Exploring ecosystem services interactions in the dryland: Socio-ecological drivers and thresholds for better ecosystem management

The ecosystem services (ESs) interactions of dryland, play a significant role in maintaining ecosystem stability and supporting human well-being against the backdrop of a growing worldwide drought. Nevertheless, the quantitative evaluation of this topic has been limited. Therefore, we analyzed variations in seven ESs (livestock production, carbon sequestration, water yield, microclimate regulation, soil conservation, sandstorm prevention, and habitat quality) from 2000 to 2020 in the Hunshandak sandy land. Further utilizing machine learning, we discerned a variety of vital ESs interactions, alongside their fundamental drivers. The results showed that synergies are considered to be the most crucial relationships between ESs. Most trade-offs between ESs have weakened in space. Land use is the most important factor restricting the trade-off intensity of ESs. Grassland, forest, and unused land are the most sensitive to changes in relationship intensity. NDVI is critical for interpreting ESs thresholds that most ESs have a trade-off intensity threshold of less than 0.3. Average annual precipitation has inflection points of 250, 300, 350, and 450 mm, while the inflection points for temperature occurred at 2.8, 3, and 3.5 C-degrees. Valuable guidance for dryland worldwide could be provided by timely and indepth insights into the socio-ecological drivers that influence interactions among ESs.