Cultural ecosystem services valuation and its multilevel drivers: A case study of Gaoqu Township in Shaanxi Province, China

Understanding residents’ preferences for cultural ecosystem services (CES) will provide reference for targeted ecological management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preferences for CES and to determine their multilevel drivers in Gaoqu Township in Mizhi County, China. A social preference method (questionnaire) was used to quantitatively assess the CES preferences. The respondents in Gaoqu Township perceived the importance of all eight types of CES, and aesthetic and sense of place services were the two most prevalent CES categories in the study area. Woodlands and grasslands, cave dwellings, terraces, temples and theaters played a significant role in providing diverse CES, and each type of environmental space was important for at least four types of CES. We also used multilevel models to detect the individual and environmental variables that affect the CES preferences. The results showed that gender, age, health, and annual per capita income did not have a significant effect on preferences for any of the eight types of CES. Community safety was identified as an important environmental variable that explained the preferences for educational, social relations, therapeutic and recreation services. The preferences for sense of place services were driven by per capita living space, population density and road network density, and migrant works had higher preferences for sense of place services than did farmers in the study area. This study verified the validity of multilevel model to quantitatively identify the nested drivers of CES. These outcomes can contribute to improving our understanding of the importance of CES and may assist in developing relevant policy for the transformation from traditional living functions to cultural and ecological functions in Gaoqu Township.