Abstract: Through the interpretation of the remote sensing images of September 15th, 1988, May 19th, 2000 and June 7th, 2006, the land use and land cover change in Changwu County of Shaanxi Province were acquired, and based on the terrestrial ecosystem service value per unit area in China, the total ecosystem service value in the County was calculated. In the recent 30 years, the farmland area in the County decreased markedly with the development of the Conversion of Farmland to Forest Project, while the forestland area  increased with the implementation of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program. Meanwhile, the unused land, water area, and grassland had no obvious change. The total ecosystem service value increased year by year, from 5.67×10⁸ yuan in 1988 to 5.72×10⁸ yuan in 2006, and the ecosystems in the County tended to develop healthily.

Key words: Steep slopeland, Soil moisture, Soil nutrients, Productivity, Spatial variability, Loessial semiarid region