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Water-food-ecology interactions in an arid irrigation region: trade-offs, synergies, and drivers from an ecosystem service bundle perspective.

Fang Yuan,Lei Qiu,Fan Zhang,Gao-feng Liu

Published 2025 in Journal of Environmental Management

ABSTRACT

Although understanding the interactions among water-food-ecology (WFE) and their drivers is essential for effective zonal management, existing studies often lack a spatially explicit framework that integrates ecosystem service bundles (ESBs), trade-off/synergy analysis, and driver identification, particularly in arid agricultural regions. To address this gap, this study examines WFE interactions from an ESB perspective using the Hetao Irrigation Area (HIA), a typical arid region in northwestern China, as a case study. Three key ecosystem services (ESs)-water yield (WY), food production (FP), and habitat quality (HQ)-were quantified. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) was applied to identify ESBs. Based on the number of key ESs within each ESB, appropriate methods were used to assess the trade-offs and synergies among the components of the WFE system. Then, the Geodetector model was employed to identify the drivers influencing these interactions. The HIA was classified into four ESBs. These ESBs exhibited significant differences in the number and type of key ESs, as well as in the trade-offs and synergies with the WFE system. Further analysis indicated that precipitation and agricultural irrigation water are the primary drivers of WFE interactions, while temperature and land use intensity show spatially heterogeneous effects across different ESBs. These findings highlight the need for implementing zonal management strategies to promote synergistic WFE development in the HIA.

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