- English
The alteration of land use and land cover caused by human activities on a global scale has
had a notable impact on ecosystem services at regional and global levels, which are crucial for the
survival and welfare of human beings. Merbil, a small freshwater wetland located in the Brahmaputra
basin in Assam, India, is not exempt from this phenomenon. In the present study, we have estimated
and shown a spatio-temporal variation of ecosystem service values in response to land use and
land cover alteration for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2021, and predicted the same for 2030 and
2040. Supervised classification and the CA-Markov model were used in this study for land-use and
land-cover classification and future projection, respectively. The result showed a significant increase
in built-up areas, agricultural land, and aquatic plants and a decrease in open water and vegetation
during 1990–2040. The study area experienced a substantial rise in ecosystem service values during
the observed period (1990–2021) due to the rapid expansion of built-up areas and agricultural and
aquatic land. Although the rise of built-up and agricultural land is economically profitable and has
increased the study site’s overall ecosystem service values, decreasing the area under open water and
vegetation cover may have led to an ecological imbalance in the study site. Hence, we suggest that
protecting the natural ecosystem should be a priority in future land-use planning. The study will aid
in developing natural resource sustainability management plans and provide useful guidelines for
preserving the local ecological balance in small wetlands over the short to medium term.
- English
