Abstract:Recent ecosystem service flow studies have highlighted the relationship between services and human wellbeing. Ecologists have tried to establish a causal connection between service supply and use, and have attempted to explore the relationship between the temporal and spatial dynamics of service supply and change to human wellbeing. In this report, we review previous studies on ecosystem service flows since the 1990s and investigate the progress that has occurred and its importance. The initial studies focused on the mechanism behind ecosystem service flows and assessed its economic impact, which established a solid basis for further research. The progressively better understanding of the spatial characteristics of ecosystem service supply and use encouraged more researchers to get involved in this study field using simulation modeling, and to investigate supply and use balance at different spatial scales. Analysis of the spatial relationship between service supply areas and use areas identified the existence of a wide spatial mismatch in many types of ecosystem service areas. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate ecosystem service flows in order to understand the process driving the transformation of service production areas into use areas and to clearly define the spatial extent of service providers and beneficiaries. Although several studies on ecosystem service flows have been conducted, information on the distributed simulation of future conditions is limited due to a lack of systematic data and specialized professional knowledge. The data shortage issue can be resolved by using existing databases and derivative databases on geography, ecology, and natural resources. The gap in specialized professional knowledge can be bridged if professionals from different disciplines, such as hydrology, geography, ecology, meteorology, and computer science, join forces. The study of ecosystem service flows will help develop the feedback relationships between ecosystem service supply and demand and will underpin scientific knowledge of ecosystem management.