Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province

Accurately understanding the interactions among ecosystem services (ESs) and analyzing their complex driving mechanisms is crucial for enhancing ESs on the Loess Plateau. Yan’an is a typical loess hilly and gully area facing serious population-land-food conflicts. It is necessary to systematically e...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qiaoyang Yang, Hui Qian, Yanyan Gao, Yicheng Duan, Zhiming Cao, Panpan Tian, Kang Li, Shuhan Yang, Weijie Zhao, Qi Long
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Ecological Indicators
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25007034
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850082541169541120
author Qiaoyang Yang
Hui Qian
Yanyan Gao
Yicheng Duan
Zhiming Cao
Panpan Tian
Kang Li
Shuhan Yang
Weijie Zhao
Qi Long
author_facet Qiaoyang Yang
Hui Qian
Yanyan Gao
Yicheng Duan
Zhiming Cao
Panpan Tian
Kang Li
Shuhan Yang
Weijie Zhao
Qi Long
author_sort Qiaoyang Yang
collection DOAJ
description Accurately understanding the interactions among ecosystem services (ESs) and analyzing their complex driving mechanisms is crucial for enhancing ESs on the Loess Plateau. Yan’an is a typical loess hilly and gully area facing serious population-land-food conflicts. It is necessary to systematically expound the relationship between ecological environment and grain production (GP). By using GeoDetector and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) models, this study investigated the spatio-temporal evolution, trade-offs/synergies and driving forces of four ESs interactions: water yield (WY), soil conservation (SC), carbon sequestration (CS), and GP. The results revealed that between 1990 and 2020, (1) The increases in WY, SC, CS, and GP indicated a significant enhancement of ESs in Yan’an; (2) The spatial distributions of WY, CS, and GP showed similar patterns, generally increasing from north to south, whereas SC was relatively scattered; (3) The synergistic effects among ES pairs in Yan’an outweighed trade-offs. The WY-GP pair exhibited the strongest synergy, whereas the SC-CS pair showed the weakest; (4) Natural factors such as precipitation and temperature indirectly affect ESs by directly influencing surface hydrological processes; (5) Policies primarily affect ESs by driving changes in land use: The proportion of forest, grassland, and building land influence precipitation, surface runoff generation, and sediment transport, thereby affecting WY, SC, and CS, whereas GP is mainly driven by urbanization. Based on four ESs, this study developed an ecosystem services comprehensive index (ESCI), which increased from 0.56 to 0.60. Additionally, areas with good-quality ESs exhibited a consistent expansion from south to north spatially. These findings offer a scientific and practical reference for evaluating ecosystem quality on the Loess Plateau and for guiding land resource management influenced by the interplay of natural-human-policy factors.
format Article
id doaj-art-384cdd98e7ce4015b9852b138a5f3c3e
institution DOAJ
issn 1470-160X
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Ecological Indicators
spelling doaj-art-384cdd98e7ce4015b9852b138a5f3c3e2025-08-20T02:44:29ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-08-0117711377310.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113773Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi ProvinceQiaoyang Yang0Hui Qian1Yanyan Gao2Yicheng Duan3Zhiming Cao4Panpan Tian5Kang Li6Shuhan Yang7Weijie Zhao8Qi Long9School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Corresponding author at: School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, PR China.School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaSchool of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effect in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR China; Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology and Water Security in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ministry of Water Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054 Shaanxi, PR ChinaAccurately understanding the interactions among ecosystem services (ESs) and analyzing their complex driving mechanisms is crucial for enhancing ESs on the Loess Plateau. Yan’an is a typical loess hilly and gully area facing serious population-land-food conflicts. It is necessary to systematically expound the relationship between ecological environment and grain production (GP). By using GeoDetector and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) models, this study investigated the spatio-temporal evolution, trade-offs/synergies and driving forces of four ESs interactions: water yield (WY), soil conservation (SC), carbon sequestration (CS), and GP. The results revealed that between 1990 and 2020, (1) The increases in WY, SC, CS, and GP indicated a significant enhancement of ESs in Yan’an; (2) The spatial distributions of WY, CS, and GP showed similar patterns, generally increasing from north to south, whereas SC was relatively scattered; (3) The synergistic effects among ES pairs in Yan’an outweighed trade-offs. The WY-GP pair exhibited the strongest synergy, whereas the SC-CS pair showed the weakest; (4) Natural factors such as precipitation and temperature indirectly affect ESs by directly influencing surface hydrological processes; (5) Policies primarily affect ESs by driving changes in land use: The proportion of forest, grassland, and building land influence precipitation, surface runoff generation, and sediment transport, thereby affecting WY, SC, and CS, whereas GP is mainly driven by urbanization. Based on four ESs, this study developed an ecosystem services comprehensive index (ESCI), which increased from 0.56 to 0.60. Additionally, areas with good-quality ESs exhibited a consistent expansion from south to north spatially. These findings offer a scientific and practical reference for evaluating ecosystem quality on the Loess Plateau and for guiding land resource management influenced by the interplay of natural-human-policy factors.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25007034Ecosystem services composite indexEcological restorationTrade-off and synergyGeographic Weighted RegressionLoess Plateau
spellingShingle Qiaoyang Yang
Hui Qian
Yanyan Gao
Yicheng Duan
Zhiming Cao
Panpan Tian
Kang Li
Shuhan Yang
Weijie Zhao
Qi Long
Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province
Ecological Indicators
Ecosystem services composite index
Ecological restoration
Trade-off and synergy
Geographic Weighted Regression
Loess Plateau
title Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province
title_full Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province
title_fullStr Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province
title_full_unstemmed Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province
title_short Spatio-temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess Plateau: A case study in Yan’an Region, Shaanxi Province
title_sort spatio temporal evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem services in typical hilly and gully areas of the loess plateau a case study in yan an region shaanxi province
topic Ecosystem services composite index
Ecological restoration
Trade-off and synergy
Geographic Weighted Regression
Loess Plateau
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25007034
work_keys_str_mv AT qiaoyangyang spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT huiqian spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT yanyangao spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT yichengduan spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT zhimingcao spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT panpantian spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT kangli spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT shuhanyang spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT weijiezhao spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince
AT qilong spatiotemporalevolutionanddrivingmechanismofecosystemservicesintypicalhillyandgullyareasoftheloessplateauacasestudyinyananregionshaanxiprovince