Land Use Land Cover Change and its Impact on Wetland Habitats and Associated Ecosystem Services in the Central Highland of Ethiopia

Land Use Land Cover Change and its Impact on Wetland Habitats and Associated Ecosystem Services in the Central Highland of Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Land Use Land Cover Change and its Impact on Wetland Habitats and Associated Ecosystem Services in the Central Highland of Ethiopia Belew Bekele, Lemma Tsegaye, Dadi Feyisa, Teshome Abera This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6714657/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes significantly influence both socioeconomic conditions and environmental systems at local, regional, and global levels. Despite this, limited research has been conducted on how such changes affect wetland ecosystems and the services they provide in Ethiopia's Central Highlands. This study aims to examine the dynamics of LULC changes and their impact on wetlands and related ecosystem services, using the Central Ethiopian Highlands as a case study. The analysis employs geospatial tools and ecosystem service valuation (ESV) coefficients as primary data sources. LULC changes were assessed using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, while ESVs were estimated through the benefit transfer method, based on previously established global coefficients. Between 2003 and 2023, the study found that built-up areas, forest land, and agricultural land expanded by 85.1%, 15.1%, and 4.9%, respectively. In contrast, there were significant reductions in wetlands (87.5%), bare land (65.7%), and water bodies (49.3%). Over the same period, the total loss in ecosystem service value across the landscape amounted to approximately USD 1,449.2 million per hectare per year, reflecting a 10.5% decline. The most substantial losses in ecosystem services were observed in wetlands (USD 2,078.4 million per hectare per year, a decline of 87.5%) and water bodies (USD 364.9 million per hectare per year, a decline of 49.3%). Furthermore, all categories of ecosystem services—including provisioning, regulating, habitat, and cultural services—experienced a general decline. In conclusion, the Central Highlands of Ethiopia have undergone significant LULC transformations over the past two decades, leading to notable degradation in essential ecosystem services. This underscores the urgent need for sustainable land management strategies that curb unregulated urbanization and agricultural expansion, promote alternative livelihoods, raise public awareness, and establish buffer zones to protect remaining wetland habitats. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Central Ethiopian Highland Ecosystem service Land use land cover change Wetland habitat Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6714657","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":486225667,"identity":"a82b4801-8a75-4eed-a2a4-c6c6f174d951","order_by":0,"name":"Belew Bekele","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwbmBgbGBiDNzsD4gIHhADFaGKFamBmYDUjWwiZBlBZz9sbGx7w7bIz5mZmPVfPU3JHjZ2B++OgGHi2WPQebjXnPpJlJNrOl3eY59sxYsoHN2DgHn8NuJLZJ57YdtjE4zGN2m4ftcOKGAzxs0ni13H/Y/ju37b+N/WH+b8U8/4jRcoOxjTm37YCZATMPGzNvGxFaLHsSm6X/nkk2ljjMZiw5t++wMdBT+P1izn744MeZO+wM+9ubH3548+2wHD9788PH+LSgACYeEMlMrHIQYPxBiupRMApGwSgYMQAAzZxN65p5jZQAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Salale University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Belew","middleName":"","lastName":"Bekele","suffix":""},{"id":486225669,"identity":"1ea4eef3-90da-476c-bb0e-1a7a3b491d51","order_by":1,"name":"Lemma Tsegaye","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Salale University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lemma","middleName":"","lastName":"Tsegaye","suffix":""},{"id":486225672,"identity":"3eb75738-bacc-435c-a0c0-c8c3ba06d958","order_by":2,"name":"Dadi Feyisa","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Salale University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dadi","middleName":"","lastName":"Feyisa","suffix":""},{"id":486225674,"identity":"0c259505-d1c4-4804-8dc6-9f5e24af704f","order_by":3,"name":"Teshome Abera","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Salale University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Teshome","middleName":"","lastName":"Abera","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-21 09:08:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6714657/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6714657/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88243169,"identity":"24eac300-b52b-4070-8f27-8972dd15ef6e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-04 11:47:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":908367,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptfile.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6714657/v1_covered_f0a574c0-2fe4-4914-981b-f11af3da6f40.pdf"},{"id":87067380,"identity":"1fd155d7-9793-4b1e-b162-d3e0c599d4a6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-18 18:52:06","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":19493,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementarymaterial.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6714657/v1/ca52565c0ab2c39c7da9d839.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Land Use Land Cover Change and its Impact on Wetland Habitats and Associated Ecosystem Services in the Central Highland of Ethiopia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Central Ethiopian Highland, Ecosystem service, Land use land cover change, Wetland habitat ","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6714657/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6714657/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes significantly influence both socioeconomic conditions and environmental systems at local, regional, and global levels. Despite this, limited research has been conducted on how such changes affect wetland ecosystems and the services they provide in Ethiopia's Central Highlands. This study aims to examine the dynamics of LULC changes and their impact on wetlands and related ecosystem services, using the Central Ethiopian Highlands as a case study. The analysis employs geospatial tools and ecosystem service valuation (ESV) coefficients as primary data sources. LULC changes were assessed using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, while ESVs were estimated through the benefit transfer method, based on previously established global coefficients. Between 2003 and 2023, the study found that built-up areas, forest land, and agricultural land expanded by 85.1%, 15.1%, and 4.9%, respectively. In contrast, there were significant reductions in wetlands (87.5%), bare land (65.7%), and water bodies (49.3%). 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