Spatiotemporal changes in ecosystem services in the conservation priorities of the southern hill and mountain belt, China

•Priority conservation region was established by balancing ecosystem services.•The selection of conservation priorities was proved to be reliable by analyzing spatiotemporal changes in ecosystem services.•The implementation of the Grain-for-Green Programme and the increase in rainfall have improved ecosystem services.•Forest land types should be taken into account for future forest management. Ecosystems are severely damaged with rising global temperatures, the rapid increase in population and the continuous exploitation and utilization of natural resources. The selection of conservation priorities is of great significance to regional ecological security and sustainable development. Here we identified conservation priorities by balancing ecosystem services trade-offs and analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in ecosystem services. Water yield, soil conservation, carbon storage, habitat quality, and ecological recreation were quantified using the InVEST model. By comparing conservation efficiencies under each scenario, we found the conservation efficiencies of the conservation priorities for water yield, soil conservation, habitat quality, carbon storage, and ecological recreation to be 1.05, 1.76, 1.30, 1.37 and 1.41, respectively. The conservation efficiencies of ecosystem services were consistently greater than 1 during the years 2000–2015. The implementation of the Grain-for-Green Programme and increased rainfall have improved ecosystem services and our results are of great significance to regional ecological and environmental protection and the improvement of ecosystem services.