Revealing the Spatial Interactions and Driving Factors of Ecosystem Services: Enlightenments under Vegetation Restoration

Ting Li, Yu Ren, Zemin Ai, Zhihong Qiao, Yanjiao Ren, Liyang Ma and Yadong Yang ()
Additional contact information
Ting Li: College of Geomatics, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Yu Ren: College of Geomatics, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Zemin Ai: College of Geomatics, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Zhihong Qiao: College of Geomatics, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Yanjiao Ren: School of Urban Economics and Public Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China
Liyang Ma: College of Marxism, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Yadong Yang: State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-Arid Arable Land in Northern China, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: Large-scale vegetation restoration has caused complex changes in ecosystem service (i.e., ES) interactions. However, current analysis on the spatial interactions of ESs and their driving mechanisms remains deficient, limiting the adaptive management in vegetation restoration areas. This study focused on a representative restoration area (Yan’an) to analyze the relationships among carbon sequestration, water yield, baseflow regulation, and soil conservation from 1990 to 2020. Employing the bivariate boxplot and spatial autocorrelation methods, we identified the overall changes and spatial patterns of ES interactions. The geographically and temporally weighted regression (i.e., GTWR) model was applied to elucidate the driving factors of these spatial ES interactions. The results indicated the following: (1) Over the past three decades, synergies between carbon sequestration and water yield emerged as the joint results of spatial ‘low–low’ interactions and ‘high–high’ interactions between the two ESs, while other ES pairs generally exhibited comparatively weaker synergies, due to their spatial ‘low–high’ interactions in southern semi-humid areas. (2) In the northern semi-arid areas, both fractional vegetation cover (i.e., FVC) and climatic factors consistently exerted negative influences on all ‘low–low’ ES interactions, which caused a reduced area in synergies, while in the southern semi-humid areas, FVC suppressed the ‘low–high’ trade-offs between ESs, indicating the adaptability of grassland restoration efforts. (3) The impact of human activities on ES interactions has increased in the last 10 years, and exhibited positive effects on the ‘low–low’ ES interactions in northern semi-arid areas. However, the expansion of trade-off between soil conservation and carbon sequestration warrants attention. This study offers important insights into understanding the spatial interactions among carbon, water, and soil-related ESs in drylands.

Keywords: ecosystem services; spatial interaction; driving factors; geographically and temporally weighted regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/511/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/511/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:511-:d:1375123

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().