Abstract. An important feature of the relationships among ecosystem services (ES) is they have temporal and spatial patterns. The purpose of this research was to study the spatial and temporal characteristics of the synergies and trade-offs in ES in Guanzhong Basin and Hanzhoung Basin, as well as to compare the ES differences between the two basins. The spatio-temporal characteristics of the relationships among ES were analysed and compared from 1995–2014 for Hanzhong Basin, which has a good ecological environment, and the economically developed Guanzhong Basin, using linear relationship between grain output and NDVI (LRGO & NDVI), the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA), the integrated storage capacity method(ISCM), and the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model to simulate the four types of ES: food production (FP), net primary production (NPP), water retention (WR) and soil conservation (SC). The results of this study were as follows: (1) The trade-off relationships between FP and NPP in Guanzhong Basin and Hanzhong Basin were the most significant, and the trade-off relationship between FP and NPP in Guanzhong Basin (R = −0.40, P
Comparative analysis of trade-offs and synergies in ecosystem services
between Guanzhong Basin and Hanzhong Basin in China