Investigating the trade-offs between the supply and demand for ecosystem services for regional spatial management

Understanding the supply and demand characteristics of ecosystem services (ESs) and their trade-offs is the basis for effective ecosystem management and the improvement of human well-being. However, current management practices based on the trade-offs between the supply and demand for ESs remain limited. This study aimed to integrate ES trade-offs into regional spatial management. With Changzhi, China, as the study area, this study evaluated the supply, demand, and trade-offs of food provision, water conservation, soil retention, and carbon sequestration by linking multi-source data and using spatial analysis tools, including the InVEST model, ArcGIS, and GeoDA. Based on the trade-offs and importance of different ecological functions, we constructed an urban spatial management framework and proposed recommendations for optimization in different management zones. The results showed that (1) the supply and demand for multiple ESs exhibited spatial heterogeneity. Except for water conservation, the supply of other ESs met the demand of the city, but there were still obvious deficits in some regions. (2) In terms of the ES supply, there were trade-offs between food production and other ESs, and synergies existed among water conservation, soil retention, and carbon sequestration. In terms of the ES demand, the four ESs exhibited synergistic relationships. In the cluster analysis, ES supply and demand were divided into four ES bundles, respectively. (3) The spatial mismatch of ESs in the sub-watersheds of the study area was obvious. The ESDR coldspots for the four ESs were primarily located in the urban built-up areas in the central and southern regions of the city. The ESDR hotspots of soil retention and carbon sequestration were mainly distributed in the eastern and northwestern regions of Changzhi, which are less urbanized. There were few ESDR hotspots for food production and water conservation. (4) Based on the regional spatial management framework, Changzhi was divided into ten zones, including extremely important, moderately important, important, supply-demand risk management, soil erosion management, and high food production areas. The results and conclusions of this study provide a basis for spatial planning and ecosystem management.