Scale effect and spatially explicit drivers of interactions between ecosystem services—A case study from the Loess Plateau

Highlights: • The scale effect of relationships between ESs was analyzed and the driving force of spatialization identified. • Most relationships between ESs were synergistic and robust at all seven scales considered. • These relationships are enhanced as the scale increases. • The response of the trade-offs/synergies to climate, vegetation and urbanization varied spatially in property and intensity. Identifying the scale effect of relationships between ecosystem services (ESs), and determining which factors affect such relationships and the spatial distribution patterns of these effects can assist in the sustainable management of ESs. Taking the Loess Plateau (LP) as a study area, we compared and analyzed the change in the trade-offs and synergies between four ESs (i.e. water yield, net primary production, soil conservation, and grain production) at seven different scales. In addition, the spatial correlations between these trade-offs/synergies and factors related to climate, vegetation restoration and urbanization at the county administrative scale were analyzed using a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The results showed that most relationships between ESs were synergistic and robust across all seven scales, and most correlations between ESs are enhanced as the scale increases, as a result of the "peak cutting and valley filling" process of scale synthesis. In addition, almost all the relationships between ESs had the strongest synergies or the weakest trade-offs at the municipality administrative scale. The occurrence of trade-offs/synergies between ESs was closely related to climatic factors, vegetation restoration factors and urbanization factors, and, in addition, properties and intensity of the correlations varied spatially. Among these factors, vegetation cover (VEG), annual average temperature (TEM), and construction land percentage (CLP) were more highly correlated with the trade-offs/synergies. This study contributes to extending our understanding of the way in which interactions between ESs depend on spatial scale, and could inform decision-makers about how to control various influencing factors to improve the local ecology under local conditions.