Assessing relationships of ecosystem services on multi-scale: A case study of soil erosion control and water yield in the Pearl River Delta

Abstract

Recent studies on ecosystem services have highlighted the relationship between multiple services. It is widely accepted that the increase in one ecosystem service may alter the provision of another. However, the individual difference and time effect are often difficult to integrate when the relationship is explored. In this study, we took soil erosion control (SEC) and water yield (WY) as examples to analyze relationships between multiple ecosystem services. Firstly, the biophysical values were evaluated using seven series of land use data from 2000 to 2012. Secondly, the spatial relationship was explored using local autocorrelation and the barycenter model on the basis of correlation analysis on regional and watershed scale. Finally, the pooled regression models, fixed effects models, two-way fixed effects models, and random effects models were introduced to explore the relationship of two ecological indicators for considering time effect and individual differences. We concluded that the SEC and WY presented a positive linear correlation on a watershed scale across time, and showed co-occurrence patterns from a spatial perspective. The SEC was positively affected by WY and the year the data were collected in. There were opportunities to enhance co-benefits between SEC and WY to achieve win-win outcomes.