[Characterization of Spatial and Temporal Changes of Ecosystem Services in the Yellow River Basin and Their...

The Yellow River Basin， as a vital ecological zone and energy base in China， faces multiple pressures including water scarcity and rapid urban population growth. These pressures lead to severe challenges of ecosystem service degradation and imbalance. A clear understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution of ecosystem services and their trade-offs and synergies in this basin is crucial for its sustainable development. Based on the land use data from 2000 to 2023， the InVEST model was used to quantify the four services of water conservation， soil conservation， habitat quality， and carbon storage； the land use transfer matrix was analyzed； and the Spearman correlation and spatial autocorrelation methods were combined to reveal the synergistic relationship of trade-offs among the services at multiple scales. The results show that： ① During the 23 years， the land types in the Yellow River Basin were mainly grassland， followed by cropland and forest land， and the remaining land types accounted for a relatively small proportion and the area of cropland and unutilized land decreased， while the area of construction land and forest land increased. ② The amount of water conservation and soil retention fluctuated and rose， with a consistent spatial pattern， with high values concentrated in the Yellow River source area and the Qinling Mountains and low values concentrated in the Loess Plateau area. Habitat quality fluctuated and decreased， and carbon stock stabilized and slightly increased. ③ Ecosystem service interactions were scaled. All four ecosystem services were synergistic at the basin-wide scale from 2000 to 2023. There were synergistic relationships and significant spatial heterogeneity at the pixel scale， with the Yellow River source area and the Qinling Mountains mainly showing synergistic relationships and the Loess Plateau and part of the Weihe Plain mainly showing trade-offs； water conservation and habitat quality as well as water conservation and carbon storage at the municipal scale showed trade-offs， and the rest were synergistic relationships. The results reveal the trade-off synergistic relationship between ecosystem services at multiple scales and provide scientific basis for ecological restoration and cross-regional cooperative management in the Yellow River Basin.