A comparison on ecosystem services before/after “5.12” Wenchuan earthquake

Earthquake has great potential to destroy vegetation and water resources. Here, we estimated the ecosystem services before/after “5.12” Wenchuan earthquake in China, in the center zone (ca. 24, 696.94 km2) of the earthquake, the destroyed service value approximately 520.04 × 106 $. Moreover, the losses of biodiversity conservation value were inestimable in this earthquake. The results suggested that earthquake can seriously damage service function of ecosystem. It is a nice opportunity for ecologists to study the recovery of ecosystem services after earthquake disturbance.