Coupling Coordination and Influencing Mechanism of Ecosystem Services Using Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Food Provision and Soil Conservation

Understanding the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services is essential for effective ecological management. We selected food provisioning and soil conservation services to explore their intrinsic link and trade-offs. We evaluated these services in Minnesota from 1998 to 2018 using multi-source remote sensing data. The coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) was employed to quantify the relationship between these services. The CCDM evaluates the degree of coordination between systems by measuring their interactions. In addition, we used the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to identify factors influencing this relationship. Our findings reveal that, while Minnesota’s food provision services have shown a significant overall upward trajectory, distinct declines occurred in 2008 and 2018. In contrast, soil conservation services showed considerable variability from year to year, without a clear trend. Over time, the relationship between food provision and soil conservation services evolved from uncoordinated and transitional to more coordinated development. Our analysis indicates that climate–soil indicators (Z1) exert the most significant influence on the coupling coordination degree (CCD), followed by topography (Z3), vegetation quality (Z4), and socio-economic indicators (Z2). This suggests that natural environmental factors have a greater impact than socio-economic factors. Spatial analysis highlights that topography exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity and serves as the primary spatial driving factor. This study explores the trade-offs between food provision and soil conservation ecosystem services in Minnesota, enhancing the understanding of trade-offs among different ecosystem services and providing insights for global sustainable agricultural development.