A Study on the Supply and Demand of Ecosystem Services in the Taihu Lake Basin from 1995 to 2018

Rapid urbanization in the Taihu Lake Basin has led to the increasing ecological fragmentation, and is facing a series of ecological degradation and environmental problems. This study divided the Basin into 1 613 basic units at 5 km spatial resolution. The evaluation matrix of ecosystem service supply and demand based on land use types was used to assess the trend of ecosystem service supply and demand balance in the Taihu Lake Basin from 1995 to 2018. The matching level of ecosystem service supply and demand, and its spatio-temporal change pattern in the Basin were analyzed. The results show that: (1) The supply of ecosystem services has decreased while the demand of ecosystem services has increased in recent 20 years in this Basin, and the overall trend of the demand exceeded the supply; (2) The matching level of ecosystem service supply and demand has generally shifted from matching to mismatching, and the proportion with the downgrading matching levels was far higher than that with the upgrading matching levels; (3) The area with ecosystem service deficit increased by 2 times, and the rapid urbanization was the main factor to accelerate ecosystem service deficit in the Basin. Future study needs to improve the regional correction on the evaluation matrix of ecosystem services supply and demand, and explore the matching level of ecosystem service supply and demand at the long-term scale with higher resolution, so as to support watershed ecological protection and territorial space planning.