Exploring the linkage between the supply and demand of cultural ecosystem services in Loess Plateau, China: a case study from Shigou Township

Including cultural ecosystem services (ES) in the management of an ecosystem can improve the social acceptance and legitimacy of management decisions. In order to adapt to the inherently fragile ecological environment, the Loess Plateau has formed a unique land-use mode and rural cultural landscape, yet the research on the cultural ES in this area is limited. The study of cultural ES from the supply and demand perspective will contribute to realize the sustainable cultural ES supply and meet people’s growing demand for a better life. This study conducted a questionnaire survey with 381 people in 42 villages of Shigou Township in the Loess Plateau to explore local residents’ demand (perceived importance) of 8 types of cultural ES. The 5-point Likert scale was used to quantify the relative level of residents’ demand of cultural ES. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlations between pairs of cultural ES. In addition, this study constructed the indicator system of cultural ES supply from two dimensions of cultural ES supply capacity and accessibility and used a redundancy analysis to explore the linkage between the cultural ES supply and demand. The results showed that residents had a higher demand for esthetics and sense of place, but lower demand for spiritual and religious in Shigou Township. There were significant and positive correlations between different types of cultural ES, and most of them were enjoyed in “bundles.” Each type of cultural ES was related to different types of percentage land cover, and geographical distance played an important role in cultural ES supply. Last, we proposed that local residents’ perceived importance of cultural ES should be included in decision-making to improve public support for ecosystem management, and managers should simultaneously pay attention to the supply capacity and accessibility of cultural ES to realize the sustainable cultural ES supply.