About the Journal
In Memory of Professor Jerzy Radecki
Editorial Office
Editorial Board
Scope
Impact Factor
Indexed in...
Journal Impact Factor contributing items
Contact
Subscription
Current issue
Online first
Notes to Authors
Frequently Asked Questions
Editorial policies
PJOES Publication Policy Overview
PJOES Peer Review Policy
PJOES Research Ethics and Malpractice Policy
PJOES Plagiarism Policy
PJOES Conflict of Interest Policy
PJOES Open Access Policy
PJOES Instructions for Reviewers
Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy
Archive
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Response of Mountain Ecosystem
Services to Different Grid Scales
1
College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550025 PR China
2
School of Geography and Resources, Guizhou Education University, Guiyang 550018, China
Submission date: 2024-09-13
Final revision date: 2024-10-21
Acceptance date: 2024-11-10
Online publication date: 2025-01-27
Publication date: 2026-01-29
Corresponding author
Huiqing Han
College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550025 PR China
College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550025 PR China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2026;35(1):143-155
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The diverse ecosystems in the mountainous regions of southwestern China provide various essential
ecosystem services, which are critical for the ecological protection and sustainable development
of the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. Although the scale dependency of ecosystem
services has been demonstrated, the effects of different grid scales on the complex mountain ecosystem
services remain unclear. This study selects Wangcao Town in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province of China,
as a typical representative of mountainous areas. Utilizing GIS technology and the InVEST model,
the response of five key ecosystem services to four grid scales (30 m, 100 m, 300 m, and 600 m) is
analyzed. The results reveal that nutrient purification is significantly more sensitive to changes in grid
scale compared to water yield, soil retention, carbon storage, and crop production. While increasing
the grid scale alters the correlation coefficients between ecosystem services, it does not fundamentally
change the trade-offs and synergies among them. Differences in ecosystem service responses and their
relationships are observed across different slope gradients under varying grid scales. Most ecosystem
services and their relationships exhibit greater sensitivity to grid scale in the 0-5º slope range compared
to other slope gradients. The dominant landscape type plays a critical role in the scale dependency of
ecosystem services in complex mountainous terrain as the grid scale changes.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
REFERENCES (50)
1.
LIU L.M., WU J.G. Ecosystem services-human wellbeing relationships vary with spatial scales and indicators: The case of China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 172, 105622, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resc....
2.
TORRES A.V., TIWARI C., ATKINSON S.F. Progress in ecosystem services research: A guide for scholars and practitioners. Ecosystem Services. 49, 101267, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecos....
3.
VAVE R., HECK N., NARAYAN S., CARRIZALES S., KENISON D., PAYTAN A. Impacts of commercial and subsistence fishing on marine and cultural ecosystem services important to the wellbeing of an Indigenous community in Hawai'i. Ecosystem Services. 69, 101661, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecos....
4.
LÜ Y.H., LÜ D., FENG X.M., FU B.J. Multi-scale analyses on the ecosystem services in the Chinese Loess Plateau and implications for dryland sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 48, 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosu....
5.
ZHU Q., TRAN L.T., WEI W. Understanding synergistic ecosystem services in China's Northeast Forest Belt: A blueprint for spatially targeted management. Ecological Indicators. 166, 112434, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
6.
ALHAMAD M.N., ALRABABAH M.A., FEAGIN R.A., GHARAIBEH A. Mediterranean drylands: The effect of grain size and domain of scale on landscape metrics. Ecological Indicators. 11 (2), 611, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
7.
YANG J., WANG Y., XIAO X., JIN C., XIA J., LI X. Spatial differentiation of urban wind and thermal environment in different grid sizes. Urban Climate. 28, 100458, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ucli... PMCid:PMC7721160.
8.
LV H., WU Z., GUAN X., MENG Y., WANG H., ZHOU Y. Threshold effect of data amount and grid size on urban land use type identification using multi-source data fusion. Sustainable Cities and Society. 98, 104855, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.....
9.
STEUR G., VERBURG R.W., WASSEN M.J., VERWEIJ P.A. Shedding light on relationships between plant diversity and tropical forest ecosystem services across spatial scales and plot sizes. Ecosystem Services. 43, 101107, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecos....
10.
SEIFERT S., WOLFF S., HÜTTEL S. Eco-efficiency in the agricultural landscape of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Agricultural Systems. 220, 104062, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy....
11.
FAN Y., MANDAL M.S.H., NAKABAYASHI M., HOSAKA T. Visitor experience with biodiversity in tropical rainforests: A global-scale assessment using social media data. Biological Conservation. 293, 110590, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioc....
12.
WU K., WANG D., LU H., LIU G. Temporal and spatial heterogeneity of land use, urbanization, and ecosystem service value in China: A national-scale analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production. 418, 137911, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcle....
13.
SCHMIDT A., FOURNIER R.A., LUTHER J.E., TRUDEL M. Development of a mapping framework for ecosystem services: The case of sediment control supply at a watershed scale in Newfoundland, Canada. Ecological Indicators. 117, 106518, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
14.
XUE C.L., CHEN X.H., XUE L.R., ZHANG H.Q., CHEN J.P., LI D.D. Modeling the spatially heterogeneous relationships between tradeoffs and synergies among ecosystem services and potential drivers considering geographic scale in Bairin Left Banner, China. Science of the Total Environment. 855, 158834, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit... PMid:36122723.
15.
HINDSLEY P., YOSKOWITZ D. Global change-Local values: Assessing tradeoffs for coastal ecosystem services in the face of sea level rise. Global Environmental Change. 61, 102039, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloe....
16.
MEDINA-ROLDÁN E., LORENZETTI R., CALZOLARI C., UNGARO F. Disentangling soil-based ecosystem services synergies, trade-offs, multifunctionality, and bundles: A case study at regional scale (NE Italy) to support environmental planning. Geoderma. 448, 116962, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geod....
17.
NELSON E., MENDOZA G., REGETZ J., POLASKY S., TALLIS H., CAMERON D.R., CHAN K.M.A., DAILY G.C., GOLDSTEIN J., KAREIVA P.M., LONSDORF E., NAIDOO R., RICKETTS T.H., SHAW M.R. Modeling multiple ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, commodity production, and tradeoffs at landscape scales. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 7 (1), 4, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1890/080023.
18.
LIU J.M., PEI X.T., ZHU W.Y., JIAO J.Z. Understanding the intricate tradeoffs among ecosystem services in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration across spatiotemporal features. Science of the Total Environment. 898, 165453, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit... PMid:37451449.
19.
MACHEFER M., ZAMPIERI M., VAN DER DELDE M., DENTENER F., CLAVERIE M., D'ANDRIMONT R. Earth Observation based multi-scale analysis of crop diversity in the European Union: First insights for agro-environmental policies. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 374, 109143, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee....
20.
MA X., ZHANG P., YANG L., QI Y., LIU J., LIU L., FAN X., HOU K. Assessing the relative contributions, combined effects and multiscale uncertainty of future land use and climate change on water-related ecosystem services in Southwest China using a novel integrated modelling framework. Sustainable Cities and Society. 106, 105400, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.....
21.
MORENO-LLORCA R., VAZ A.S., HERRERO J., MILLARES A., BONET-GARCIA F.J., ALCARAZ-SEGURA D. Multi-scale evolution of ecosystem services' supply in Sierra Nevada (Spain): An assessment over the last half-century. Ecosystem Services. 46, 101204, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecos....
22.
ZENG S.P., JIANG C.Q., BAI Y.F., WANG H., LIU E., GUO L.A., CHEN S.Y., ZHANG J. Understanding scale effects and differentiation mechanisms of ecosystem services tradeoffs and synergies relationship: A case study of the Lishui River Basin, China. Ecological Indicators. 167, 112648, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
23.
LUO D., ZHOU Z., ZHANG L., CHEN Q., HUANG D., FENG Q., WU T., WU L. Evolution and driver analysis of forest carbon stocks in karst mountainous areas of southwest China in the context of rocky desertification management. CATENA. 246, 108335, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cate....
24.
LIANG X., LI Y., RAN C., LI M., ZHANG H. Study on the transformed farmland landscape in rural areas of southwest China: A case study of Chongqing. Journal of Rural Studies. 76, 272, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrur....
25.
LIANG X.Y., JIN X.B., YANG X.H., XU W.Y., LIN J.H., ZHOU Y.K. Exploring cultivated land evolution in mountainous areas of Southwest China, an empirical study of developments since the 1980s. Land Degradation & Development. 32 (2), 546, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.37....
26.
LIAO C.J., YUE Y.M., WANG K.L., FENSHOLT R., TONG X.W., BRANDT M. Ecological restoration enhances ecosystem health in the karst regions of southwest China. Ecological Indicators. 90, 416, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
27.
ZHANG L., HU B., ZHANG Z., LIANG G. Research on the spatiotemporal evolution and mechanism of ecosystem service value in the mountain-river-sea transition zone based on "production-living-ecological space" - Taking the Karst-Beibu Gulf in Southwest Guangxi, China as an example. Ecological Indicators. 148, 109889, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
28.
FAN M., XIAO Y.T. Impacts of the Grain for Green Program on the spatial pattern of land uses and ecosystem services in mountainous settlements in southwest China. Global Ecology and Conservation. 21, e00806, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecc....
29.
HAN H., YANG G., ZHANG Y. Changes in freshwater ecosystem services from 1960 to 2017 under climate change in Guizhou, China. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 19 (1), 171, 2021. https://doi.org/10.15666/aeer/....
30.
CHE L., GUO S., LI Y. Discerning changes and drivers of water yield ecosystem service: A case study of Chongqing-Chengdu District, Southwest China. Ecological Indicators. 160, 111767, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
31.
LI H., SHI D. Spatio-temporal variation in soil erosion on sloping farmland based on the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs model: A case study of Chongqing, southwest China. CATENA. 236, 107693, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cate....
32.
LI M.Y., LIANG D., XIA J., SONG J.X., CHENG D.D., WU J.T., CAO Y.L., SUN H.T., LI Q. Evaluation of water conservation function of Danjiang River Basin in Qinling Mountains, China based on InVEST model. Journal of Environmental Management. 286, 112212, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv... PMid:33636628.
33.
XU Z.X., MA J.F., ZHENG H., WANG L.J., YING L.X., LI R.N., YANG Y.Z. Quantification of the flood mitigation ecosystem service by coupling hydrological and hydrodynamic models. Ecosystem Services. 68, 101640, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecos....
34.
ALLEN R.G., PEREIRA L.S., RAES D., SMITH M. Crop evapotranspiration-guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56. Rome: FAO. 1, 1998.
35.
SHARP R., TALLIS H.T., RICKETTS T., GUERRY A.D., WOOD S.A., CHAPLIN-KRAMER R., NELSON E., ENNAANAY D., WOLNY S., OLWERO N., VIGERSTOL K., PENNINGTON D., MENDOZA G., AUKEMA J., FOSTER J., FORREST J., CAMERON D., ARKEMA K., LONSDORF E., KENNEDY C., VERUTES G., KIM C.K., GUANNEL G., PAPENFUS M., TOFT J., MARSIK M., BERNHARDT J., GRIFFIN R., GLOWINSKI K., CHAUMONT N., PERELMAN A., LACAYO M., MANDLE L., HAMEL P., VOGL A.L. InVEST User's Guide. The Natural Capital Project. Stanford. 2014.
36.
ZHOU W.Z., LIU G.H., PAN J.J., FENG X.F. Distribution of available soil water capacity in China. Journal of Geographical Sciences. 15, 3, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1360/gs0501....
37.
ZHANG W.B., XIE Y., LIU B.Y. Rainfall erosivity estimation using daily rainfall amounts. Scientia Geographica Sinica. 22 (6), 705, 2002 [In Chinese].
38.
WILLIAMS J.R., RENARD K.G., DYKE P.T. EPIC: A new method for assessing erosion's effect on soil productivity. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 38 (5), 381, 1983. https://doi.org/10.1080/002245....
39.
HAN H., YANG J., MA G., LIU Y., ZHANG L., CHEN S., MA S. Effects of land-use and climate change on sediment and nutrient retention in Guizhou, China. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. 6 (1), 1810592, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/209641....
40.
HAN H., YIN C., ZHANG C., GAO H., BAI Y. Response of trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services and land use change in the Karst area. Tropical Ecology. 60 (2), 230, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965....
41.
SHEN J.S., LI S.C., LIU L.B., LIANG Z., WANG Y.Y., WANG H., WU S.Y. Uncovering the relationships between ecosystem services and social-ecological drivers at different spatial scales in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Journal of Cleaner Production. 290, 125193, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcle....
42.
YANG M.H., GAO X.D., ZHAO X.N., WU P.T. Scale effect and spatially explicit drivers of interactions between ecosystem services—A case study from the Loess Plateau. Science of the Total Environment. 785, 147389, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit....
43.
WANG M., LEI G. Relative and Cumulative Effects of Climate and Land Use Change on Hydrological Ecosystem Services in Northeast China. Land. 12, 1298, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12....
44.
DI SABATINO A., COSCIEME L., VIGNINI P., CICOLANI B. Scale and ecological dependence of ecosystem services evaluation: Spatial extension and economic value of freshwater ecosystems in Italy. Ecological Indicators. 32, 259, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecol....
45.
QIAO X.N., GU Y.Y., ZOU C.X., XU D.L., WANG L., YE X., YANG Y., HUANG X.F. Temporal variation and spatial scale dependency of the trade-offs and synergies among multiple ecosystem services in the Taihu Lake Basin of China. Science of the Total Environment. 651, 218, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scit... PMid:30227292.
46.
GRAFIUS D.R., CORSTANJE R., WARREN P.H., EVANS K.L., HANCOCK S., HARRIS J.A. The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services. Landscape Ecology. 31, 1509, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980....
47.
YU Z.X., LI J., ZHOU Z.X., MA X.P., ZHANG C. Multi-scale representation of trade-offs and synergistic relationship among ecosystem services in Qinling-Daba Mountains. Acta Ecologica Sinica. 40 (16), 5465, 2020 [In Chinese].
48.
ZHANG J.J., ZHU W.B., ZHU L.Q., LI Y.H. Multi-scale analysis of trade-off/synergy effects of forest ecosystem services in the Funiu Mountain Region. Acta Geographica Sinica. 75 (5), 975, 2020 [In Chinese].
49.
MALINGA R., GORDON L.J., JEWITT G., LINDBORG R. Mapping ecosystem services across scales and continents—A review. Ecosystem Services. 13, 57, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecos....
50.
WANG S., HU M.M., WANG Y.F., XIA B.C. Dynamics of ecosystem services in response to urbanization across temporal and spatial scales in a mega metropolitan area. Sustainable Cities and Society. 77, 103561, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.....
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
