Spatiotemporal exploration of ecosystem service value, landscape ecological risk, and their interactive relationship in Hunan Province, Central-South China, over the past 30 years

Abstract

Ecosystem services and ecological risk prevention are important factors that influence for sustainable socio-economic development. In recent years, fewer studies, and practices have been conducted on the value of ecosystem services and ecological risk management in larger regions, and the mechanisms of their interactions have not been adequately investigated. The central southern region of China is in a stage of high-quality development, and Hunan Province in this region is used as an example to investigate the interaction mechanism between ecosystem service value (ESV) and landscape ecological risk (LER)as well as to generate new ideas for coordinated and sustainable regional socioeconomic development. This study developed an evaluation model of ESV and LER by synthesizing multi-source data of Hunan Province from 1990 to 2020 and further revealed the interaction mechanism between ESV and LER. We found the following: (1) Hunan Province experienced rapid urbanization, and both ESV and LER showed increasing trends. A complex and significant positive correlation was observed between these two variables. (2) The ESV in Hunan Province showed an overall increasing trend from 1990 to 2020, and each level of ESV was distributed from high to low, with the core of the high value area spreading outward. ESV gradually decreased after 2010, when urban expansion was rapid. (3) The LER level in Hunan Province shifted from medium-low risk to high risk, the risk level gradually increased, and the overall distribution pattern of each level was high in the north and south and low in the surroundings. (4) There were four types of spatial correlations at the local scale: high value and high risk, high value and low risk, low value and high risk, and low value and low risk. Based on these results, an ecological risk prevention zoning plan was developed for Hunan Province. This study contributes to understanding of the interactive and synergistic relationship between ESV and LER in Hunan Province, which is critical for optimizing sustainable economic and social development.