Valuing ecosystem products and realization pathways for farmland ecosystems in inland river basins: A case study of Zhangye City

Farmland ecosystems are the primary ecosystem type in inland river basins, providing the biological and material basis for human development and survival. The foundation for monetizing the value of agricultural ecological products and transforming green mountains into gold mountains is the precise assessment of ecosystem products in specific geographic units (VEP) within farmland ecosystems, which elucidates regional agricultural resource endowments and spatial distribution. However, agricultural ecological products face challenges in valuation, trading, and monetization, and research on pathways for their value transformation remains limited. This study uses Zhangye City in inland river basins as an example to construct a catalog of farmland ecosystem ecological products and explores VEP accounting methods based on multi-source data, including statistical, remote sensing, and monitoring data, at the city and county scales, and analyzes differentiated value transformation pathways according to the attributes of various agricultural ecological products. The results show that material supply value ranks highest among the VEP of farmland ecosystems in inland river basins, followed by regulatory services, while recreational agriculture value ranks lowest. The ranking of VEP varies from the ranking of farmland ecosystem area, with available agricultural water being a major constraint on the VEP of farmland ecosystems in inland river basins. Regional climate, geographic position, and transportation are linked to the value of agricultural ecosystem products within material supply products. Precipitation, soil structure, and cropping patterns are linked to the value of agricultural ecosystem products within regulatory services. The local cultural resources and tourism infrastructure are linked to the value of agricultural ecosystem products within cultural services. Regarding the pathways for achieving the value of agricultural ecological products, market-oriented strategies dominate the mainstay of material supply products, government-led mechanisms are pivotal for regulatory service products, and a combination of government and market strategies is essential for cultural service products.