Multidimensional Assessment of Lake Water Ecosystem Services Using Remote Sensing

Freshwater is becoming scarce worldwide with the rapidly growing population, developing industries, burgeoning agriculture, and increasing consumption. Assessment of ecosystem services has been regarded as a promising way to reconcile the increasing demand and depleting natural resources. In this paper, we proposed a multidimensional assessment framework for evaluating water provisioning ecosystem services by integrating multi-source remote sensing products. We applied the multidimensional framework to assess lake water ecosystem services in the state of Minnesota, US. We found that: (1) the water provisioning ecosystem services degraded during 1998-2018 from three assessment perspectives; (2) the output, efficiency, and trend indices have stable distribution and various spatial clustering patterns from 1998 to 2018; (3) high-level efficiency depends on high-level output, and low-level output relates to low-level efficiency; (4) Western Minnesota, including Northwest, West Central, and Southwest, degraded more severely than other zones in water provisioning services; (5) human activities impact water provisioning services in Minnesota more than climate changes. These findings can benefit policymakers by identifying the priorities for better protection, conservation, and restoration of lake ecosystems. Our multidimensional assessment framework can be adapted to evaluate ecosystem services in other regions.

Automated summary

This study proposed a multidimensional assessment framework for evaluating water provisioning ecosystem services and applied it to assess lake water ecosystem services in Minnesota. The findings showed degradation in water provisioning ecosystem services over 1998-2018, with different levels of severity in different regions, and a greater impact of human activities compared to climate changes. The results can help policymakers prioritize protection, conservation, and restoration of lake ecosystems and the framework can be adapted for evaluating ecosystem services in other regions.