Evaluation the impact of earthquake on ecosystem services

On 12 May 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck China's south-western region (the Wenchuan earthquake). It not only caused large numbers of human casualties and property loss, but also damaged the ecological environment profoundly and led to the loss of ecosystem services, threatening ecological safety. Evaluation of the loss of the ecosystem services was vital for post-disaster reconstruction. A GIS-based ecosystem services evaluation model, InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs), was used to make a quantitative assessment of the effects of the earthquake on three critical ecosystem services – water retention, soil conservation and carbon storage – and to analysis the spatial variability of ecosystem services. The results showed that although the area destroyed by the earthquake was small, the loss of ecosystem services was nevertheless considerable. The soil conservation service suffered the most serious losses, followed by the carbon storage service and water-related ecosystem services. The disturbance to ecosystem services lessened gradually outwards from the epicenter. Earthquake intensity zones X and XI accounted for more than 80% of the ecosystem service losses over the whole area affected by the earthquake. Zones VIII and IX suffered some losses, but were less severe than in zones X and XI. Zones VI and VII experienced only a minor loss of ecosystem services. At higher ground elevations, the damage to water conservation, soil conservation and carbon storage functions increased at first, then decreased; however, damage increased steadily with steepening slopes.