopal, India Sonali Sharma1 • M. M. Anees1 • Mani Sharma1 • P. K. Joshi1,2 1 2
School of Environmental Sciences (SES), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi 110 067, India Special Centre for Disaster Research, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110 067, India
Received: 20 July 2020 / Revised: 17 September 2020 / Accepted: 16 October 2020 Ó The Joint Center on Global Change and Earth System Science of the University of Maryland and Beijing Normal University 2020
Abstract Urban landscapes are now the most inhabited places by the majority of global population. The rapid and large-scale land use land cover (LULC) changes induced by urbanization are declining the ecosystem services (ESs) provisioning capacity of natural and semi-natural ecosystems of urban landscapes. The main aim of the study was to assess the ecological changes caused by LULC change in the urbanized capital of the Central India, Bhopal. This study relied on satellite images (from 1988 to 2018) for generation of spatio-temporal LULC database and direct benefit transfer ecosystem service valuation scheme for quantifying the ecosystem service value (ESV). The results showed decline in total ESs by US $ 2.00 million. Though water body covers least area out of 5 LULC types of the city, it remains the top contributor to total ESV in each reference year. The ecosystem service function analysis aided in identifying, regulating and provisioning services as the key contributors. In addition, assessment of ESs under two alternate future urban growth scenarios highlights the importance of conservation of natural ecosystems within the urban area. The results of this study can provide insights to the urban planners in effective decision making about how the ecosystems and their ecosystem service functions can be sustainably managed and strategically developed for the overall well-being of the growing urban population. Keywords Bhopal Ecosystem services LULC change Urban ecosystem Urban growth scenario
& P. K. Joshi [email protected]
1 Introduction Presently, cities around the world house 55% of global population and this proportion is expected to reach 68% by 2050 (UN 2019). The increased rate of urbanization with the rising global population and accelerated economy demands ancillary infrastructural development (Seto et al. 2012). Thus, the rate of the present urban growth and expansion is higher than the population growth rate (Seto et al. 2011). As per the World Bank, by 2050 nearly 7 out of 10 people will be living in cities. Such emergence of cities as preferred residing areas has impeded the importance of understanding them as a system, urban ecosystem (UE) (Rebele 1994). An UE can be defined as an integrated ensemble of artificial, semi-natural and natural ecosystems sharing complex interactions (Ridd 1995). UEs are the evolution products consequent to dynamic growth, over time and space, altering natural and semi-natural land uses into urban
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