Global Versus Local? A Study on the Synergistic Relationship of Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs from Multiple Perspectives Based on Ecological Restoration Zoning of National Land Space—A Case Study of Liaoning Province

Abstract

Clarifying the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services in Liaoning’s ecological restoration zones is crucial for strengthening the positioning of ecological restoration zones and optimizing ecosystem services. This study is based on “Liaoning Provincial Land Spatial Planning (2021–2035)” and divides the area into ecological restoration zones. We utilized the InVEST model, ArcGIS Pro, and Geoda in this study to quantify five ecosystem services (Soil Conservation, Carbon Storage, Habitat Quality, Water Yield, and Food Production) and constructed an evaluation framework to assess the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services at both global and local levels. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The global relationships among ecosystem services in different ecological restoration zones are ranked as: strong trade-offs (35.51%) > weak trade-offs (33.17%) > low synergies (29.09%) > high synergies (2.24%); (2) The area exhibiting synergistic relationships between pairs of local ecosystem services in ecological restoration zones is larger than the area exhibiting trade-offs; (3) The strongest synergy is observed between water yield and soil conservation, while the most significant trade-off occurs between food production and soil conservation. These relationships exhibit similar spatial characteristics in the WSFR, SWCR, and WCR zones; (4) The proportion of areas showing trade-offs and synergies differs between global and local scales.

Keywords

• ecosystem service
• spatial overlap
• correlation analysis
• trade-off
• synergy
• Liaoning Province