Identification of the trade-offs/synergies between rural landscape services in a spatially explicit way for sustainable rural development

Rural problems are becoming increasingly prominent in sustainable development in China. Landscape services (LSs) are an emerging concept associated with ecosystem services and play an important role in promoting sustainable development. However, a comprehensive framework of rural LS and empirical research are still lacking. Here, we proposed a rural LSs system based on its multiple functions of ecological maintenance, agricultural production and human living, including 9 LS types. Combined with the impact of landscape pattern on LSs, we optimized the assessment method of LS, and the LS capabilities were assessed at the village scale in Hangzhou city. Furthermore, we identified the spatial differentiation of rural LSs capabilities and trade-offs/ synergies along urban-rural and terrain gradients. The results showed that the LSs capabilities of the rural landscape were greatly affected by the urban radiation and terrain, and we found that the turning point of LSs capabilities was 35 km from the urban fringe and the terrain gradient T5. The LSs in most villages (77%) revealed trade-offs, and the villages with LS synergies largely occurred in the middle and eastern regions of the study area. This study could improve our current understanding of LSs in regard to sustainable rural development, and identifying the trade-offs/synergies of LSs in a spatially explicit way can provide suggestions for the differentiated management of rural landscape sustainability.

Automated summary

This study proposed a rural landscape services system, assessed the landscape services capabilities at village scale, and found trade-offs and synergies along urban-rural and terrain gradients. The majority of villages showed trade-offs in landscape services, while synergies were largely observed in the middle and eastern regions of the study area.