Linking ecological resilience and ecosystem services to inform spatial conservation planning

Balancing ecosystem service supply and ecosystem resilience is a critical challenge for achieving sustainable land management. This study develops an integrated framework that combines critical slowing down (CSD)-based resilience assessment, ecosystem service quantification, and spatial conservation prioritization to identify priority areas for ecological restoration and management. Using the Loess Plateau as a case study, we applied a multi-scenario spatial prioritization approach to compare trade-offs between maximizing ecosystem services (soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and water supply) and enhancing ecosystem resilience under three alternative management strategies: Service Priority, Balanced Priority, and Resilience Priority. Results reveal a widespread improvement in ecosystem services on the Loess Plateau over the past two decades, but also identify a turning point in resilience, shifting from improvement to decline. Spatial overlays indicate that areas with high ecosystem service supply often coincide with resilience loss, revealing mismatches between service gains and resilience decline. The three prioritization scenarios result in distinct spatial patterns, highlighting the need to balance short-term service benefits with long-term ecosystem stability. These findings emphasize the importance of integrated management strategies that jointly safeguard ecosystem services and resilience to support sustainable ecological restoration and land management outcomes.