Spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of ecosystem services flow based on different entities: A case study of apple provisioning services

Revealing the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of food supply service flow is a necessary prerequisite and important basis for ensuring food security and sustainable supply of this service. Taking Apple's supply services as an example, a research theoretical framework was first constructed. Then, methods such as spatial autocorrelation and geographic detectors were used to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of Apple Provision Service Flow (APEF) under the influence of three main entities: merchants, enterprises, and e-commerce. The results show that ① the APEF time shows a seasonal variation, with the highest flow in autumn and the lowest in summer. The "peak" trend is significantly affected by holidays, and there are significant differences among different subjects. ② In terms of space, it is distributed in a "trumpet" shape with multiple cores, mainly flowing towards the eastern, southern, and southwestern regions of China. Among them, customers are in a radial shape with a "south-north" direction, enterprises are in a "three core and three line" shape, and e-commerce is in a "multi-core bead string" shape. ③ The main influencing factors of APEF include apple production, economic development, and consumption level. The research conclusion can provide theoretical reference for solving the spatiotemporal mismatch between supply and demand of ecosystem services and scientific management.