Spatial and temporal evolution characteristics and driving factors of soil conservation services on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

• Soil conservation (SC) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau decreased between 2000 and 2006 and then increased. • Spatial pattern of SC was high in the southeast and low in the northwest. • Precipitation is the most important factor affecting spatial differentiation of SC. • Interaction between precipitation and slope should be considered to improve SC. As an important ecosystem regulating service, soil conservation services play an important role in preventing soil erosion and maintaining regional ecological security. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and trend analysis were used to quantitatively assess the soil conservation services on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) from 2000 to 2015. Then, we explore the driving factors of the spatial variation in soil conservation with the help of the geographical detector. The results showed that (1) the soil conservation on the QTP decreased and then increased over time, and the spatial pattern had an overall distribution characteristic of being high in the southeast and low in the northwest; (2) soil conservation on the QTP overall was elevated, with 61.39 % and 38.59 % of the area having increasing and decreasing soil conservation trends, respectively, and the spatial fluctuations had the characteristics of “high in the northwest and low in the southeast, with low fluctuations dominating”; and (3) precipitation was the most important factor influencing the spatial variation in soil conservation services, followed by slope, and the influence of landform type was the lowest. The explanatory power of the interaction among factors was higher than that of a single factor, and the explanatory power of the interaction between the slope factor and other influencing factors was highest overall, among which the interaction between slope and annual precipitation had the greatest influence. (4) The study revealed the suitable range of each factor to promote the function of soil conservation, and the mean value of soil conservation reached its maximum when the annual precipitation was 1656.44 ∼ 2794.65 mm, the mean annual temperature was 10.41 ∼ 22.32 °C, the slope was 35.00 ∼ 65.79°. The results of the study provide a scientific basis for regional soil and water conservation measures and ecological protection and construction on the QTP.