Integrating land use management with trade-offs between ecosystem services: A framework and application

Abstract

The trade-offs of ecosystem services (ES) are at the frontier of geographical and ecological studies. However, previous studies have focused on either supply-supply trade-off or supply–demand trade-off, while the integrated research of three trade-off types for ES (i.e. supply-supply trade-off, demand-demand trade-off, and supply–demand trade-off) needs to be further studied. This study integrated three trade-off types for ES to establish an analytical framework. This framework was then applied to a sub-watershed of the Yellow River in China (i.e., the Fenghe River watershed). Based on a quantitative assessment of both the supply and demand of ES, this study quantifies and displays these three trade-off types for ES in this sub-watershed. From the supply perspective, obvious trade-offs exist between food provision as well as water yield, carbon sequestration, and soil retention. From the demand perspective, there are weak conflicts between environmental experts and other stakeholders, and obvious trade-offs exist between soil retention as well as food provision, water yield, carbon sequestration, and eco-recreation. From the supply–demand match perspective, a deficit for food provision, water yield, and carbon sequestration exists in the northern urban areas, while a surplus exists in the southern areas. No deficit was found for soil retention and eco-recreation at the sub-watershed scale. Based on the spatial characteristics of these three trade-off types for ES, the Fenghe River watershed could be divided into 10 land use management zones. Finally, the corresponding measures and polices are proposed to optimize the matching of ES supply–demand. This study contributes to the optimization of the sustainability of ES from a novel perspective, and provides a scientific basis for land use management.