Land Use Change and Ecosystem Service Variations in Huai Luang River Basin, Udon Thani Province, Thailand

Abstract

Huai Luang river basin is one of the sub-basins of Mekong River that supports socioeconomic development in northeast of Thailand. Alteration of natural ecosystems into built-up and agricultural land often causes damage to ecosystem services in a basin. This chapter aims at projecting land use change in 2017–2032 by considering six biophysical and socioeconomic drivers: soil group, distance from road, rail and river, population density, and rice suitability area. Two land use scenarios, business as usual (BAU) and ecosystem service (ES), have been used to analyze feedbacks to ecological system. Results reveal the increase in built-up land for BAU scenarios, while wetland and grassland tend to be increased for ES scenarios. Ecosystem service value of ES scenario in 2032 increases by 26.19% compared to those of BAU scenario. Results are useful for future ecosystem monitoring, land use planning, and spatial decision-making at a basin and/or provincial level to promote sustainable land use planning. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.