A new perspective for enhancing social and ecological systems coordination in ecological restoration

Abstract Background Ecosystem services (ESs) are fundamental to ensuring human well-being and sustainable development. However, the complex nonlinear relationships between ESs and social systems are still not fully recognized at present. Here, we used a comprehensive indicator framework, a coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, and a GeoDetector model to measure the CCD and development level of ESs and social systems in Sanmenxia City, Henan Province, China from 2000 to 2020, analyze the spatial patterns and temporal variations of their development, and quantify the influence of 15 factors on the spatial heterogeneity of their CCD. Results We observed that the increase of social system development level in Sanmenxia City was higher than that of ESs’ provisioning capacity. From 2000 to 2020, the ecosystem service index value of Sanmenxia City increased by about 25%, while the level of social system development increased by 118.9%. The coordination between ESs and social systems improved by 25%, indicating that their relationships were shifting from trade-offs to synergies. Lushi County (one of the six administrative regions of Sanmenxia City) had the highest level of CCD, but the overall coordination remained relatively weak in Sanmenxia City, and none of the six administrative regions achieved a high level of coordination. CCD was influenced by multiple interacting factors, with topography and land use patterns being the primary drivers. Conclusions Optimizing the spatial layout of ecological space, agricultural space, and urban space based on natural geographic patterns can be an effective way to improve CCD. Accordingly, we identified the impacts of potential barriers on sustainable development and provided multiple possible effective actions. Our findings deepen the knowledge and understanding of the “human-nature relationships”, which are of great significance in promoting the synergistic development of social and ecological systems.