Evolution of Ecosystem Service Supply and Demand and Ecological Types in the Yangtze River Delta Over the Last Two Decades

In the context of dual-cycle development, improving the supply and demand capacity of ecosystem services is foundational to promoting high-quality economic development. Based on accounting for the supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2000 to 2020, we analyze the characteristics of their temporal and spatial evolution and classify the ecological types of 41 cities in the YRD in 2020. The findings are as follows: (1) During the 20 years, the supply value of ecosystem services in the YRD has decreased, but the overall value is high. Moreover, the spatial distribution of ecosystem services shows a notable distribution pattern of “high in the south and low in the north”. Furthermore, the demand for ecological value has increased significantly, and the demand of the northeastern plains region is much higher than that of the southwestern mountainous region. (2) The spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem service supply-demand balance in the YRD region is pronounced, with a notable distribution pattern, mainly dominated by cities with balanced supply-demand that forms a high-value area centered on Shanghai-Suzhou and a low-value area dominated by Chizhou-Huangshan and Huabei-Bozhou, which have strong ecological and economic synergies. (3) By 2020, there were 2 ecological conservation cities, 3 ecological restoration cities, 29 ecological remodeling cities, and 7 ecological development cities in the YRD, indicating overall coordinated ecological and economic development.