| Currently,the drastic changes in global Land Use and Land Cover(LULC),the continuously increasing population,the shift in global consumption patterns,and the unprecedented desire for economic growth are significantly depleting the ecosystem services(ES)from local to global levels.Ecosystem services are widely recognized as a mainstream and valuable concept that can be used to guide sustainability-oriented decision-making to meet the basic needs of improving human well-being,addressing key challenges such as food scarcity,land degradation,climate change,biodiversity loss,flood risks,and population pressures.However,existing research still lacks long-term global ecosystem service assessments and rarely observes the spatiotemporal dynamics of the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services at different scales from a global perspective.The global spatiotemporal evolution pattern of ecosystem services remains unclear.This study,based on global LULC data from 2000 to 2020 every five years,uses a material assessment method to assess and calculate global carbon sequestration services,food production,habitat quality,soil retention,and water yield services.The study analyzes the spatial and temporal evolution of ecosystem services under the influence of global climate change and LULC changes,and further analyzes the spatial distribution and spatiotemporal changes of the trade-offs and synergies between two services at three different scales(climate zones,countries,and watersheds).Additionally,the study identifies global ecosystem service clusters and their spatiotemporal evolution at the three scales.Finally,the study analyzes the distribution differences of trade-offs and synergies as well as service clusters in countries with different income levels,The main conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)From 2000 to 2020,the degree of global land use disturbance showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing,with a noticeable decrease in land use disturbance intensity from 2005 to 2010,followed by an increase after 2010,reaching peak in 2020.The area of cropland in North America,South America,and Africa gradually expanded,with different growth peaks;the area of cropland in Asia increased from 2000 to 2010 and decreased from 2010 to 2020;in two stages from 2000 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2020,the area of cropland in Europe showed a significant decrease followed by a stable trend.Due to the dual impact of climate change and urbanization,the global forest area showed an overall decreasing trend from 2000 to 2020,with a significant spatial heterogeneity,stage-wise and discontinuous change trend.During the period from 2000 to 2020,there was an overall increasing trend in global grassland area,with the areas of increase mainly concentrated in Asia,Africa,South America,and Oceania.(2)There is significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity in global ecosystem services,and the sensitivity of various service changes varies.The global carbon storage showed an overall decreasing trend,although the increase in forest coverage in regions such as Africa and Asia effectively increased carbon storage,the carbon loss caused by the decrease in forest coverage in Southeast Asia,Canada,Brazil,and Russia partially offset this growth.From 2000 to 2020,global food production increased year by year,but since 2010,the growth rate of global food production has decreased,especially in Asia and South America,which may pose significant food security challenges for regions or even the entire world.Habitat quality varies significantly at different stages and in different regions.The rapid urbanization process has led to a decline in the quality of natural habitats such as forests,wetlands,and grasslands in most regions,and large-scale natural disasters have made habitat quality damage in Oceania consistently rank high in the world.At the same time,in the past decade,international organizations have effectively improved the problem of declining habitat quality under long-term drought in Africa and South America by protecting forests.The afforestation movement and conservation policies for forests have led to an upward trend in soil conservation services in China,India,Mongolia,Indonesia,and other places.However,persistent drought,soil salinization,and excessive cultivation have led to an overall decline in soil conservation in South America,Argentina,Brazil,and other countries.From 2000 to 2020,the sensitive areas of water production services in some parts of the world mainly include the Amazon River basin in South America,the Sahel region and Congo Basin in central Africa,near the Himalayas,the Yangtze River basin in China,Indonesia in Asia,and California in the United States.(3)There are significant continental differences in the effects of LULC conversion methods on carbon stocks,with South America being the region with the most dramatic effect of land use conversion on carbon stocks,followed by Asia,North America and Africa,while Europe and Oceania have relatively small effects,with forest-farmland interconversion dominating carbon stock changes in Asia and Europe,and forest-shrubfarmland interconversion dominating carbon stock changes in North America,South America and Africa.The impact of LULC conversion on grain yield varied significantly among continents,with the greatest impact of LULC conversion on grain yield in Asia and South America,and the least impact of LULC conversion on grain yield in Europe not exceeding 1 t/ha,and the greatest loss of grain yield due to conversion of farmland to built-up areas in Africa.The effect of LULC conversion on habitat quality differed significantly between continents,but no significant differences were found between continents in the overall extent of the effect of LULC conversion on soil conservation services.The effects of LULC conversion on water production services differed significantly among continents,with most land conversions resulting in reduced water production,and the same LULC conversions differed not only in the extent but also in the direction of impact between continents.(4)The balance and synergy between ecosystem services have been further enhanced from the scale of climate zones,countries to river basins,particularly showing stronger spatial heterogeneity and fragmentation at the scale of river basins,where regions with moderate to high balance relationships have significantly increased.The service clusters at the scale of climate zones have higher abundance and supply levels than the other two scales.The spatiotemporal pattern of ecosystem services at the scale of river basins is the most stable,with the spatial distribution pattern of service clusters remaining mostly unchanged since 2005,with only a few basins undergoing transition.The scale of river basins may be the optimal scale for studying the spatiotemporal distribution of ecosystem services at a larger scale.Lower-income economies generally have lower land-use intensity and more distribution of key collaborative ecosystem service clusters,but when the national economic level is too low,key collaborative services cannot be provided.Service clusters that provide fewer types of ecosystem services,such as habitat quality and carbon sequestration-habitat quality collaborative service clusters,are mainly distributed in countries with medium to high and high incomes,reflecting the degradation and homogenization of ecosystem service supply in these countries.The regulation of ecosystem services should focus on two critical regions:high-income countries and low-income countries.This study provides a systematic analysis of the spatiotemporal pattern of global ecosystem services,changes in the balance and synergy between services,the evolution pattern of service clusters,and differences in ecosystem services among different economies from 2000 to 2020.The results can provide information for land use planning and policy decisions,help identify the most vulnerable regions for global ecosystem services,and facilitate the regulation and management of ecosystem services among key regions or countries while minimizing negative trade-offs.Targeted recommendations for regulating ecosystem services based on differences in income levels among countries can be provided to promote a more sustainable and resilient future. |
PDF Full Text Request