Abstract: The evaluation of ecological service value serves as a foundation for ecological protection and management by assessing the value of regional ecosystems. However, evaluating the ecological service value of the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) is challenging due to its vast spatial scale and complex ecological and socio-economic systems. Current methods are limited in their ability to effectively provide a comprehensive overview of the ecological service value in the YRB. To address this limitation, we have developed an advanced method based on equivalent weight factors for the evaluation of ecological service value in the YRB for the years 2010, 2015, and 2018. Results manifest that: (1) the equivalent factor method is applicable to large river basins as it offers relatively lower calculation costs compared to other methods; (2) the total ecological service value of the YRB in 2010, 2015, and 2018 were 5 889.347 billion yuan, 5 886.502 billion yuan, and 5 950.627 billion yuan, respectively; (3) the ecological service value in most of the upper reaches exhibited an increase, while in the Sichuan Basin and the plains in the middle and lower reaches generally decreased; (4) due to recent protection efforts for the Yangtze River, the ecological assets along the river and lakes in the middle and lower reaches have significantly increased. These findings provide reference information for exploring the applicability of the equivalent factor method in evaluating the ecological service value of the YRB. Moreover, they offer valuable data for understanding the changing trends of ecological assets in the basin.

Key words: ecological service value, spatial-temporal changes, equivalent factor method, Yangtze River Basin, ecological assets