 This research examined the effects of land use and land cover change, LUCC, over a 21-year period in the Dongting Lake region of China. It found that the area covered by forests increased while the area covered by crops decreased. Additionally, the area covered by impervious surfaces such as roads and buildings also increased. These changes were associated with a decrease in carbon storage, but an increase in gross primary production, GPP. Furthermore, the researchers found that certain landscape patterns were more beneficial to certain ecosystem services. For example, crop yields were positively correlated with areas of cropland, while carbon storage was positively correlated with areas of forest. This article was authored by Jinluan Zhao, Shiguang Lu, Zhao Wang, and others.