Provisioning services:
(1) Freshwater: for drinking and household use, agriculture, industrial and ecological uses have been the key focus on city management, the overall wetland conservation plans, as well as the drinking water source protection by “regulation of drinking water protection”.
(2) Food: except rice, which in general is not calculated in wetland supply service in China, fishes, starch (lotus seeds, Gordon Euryale seeds), fruits (water chestnut), vegetable (water bamboo) are main products from natural wetlands, and critically important for Chengde. Fish has been the main protein supply. To ensure sustainable fishery, the government issued ordered seasonal fishing ban every year, as well as the protection of spawning sites, and the migration route of the four major economic fishes.
(3) Fiber: reeds fiber production had been the key revenue for local communities, in recent years, sand-mining becomes very important in the urbanization processes.
Regulating services:
(1) Flood hazard regulation: wetlands in Changde has the capacity to store and pass flooding water from the whole river basins of Yuan River (1033 km long and the basin area of 89,100 sq km, 39.3 billion cubic meters water), Li River (388 km long with 18496 sq km and 13 billion cubic meters of discharge), as well as the flooding water from Yangtze River via Songzhi river is 38.9 billion cubic meters, and Yangtze River via Taiping River is 15.2 billion cubic meters. In total, 107.4 billions cubic meters of water from upstream, plus internal flooding water absorbed by the wetlands in Changde, which contributed greatly to the whole Dongting Lake region, as well as the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River;
(2) Water Purification: sediments and nutrients from upstream of Yuan River, Lishui River, and Yangtze River have been deposit at West Dongting Lake and Qili Lake
Supporting services:
(1) Primary production: it produces at least 15,000 tons of reeds, Corex grass and aquatic plants each year.
(2) Soil formation: Deposit sediments and nutrients in the West Dongting Lake and Qili Lake, . Floodplains of both lake have been pilled up on average 3 meters, with some areas exceed 10 meters.
(3) Nutrient cycle: Reeds and popular plantation within floodplains and lakes uptake great amount of nutrients from upstream of the rivers.
(4) Water recycle: Chuanzi River alone can treat and recycle tones of sewage water each year.
(5) Habitat for 120 species of fishes, 285 species of birds. It also support 30 species of amphibians and 50 species of reptiles, 72 species of mammal and 865 species of vascular plant species. At least 10threatened species on the IUCN redlist are inhabit here, including 3 global critically threatened species, e.g., Siberian cranes, Baer’s Pochard, and Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), and endangered species, such as Scally-sided merganser and Oriental storks.
Cultural services:
(1) Culture heritage: Chengtoushan relics of ancient city uncovered the earliest rice cultivation in the world. Taoyuan Yuan, one of the most famous Chinese literature was compiled based on the wetland landscapes in Changde.
(2) Recreation and tourism: Chuanzi River boat trip, Liuye Lake recreation, Yuan River National Wetland Park, Chengtoushan Ancient City, and West Dongting Lake are key tourists destinations. In 2016, tourism income recorded 4.5 billion USD.
(3) Inspirational values: Rivers of Changede City is the source of Dao TeChing by Laozi, and therefore, it got the name of Changde and has been named as the origin of moral culture. Canglang River, a tributary of Yuan River, is also the origin of Canglang culture, which has inspired Chinese scholars and politicians for thousands of years.
(4) Research and education: Beijing Forestry University has setup field research station at West Dongtinglake, Yuan River and Shuyaunzhou National Wetlands Park.