Trade-Offs and Synergies Between Ecosystem Services and Their Ecological Security Patterns in the Guanzhong–Tianshui Economic Zone

Jing Zhou, Jianhua Xiao (), Daiying Yin and Yu Ren
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Jing Zhou: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jianhua Xiao: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Daiying Yin: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yu Ren: College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: The Guanzhong–Tianshui economic zone is a strategic link in China’s Belt and Road network, faces the contradiction between ecological protection and economic development, and urgently needs to construct an ecological security pattern based on ecosystem services to permit sustainable development. In this study, we evaluated the ecological services of net primary productivity ( NPP ), water yield ( WY ), soil conservation ( SC ), habitat quality ( HQ ), and food production ( FP ). We explored the trade-offs and synergies between services using correlation analysis and geographically weighted regression and constructed an ecological security pattern through circuit theory. NPP , WY , SC , and FP increased during the study period, whereas HQ decreased. The NPP × WY , WY × SC , and WY × HQ shifted from synergies to trade-offs; NPP × SC , NPP × HQ , and SC × HQ were always synergies; NPP × FP , SC × FP , and FP × HQ were always trade-offs; and WY × FP shifted from trade-offs to synergies. We selected service bundles with significant synergies among NPP , SC , and HQ as ecological sources, which were mainly in the Qinling and Weibei mountains, comprising 47 ecological patches. We identified 58 ecological corridors, 330.83 km 2 of pinch points, and 401.30 km 2 of barriers, which form a mesh structure covering the study area, proposing a development pattern of six zones and one belt. Our results provide a framework for ecological protection and restoration, which may serve as a scientific foundation for upcoming regional land management initiatives.

Keywords: ecosystem services; trade-off; synergy; ecological service bundles; ecological security patterns (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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