Under the principle of protecting and improving ecosystem service functions, optimizing the ecologically spatial pattern of the region plays an important role in ensuring the stability of the regional ecosystem. In this study, the southern hilly region was taken as the study area. Based on the land use change from 1995 to 2015, we applied the spatial analysis technique to assess the spatial and temporal changes in ecosystem service over 20 years and proposed a reasonable way about national land use planning. The results showed that (1) during 1995-2000, the area of forest ecosystems and ecosystem services declined sharply, and then gradually recovered after 2000. (2) The ecosystem services in the southern hilly region were mainly influenced by natural and socio-economic factors, while their spatial distribution decreased from south-east to north-west. (3) Based on the ecological sensitivity of the southern hilly region, we divided 4 ecological region zones to optimize land use pattern. What we should do is to identify priority conservation areas and to confirm the disturbance level of service supply areas, moderate development areas and town building areas. The results of the study explored that ecosystem service plays an important role in the process of national land use planning which can also provide scientific reference for further optimization of land use patterns in the southern hilly region of China.