Identifying the regional disparities of ecosystem services from a supply-demand perspective

Abstract

Ecosystem services (ES) play a vital role in sustaining human society's operations. Integrated ES assessment is the foundation for effective ES management. Most previous studies focused on the supply side of ES with fewer concerns on ES demand. Taking the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) as an example, this study analyzed the dynamics of ES from both supply and demand perspectives. The ES supplies of three critical ESs (water yield, carbon fixation, and food provision) have increased from 2000 to 2018, while soil conservation decreased. Water yield, carbon fixation, and soil conservation had positive and negative correlations with precipitation and artificial land area, and there were synergies among the three ESs. In contrast, food provision had no significant correlations with the above two factors and ESs. In 2018, most cities were short of carbon fixation service, and about one-third of municipalities needed more water yield and food provision. There was a distinct spatial mismatch between ES supply and demand. The east region of YRD was the hot spot for each ES's demand. Four suggestions were proposed to improve regional ES management, including enhancing integrated ES assessment, improving climate change resilience, strengthen land-use management, and establishing mechanisms to balance ES supply and demand. Our research indicates the necessity of incorporating ES demand into ES assessment.