Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau

Abstract Accurately identifying ecological compensation (EC) regions and establishing clear compensation criteria are essential for promoting carbon sequestration, mitigating ecological degradation, and supporting equitable resource allocation. In this study, ecological modeling combined with hotspo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wenjie Yao, Xiaofeng Wang, Zixu Jia, Xiaoxue Wang, Xinrong Zhang, Xiaoming Feng, Jitao Zhou, Jiahao Ma, You Tu, Xueren Liu, Zechong Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-08-01
Series:Carbon Balance and Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-025-00325-0
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849226652884664320
author Wenjie Yao
Xiaofeng Wang
Zixu Jia
Xiaoxue Wang
Xinrong Zhang
Xiaoming Feng
Jitao Zhou
Jiahao Ma
You Tu
Xueren Liu
Zechong Sun
author_facet Wenjie Yao
Xiaofeng Wang
Zixu Jia
Xiaoxue Wang
Xinrong Zhang
Xiaoming Feng
Jitao Zhou
Jiahao Ma
You Tu
Xueren Liu
Zechong Sun
author_sort Wenjie Yao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Accurately identifying ecological compensation (EC) regions and establishing clear compensation criteria are essential for promoting carbon sequestration, mitigating ecological degradation, and supporting equitable resource allocation. In this study, ecological modeling combined with hotspot analysis was applied to quantify the spatial mismatch between ecosystem service (ES) supply and demand on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in 2020. We introduced the concept of comparative ecological radiation force (CERF) to characterize the spatial flow of ESs and to estimate the total compensation required to balance these flows. Our results highlight that the value of carbon sequestration, represented by net primary production (NPP), reached 1.21 × 10⁶ CNY, alongside other key services such as soil conservation (SC) (284.69 × 106 CNY), water yield (WY) (44.99 × 106 CNY) and food supply (FS) (20.81 × 106 CNY). The directional analysis of service flows revealed that NPP, along with SC and WY, predominantly flowed from east to west, while FS exhibited a north-to-south pattern. Notably, NPP received only 0.16% of the total ecological compensation, in contrast to 95.42% for SC, 4.21% for WY, and 0.21% for FS. This study provides an integrated framework for aligning EC strategies with carbon management goals, offering insights to support carbon neutrality efforts and ecosystem restoration on the TP.
format Article
id doaj-art-741091e41b364a2ca720688afdde8560
institution Kabale University
issn 1750-0680
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Carbon Balance and Management
spelling doaj-art-741091e41b364a2ca720688afdde85602025-08-24T11:07:05ZengBMCCarbon Balance and Management1750-06802025-08-0120111610.1186/s13021-025-00325-0Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateauWenjie Yao0Xiaofeng Wang1Zixu Jia2Xiaoxue Wang3Xinrong Zhang4Xiaoming Feng5Jitao Zhou6Jiahao Ma7You Tu8Xueren Liu9Zechong Sun10School of Land Engineering, Chang’an UniversitySchool of Land Engineering, Chang’an UniversityThe Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Land Engineering, Chang’an UniversitySchool of Earth Science and Resources, Chang’an UniversityState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco- Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Land Engineering, Chang’an UniversitySchool of Geological Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an UniversityDepartment of Earth and Environmental Science, School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong UniversityChina Coal Geology Engineering Corporation LimitedSchool of Land Engineering, Chang’an UniversityAbstract Accurately identifying ecological compensation (EC) regions and establishing clear compensation criteria are essential for promoting carbon sequestration, mitigating ecological degradation, and supporting equitable resource allocation. In this study, ecological modeling combined with hotspot analysis was applied to quantify the spatial mismatch between ecosystem service (ES) supply and demand on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in 2020. We introduced the concept of comparative ecological radiation force (CERF) to characterize the spatial flow of ESs and to estimate the total compensation required to balance these flows. Our results highlight that the value of carbon sequestration, represented by net primary production (NPP), reached 1.21 × 10⁶ CNY, alongside other key services such as soil conservation (SC) (284.69 × 106 CNY), water yield (WY) (44.99 × 106 CNY) and food supply (FS) (20.81 × 106 CNY). The directional analysis of service flows revealed that NPP, along with SC and WY, predominantly flowed from east to west, while FS exhibited a north-to-south pattern. Notably, NPP received only 0.16% of the total ecological compensation, in contrast to 95.42% for SC, 4.21% for WY, and 0.21% for FS. This study provides an integrated framework for aligning EC strategies with carbon management goals, offering insights to support carbon neutrality efforts and ecosystem restoration on the TP.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-025-00325-0Ecosystem services supply and demandEcosystem service flowsEcological compensationTibetan plateau
spellingShingle Wenjie Yao
Xiaofeng Wang
Zixu Jia
Xiaoxue Wang
Xinrong Zhang
Xiaoming Feng
Jitao Zhou
Jiahao Ma
You Tu
Xueren Liu
Zechong Sun
Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau
Carbon Balance and Management
Ecosystem services supply and demand
Ecosystem service flows
Ecological compensation
Tibetan plateau
title Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau
title_full Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau
title_fullStr Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau
title_full_unstemmed Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau
title_short Reconciling ecosystem service supply-demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the Tibetan plateau
title_sort reconciling ecosystem service supply demand mismatches through ecological compensation in the tibetan plateau
topic Ecosystem services supply and demand
Ecosystem service flows
Ecological compensation
Tibetan plateau
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-025-00325-0
work_keys_str_mv AT wenjieyao reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT xiaofengwang reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT zixujia reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT xiaoxuewang reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT xinrongzhang reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT xiaomingfeng reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT jitaozhou reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT jiahaoma reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT youtu reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT xuerenliu reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau
AT zechongsun reconcilingecosystemservicesupplydemandmismatchesthroughecologicalcompensationinthetibetanplateau