Evaluation of water yield and its driving factors in the Yangtze River Basin, China

Water-related ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Basin are very important. Understanding water yield services and the driving factors behind water yield is extremely critical to the effective protection and management of water resources in the basin. Therefore, this study aims to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and driving factors of water yield in the Yangtze River Basin. Based on the InVEST model, simulate the water yield in the Yangtze River Basin in 2000 and 2020 and the changes over 20 years, and combine with Geodetector to explore the impact of various driving factors on the spatial heterogeneity of water yield in the basin. The results showed that the water yield in the Yangtze River Basin has obvious spatial heterogeneity, which was high in the east and low in the west. There was a significant decrease in water yield depth in the area of high-value water yield in 2000 over a period of 20 years. The influence of precipitation and temperature on the spatial distribution of water yield in the Yangtze River Basin was significantly higher than that of other factors. The results of the interaction detector showed that the interaction between the precipitation factor and other factors had a high explanatory power on the spatial differentiation of water yield. And in the past 20 years, the interaction between precipitation and land use factors had strengthened the explanatory power of the spatial distribution of water yield in the basin. This study reveals the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of water yield in the Yangtze River Basin and its influencing factors, which will provide scientific data support for ecological environmental protection and water resources management in the basin.