Ecological Indicators (Sep 2023)
Response of ecosystem services to landscape patterns under socio-economic-natural factor zoning: A case study of Hubei Province, China
Abstract
The regional landscape pattern heterogeneity and the spatiotemporal distribution of ecosystem services (ESs) are influenced by the distribution of natural resources and regional socio-economic development. Analyzing ESs and the landscape pattern impact on ESs in different sub-regions by separating the natural, economic, and social factors is important for regional development and conservation. In this study, Fragstats, the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model and R software were applicated to analyze the response of ESs trade-offs to landscape characteristics under socio-economic-natural zoning, using a variety of data in Hubei Province as an example. The results showed that: (1) Hubei Province was divided into four sub-regions: a woodland protection zone (WPZ), a rapid urbanization zone (RUZ), a plain agricultural zone (PAZ), and a mountainous agricultural zone (MAZ). (2) The water yield (WY) and crop production (CP) services increased by 769.32 mm and 5.07 × 106 t from 2000 to 2020, respectively, while the carbon sequestration (CS) and nutrient discharge (ND) services decreased by 6.96 × 106 t and 2.75 × 107 kg, respectively. (3) There were differences in the interactions of ESs in four sub-regions. The WY in the RUZ exhibited a strong trade-off relationship with the remaining three ESs, while WY and ND showed a weak synergistic relationship in the two agricultural zones. (4) The response of the ESs to landscape patterns was not the same in different sub-regions. The dominant land types had a weaker impact on the ESs than the non-dominant land use types in the WPZ and RUZ. These results indicate that the different distributions of the natural resources and the unsynchronized social and economic development had effects on ESs, and that landscape pattern optimization enhances ESs should be considered in ecosystem protection.
