Research on the Trade-off and Coordination Characteristics of Ecosystem Services and Zoning Management in the Taihang Mountains

This study aimed to reveal the trade-off and synergy characteristics of ecosystem services in the Taihang Mountains and to conduct ecological functional zoning, thereby providing targeted support for regional collaborative ecological management.

The InVEST model was used to quantify the spatiotemporal changes in four ecosystem services—soil conservation, carbon storage, habitat quality, and water yield—from 2000 to 2024. Pearson correlation analysis and bivariate Moran's I were employed to analyze trade-off and synergy relationships at both regional and pixel scales. Ecological functional zones were delineated using the self-organizing feature map (SOFM) method, and a differentiated management system was developed by coupling ecological functional zoning with geomorphological zoning.

1) During the study period, forested areas and water bodies expanded, construction land increased rapidly, grasslands significantly degraded, and croplands remained relatively stable in the Taihang Mountains. 2) Soil conservation and water yield initially increased and then decreased, whereas carbon storage steadily increased and habitat quality gradually declined. Soil conservation, carbon storage, and habitat quality exhibited a spatial pattern of “high in mountainous areas and low in basin regions,” whereas water yield followed a “high in the south and low in the north” distribution. 3) Trade-off and synergy relationships exhibited both regional regularity and pixel-scale heterogeneity. At the regional scale, soil conservation, carbon storage, and habitat quality showed strong synergistic relationships, whereas carbon storage, habitat quality, and water yield exhibited stable trade-offs. At the pixel scale, synergy zones were concentrated in high-high clusters along the main ridge of the Taihang Mountains and low-low clusters in the plains of the eastern foothills, whereas trade-off zones were primarily located at the interface between the high water yield areas in southeastern Shanxi and densely populated basin regions. 4) The main ridge zone was dominated by multifunctional core barrier areas, the intermontane basin zone served as a transition between ecological conservation and economic development, and the piedmont plain zone experienced a significant increase in the proportion of water conservation and soil retention support areas. Coupling geomorphological zoning with ecological functional zoning resulted in 12 management units.

The findings provide practical support for synergistic enhancement of multiple ecosystem services and the implementation of differentiated ecological protection strategies in the Taihang Mountains.