The impact of landscape pattern on ecosystem service tradeoffs and synergies in the Yellow River basin of China

Ecosystem services (ES) are fundamental to human well-being and regional sustainability, yet their spatial interactions are increasingly shaped by landscape pattern evolution under climate change and human activity. This study examines how landscape structure regulates ES tradeoffs and synergies in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), an ecological functional zone in China. Using the InVEST model, we quantified spatiotemporal changes in habitat quality (HQ), water yield (WY), soil conservation (SC), and carbon sequestration (CS) from 2005 to 2022. Integrated service capacity was assessed using the Multiple Ecosystem Services Landscape Index (MESLI). Correlation analysis identified ES tradeoffs and synergies, while redundancy analysis and Spearman correlation analysis evaluated the effects of natural factors and landscape metrics. Results showed pronounced spatial heterogeneity, with higher ES values in the south and east and lower values in the north and west. Precipitation and slope were the main drivers. The WY-HQ relationship shifted from weak synergy to strong tradeoff. Higher cohesion and connectivity (COHESION and LPI) were positively associated with MESLI, whereas fragmentation (PD and SPLIT) exerted increasing negative effects. Overall, ES spatial compatibility improved, but stronger WY-HQ tradeoffs and declining MESLI indicated no overall optimization, highlighting the need for landscape pattern optimization in basin-scale ecological restoration.