Spatial Differentiation and Tradeoff–Synergy of Rural Multifunction at the County Scale in Anhui Province in the China’s Traditional Agricultural Areas

The study of rural multifunction interaction has ignored the spatial differentiation characteristics, so it is necessary to reveal in-depth the spatial interaction relationship of rural multifunction interaction on the basis of type division and pattern recognition at the county scale. Taking Anhui as a case study, based on the county scale, the paper constructed an index system of rural multifunction evaluation, and comprehensively applied the improved entropy method, spatial autocorrelation model, and Spearman correlation coefficient to study the temporal-spatial characteristics and tradeoff–synergy relationship of rural multifunction from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that (1) the overall rural production function at the county level in Anhui showed an upward trend, showing a spatial pattern of “low in the south and high in the north”. The rural life function was gradually weakened, showing the characteristics of gradual decline from suburban to exurb. The rural ecological function increased, showing a high value distribution in areas with rich mountains and hills or a dense water network. (2) The spatial concentration of HH (High-High) and LL (Low-Low) positive correlation types of rural production, life, and ecological function was significant during the study period. The negative correlation types of HL (High-Low) and LH (Low-High) had low spatial agglomeration and showed discrete distribution. (3) There was a spatial synergistic relationship between rural production and life function at the county scale in Anhui Province. The tradeoff–synergy relationship between rural production and ecological function and between rural life and ecological function showed a trend of synergistic–tradeoff fluctuation. The spatial difference of the rural multifunction tradeoff–synergy relationship was significant during the study period. (4) In the future, we should change the situation that the expansion of rural production function compresses rural life and ecological function, and promote rural life and ecological function to promote the benign and coordinated development of rural multifunction at the county scale in traditional agricultural areas.