Trade-offs and synergies in ecosystem services for the Yinchuan Basin in China

•The LUCC was large, with a 76% comprehensive land use dynamic degree in the Yinchuan Basin.•An evaluation of the trade-offs and synergies in the ecosystem services associated with the LUCC.•A discussion of the implications of the least-square fitting of orthogonal polynomials in the Yinchuan Basin.

The demand for a variety of ecosystem services in environmental management has been widely recognized. However, few of the researchers tried to quantify the interaction between ecosystem services. The aims of this study were to investigate the land use/cover changes (LUCC) in the Yinchuan Basin and to reveal the trade-offs and synergies in ecosystem services associated with those changes. Least-square fitting of orthogonal polynomials were applied to study the trade-offs or synergies between ecosystem services. The results suggest that the LUCC was large, with a 76% comprehensive land use dynamic degree. The ecosystem services were clearly varied, and there was a fluctuation in water retention that was mainly caused by LUCC. There were trade-offs between food production and extreme net primary productivity(NPP), wind prevention and sand fixation, and water retention and extreme food production. There were synergistic relationships between NPP, wind prevention and sand fixation, and water retention under three ecosystem services. Studying trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services can improve ecosystem management and strengthen the implementation of decision-making processes. Results from this study have potential uses in land use planning, ecological construction, environmental management, and rational utilization of resources.