The Supply and Demand of Ecosystem Services: A Review of Current Research and Future Directions

Ecosystem services (ESs) supply refers to the capacity of an area to provide ecosystem goods and services at a given time, while ESs demand encompasses the total consumption or utilization of all ecosystem products and services by human society (Burkhard et al., 2012). The quantification of ESs supply involves ecological process modeling, ecosystem services value assessment, and public participation. On the other hand, ESs demand includes comprehensive index assessments based on population, economy, and land, as well as remote sensing monitoring and consumption-based accounting.

Although many studies have focused on the relationship between ESs supply and demand (ESSD), the imbalance between supply and demand serves as the primary driver of regional ecological degradation (Chen et al., 2020; Kroll et al., 2012). Current research on ESSD primarily focuses on quantification, spatial-temporal variation, and spatial flow (Feurer et al., 2021), as well as the analysis of associated driving forces (Huang et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022), and its application in ecological zoning and the establishment of ecological security patterns (Zhang et al., 2022; Jia et al., 2023).

Furthermore, changes and variations in ESSD are explored at different spatial scales, including landscape, regional, national, or global levels (Meng et al., 2020; Deng et al., 2021). However, future predictive research in this area is still lacking. Future complex climate conditions (Scarano, 2017), socio-economic development (Lawler et al., 2014), and land use/land cover changes have direct or indirect impacts on ESSD changes, and even pose limitations or threats to regional sustainable development.