Trade-Offs and Spatial Driving Factors of Ecosystem Regulating Services in Beijing

Clarifying the relationships among ecosystem regulating services (ESRs) in Beijing and understanding the influence of natural and socio-economic factors on these relationships can contribute to realizing ecological zoning and guiding informed policymaking based on trade-offs. This study evaluated water conservation (WC), soil conservation (SC), carbon sequestration (CS), wind erosion prevention (WEP), and analyzed the trade-offs of ESRs and its spatial driving factors using root mean square deviation (RMSD), and geographically weighted regression (GWR). Subsequently, the ecosystem management zones at the township scale in Beijing were divided from a trade-off perspective. The results showed that: (1) ESRs in Beijing generally showed synergistic relationships, and only WC and CS showed a weak trade-off. However, the analysis of local spatial relationships found that there were still trade-offs between different services in local regions. (2) The key driving factors affecting the trade-off intensity of ESRs included normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), elevation, temperature and nighttime light intensity. NDVI inhibited the trade-off between WC and SC throughout the region. Elevation inhibited the trade-off intensity between SC and WEP. Temperature inhibited the trade-off intensity between WC and WEP in the southern plains. Nighttime light exacerbated the trade-off between CS and WEP in the transitional regions between mountains and plains. (3) Based on the trade-off analysis, and considering human well-being, townships in Beijing could be classified into five zones: Comprehensive services enhancement zone, water conservation enhancement zone, soil conservation enhancement zone, carbon sequestration service enhancement zone, and wind erosion prevention enhancement zone. Each zone was characterized by distinct management objectives, trade-off driving factors, and management countermeasures.