Location of the study area.

<p>Ningxia Province and the Loess Plateau, China (a), the location of Hechuan Town in the Loess area of Ningxia Province (b) and, the village boundary and the digital elevation model (DEM) map of Hechuan Town (c).</p

The change of ecosystem service values (ESVs) in Hechuan Town from 1982 to 2008.

<p>The change of ecosystem service values (ESVs) in Hechuan Town from 1982 to 2008.</p

Land use transition matrix from 1982 to 2002 and from 2002 to 2008 (%).

<p>Land use transition matrix from 1982 to 2002 and from 2002 to 2008 (%).</p

Landscape metrics at the landscape level in Hechuan Town in 1982, 2002 and 2008.

<p>IJI: Interspersion and Justaposition Index; LUII: land use intensity index; PD: patch density; SHAPE_AM: area-weighted mean shape index; SHDI: Shannon’s diversity index.</p

Land use maps of Hechuan town in 1982 (a), 2002 (b) and 2008 (c).

<p>Land use maps of Hechuan town in 1982 (a), 2002 (b) and 2008 (c).</p

Equivalent weight factor of ecosystem service values (ESVs) per hectare of terrestrial ecosystem in China [30].

<p>Equivalent weight factor of ecosystem service values (ESVs) per hectare of terrestrial ecosystem in China <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0110745#pone.0110745-Su2" target="_blank">[30]</a>.</p

Correlation coefficients between ecosystem service values (ESVs) and landscape pattern metrics.

<p>TESVs: the total ecosystem service values (ESVs); ESVs_1: the ESVs of gas regulation; ESVs_2 climate regulation; ESVs_3: the ESVs of water supply; ESVs_4: the ESVs of soil formation and retention; ESVs_5: the ESVs of waste treatment, ESVs_6: the ESVs of biodiversity protection; ESVs_7 the ESVs of food production; ESVs_8: the ESVs of raw material; ESVs_9: the ESVs of recreation and culture.</p><p>PD: patch density; SHAPE_AM: area-weighted mean shape index; IJI: Interspersion and Justaposition Index; SHDI: Shannon’s diversity index; LUII: land use intensity index; PLAND: percentage of landscape. The 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 after the above landscape metrics respects different landscape, that is cropland, orchard, forestland, grassland, residential land, water body and unused land, respectively.</p><p>*significant at 0.01 level.</p><p>Correlation coefficients between ecosystem service values (ESVs) and landscape pattern metrics.</p

The coefficient of sensitivity (CS) resulting from adjustment of ecosystem valuation coefficients.

<p>The coefficient of sensitivity (CS) resulting from adjustment of ecosystem valuation coefficients.</p

The ecosystem service values (ESVs) per hectare of different land use types in Hechuan town (US$·ha-1·yr-1).

<p>The ecosystem service values (ESVs) per hectare of different land use types in Hechuan town (US$·ha-1·yr-1).</p

Landscape metrics at the class-level in Hechuan Town in 1982, 2002 and 2008.

<p>cls_1, cls_2, cls_3, cls_4, cls_5, cls_6, and cls_7 represent cropland, orchard, forestland, grassland, residential land, water body and unused land. PLAND: the percentage of landscape; PD: patch density; SHAPE_AM: area-weighted mean shape index; IJI: Interspersion and Justaposition Index.</p