Incorporating ecosystem services into functional zoning and adaptive management of natural protected areas as case study of the Shennongjia region in China

Against the background of global climate change and anthropogenic interference, studying the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of ecosystem services in important ecological function regions and rationally dividing the functional zones will help to promote the construction of the natural protected areas system dominated by national parks. The Shennongjia Region is an important candidate for China's national parks and one of the key pilots. Integrating the InVEST model, Getis-Ord Gi* index, hotspot analysis, GeoDetector and K-means clustering algorithm, we measured five ecosystem services interactions and delineate the functional zones. The results show that the spatial and temporal evolution of various ecosystem services in the Shennongjia Region between 2000 and 2020 was significant. All ecosystem services showed a decreasing and then increasing trend, except for carbon storage, which slowly declined. The ecological status of the region is in the process of polarization, with the local environment showed a trend of continuous deterioration. Water yield-habitat quality and carbon storage-water purification showed synergistic relationships; soil conservation showed trade-offs with water yield, carbon storage and water purification over a wide spatial range. The interaction between land surface temperature and vegetation cover was the most significant dominant factor. Hot spots for the comprehensive ecosystem services index were mainly located in the central and southern parts of the Shennongjia region and four types of ecosystem service functional zones were identified accordingly. This study is of great significance for maximizing the benefits of ecosystem service functions, the efficient allocation of environmental resources and the rational formulation of management policies in natural protected areas.