Effects of Regional Construction Land Growth on Ecosystem Service Functions: A Case Study of the Chang-Zhu-Tan Metropolitan Area, China

The expansion of construction land has progressively intensified the pressure on ecological land. Scientifically identifying its impacts on ecosystem service functions (ESF) is of great significance for balancing land development with ecological conservation. Most existing studies emphasize broad patterns of land use transformation while giving limited attention to the impacts of construction land expansion. Focusing on the Chang-Zhu-Tan metropolitan area, this study examines the patterns and evolution of construction land growth over the period 1990–2020, as well as projected changes under various scenarios between 2020 and 2030. The InVEST and PLUS models were used to assess the impacts on carbon storage (CS), habitat quality (HQ), soil retention (SR), and water conservation (WC), and to construct a comprehensive ecosystem service (CES) index. The results indicate six key points. (1) Between 1990 and 2020, construction land grew by 946.90 km2, showing a “rapid rise then slowdown” trend. That growth was mainly from the conversion of cropland and forest, with a “core-periphery” expansion pattern. (2) CS, HQ, and CES declined overall, while WC increased, with low-value ESF concentrated in dense urban areas. (3) Construction land significantly affected ESF, peaking in 2000–2010. While WC and SR improved in some areas, CS and HQ degradation expanded outward. (4) From 2020 to 2030, the ecological protection scenario (EP) construction land showed the lowest expansion intensity and continued growing toward the edges. (5) WC increased under the EP scenario, while CS, HQ, and CES declined the most under urban development (UD) and the least under EP. (6) EP effectively limited land growth and slowed ESF degradation, minimizing the negative impacts. These results offer policy references for ecosystem improvement and urban expansion control.