Ecosystem Services Trade-Offs and Synergies following Vegetation Restoration on the Loess Plateau of China

The Loess Plateau (LP) is a heavily soil-eroded area. Since the year 1999, the Chinese government has carried out the “Grain for Green Project (GGP)” that has focused on increasing the regional vegetation coverage. Understanding the temporal and spatial variation of ecosystem services and the synergy in the LP is important for prospective regional re-vegetation and watershed administration. Therefore, three typical watersheds in the LP were selected: Huangfuchuan, Dalihe, and Yanhe. The spatial and temporal changes in carbon storage (CS), soil conservation (SC), and water yield (WY) in the watersheds were analyzed by the InVEST model from 2000 to 2020. Correlation analysis and root mean square deviation (RMSD) were used to investigate and compare the trade-offs in different ecosystem services (ESs). The results showed that the ES in the Huangfuchuan, Dalihe, and Yanhe watersheds overall developed in a positive direction, and increased from north to south. CS and SC showed a positive correlation in the three watersheds; however, there were negative correlations between CS and WY and between SC and WY. From 2000 to 2020, the trade-offs among CS, SC, and WY in the study area were in the descending order of the Yanhe, Dalihe, and Huangfuchuan watersheds, while the comprehensive benefits were in the opposite order. The results provided an essential basis for the high-quality development and ecological environment preservation of the Yellow River basin.