Objective  The aim was to study the temporal evolution of land use, ecosystem service values and ecological footprints in Liaoning Province, so as to provide a scientific basis for optimizing ecosystem management and improving ecological quality in Liaoning Province.

  Method  This study scientifically drew on the ideas of human geography, ecological economics and regional economics, adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, spatial analysis, modeling and other research methods to estimate the ecosystem services value (ESV). The assessment was based on the status of land use in Liaoning Province from 2000 to 2020, and the ESV was estimated with reference to the equivalent method.

  Result  ① The sum of the ecological function service value of hydrological regulation and climate regulation in Liaoning Province for each period exceeded 50% of the total ESV, and the contribution of the two land use types (forest land and water) to the total ESV in Liaoning Province was over 86%. ② The proportion of sown area of corn in Liaoning Province was always much higher than those of rice and soybeans, and the growth rate was relatively high. The sown area of rice and corn has fluctuated and changed, and the sown area of soybeans has continued to decrease. ③ The ecological footprints of rice, corn, and soybeans roughly coincided with the trend of their sown area. And based on the ecological footprint, the supply and demand balance index of the ecological carrying capacity of crops in each city was further calculated to provide countermeasures and suggestions for the distribution of food production.

  Conclusion  In the future, Liaoning Province needs to focus on the efficient use of natural resources, strengthen the protection of all types of land, make the stable development of good land and the gradual restoration of destroyed land. At the same time, the cutting-edge equipment and technology are needed to be developed and introduced to establish a natural resource-saving land use system to produce maximum economic and environmental benefits in a limited space, with a view to achieving sustainable economic and ecological development.