Dynamic Evolution of Multi-Scale Ecosystem Services and Their Driving Factors: Rural Planning Analysis and Optimisation

Huiya Yang, Hongchao Jiang, Renzhi Wu, Tianzi Hu and Hao Wang ()
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Huiya Yang: College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Hongchao Jiang: College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Renzhi Wu: School of Architecture, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Tianzi Hu: School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China
Hao Wang: College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: Rural areas provide ecosystem services (ESs) to urban metropolitan regions. These services are threatened by the constant pressure of urbanisation and new interest in rural development. This has heightened the conflict between environmental concerns and developmental needs, thereby presenting significant land management and rural planning challenges. Employing a quantitative measurement and optimisation framework, we investigate six representative ES variables to assess planning strategies that can address this contradiction. We used a suburban rural area around Nanjing, China, as our study area. We collected spatial data from 2005 to 2020 at two scales (village level and 500 m grid) to map ESs, quantify interactions (trade-offs and synergies among ES bundles), and identify the social, ecological, and landscape drivers of rural change. Based on this, rural planning strategies for optimising ESs at different scales have been proposed. Our findings include (1) spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of ESs, (2) the identification of seven synergistic and eight trade-off pairs among ESs, (3) a spatial scale effect in suburban rural areas, and (4) the spatial trade-offs/synergies of ESs exhibiting a ‘Matthew effect’. The identification of key trade-offs and synergistic ES pairs and the categorisation of ES bundles form the basis for a multi-scale hierarchical management approach for ESs in the region. By examining the commonalities and variations in drivers across diverse scales, we established connections and focal points for spatial planning. We use these findings to propose spatial planning and landscape policy recommendations for rural suburban areas on multiple scales. This study aims to provide a comprehensive and detailed spatial optimisation strategy for rural areas that can help contribute to their revitalisation.

Keywords: ecosystem services; spatio-temporal heterogeneity; scale dependency; social–ecological–landscape driving factors; rural landscape planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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