Challenges in trade-off governance of ecosystem services: Evidence from the Loess Plateau in China

Trade-offs of ecosystem services (ESs) are valuable for decision-making when integrating growth, the achievement of human well-being, and the maintenance of ecosystem functions. Incorporating trade-offs of ESs into land-use decisions has become a major challenge for regional environmental governance, and a deeper understanding of the complex interaction patterns between ESs is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable management of social and ecological systems. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal dynamics and trade-off changes in eight ESs on the Loess Plateau during 2000–2015 using multi-source data and integrated explicit assessment methods, with the following results: 1) Grain production was widely distributed, raw material provision and net primary productivity (NPP) showed northwest to southeast stepwise growth, carbon sequestration and soil conservation were concentrated in high vegetation coverage areas in the southeast, oxygen production was similarly distributed to raw material provision, and recreational and cultural services were centered in urbanized areas. 2) There were significant synergies among raw material provision, oxygen production and NPP, with trade-offs existing mainly between water conservation and NPP, oxygen production, and raw material provision, all of which had consistently increasing correlation coefficients. 3) The number of trade-off service pairs increased, and the intensity of trade-offs strengthened where the pairs between grain production and oxygen production, recreation, and NPP changed from synergy to trade-off. It is recommended that the long-term impacts of urban land expansion, slope afforestation, and climatic factors such as precipitation and temperature on water conservation and other services be assessed in an integrated manner in ecosystem management and that appropriate, scientific response strategies be developed. This study provides theoretical and decision-making references for regulating the complex trade-offs of ESs in ecologically fragile regions worldwide