Integrating human values into conflict-adaptation assessment for ecosystem service supply and demand: A case study of the three gorges reservoir area (Chongqing section)

The Three Gorges Reservoir Area (Chongqing section) serves as a critical ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, playing a pivotal role in maintaining regional ecological security and biodiversity. Rapid urbanization and economic development have posed significant challenges to the balance between human activities and ecosystem services. As a core segment of the Yangtze River ecological barrier, the Three Gorges Reservoir Area is both a National Key Ecological Function Zone and a priority area for biodiversity conservation. Its ecological condition directly affects water security, flood control, and biodiversity maintenance in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Following the operation of the Three Gorges Project and rapid urban expansion, land-use changes have significantly encroached upon ecological space. Although ecological restoration programs—such as grain-for-green and shelterbelt construction—have alleviated some pressures, the spatial expansion of urbanization remains largely irreversible, while societal demands on ecosystems have become increasingly diverse. To address the limitations of traditional ecosystem service assessments—which focus predominantly on supply-side economic valuation and treat supply–demand relationships as static gaps—this study integrates the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework with Schwartz’s theory of human values to develop a three-tier conflict–adaptation assessment framework for ecosystem services. Applied to the Chongqing section of the reservoir using data from 2006, 2015, and 2024, the framework examines: 1) internal interactions among seven supply services (Water yield, Food production, Carbon storage, PM₂.₅ removal, Landscape aesthetics supply, Habitat quality supply, Soil conservation supply); 2) value-driven dynamics among seven demand services (Water demand, Food demand, Carbon emissions, PM₂.₅ exposure risk, Landscape aesthetics demand, Habitat quality demand, Soil conservation demand); and 3) coupling between the functional subsystem and bearing subsystem. Results reveal a “scissors-shaped” spatial divergence: high-conflict zones are concentrated in metropolitan Chongqing and radiate southeastward along the main Yangtze channel, while high-adaptation areas expand southwestward from the northern mid-reservoir toward inland regions. Supply-side analysis indicates a structural reconfiguration of service relationships, with some synergies weakening or reversing into trade-offs. On the demand side, activities driven by “hedonism–self-direction–stimulation” values (e.g., Carbon emissions, Landscape aesthetics demand) increasingly intersect with those rooted in “security–tradition–universalism” (e.g., Water demand, Food demand, Habitat quality demand), reflecting a societal shift from basic subsistence toward integrated material and experiential well-being.This framework not only bridges the gap between human values and ecosystem service demands but also enables a transition from single-dimension evaluation to multi-system dynamic analysis. It further informs targeted governance strategies—such as graded restoration in conflict zones and enhanced radiating effects from adaptation zones—and underscores that policy design should align with specific value orientations (e.g., promoting “universalism” to strengthen Habitat quality demand and PM₂.₅ removal). Demonstrated in the Three Gorges context, this approach offers a transferable methodology for other river basins facing similar development–conservation tensions, supporting the operationalization of the “mountains–rivers–forests–farmlands–lakes–grasslands–deserts” life community concept through value-informed, spatially explicit planning.