Coupling Response of Ecosystem Service Value to Human Activity Intensity in Mountainous Areas: A Case Study of the Three Gorges Reservoir Hinterland, China

A comprehensive and fine-grained understanding of the coupling relationship between ecosystem service value (ESV) and human activity intensity (HAI) in mountainous areas effectively promotes sustainable development. However, there is a shortage of research exploring the complex and comprehensive coupling relationship between the two in mountain areas. This paper constructed a research framework for the coupling relationship between ESV and HAI in mountainous areas, revealed the evolutionary characteristics of the coupling relationship between ESV and HAI in mountainous areas, and explored whether mountainous areas can move toward a win-win situation regarding ecology and economy. The results showed that: (1) ESV in the study area showed an increasing trend from 2000 to 2020, with 204 townships (streets) showing increasing ESV, and the spatial distribution showed that streets and surrounding townships had lower ESV compared to townships farther away from the streets. The HAI showed the changing characteristics of local weakening and overall enhancement, and the spatial distribution showed that the HAI in the streets and surrounding townships was substantially higher than in the rest of the area. (2) Four types of coupling relationship changes were formed between ESV and HAI in the study area, specifically comprehensive enhancement, comprehensive recession, ecological restoration-economic decline, and ecological decline-economic development, with comprehensive enhancement being the dominant type, and there were 189 townships (streets) belonging to this type in 2000-2010, and in 2010-2020 there were 80. (3) Driven by natural, socioeconomic, and policy factors, the coupling relationship between ESV and HAI in mountainous areas gradually coordinated toward a win-win situation for ecology and economy. The case study verifies the theoretical hypothesis on the coupling relationship between ESV and HAI in mountainous areas at a smaller spatial scale, providing a theoretical reference for ecological environment construction and sustainable development in similar mountainous areas.