Methods and its application of accounting of cropland ecosystem services: Based on the perspective of the intersection of ecology and economics

The accounting of the value of farmland ecosystem services serves as the theoretical basis for formulating policies on agricultural ecological protection compensation and ecological damage compensation, and is the foundation for promoting the realization of the value of agricultural ecological products. From the interdisciplinary perspective of ecology and economics, this paper attempts to integrate ecological accounting with economic accounting, thereby constructing a method for accounting the value of farmland ecosystem services. Moreover, it studies the changing characteristics of the value of farmland ecosystem services in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2000 to 2022. The results are as follows: 1) From 2000 to 2022, the average annual value of farmland ecosystem services in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was 5.21×10¹¹ ¥, equivalent to 79.70% of the average annual regional GDP and 11.02 times the average annual value of provision services. 2) Among the primary indicators, the value of regulating services accounted for the largest proportion, 38.32% of the total value. The value of social security services ranked second, accounting for 35.92%. The values of cultural services, provisioning services, and negative services accounted for 16.52%, 9.04%, and 0.19% respectively. 3) Calculating the agricultural subsidy standard based on the amount that farmers should have received but did not receive from the total value of farmland ecosystem services, the subsidy standard per hectare of farmland in Inner Mongolia should be 51 293 ¥, which is far higher than the current government subsidy standard of 2 250 ¥·hm⁻². The conclusions of this paper imply the following policy implications: First, it is necessary to continuously explore more scientific methods for evaluating the value of farmland ecosystem services to understand the inventory and value of the farmland ecosystem. Second, it is essential to establish and improve a farmland ecological protection mechanism based on value accounting and scientifically formulate agricultural subsidy standards. For Inner Mongolia, the agricultural subsidy standard should be raised. Third, based on the ecological service values of different crops, explore the subsidy standards for different crops, so that farmers can receive more fair and reasonable compensation or subsidies when facing land expropriation or engaging in agricultural planting.