Exploring the pattern and influencing factors of ecosystem services under multiscale perspective: implications for ecosystem services management

It is necessary to explore the spatial pattern and influencing factors of ecosystem services (ESs) to ensure the sustainability of ecosystems. However, research on ESs and their influencing factors across various spatial scales is scarce and is often restricted to a single scale. Water yield, soil conservation, carbon storage, and habitat quality were simulated with the InVEST model at multiple scales. The complex relationship between ES pairs was analyzed. Based on this, the Geographical Detector Model was used to reveal the influencing factors of the ESs, and the Geographically Weighted Regression was used to study the characteristics of local spatial distributions of the main influencing factors. The results indicated that: First, ESs showed prominent spatial differentiation characteristics at different scales. With the increase in spatial scale, the distribution of multiple ESs tended to become uniform and clustered. Then, the relationships between ESs were sensitive to alterations in the spatial scale of the evaluation unit, and the relationships of ESs changed with increasing scale. Finally, individual ES and total ecosystem service were subject to the combined effects of natural and social factors, and the level of influence of each influencing factor on ESs varies considerably at different spatial scales. The study can give guidance for policy decision-makers to conduct differentiated regional management.