Spatial interactions among ecosystem services and the identification of win-win areas at the regional scale

Although the quantification and evaluation of ecosystem services has been discussed on the Loess Plateau of China, few studies have specifically focused on quantifying the ecosystem services of trade-off and finding win-win areas. Based on previous studies about the evaluation of ecosystem services, we proposed a comprehensive spatial analysis method based on the InVEST and CASA models to analyse the spatial interaction between the four ecosystem services of water yield, sediment retention, NPP and habitat quality in the study area. The results showed that soil retention, NPP, and habitat quality gradually increased from 2000 to 2010 as water yield increased. Relationships among sediment retention, NPP and habitat quality were synergistic, but trade-off occurred between those three ecosystem services and water yield. Hotspots accounted for 3.27% of the basin, and these areas were mainly located in the downstream area of the basin and coincided with the forest and grassland areas. Coldspots accounted for 3.64% of the basin and were mainly in line with the upstream area and the urban road area in the basin. Win-win areas only accounted for 1.6% of the basin. The existence of win-win zones was positively correlated with soil silt content and was negatively correlated with distance to grassland, distance to forest, soil erodibility and slope. This research may be helpful for managing water resources and the sustainable development of the basin on the Loess Plateau of China.