Spatiotemporal conversion and mechanism between production-living-ecological space and ecosystem service in the canal area

• Explore how ecosystem service value (ESV) responds to production-living-ecological space. • Optimize ESV evaluation model by integrating natural-social-economic factors for specific areas. • Ecological space (ES) area grows only 5.3%, but contributing 94.4% of total ESV growth. • The relationship between various ecosystem service types are mainly synergistic. • Water value of the same area differs across years due to natural-social-economic differences. Rapid industrialization and urbanization in canal areas have led to significant conversion in production-living-ecological space (PLES), yielding short-term social-economic benefits but causing serious ecological degradation. However, the complex and dynamic interactions between PLES and ecosystem function remain underexplored, despite their importance for guiding sustainable canal development. Therefore, we analyzed the dynamic changes in PLES and ecosystem service value (ESV) in the Jiangsu section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, along with their interrelationships. By optimizing the ESV evaluation model to incorporate natural, social, and economic factors, we examined the spatiotemporal evolution of PLES and ESV from 2000 to 2020. Finally, we quantified the dynamic response of ESV to PLES using contribution rate factors and identified trade-offs and synergies among ESV indicators. Over the past two decades, ecological space (ES) expanded by only 5.31 %, yet contributing 94.36 % of total ESV growth. Despite fluctuations during 2005–2010, synergies among various ESV types remained largely stable. The regulation service shows the most significant response to the conversion of PLES, with an increase in ES’s ESV of CNY 67.87 billion over 20 years, representing 75.34 % of total ESV growth. Notably, the hydrologic regulation contributes substantially, with an increase in ES’s ESV of CNY 60.87 billion, accounting for 67.57 % of total ESV growth. Our findings provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development and resource management in canal areas.