Figure - available from: Environmental Science and Pollution Research
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Source publication
The development and utilization of energy in the Loess Plateau has caused a wide range of ecological security issues, and Yan’an has become a typical area for ecological security research on the Loess Plateau. Ecological security evaluation research can provide data support and scientific reference value for the sustainable development, which is of...
Similar publications
In recent years, the platform economy has been recognised by researchers and governments around the world for its potential to contribute to the sustainable development of society. Yet, platform economy cases such as Uber, Airbnb, and Deliveroo have created a huge controversy over their socioeconomic impact, while other alternative models have been...
The authors conducted an economic and legal analysis of the organization and functioning
of the European Union Banking Union (which emerged in response to the negative
effects of the global financial crisis and the euro area debt crisis) to ensure sustainable
development in the context of European integration in the face of current challenges
and t...
Ecological restoration and conservation are primary components of sustainable development around the world, particularly during the contemporary era of climate change. However, restoration and conservation are not free; they consume huge amounts of resources that would otherwise support social and economic development. Therefore, excessive conserva...
Citations
... Research related to the ES mainly focuses on artificial systems (Wu et al 2015), croplands (Zhou et Various methods for quantifying ES exist, including mathematical models, landscape ecological models, ecological footprint (EF) models, and ecosystem service models (Costanza 2020, Karimian et al 2022, Zhang et al 2023). Among them, mathematical models can illustrate the coupled relationship between the natural environment and the socio-economy, but the determination of indicators and weights is more subjective (Wen et al 2021). The landscape ecological model is suitable for studying ecological changes at large spatial scales, but it does not sufficiently capture the interaction between humans and nature (Zhou et al 2021). ...
The increasing contradiction between resource supply and demand has brought ecological security (ES) to the forefront. Research on the changes of ES pattern and their driving factors is crucial for coordinating the regional ecological and economic development. Hubei Province in China exhibits uneven distribution of resources and a fragile ecological environment. In this study, an improved ecological footprint (EF) model was employed to analyze the changes in the ES pattern of Hubei Province. And the logarithmic mean Divisia index model was introduced to analyze the corresponding driving factors. The results showed that (1) from 2000 to 2020, the EF per capita (ef), the ecological carrying capacity per capita (ecc), and the ecological deficit (ED) per capita (ed) of Hubei Province increased by 47.11%, 2.71%, and 51.72%, respectively. In 2020, the cities in the province were in a state of ED, and the spatial distribution was ‘high in the central part of the province and low in the east and west’. (2) Each ef type showed an increasing trend. The increase in ef mostly came from the increase in fisheries ef, fossil energy ef and cropland ef, with a contribution of 76.70%. The increase in ecc is mainly due to the increase in freshwater ecc, with a contribution of 274.87%. (3) The ecological pressure in the province continued to rise and has been in a state of being completely unsafe. The efficiency of ecological resource use has increased, and the ecological structure tends to be rationalized, but the ecological-economic coordination has weakened. (4) The overall EF growth in the province is mostly driven by economic, population and footprint structure factors, while footprint intensity suppresses EF growth. Therefore, it is advised to boost investment in eco-friendly tech, foster green economy growth, and prioritize renewable energy development. This study can provide a reference basis for policy formulation on environmental sustainability and ecosystem management.
... Due to the combination of natural and anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems, the P-S-R method shows the merits of ecological and environmental security assessment [32,54]. For assessing ecological security on the IMYRB, the Ecological Security Index (ESI) was established [33,34,55]. ...
The Inner Mongolia segment of the Yellow River basin (IMYRB) is a typical area for ecological restoration in China. At the end of the 20th century, influenced by climate and human activities, such as mining, grazing, and farmland abandonment, the ecological security of the IMYRB was under more significant pressure. To alleviate the pressure on natural ecosystems and improve the fragile ecological situation, China implemented the “Grain-for-Green” (GFG) project in 1999. However, the evolutionary characteristics of the ecological security of the IMYRB in the first two decades of the 21st century are still lacking. Quantitative and long-term ecological security information of “Grain-for-Green” is needed. Based on this, this study used the “Pressure (P)-State (S)-Response (R)” method and proposed an ecological security assessment and early warning system based on multi-source remote sensing data. The evaluation results indicated a significant improvement in ecological security in the IMYRB from 2000 to 2020. Compared to 2000, the ecological security of the IMYRB had improved significantly in 2020, with an increase of 11.02% (ES > 0.65) and a decrease of 8.89% (ES < 0.35). For the early warning aspect of ecological security, there was a 26.31% growth in non-warning areas, with a 5% decrease in warning areas. Based on the analysis of ecologically critical factors, we proposed the implications for future ecological management as follows. (1) In ecologically fragile areas such as the IMYRB, continued implementation of the GFG was necessary. (2) Vegetation restoration should be scientific and tailored adaptive. (3) The protection of arable land also showed necessity. (4) The grazing management skills should be upgraded. Our study demonstrated that the ecological benefits derived from the “GFG” project are not immediate but cumulative and persistent. The continuous implementation of “GFG” will likely alleviate the pressure exerted by human activities on the natural environment.
... In recent years, various methods based on the structure and functions of the ecosystem have been developed to monitor the stability of ecosystems and human well-being. Among its most important methods are integrated methods of geographic and dynamic models Lu et al., 2019), fuzzy comprehensive methods (Gao et al., 2018), ecosystem services valuation (Liu and Wu, 2021;Ouyang et al., 2019) and landscape ecological security (Wen et al., 2021;Xu et al., 2016). ...
... The current research delved into the impact of urban growth on LES through the application of various statistical methods, examining different aspects of the issue at both the district and raster scales. According to Wen et al. (2021), ecological security can be regarded as a new approach to assessing land features. As indicated by Rabbani et al. (2018), Gounaridis et al. (2020), and, the most important factors influencing development can be measured by using indicators of LU change intensity and the type of urban growth, including urban sprawl. ...
... We transform the vector data into 1 km resolution raster data for the indicators P1, P2, P3, P5, L2, L4, L5, L6, L8, L9, L10, E1, E2, E4, E6, and we resample the data into 1 km resolution raster data for the indications P4, L3, L7, E3, and E5 using the ArcGIS resampling tool. To calculate the weights of the indicators using the index data scales, we choose the entropy weighting method (Dong & Lyu, 2022;Wen, Hou, et al., 2021;). ...
... In terms of research methodology, this study integrated the three aspects of production, living, and ecology land pressures covering food production pressure, economic development pressure (Zhu & He, 2010), and arable land pressure (Chen et al., 2019) considered by previous research scholars. In comparison to previous fuzzy evaluation studies (Lu et al., 2022;Wen, Hou, et al., 2021;, this study avoided the shortcomings of subjectivity and arbitrariness inherent in the traditional expert scoring scheme by calculating the evaluation scores of each raster cell using fuzzy mathematical methods and fuzzy rules that are more objective and easy to extend and finally obtaining the land pressure score through weighted summation. The created land pressure evaluation model increases land pressure measurement spatial resolution and successfully displays the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of land pressure in the YRDR. ...
The limited land is under unprecedented pressure from production, living, and ecology. For evaluating the land pressure in the Yangtze River Delta region in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 from the perspective of production, living, and ecology, this study builds a land pressure evaluation index system based on a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model using multisource and multiscale data. For investigating trade‐offs and synergies among production, living, and ecology pressures, we use the mechanical equilibrium model in physics. We then analyze land pressure model reliability and uncertainty using Monte Carlo simulations. The results show that (1) Our model can effectively reveal the level of land pressure and reflect the land pressure geographical pattern of “high in the east and low in the west, high in the south and low in the north” that characterizes the Yangtze River Delta region. (2) While living and ecology pressures tend to rise, production pressures tend to decrease. (3) Except for Shanghai, the trade‐off areas are primarily concentrated in economically successful regions with high production and living pressure and low ecology pressure. The coordinated areas are primarily found in northern Jiangsu Province and northern Anhui Province.
... Zhao combined the ecological health theory and the DPSIR framework to construct a geopark ecological health evaluation system (Zhao et al. 2018). Wen constructed the ecological security evaluation index of Loess Plateau in Yan'an region of China by using PSR model and calculated the weight of each index by using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) (Wen et al. 2021). ...
As the main driving force for the economic development of East China, the economic development of Anhui has been in good state in recent years. In 2019, the GDP of Anhui Province has reached 3711.4 billion yuan with an increase of 7.5% over the previous year. With the rapid economic development, many environmental problems such as resource depletion, vegetation degradation, and air quality decline have gradually increased. The ecological environment is an important foundation for social and economic development. To examine the status of regional ecological security, this study builds a comprehensive evaluation index system based on the “pressure-state-response” (PSR) framework and uses the entropy weight method to determine the index weight. Then the normal cloud model is introduced to dynamically calculate the ecological security status of Anhui Province from 2010 to 2019. The results show that (1) the ecological security status of Anhui has improved significantly and reached a safe status in 2019. (2) The ecological security status of 16 prefecture-level cities has also been improved, and the ecological security status of these cities is at level III and above except Huainan. There are significant differences in internal development, and the ecological security status of the southern region is ahead of the northern and central region. (3) From the perspective of the criterion level, the pressure and response subsystems develop faster, and the state subsystem develops more slowly. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the impact of the state subsystem on the overall development of ecological security in the future.
... Based on the deterioration of ecosystems significantly threats land security in the process of urbanization and human activities, it has become a major implementation region of the National Returning Farmland to Forest Project [15]. Now, vegetation coverage exceeds 80%, forest coverage exceeds 46%, and forest and grass vegetation coverage exceeds 67% in Yan'an, benefiting from this policy implementation [49]. ...
... Finally, the average total precision and Kappa coefficient of revised raster classification in five stages (2000-2018) are 89.40% and 0.872, respectively (both exceeding 0.75), indicating that adjusted raster classification of land use has excellent precision, and can evaluate LES further. Meanwhile, raster data of NDVI is derived from the SPOT/VEGETATION and MODIS satellite and is based on the method of maximum value composite [52]; raster data of DEM is based on SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data and the method of resampling; raster data of slope and land relief is extracted from DEM using ArcGIS 10.6 software [49]; land surface temperature (annual mean value) is calculated based on Band 6 of Landsat 5 TM and band 10 of Landsat 8 OLI_TIRS (obtaining from the Geospatial Data Cloud by http://www.gscloud.cn, accessed on 24 September 2020, cloudage ≤ 5%) using image inversion of remote sensing, radiometric calibration, atmospheric correction, and seamless mosaic and extract are completed [52]; human disturbance index, town buffer classification, water coverage, the value of ecosystem services, ecosystem resilience, and regional development index are calculated and rasterized based on raster data of land use and grounded methodology using ArcGIS 10.6 software. ...
... Yet, due to different dimensions of evaluation indexes used, data is standardized by using Equation (1) [49]: ...
Forest landscape restoration and ecosystem of Loess Plateau have enhanced prominently, since the policy implementation (1999) of the Grain for Green Project in China. Land ecological security (LES) performs an extremely critical function for protecting vulnerable land resources and sustaining forest ecosystem stability. Predecessors’ studies substantially concentrate on biophysical and meteorologic variables using numerous grounded methodologies, little research has been launched on systematic natural-socio-economic-ecological relationships and how these contributions and regulations for LES evaluation. Here, pressure-state-response (PSR) model was used to establish the evaluation system of LES in regional-scale, and LES was classified into five levels measured by ecological security index (S), including high (S ≥ 0.75), medium−high (0.65 ≤ S < 0.75), medium (0.55 ≤ S < 0.65), medium−low (0.45 ≤ S < 0.55), and low (S < 0.45) level, for systematically analyzing its spatiotemporal distribution characteristic and response mechanism to explanatory variables in Yan’an, northwest China, from 2000 to 2018. The results demonstrated that: (1) LES status was mainly characterized by medium−high level and medium level, and maintained profound stability. (2) zone with medium−high LES level was mainly concentrated in western and southern regions, continuously expanding to northeast regions, and possessed the largest territorial area, accounting for 37.22%–46.27% of the total area in Yan’an. (3) LES was primarily susceptible to normalized differential vegetation index, vegetation coverage, and land surface temperature with their optimal impacting thresholds of 0.20–0.64, 0.20–0.55, and 11.20–13.00 °C, respectively. (4) Normalized differential vegetation index and vegetation coverage had a significant synergistic effect upon LES based on their interactive explanation rate of 31% and had significant variation consistency (positive and negative) with LES, which were powerfully suggested to signal the intensification of the regional eco-security level in the persistent eco-greening process.
... Many methods have been applied in ecosystem assessments or evaluations and can be characterized as mostly incorporating subjective weighting determination (Liu et al., 2019;Wang and Yang, 2020;Wen et al., 2021). Methods used include principal component analysis (Zitko, 1994), analytic hierarchy process (Saaty, 1987), fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (Zheng et al., 2019a), etc. Projection pursuit modeling (PPM), used in the research reported here, projects high-dimensional data into a low-dimensional space and finds the optimum projection vector of data in one-dimension that can highlight the original highdimensional data features to the greatest extent (Friedman and Tukey, 1974; and has been widely applied in many fields (Hu, 2018;Liu et al., 2019;Wang and Yang, 2020). ...
... This was realized through the method of maximum-minimum dimensioning of the data to satisfy the requirements of the projection pursuit model (PPM). A historical period, even a specific year, is often set as reference condition (Cabello et al., 2012;Hughes and Convey, 2010;MA, 2005;Pollock et al., 2012;Wen et al., 2021), which could distort evaluation results due to impacts from climate variability (Pollock et al., 2012). In this study, the reference condition was based on the best and worst for the given temporal and spatial range covering the whole study period and whole region, which is more rational and objective. ...
Monitoring and evaluating ecological quality and changes are crucial for policy formulation to guide ecosystem management and socioeconomic sustainable development. However, evaluation of ecological quality is still very challenging due to difficulties in determination of its associated indicators and weights. This paper proposes supporting, providing and regulating ecosystems services-based indicators to describe ecological quality, and applies a Projection Pursuit Model to eliminate redundant indicators and objectively determine weights for an ecological quality index (EQI) on a regional scale. Taking Jiangxi Province, China, as a demonstration area, the data for indicator measures were retrieved from satellite remote sensing and ecosystem modelling with a spatial resolution of 1 km for the three years 2005, 2010 and 2015. The results suggest that Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and water use efficiency (WUE) should be weighed higher and leaf area index (LAI) and Bowen ratio should be weighed lowest in the calculation of an EQI for Jiangxi Province. For 2015, the regional EQI was calculated to be 55.32 on a scale from 0 as the worst to 100 as the best, with higher values ascribed to the hills and mountains and the lower values existing near urban areas. The EQI increased from 52.26 in 2005 to 55.32 in 2015 with an increased area of good-and-above grade from 25.47% to 36.8% for the whole province. The changes in EQI could be attributed to a warmer and wetter climate trend playing a positive dominant effect, while urbanization and afforestation have negative and positive effects, respectively. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to evaluate ecological quality based on a comprehensive set of indicators and PPM-based weight determination, which could be further applied in regular ecological quality monitoring and evaluation on the regional, or even the national scale.
As a typical ecologically fragile area, the ecological security of the Loess Plateau has been seriously threatened. Ecological security patterns (ESP) have gradually become an effective method for protecting ecological security and supporting the management and sustainable development of ecosystems. Therefore, this study constructed a novel ESP based on ecological “function–structure”, utilizing minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) to identify ecological source areas and corridors. Additionally, time scales were introduced into the ESP, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of ecological security in the Loess Plateau. The study revealed that the number of ecological sources decreased from southeast to northwest, with 27, 41, and 77 sources covering total areas of 4263.810 km2, 18,566.034 km2, and 113,209.595 km2 from 2000 to 2020, respectively. Similarly, the number and complexity of ecological corridors increased over the same time period, with 64, 85, and 105 corridors totaling lengths of 4579.326 km, 6526.996 km, and 7015.174 km, respectively. The expansion of ecological security zones was mainly observed in the southeast part of the Loess Plateau. Overall, the ESP of the Loess Plateau saw an improvement, with the southeastern part showing better ecological security than the northwestern part. These findings hold great significance for regional ecological security evaluations and are crucial for promoting ecological management and healthy development in the Loess Plateau.
