Accounting and Spatio-temporal Dynamic Analysis of the Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) of Wetlands in Jiangxi Province

Ecosystem services are the foundation for the survival and development of human society. Therefore, conducting precise evaluations of the Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) plays a critical role in balancing ecological protection with economic growth. Jiangxi Province has a rich variety of wetland types. To better understand the value of wetland ecosystem services and their changing patterns, and to enhance awareness of wetland protection, this paper, based on four periods of remote sensing images of Jiangxi Province from 2005 to 2020, combined with statistical data and geographic information technology, constructed a wetland GEP accounting indicator system. Using the InVEST model, the GEP of Jiangxi Province's wetland ecosystems was calculated, and its spatio-temporal dynamics were analyzed. The results show that: (1) From 2005 to 2020, the GEP of Jiangxi Province's wetlands showed a stable growth trend, reaching 7 433.627 billion yuan by 2020, mainly due to the significant contributions of core ecosystem services such as climate regulation, carbon sequestration and oxygen release, and flood regulation and storage; (2) From the perspective of structural composition, regulation services always occupied the largest proportion. Although the initial contribution of cultural services was relatively small, their growth rate was the most significant. Specifically, the trend in service value shows that the value of provisioning services experienced a rise followed by a decline, the value of regulation services first declined then rose, and the value of cultural services continued to grow. Among the many types of wetlands, paddy fields contributed most significantly to wetland regulation services. Meanwhile, land use/cover and climate change had the greatest impact on wetland ecosystem services. (3) From 2005 to 2020, the GEP per unit area of Jiangxi Province's wetlands gradually increased, and the Green Gold Index (GEP/GDP) showed a decreasing trend year by year, indicating that the ecological advantages of Jiangxi Province's wetlands are gradually transforming into economic advantages. In the future, GEP should be enhanced according to local conditions to promote the coupled development of ecology and economy.