Do carbon sequestration and food security in urban and rural landscapes differ in patterns, relationships, and responses?

The urbanization process and implementation of various ecological restoration projects have altered the urban rural landscape patterns and ecosystem services (ESs). Do carbon sequestration and food security, which can be found differences in patterns in both urban and rural landscapes, reflect these relationships and responses? Therefore, taking the Wuding River Basin as an example, we analyzed the variations in carbon sequestration and food security across diverse urban-rural landscapes, and the evolving trade-offs/synergies between them. The results showed that carbon sequestration and food security significantly increased in urban and rural landscapes over the past 20 years, with a greater increase observed in rural landscapes due to a substantial reduction in human pressure. The maximum increase in carbon sequestration occurred at a distance of 16.6 km from human settlements. Population decline significantly strengthened the trade-offs between carbon sequestration and food security in landscapes with high and low agricultural pressure. Conversely, in developed urban landscapes, population decline enhanced the synergistic relationship between carbon sequestration and food security. Understanding the evolving patterns of carbon sequestration and food security in different urban-rural landscapes provides important evidence for developing effective landscape planning and policy strategies, which is of great significance for promoting the sustainability of urban-rural landscapes.