Evaluation of the ecological benefits of tea gardens in Meitan County, China, using the InVEST model.

Tea gardens can not only improve the local ecological environment but also increase farmers' incomes, thereby alleviating poverty, and thus achieve a win–win situation between economic and ecological benefits. In this research, the quality and value of the ecological benefits of tea gardens in Meitan County, China, were evaluated from there aspects—soil conservation, water conservation, and carbon storage—using data from the 2015 Meitan Country Forestry Resources Second Class Survey, thematic data, socioeconomic data, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model, and relevant methods of value evaluation. The results showed that: (1) the water conservation of tea garden in Meitan County was 0.61 million m³/a, the carbon storage capacity was 187.65 × 10⁴ t/a, and the soil consolidation was 3.78 × 10⁴ t/a; (2) the ecological benefit value of tea garden in Meitan County was 3.173 billion yuan/a, and the ecological benefit value per unit area was 241,700 yuan/a; (3) among the ecosystem service function values, the value of carbon storage (2.403 billion yuan/a) was greater than that of water conservation (708 million yuan/a) and soil conservation (62 million yuan/a); and (4) of the studied townships, the largest ecological benefits of tea gardens were mainly observed in Yongxing Town, Xinglong Town, Fuxing Town, and Meijiang Town, with the ecological benefits per unit area being largest in Xihe Town and smallest in Xinglong Town. The purpose of this study is to highlight the important value of tea garden ecosystems in Meitan Country, which is not only conducive to the protection of the ecological environment but can also assist government departments to carry out industrial planning and policy-making to promote the harmonious development of the economy and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]