Spatio-temporal explicit mapping and quantification of ecosystem services provision area: An application for wind erosion prevention service in northern China

Many ecosystem service (ES) items, such as the wind erosion prevention service (WEPS), have spatially separated service provision and benefit areas (SPA & SBA), which are connected by directional ecosystem services flows (ESF). Clarifying the specific spatial relationships between the SPA and SBA is of potential scientific and policy importance for such directional flow-conveyed ES. Much of the existing research has focused on the identification of SBA based on a given SPA. However, due to the asymmetry of supply-based and demand-based ESFs and geospatial heterogeneity, this relationship cannot be directly inferred backward to obtain the SPA for a given SBA. In this paper, we propose a methodological framework along with computational methods to delineate the SPA of a given SBA. Our methods feature ESF carrier dynamics-based algorithms to determine the specific path of the ESF which is enabled by an adapted Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, as well as quantification approaches for evaluating the actual realization of ecosystem services value (RESV) with the support of the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) model. We demonstrate the applicability of our methods with the example of three mega-cities in northern China that are severely affected by the wind erosion problem. The results show that the spatial distribution of wind erosion source areas in the three cities are different, and the SPA based on the trajectory weights shows a decreasing trend from the city center to periphery, with those in the cities of Beijing and Taiyuan mainly concentrated in the northwestern direction, while the high RESV zones in the SPA are mainly concentrated in the desert areas. In the time series, wind erosion affecting these three cities mainly occurred in late April and May. The study provides a methodological and empirical basis for applied ecological analysis including the delineation of the ecological hinterlands of cities, or the formulation of precise ecological compensation programs.