Trade-offs and Synergistic Optimization of Ecosystem Service Functions in the Upper Fenhe River Basin

Abstract

The upper Fenhe River Basin performs critical ecological functions for central Shanxi, yet it is also subject to urban development, resource exploitation and long-term environmental stress. This paper analyzes the trade-offs and synergies among major ecosystem services in the basin and discusses how these relations can inform more integrated watershed governance. Drawing on ecosystem service theory, landscape planning research and Chinese ecological governance debates, the paper argues that service provision in the upper Fenhe Basin is highly spatially differentiated. Mountain forest and grassland zones play major roles in water conservation, soil retention and habitat maintenance, while valleys, urbanizing areas and resource-extractive landscapes face stronger pressures and service degradation. Service relations are therefore not uniformly positive; they often involve difficult tensions between resource use and ecological maintenance, or between restoration programs and hydrological constraints. The paper proposes zoning-based governance, cross-jurisdictional coordination, ecological compensation and adaptive restoration as pathways toward synergistic optimization. Its broader claim is that effective basin management depends on understanding ecosystem services as a relational territorial system rather than as isolated indicators.