Factors of ecosystem service values in a fast-developing region in China: Insights from the joint impacts of human activities and natural conditions

Abstract

Understanding the spatiotemporal variety and influencing mechanisms of ecosystem service value (ESV) can provide a scientific guide for the regional ecological management and sustainable development. However, the joint effect of factors influencing ESV is ignored, which is an important way for influencing factors to work in the complex and frequently interacting ecosystem. In this study, we used remote sensing data, grid statistics data, and machine learning methods to reveal the spatiotemporal variation of ESV and to explore the combined effects of influencing factors in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) from 2000 to 2015. The specific results were as follows. (1) The total ESV in the GBA decreased by 13.11 billion yuan with the rate of decline slowing over the study period, and the regulating service suffered the most damage. (2) The spatial distribution of ESV has an outer high and inner low circle structure. Compared with that of the west bank of the Pearl River estuary, ESV of the east bank is relatively lower. (3) The three kinds of combination of factors had different impacts on ecosystem services. ①The effect of land-use integrity on ecosystem services is opposite between natural ecosystem and urban ecosystem. ②When regional population density is under a certain threshold (669 people/km2), social economies and ecosystems may develop together. ③The mismatched hydrothermal conditions can lead to a decrease in ESV. The findings of our study are conducive to identifying the current situation of ecosystem services and promoting the ecological civilization construction in the GBA, and bring a new insight and perspective on the influencing mechanisms of ESV.