The northern Sanjiang Plain is an important commodity grain production base, also distributed by the national nature reserves of Qixinghe wetlands, Sanjiang wetlands and Honghe wetlands, which have been included in the list of important international wetlands. In the regional economy and ecology, the stability and health of local ecosystems are closely related to food security and developmental sustainability. Thus, it is desirable to know the capacity of ecosystem services in this area. This paper used the two cities and five counties in the northern Sanjiang Plain for a case study, including Youyi County, Raohe County, Baoqing County, Fuyuan County, Fujin City, Tongjiang City, and Suibin County. Based on RS, GIS, and land use data, the ecosystem service values during 1954-2009 were calculated to reflect the temporal and spatial variations according to multiple assessment models. The results showed that (1) the area of different land use types was drastically changed: farmland increased fastest at 1.08% per year and wetlands followed at a speed of 0.85% per year. The forest land, grassland, built-up land, and waters changed a little, within 10%, and undeveloped land was almost unchanged. The increasing demands of population and grain production were the main driving forces. (2) The total ecosystem service value of the northern Sanjiang Plain declined from ￥1.19×10¹¹ in 1954 to ￥7.80×10¹⁰ in 2009. Long-term land development and cultivation were the main reasons for the variation of ecosystem service values, which caused the loss of wetlands, forest and grasslands, and farmland expansion. (3) During the past 55 years, only the values of farmlands and waters were increasing. By contrast, the other land types had a decrease in ecosystem service values. The value of wetland ecosystem services was reduced the most, reaching ￥8.56×10¹⁰, followed by woodlands at ￥4.19×10⁹. The greatest increment in ecosystem service value occurred in farmland, reaching ￥1.96×10⁹. In conclusion, of all the ecosystem service functions, only the ecosystem service values of food production exhibited a rising trend with an increase of ￥1.23×10⁹, whereas the others were decreasing, characterized by a decrease of ￥2.02×10¹⁰ in water conservation, a decrease of ￥2.19×10¹⁰ in waste treatment, and a decrease in ￥2.25×10¹⁰ of climate regulation. All in all, the ecosystem services of the northern Sanjiang Plain deteriorated seriously in 55 years and the resilience of ecosystem services should be enhanced. (4) The total ecosystem service value and per unit area ecosystem service value of all regions were both declining from 1954 to 2009. The loss of ecosystem service value per unit area in different parts was not the same. The areas with a vast decrease of wetlands and forest as well as a fast increase in farmland had a significant loss. The ecosystem service value per unit area in Tongjiang City lost most by ￥2.53×10⁴ per hectare from 1954 to 2009, followed by Tongjiang City, Fujin City, Youyi County, Fuyuan County, Suibin County, Raohe County, and Baoqing County.