Spatial Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services in Guangdong Province, China

Qian Xu, Ying Yang (), Ren Yang, Li-Si Zha, Zi-Qing Lin and Shu-Hao Shang
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Qian Xu: School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
Ying Yang: School of Culture Tourism and Geography, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
Ren Yang: School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Li-Si Zha: School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
Zi-Qing Lin: School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
Shu-Hao Shang: School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China

Land, 2023, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: The trade-offs between ecosystem services directly affect the quality of the ecological environment and the survival and development of human society, which is of great concern to academia, governments, and non-governmental organizations. Guangdong Province is a strong economic performer in China; hence, we selected it to explore the trade-off and synergy differences between different ecosystem services, and to investigate the mechanisms of their influence in economically developed regions with a large population density. Our results showed three main points: (1) The ecosystem services in Guangdong Province showed clear spatial heterogeneity. In addition, northern Guangdong has high levels of water retention, with a value of 5804.73 × 10 4 m 3 /km 2 and high values for carbon sequestration and soil retention. Western Guangdong is a functional area for food production, and the Pearl River Delta is an economically developed region with low levels of ecosystem services. (2) Overall, in Guangdong Province, three pairs of ecosystem services, namely water retention–soil retention, carbon sequestration–water retention, and carbon sequestration–soil retention, showed a strong positive correlation and good synergistic relationships. The other three pairs of relationships show strong trade-off effects. (3) The relationships between similar ecosystem services show completely different characteristics in different regions. Carbon sequestration and water retention, carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, water retention and biodiversity conservation, and soil retention and biodiversity conservation were mainly manifested in high–high synergies, particularly in northern Guangdong; carbon sequestration and soil retention and water retention and soil retention, primarily manifested synergies; carbon sequestration and food production, water retention and food production, and soil retention and food production mainly manifested as trade-off relationships.

Keywords: ecosystem services; trade-off; synergy; spatial relation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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