Research on the Matching of Supply and Demand for Ecosystem Services at
the Quantitative and Spatial Levels: A Case Study in the Hexi Region,
China
Abstract
To achieve the best management of the ecosystem and sustainable
socioeconomic development, it is crucial to clarify the matching
relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESs).
Therefore, four types of ESs were chosen for the Hexi region in this
study: food supply, carbon sequestration, water yield, windbreak and
sand fixation. This study evaluated the supply-demand and matching
relationships between various ecosystem services tapping into the InVEST
model, the supply-demand ratio of ecosystem services, and the
four-quadrant model. It also analyzed the supply-demand ratio of
comprehensive ecosystem services and their cold and hot spots. The
findings suggest that (1) the overall ESs supply showed an increasing
trend, with a spatial pattern of “high in the southeast and low in the
northwest”. The demand for food supply and carbon sequestration
services has been increasing annually, while the demand for water
production and wind and sand prevention services has been declining. The
demand space is characterized by a layout similar to the distribution of
population, production and living areas, and ecologically vulnerable
areas; (2) From the perspective of quantity matching, with the exception
of windbreak and sand fixation services which are in short supply, all
others are in a state of oversupply. Regrading spatial matching, all ESs
are primarily dominated by low-low spatial matching zones, with large
areas concentrated in the northwest desert region; (3) The supply-demand
ratio of overall ESs shows a fluctuating upward trend. The proportion of
cold spots and sub-cold spots, which are mainly concentrated in the
northwest region, accounts for more than 50%, while that of hot spots
and sub-hot spots is relatively small and mainly appears in the Qilian
Mountains of the southern region and a few oasis areas.