ASSESSMENT OF CHANGES IN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND THEIR DRIVING MECHANISMS IN THE LIUXI RIVER BASIN, CHINA

Abstract

Climate change, environmental factors, and urbanization profoundly impact ecosystem services (ESs). This study assessed the spatiotemporal dynamics of five key ES indicators—ecosystem services value (ESV), water yield (WY), water conservation (WC), soil conservation (SC), and habitat quality (HQ)—in the Liuxi River Basin, China, during 2000–2020, and explored their driving mechanisms via PLS-SEM. All indicators declined over the period with distinct spatial patterns: ESV, WC, HQ and SC were low in the southwest urban area and high in the northeast eco-area, while WY was high in urban areas. Climate-environmental processes positively affected ESV, WC, HQ and SC but negatively affected WY (precipitation positive, temperature negative). Urbanization (dominated by CLD) and 137.2 km² construction land expansion negatively impacted ESV, WC, HQ and SC but boosted WY. Rational construction land control, optimized urban layout and enhanced ecological protection are critical for coordinated urbanization and ES development.