Spatiotemporal changes in human footprints and vegetation coverage and their impacts on the ecosystem services value in the Yangtze River Basin, China

In the face of river basin environmental challenges and the urgent need for sustainable development strategies, understanding the complex interactions among ecological services, human activities, and vegetation cover is of paramount importance. Although previous studies have extensively documented the widespread impact of human activities on ecosystem service value (ESV), the mechanisms by which different human activities affect ESV with different functions are still unclear. To bridge these gaps, this study investigated the relationships among ESV, human footprint index (HFI), and fractional vegetation coverage (FVC) in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB). We used land cover change analysis and the equivalent factor method to study the spatiotemporal structure of ESV in YRB from 2000 to 2020, and selected different human footprint indicators to evaluate HFI and vegetation cover assessment FVC. The results revealed that construction land in YRB has increased the most significantly, reaching 25014 km2, and ESV has increased by 4.55% in general, approximately 22915 billion CNY. Among them, the regulating service value (RSV) has increased by 18696 billion CNY. The FVC shows a pattern of 'high in the middle, low in the east and west', of which 71.30% shows a significant increase, especially in the upstream areas. Curve estimation analysis revealed that an increasing HFI is associated with decreases in RSV, supporting service value (SSV), and cultural service value (CSV), whereas provisioning service value (PSV) increases. Conversely, an increase in vegetation coverage, was positively correlated with ESV. The strong positive correlation between FVC and ESV highlights the importance of vegetation cover in sustaining ecosystem services. This underscores the significant impact of the HFI and FVC on ESV and emphasizes the need to consider regional differentiation in ecosystem assessments. These insights are crucial for policymakers and conservation practitioners aiming to promote sustainable ecosystem development and conservation in the YRB.