Nature's contributions to people responding to landscape stability in a typical karst region, southwest China.

Understanding the response of nature's contributions to people (NCP) to change in landscape stability may constrain and guide human modification of nature. However, the effects of landscape stability on NCP, in the context of active human modification, remain unclear. To address this issue, we chose the Wujiang River Basin in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China as a study area and quantified landscape stability in 2000, 2010, and 2020 under different scenarios. Environmental protection and comprehensive development scenarios were simulated for 2030 using the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model. For current and future scenarios, NCP were assessed in terms of indicators, which included habitat creation and maintenance (NCP1), regulation of freshwater (NCP6), and protection of soils (NCP8). Under the current status quo, urban expansion was 491.547 km2, and landscape stability showed a decreasing trend, with the mean value decreasing from 0.049 in 2000 to 0.015 in 2020. In future scenarios, landscape stability was highest under the comprehensive development scenario. In addition, in terms of changes in NCP, the high-value contributions declined by 16%–48% from 2000 to 2020. Our results clarified how NCP respond to landscape stability. These results can help conservation managers develop more targeted ecological strategies that will constrain human modification activities to enhance well-being. • Quantify the response of NCP under different stability conditions. • An indicator system for evaluating NCP stability was established. • Stability decreased, leading to loss of nature's beneficial contributions to people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]