Author(s)

ZeTao Chen

Affiliation(s)

Qinghai Institute of Technology, Xining 810000, Qinghai, China.

Corresponding Author

ZeTao Chen

ABSTRACT

Arid inland river basins are highly sensitive to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, and persistent imbalances between the supply and demand of ecosystem services have become a critical constraint on regional sustainable development. Taking the Shiyang River Basin, a typical arid inland river basin in northwestern China, as the study area, this research selected four categories of ecosystem services—food provision, water yield, carbon storage, and windbreak and sand fixation. Using a parameter-calibrated InVEST model and GIS-based spatial analysis, we quantified ecosystem services supply and demand from 2000 to 2020, and evaluated supply–demand relationships across three dimensions: quantity matching, spatial matching, and trade-off/synergy assessment. The results show that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the average supply of food provision and water yield exhibited an increasing trend, whereas carbon storage and windbreak and sand fixation showed fluctuating changes. High food supply was mainly concentrated in oasis areas, while the supply of water yield, carbon storage, and windbreak and sand fixation decreased from the southwest to the northeast; (2) During 2000–2020, the average demand for food provision and carbon storage continued to increase, while the average demand for water yield and windbreak and sand fixation gradually declined. High-demand areas for food provision, water yield, and carbon storage were primarily located in the main urban areas of the oasis, whereas demand for windbreak and sand fixation was mainly distributed in oasis–desert transition zones and desert regions; (3) In terms of quantity matching, food provision and carbon storage were predominantly surplus-oriented, water yield exhibited comparable proportions of surplus and deficit areas, and windbreak and sand fixation were dominated by deficit conditions. For all ecosystem services, low-low spatial matching and synergistic relationships were dominant, with synergy zones accounting for more than 50% of the basin.

KEYWORDS

Ecosystem services; Multidimensional supply–demand relationships; Spatiotemporal differentiation; Shiyang River Basin

CITE THIS PAPER

ZeTao Chen. Ecosystem services supply–demand dynamics and multidimensional relationships in the Shiyang River Basin. Frontiers in Environmental Research. 2025, 3(3): 27-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/fer3036.

REFERENCES

[1] Wei Y, Lu H, Wang J. Dual influence of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics over the Qinghai‐Tibetan plateau from 1981 to 2015. Earth's Future, 2022, 10(5): 135-138.

[2] R Costanza, R de Groot, P Sutton, et al. Turner Changes in the global value of ecosystem services Glob. Environ. Chang, 2014, 26, 152-158.

[3] Zhai T, Zhang D, Zhao C. How to optimize ecological compensation to alleviate environmental injustice in different cities in the Yellow River Basin? A case of integrating ecosystem service supply, demand and flow. Sustainable Cities and Society, 2021, 75, 101-106.

[4] Teng Y, Chen G, Su M. Ecological management zoning based on static and dynamic matching characteristics of ecosystem services supply and demand in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2024, 448, 141-145.

[5] Zhao Q, Chen Y, Cuan Y. Application of ecosystem service bundles and tour experience in land use management: A case study of Xiaohuangshan Mountain (China). Remote Sensing, 2021, 13(2): 242-243.

[6] Men D, Pan J. Integrating key species distribution and ecosystem service flows to build directed ecological network: Evidence from the Shiyang River Basin, China. Journal of Environmental Management, 2025, 381, 125-127.

[7] Wang Y, Pan J. Landscape-based ecological resilience and impact evaluation in arid inland river basin: A case study of Shiyang River Basin. Applied Geography, 2024, 167, 103-109.  

[8] Chen T, Feng Z, Zhao H, et al. Identification of ecosystem service bundles and driving factors in Beijing and its surrounding areas. Science of the Total Environment, 2020, 711, 101-106.

[9] Tang H J, Li Z M. Study on per capita grain demand based on Chinese reasonable dietary pattern. Scientia Agricultura Sinica. 2012, 45(11): 2315-2327.

[10] Wang H, Wang L, Fu X, et al. Spatial-temporal pattern of ecosystem service supply-demand and coordination in the Ulansuhai Basin, China. Ecological Indicators. 2022, 143, 109-112.

[11] Chen J, Jiang B, Bai Y, et al. Quantifying ecosystem services supply and demand shortfalls and mismatches for management optimisation. Science of the Total Environment. 2019, 650, 143-149.

[12] Liu L, Wu J. Ecosystem services-human wellbeing relationships vary with spatial scales and indicators: The case of China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021, 172, 105-112.

[13] Gong J, Shi J, Zhu C, et al. Accounting for land use in an analysis of the spatial and temporal characteristics of ecosystem services supply and demand in a desert steppe of Inner Mongolia, China. Ecological Indicators. 2022, 144, 109-116.

[14] Yin D, Yu H, Shi Y, et al. Matching supply and demand for ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin, China: A perspective of the water-energy-food nexus. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2023, 384, 135-142.

[15] Bradford J B, D'Amato A W. Recognizing trade-offs in multi‐objective land management. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2012, 10(4): 210-216.

[16] Wei W, Nan S, Xie B, et al. The spatial-temporal changes of supply-demand of ecosystem services and ecological compensation: A case study of Hexi Corridor, Northwest China. Ecological Engineering. 2023, 187, 106-112.

[17] Zhou L, Zhang H, Bi G, et al. Multiscale perspective research on the evolution characteristics of the ecosystem services supply-demand relationship in the chongqing section of the three gorges reservoir area. Ecological Indicators. 2022, 142, 109-227.

[18] Sitch S, Smith B, Prentice I C, et al. Evaluation of ecosystem dynamics, plant geography and terrestrial carbon cycling in the LPJ dynamic global vegetation model. Global change biology. 2003, 9(2): 161-185.

[19] Zhang X, Li X, Wang Z, et al. A study on matching supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Hexi region of China based on multi-source data. Scientific Reports, 2024, 14(1): 13-32.

[20] González-García A, Palomo I, González J A, et al. Quantifying spatial supply-demand mismatches in ecosystem services provides insights for land-use planning. Land use policy. 2020, 94, 104-109.

[21] Cui F, Tang H, Zhang Q, et al. Integrating ecosystem services supply and demand into optimized management at different scales: A case study in Hulunbuir, China. Ecosystem Services. 2019, 39, 100-112.

[22] Wang H, Wang L, Fu X. Spatial-temporal pattern of ecosystem service supply-demand and coordination in the Ulansuhai Basin, China. Ecological Indicators, 2022, 143, 109-121.