Multi-scale spatio-temporal analysis of soil conservation service based on MGWR model: A case of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, China

To improve regional ecosystem services and ecological management feedback, insights should be gained into the driving mechanisms of ecological service. As reported by existing studies in ecosystem drivers, ecological and socioeconomic factors at different spatial scales internally can drive the structure, process and service of the ecosystem, whereas the intrinsic multi-scale mechanism of the drivers above remain unclear. This study attempts to clarify the drivers of soil conservation service and investigate the multi-scale driving mechanism by employing an optimized Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression model (MGWR) in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. As indicated by the result, (1) the analysis of the bandwidth size and spatial characteristics of the driving factors revealed that the dominant drivers of soil conservation service exerted a wide-changed scale effect, in which four scales were presented (i.e., region, city clusters, urban and county scale) from an administrative spatial perspective. (2) At a spatial scale, the contribution of natural factors exceeded landscape index and socioeco-nomic factors at the region spatial scale in accordance with the significance test value. However, with the decrease in the spatial scale range, the driving force of landscape index and socioeconomic factors tended to increase. (3) At a time scale, the drivers of soil conservation service are changed over time as impacted by regional land use, economic and social, ecological restoration project, etc. As suggested by the analytical results, coordinated regional eco-socio-economic management and regional sustainable development with ecosystem service enhancement as the goal orientation can be scientifically and effectively guided through the assessment of multi-scale spatial and temporal variation patterns of ecosystem service drivers.

Automated summary

This study clarifies the drivers of soil conservation service and investigates the multi-scale driving mechanism in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The results indicate that the dominant drivers of soil conservation service have a wide-ranging scale effect and that the contribution of natural factors exceeds landscape and socioeconomic factors at the region scale. However, at smaller spatial scales, the driving force of landscape and socioeconomic factors tends to increase. Additionally, the drivers of soil conservation service change over time due to regional factors such as land use, economy, and ecological restoration projects.