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Construction of eco-security model in the agro-pastoral interconnected zone in northern Shaanxi
... Among numerous ecological projects, the "Grain for Green Project" has yielded the most significant ecological benefits, becoming a key factor in promoting NPP growth in northern Shaanxi grasslands [49]. From 2000 to 2020, there has been a considerable decrease in bare land [60], with land use change predominantly featuring grassland expansion ( Figure 10). These areas, subject to low human activity intensity [61], have seen improved vegetation habitats and a continuous increase in the Leaf Area Index (LAI) [62]. ...
Grasslands, a vital ecosystem and component of the global carbon cycle, play a significant role in evaluating ecosystem health and monitoring the global carbon balance. In this study, based on the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model, we estimated the Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of grasslands in northern Shaanxi from 2000 to 2020. Employing trend analysis, stability analysis, multiple regression analysis, and residual analysis, the research examined the dynamic changes of grassland NPP and its response to climatic and human factors. Key findings include: (1) Grassland NPP showed a significant increasing trend during 2000–2020, with high-coverage grasslands showing a higher rate of increase than medium and low-coverage grasslands. (2) Most grasslands (>90%) exhibited unstable growth and high NPP fluctuation. (3) While temperature, precipitation, and
radiation undulate, the trends were not significant. Rainfall and radiation emerged as dominant factors affecting NPP, with temperature suppressing NPP increase to some extent. (4) Policies like returning farmland to grassland had a positive impact on grassland recovery, vegetation productivity, and regional ecosystem health.
The construction of ecological security pattern aims to determine the bottom line of ecological land supply and effective spatial distribution and provides a scientific basis for ensuring regional ecological security. The basic paradigm of “source recognition-resistance surface creation-corridor identification-key areas determination” was used to construct the ecological security pattern of Hohhot City in 2009 and 2019. The circuit theory was employed to determine the demand for protection and restoration of crucial ecological area and to divide the core ecological protection and restoration area, the core restoration area, the core protection area, and the general ecological protection area; then, the optimization of Hohhot’s ecological security pattern could be proposed. The results show that there was no interconnected and closed ecological network in 2009 and 2019 in the study area, and the area of significant ecological elements were decreasing: ecological source areas decreased from 266.97 to 261.21 km2, the number of ecological corridors decreased from 10 to 6, and the total area of ecological protection and restoration areas decreased from 342.15 to 199.91 km2. The results show that in the past 10 years, the ecological space in Hohhot had problems such as quality degradation, fragmentation intensifying, and effective landscape connectivity declining. It is urgent to optimize the ecological sources layout, strengthen the restoration of barrier areas and the protection of pinch point areas, and improve habitat connectivity to ensure the improved regional ecological security. Our results can provide a scientific reference for coordinating ecological protection and economic development, as well as the policy formulation and implementation of relevant departments.
Changes in land use significantly contribute to carbon emissions and other environmental problems. Regional carbon emissions changes from land use have been affected by rapid urbanization. To dynamically assess land use change and the spatiotemporal characteristics of carbon emissions from 1990 to 2020, this study used the PLUS, grey back-propagation neural network, and related carbon emission accounting models as well as four distinct 2030 scenario simulations. According to the findings, the urbanization of the urban agglomeration on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (UANSTM) developed rapidly from 1990 to 2020 with a noticeable transfer of diverse types of land. In particular, the quantity of construction land and cropland belonging to carbon source land increased by 153.271% and 55.072% respectively. Simultaneously, carbon emissions showed a trend of continuous increase and demonstrated an S-shaped curve growth, with relatively rapid growth from 2000 to 2015, that has tended to be stable in recent years. If this carbon emission trend continues, an inflection point will appear around 2028. Land use simulations for 2030 reveal that the ecological security (ES) scenario, which slows the expansion of contribution land and cropland while increasing ecological land, is most likely to reduce the negative environmental consequences of urbanization. This is because higher potential peak carbon emissions per unit area that may be obtained with carbon source land. Consequently, the ES scenario of the study region is comparable to the future urban agglomeration development model. The results provide a reference for territorial space planning and dual carbon target recommendations in the UANSTM.
The urban agglomerations’ rapid expansion and population growth have led to the fragmentation of landscape patterns and the degradation of ecosystems, seriously threatening regional ecological security. Ecological security pattern (ESP) is a spatial planning approach to effectively balance the development of urbanization and ecological protection. However, previous studies have ignored the difference in the importance of ecosystem services and the spatial compactness of ecological sources. The quantitative management objectives for maintaining the resilience of ESP are also rarely discussed. In this study, taking the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as an example, ecological sources were identified by simulating multiple ES weight assignment scenarios through GeoSOS area optimization. Ecological corridors and strategic points were extracted by Linkage Mapper. The robustness analysis based on complex network theory was performed to quantify the management objectives of ESPs. The results showed that ESPs include 26,130.61 km² ecological sources (accounting for 46.6% of the area of GBA), 557 ecological corridors, and 112 ecological strategic points. In more detail, ecological sources are mainly distributed in the western and eastern mountainous areas, and ecological corridors primarily link peripheral edge areas of GBA in a circular radial shape. Compared with the current nature reserves, the identified ecological sources are more compact in landscape pattern. According to the robustness analysis, at least 23% of the important ecological sources should be strictly restricted from development activities to maintain the ESP’s ability to resist ecological risks. This study also proposed corresponding differentiated ESPs management strategies. By optimizing the existing ESPs construction method and clarifying the ESPs management strategies, this study provides a completely scientific framework for the construction and management of ESPs in urban agglomerations.
Located in an important biodiversity conservation area in the Yangtze River Delta, the habitats of many species have been severely eroded because of human activities such as tourism development. There is no relevant species conservation plan in place in the region, and scientific guidance on ecosystem change and corridor construction is urgently needed. In this study, we first assess ecosystem service functions based on the InVEST model; then, we assess ecological sensitivity and identify landscape resistance surfaces by constructing ecosystem sensitivity indicators; finally, we construct ecological security patterns by combining landscape resistance surfaces and circuit theory identification. The main results are as follows: (1) The high value area of ecosystem services is located in the southwest, while the northeast part of the study area has lower ecosystem services, and there is a trade-off between the ecosystem services in the study area. (2) There are 38 ecological sources in southern Anhui, with a total area of more than 5742.79 km2, that are the basic guarantees of ecological security, mainly located in the northeast of the study area, and woodland and grassland are the most important components, accounting for 18.4% of the total study area. (3) The ecological security pattern in the study area consists of 63 ecological sources, 37 important corridors, and 26 potential corridors, of which there are 28 pinch point areas and 6 barrier point patches in the study area, mainly located within Huangshan City and Xuancheng City. We recommend that when implementing restoration and rehabilitation measures in the future, policy makers should give priority to pinch points and barrier areas.
Sustainable development in ecologically fragile areas (EFAs) has faced significant challenges in recent years, but the traditional analytical approaches fail to provide an ideal assessment for ecological performance due to spatiotemporal variability in EFAs. This paper evaluates the ecological performance of EFAs based on a modified ecological footprint model, and ecological footprint intensity (EFI) is considered an essential indicator to measure ecological performance, especially for EFAs. Empirically, taking the Π-shaped Curve Area in the Yellow River basin of China as the study area, the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of EFI of 17 cities in the area is analyzed. Then, the extended STIRPAT and geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) models are employed to explore the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the factors driving EFI. The results show that from 2006 to 2019, the overall level of EFI in the area has decreased; EFI of the area offers a significant spatial agglomeration effect; results of the GTWR model suggest that factors driving EFI have spatiotemporal heterogeneity; the impact of population size, openness, marketization, technology, industrial structure rationalization, and information communication level on EFI was two-sided, while that of affluence, government scale, environmental regulation, and industrial structure advancement show inhibitory impact with the intensity of inhibition varying across periods and cities.
The study of ecological security patterns (ESPs) is of great significance for improving the value of ecosystem services and promoting both ecological protection and high-quality socio-economic development. As an important part of the “Loss Plateau-Sichuan-Yunnan Ecological Barrier” and “Northern Sand Control Belt” in the national security strategic pattern, there is an urgent need to study the ESPs on the Loess Plateau. Based on a remote sensing dataset, this study identified the ESPs at different spatial scales, and analyzed the similarities and differences of ecological sources, corridors, and key strategic points, so as to better inform the development and implantation of macro and micro ecological protection strategies. When taken as a whole unit, we identified 58 ecological sources (areas with higher levels of ecosystem services) on the Loess Plateau (total area of 57,948.48 km2), along with 134 corridors (total length of 14,094.32 km), 1325 pinch points (total area of 315.01 km2), and 2406 barrier points (total area of 382.50 km2). When splits into ecoregions, we identified 108 sources (total area of 67,892.51 km2), 226 corridors (total length of 13,403.49 km), 2801 pinch points (total area of 851.07 km2, and 3657 barrier points (total area of 800.70 km2). Human activities and land use types are the main factors influencing the number and spatial distribution of corridors, ecological pinch points, and barrier points. ESPs constructed at different spatial scales are broadly similar, but significant differences among details were identified. As such, when formulating ecological protection and restoration strategies, the spatial scale should be considered. Moreover, specific programs should be determined based on ESP characteristics to maximize the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity from multiple perspectives and directions.
Mining activities have contributed to the growth of the city, but also raised non-negligible eco-geological environmental issues that threaten ecological safety. Ecological security pattern (ESP), as an important grip on the ecological restoration and protection of national land space, helps to balance mining activities and ecological protection in coal resource-based cities. Taking Huaibei City as a study area, we applied the ESP research paradigm: an ecosystem “function-structure” conceptual framework was developed to identify ecological sources, the “coal mining subsidence—economic activities” framework was used to revise ecological resistance surface, and the circuit theory was used to extract ecological corridors. Then, key areas for ecological restoration and protection were identified, including ecological pinch points, barrier points, and fracture points. Finally, the pattern and strategies for ecological restoration and protection were proposed. Study results show that there were 51 ecological sources, covering an area of 152.75 km2; 111 ecological corridors were extracted with 6000 as truncation threshold; 17 pinch points, 75 barrier points, and 117 fracture points were identified. Ecological restoration and protection patterns of “one axis, two shields, four zones, eight belts and multiple corridors”, and strategies for key areas were proposed. The results of the study are important for the sustainable development of coal-resource-based cities.
The ecological environment is suffering from great human disturbance. Scientific assessment of landscape ecological risks can provide scientific guidance for land use management. This study focused on Chaoyang County in China, used ecological risk assessment methods to characterize the impact of land use/land cover (LUCC) change, and revealed the risk aggregation pattern with the help of spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results showed that ecological risk was increased from 2000 to 2010 but decreased from 2010 to 2018. The ecological risk of the Daling River and Xiaoling River basin was at a relatively high level, and low in the northwest and southeast of the study which covered by forest land. Occupying cultivated land for built-up and large-scale deforestation were two of the main factors to contribute to the increase of ecological risk. The distribution of High-High (HH) and Low-Low (LL) risk agglomeration areas was basically the same as risk levels, but the scope is smaller and more precise. Thus, HH and LH risk agglomeration area should be paid more attention to prevent the adverse impact of adjacent areas. Our study gave a novel perspective to investigate the pattern of ecological risk in order for government managers to identify key risk areas.
Rapid urbanization and irrational human activities have induced in numerous environmental problems, seriously threatening regional ecological security. The establishment and optimization of ecological security patterns (ESPs) were considered as a nature-based solution and an effective way for sustainable development. In this study, the Guizhou Province, a representative karst mountainous region in the southwest of China, was used as the study region. The ecological sources were identified and optimized through integrating ecosystem services and landscape connectivity, and the ecological resistance surface was corrected by representative features of karst areas. The circuit theory was adopted to extract the ecological corridors and barriers. We found that the three ecosystem services (i.e., water conservation, biodiversity maintenance, and soil conservation) had remarkable spatial heterogeneity. The area of optimized ecological sources was enlarged 4752.14 km2. The number of corridors was reduced from 73 to 47 after optimization, with a total length decreased by 1251.97 km. The optimized ecological network structure considerably enhanced ecological connectivity, among the γ index increased by 0.0014, the β index reduced by 0.0833, while the α index did not change significantly. We concluded that quantitatively exploring the impacts of ecological source optimization are significant for enhancing ecological connectivity. The approach of our study proposes a novel idea into the ESP construction that can provide a meaningful reference for ecological protection and restoration.
The quality of human settlement environment (HSE) is related to people’s well-being. Since the implementation of the Western Development Strategy and the Grain to Green Program, the HSE in northern Shaanxi has undergone a major transformation. In order to explore the evolution pattern and seek a coordinated development strategy for all systems in the whole region, this paper, from the perspective of “production–living–ecological”, evaluates the HSE niche breadth of northern Shaanxi based on the ecological niche theory, analyzes its spatial differentiation characteristics, and identifies the development barrier factors, with the help of ArcGIS spatial analysis tools and the barrier degree model. It is found that: from 2000 to 2020, (1) the niche breadth of HSE in northern Shaanxi is high in the north and low in the south, showing obvious spatial unevenness; (2) the development of transportation promotes the improvement of HSE, but also intensifies the spatial unevenness, and the uncoordinated development rate of transportation and production and living systems has seriously restricted the further development of HSE; (3) the niche breadth of the ecosystem for each county is much lower than that of the production and living systems, and the ecological environment becomes the short board of the improvement of HSE in northern Shaanxi. Based on the patterns and problems found in the study, this paper proposes a strategy to improve the HSE of northern Shaanxi by prioritizing the balanced development of production, living systems, and transportation, strictly implementing the concept of ecological priority, dynamically adjusting the hierarchy of policies, vigorously optimizing the industrial layout, and focusing on the joint improvement of the human settlement environment in the whole region. This study expands the theories and evaluation methods of HSE to a certain extent, and the results have guiding values for promoting the sustainable development of HSE in northern Shaanxi and even the whole Loess Plateau region.
Accurate identification of priority areas for ecological restoration is an important prerequisite for ecological protection and restoration, but it is a current challenge in landscape planning. Northern Shaanxi, which is located in the middle of the Loess Plateau in China, was selected as a study area in this paper. A three-dimensional framework including natural potential, human disturbance, and landscape pattern factors was used to construct an ecological security evaluation index system, and spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) was used to quantitatively evaluate the ecological security levels of the study area. The ecological security assessment result was used as a resistance surface, and landscape elements were identified by morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and the gravity model. On this basis, priority areas for ecological restoration were identified by considering ecosystem security and the matching degree of landscape elements. The resulting area with low and moderately low security levels was 27,574.87 km² in size, accounting for 34.48% of the total study area, and the ecological security situation was not ideal. We identified seventeen ecological sources with an area of 5789.36 km², and the important ecological sources were mainly distributed in the south of the study area. We identified one hundred and thirty-six potential ecological corridors with a total length of 7431.12 km, including 16 important ecological corridors with a length of 1279.43 km. We also identified 83 ecological nodes, including 17 important ecological nodes. We found that the high matching degree of landscape elements included four watersheds with an area of 7571.17 km², mainly distributed in the southern part of the study area. Fifty-one basins with a low matching degree of landscape elements were identified, covering an area of 50,399.44 km² and mainly distributed in the west and north of the study area. We identified three levels of areas to be restored, of which the level I ecological restoration priority area was the smallest, at 7047.61 km². The areas of the level II ecological restoration priority area and the level III ecological restoration priority area were 20,379.35 km² and 27,866.35 km², respectively. The two areas were large and mainly distributed in the west and north of the study area. We discussed ecological restoration strategies for different levels of ecological restoration priority areas and provided new methods for identifying priority ecological restoration areas in the future.
The degree of coordination between ecosystem services and the level of socioeconomic development has essential implications for regional sustainability. The coordinated development of ecology and economy is a major theoretical and practical problem for the Qinba Mountains, which is once one of the 14 contiguous destitute areas in China. Based on the land use and cover change (LUCC) data interpreted by medium-resolution remote sensing images, this study adopted the modified equivalent factor method to calculate ecosystem service value (ESV) and its temporal and spatial variation in the Qinba Mountains. A comprehensive index system was constructed to measure the socioeconomic development level and to reveal the coupling relationship between the ESV and socioeconomic development. The results show that: (1) for 2000–2015, the ESV in these areas was increasing, the proportion of forest ESV was the largest, and it increased significantly. (2) The level of socioeconomic development was constantly improving, and the differences within the region were gradually emerging. (3) Except for the Hantai District, which has been in a highly uncoordinated state, the degree of coordination between ESV and socioeconomic development has improved year by year, and most counties were in a state of medium coordination, or above. The results contribute to a scientific basis for decision making regarding ecological environmental protection and green economic development in the Qinba Mountains, and have positive significance for promoting the construction of ecological civilization and sustainable development in the study area.
Ecological security is crucial for regional sustainable development; however, as modern urbanization highlights ecological security challenges, major challenges have arisen. In this paper, we take the ecological region around Taihu Lake, China, as a typical research site, extract important ecological sources and key nodes using morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and circuit theory, and propose a regulatory framework for the ecological security pattern (ESP) of the ecological region based on the spatial characteristics of sources, corridors, and nodes. We obtained the following results: (1) The ESP includes 20 ecological sources, 37 ecological corridors, 36 critical ecological protection nodes, and 24 key ecological restoration nodes. (2) Most ecological sources are large and concentrated in western Zhejiang and west of Taihu Lake, which are both important ecological sources and ecological resistance surfaces. (3) The ecological corridors spread east, west, and south from Taihu Lake, with high network connectivity. (4) Shanghai serves as the central node, with the Su-Xi-Chang town cluster and the Qiantang River town cluster serving as the extension axes for the ecological resistance hot-spot area. The center of the elliptical ecological resistance surface (standard deviation) lies in Suzhou City, located on the east shore of Taihu Lake. (5) Ecological nodes were mostly located in ecological corridors or junctions. A “four zones and one belt” pattern is suggested in order to make the land around Taihu Lake more connected and stable ecologically. This study can be used as a guide for building and improving an ecological safety network.
The agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China (AENC) is a significant ecological barrier, where the topographical features play basic roles in land-use change. In order to reveal the influence of topographical factors on land-use changes in the AENC, we used land-use transfer matrix, geo-information graphics, terrain niche, distribution index and geographical detector to explore the topographic gradient effect of land-use changes during 2000–2020 in the AENC based on remote-sensing image data from 2000, 2010, and 2020. The findings indicate that: (1) The total areas of land-use changes were 121,744 km2, accounting for 17.41% between 2000–2020. This was characterized by increasing amounts of land-use changes in the AENC. The changes in land-use were dominated by the conversions among farmland, forestland, and grassland, which were distributed widely in the mountainous regions of northern, western, and eastern margins. The expansion of construction land was derived mainly from farmland and grassland occurred in river valleys. (2) The pattern of land-use changes was divided into five types including stable type, prophase change, anaphase change, continuous change, and repeated change. Stable type accounted for 559,868.86 km2 and 80.09% of the total area. It was dominant in high altitude and complex terrain areas with terrain niches of more than 1.61. Prophase and anaphase changes accounted for 3.95% and 13.03%, respectively, which occupied to dominant positions in the 0.69–1.17 and 0.04–0.69, 1.17–1.61 terrain niches topographic gradient, respectively. Continuous and repeated changes occupied dominant positions in low altitude and flat complex areas with terrain niches of 0.04–1.17. (3) The topographic gradient effect of land-use changes in the AENC was influenced comprehensively by natural, geographical location, socioeconomic, and policy factors. Natural environmental factors and geographical location determined the topographic gradient pattern of land-use structure, while the direction of the topographical gradient pattern of land-use changes in the AENC is influenced by socioeconomic and policy factors. This research can provide a scientific reference for the development and protection of territorial space and optimal allocation of land resources in the AENC.
With accelerating urbanization, the regional ecological security pattern (ESP) faces unprecedented threats. The situation is particularly serious in the Loess plateau of China (LPC) due to the fragile ecological environment and poor natural conditions. Constructing an ecological network and optimizing the ESP is significant for guiding regional development and maintaining the stability of the ecological process. This study constructed an ecological security network by integrating the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and morphological spatial-pattern-analysis approach in LPC. Additionally, the optimization scheme of the regional ESP has also been proposed. Results show that the ecological source area is about 57,757.8 km2, 9.13% of the total area, and is mainly distributed in the southeast of the study area. The spatial distribution of ecological sources shows specific agglomeration characteristics. The ecological security network constructed contains 24 main ecological corridors, 72 secondary ecological corridors, and 53 ecological nodes. Referring to the identified ecological sources area, corridors, nodes, and other core components, the “two barriers, five corridors, three zones and multipoint” ESP optimization scheme was presented. This research hopes to provide a valuable reference for constructing the ecological security network and optimizing ecological space in ecologically fragile areas of western China.
Understanding the spatial spread pathways and connectivity of Land Use/Cover (LULC) change within basins is critical to natural resources management. However, existing studies approach LULC change as distinct patches but ignore the connectivity between them. It is crucial to investigate approaches that can detect the spread pathways of LULC change to aid natural resource management and decision-making. This study aims to evaluate the utility of the Circuit Theory to detect the spread and connectivity of LULC change within the Okavango basin. Patches of LULC change sites that were derived from change detection of LULC based on the Deep Neural Network (DNN) for the period between 2004 and 2020 were used. The changed sites were categorized based on the nature of the change of the classes, namely Category A (natural classes to artificial classes), Category B (artificial classes to natural classes), and Category C (natural classes to natural classes). In order to generate the resistance layer; an ensemble of machine learning algorithms was first calibrated with social-ecological drivers of LULC change and centroids of LULC change patches to determine the susceptibility of the landscape to LULC change. An inverse function was then applied to the susceptibility layer to derive the resistance layer. In order to analyze the connectivity and potential spread pathways of LULC change, the Circuit Theory (CT) model was built for each LULC change category. The CT model was calibrated using the resistance layer and patches of LULC change in Circuitscape 4.0. The corridor validation index was used to evaluate the performance of CT modeling. The use of the CT model calibrated with a resistance layer (derived from susceptibility modeling) successfully established the spread pathways and connectivity of LULC change for all the categories (validation index > 0.60). Novel maps of LULC change spread pathways in the Okavango basin were generated. The spread pathways were found to be concentrated in the northwestern, central, and southern parts of the basin for Category A transitions. As for category B transitions, the spread pathways were mainly concentrated in the northeastern and southern parts of the basin and along the major rivers. While for Category C transitions were found to be spreading from the central towards the southern parts, mainly in areas associated with semi-arid climatic conditions. A total of 186 pinch points (Category A: 57, Category B: 71, Category C: 58) were detected. The pinch points can guide targeted management LULC change through the setting up of conservation areas, forest restoration projects, drought monitoring, and invasive species control programs. This study provides a new decision-making method for targeted LULC change management in transboundary basins. The findings of this study provide insights into underlying processes driving the spread of LULC change and enhanced indicators for the evaluation of LULC spread in complex environments. Such information is crucial to inform land use planning, monitoring, and sustainable natural resource management, particularly water resources.
Ecological corridor construction is an important support of the current pursuit of high-quality urbanization. Fuzhou is a mountain–water city characterized by a unique spatial structure. However, rapid urbanization has exacerbated the rate of ecosystem fragmentation, negatively impacting the livable living environment. The construction of ecological corridors is of great significance for efforts to restore the broken landscape and form the urban ecosystem as an organic whole in Fuzhou. In the present study, Fuzhou was considered as the study area, and the water, green, and ventilation corridors, as well as surface temperature data, were analyzed using the kernel density analysis method to generate surface-temperature-based ecological nodes. The impacts of various corridors and surface temperatures on the construction of the Fuzhou ecological corridors were assessed using ecological theory, and the ecological resistance surfaces of the influencing factors were obtained. We constructed ecological corridors for the mitigation of the urban heat island in Fuzhou using the MCR model with four levels and then evaluated the network connectivity of the corridors. The results revealed the following findings: (1) The study area comprises 32 ecological nodes, including nine in Minhou County and Changle District, four in Mawei and Cangshan Districts, and two in Gulou, Taijiang, and Jin’an Districts. (2) Fuzhou contains 63 ecological corridors with a total length of approximately 494.65 km. These include 31 first-level (201.16 km), 11 second-level (98.56 km), 14 third-level (129.12 km), and 7 fourth-level (65.81 km) corridors. (3) The degree of closure (α), the point rate of lines (β), the degree of connectivity (γ), and the degree of connectivity (Cr) indexes of the network structure for the ecological corridors were 0.27, 2.03, 0.72, and 0.87, respectively. They indicate that the overall ecological effectiveness of the network is high and can provide a theoretical basis for the construction of ecological corridors in the future.
In recent years, a changing global climate and the continuous expansion of the intensity and scope of human activities have led to regional differentiation in the surface landscape. This has caused numerous ecological risks under multiple pressure sources, gradually becoming an important factor restricting the sustainable development of economic and social health. With the continuous development of the social economy, land use and associated ecological risks will inevitably change. According to the forest transformation theory and the environmental Kuznets curve, we put forward the theoretical framework of ecological risk transformation of land-use change and took Zhangjiachuan County (China) as an example to verify it. Therefore, on the basis of Landsat satellite data, this paper used landscape structures to calculate an ecological risk index, and evaluated the ecological risk of land-use changes through pattern index analyses. The results show that, from 2000 to 2020, the ecological risk index of land-use change in Zhangjiachuan County exhibited an increasing and then decreasing trend, showing an overall “inverted U-shaped” trend of change consistent with the transformation theoretical framework of ecological risks of land use change. Secondly, in terms of patterns, the ecological risk of land-use change in Zhangjiachuan County showed a distribution feature of high in the west and low in the east. In 2000, high-risk areas were mainly concentrated in the central and northern areas, while low-risk areas were mainly concentrated in the eastern areas. From 2000 to 2015, the medium-risk areas expanded to the west and midwest, and the geographic centers of the risk areas were slightly offset. From 2015 to 2020, the overall pattern of ecological risk areas was basically the same as that of the previous stage, but the medium-risk areas were slightly reduced. In terms of quantity, from 2000 to 2015, the areas of the lowest risk level and low risk level decreased, while the areas of medium risk level, high risk level, and the highest risk level increased; from 2015 to 2020, the areas of the lowest risk level and low risk level increased, and the areas of medium risk level, high risk level, and highest risk level decreased. Lastly, the spatial aggregation of ecological risks in Zhangjiachuan County weakened slightly from 2000 to 2005, gradually increased from 2005 to 2015, and then slightly weakened from 2015 to 2020.
The impact of development on the ecological environment is a matter of concern, especially in the ecologically fragile agro-pastoral ecotone. The agro-pastoral ecotone of northern Shaanxi (ANS) is a representative region of the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China. The agricultural use of sand land (AUSL) is an effective way to respond to the development needs of this region. The AUSL will certainly have an impact on water yield services in the ANS, where water resources are already scarce. In this study, the Integration Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs Tool (InVEST) model was used to simulate the water yield of the ANS under different intensity scenarios of AUSL. The results showed that AUSL reduces the regional water yield, but the impact is limited. At the maximum scale of development, the total regional water yield decreased by 1.35% compared to the base year of 2020. In terms of distribution pattern, water yield decreased the most in Yuyang District and the least in Fugu County due to the uneven distribution of sand land. At the land use and land cover (LULC) scale, the AUSL has a diminishing effect on the water yield of both cultivated land and sand land due to the more intense evapotranspiration from cropland. This study can provide data and decision support for the ANS region for building the resource-economical and environment-friendly society.
Eliminating poverty is the primary goal of sustainable development. China has eliminated absolute poverty in 2020, yet there is a chance that it could happen again. The poor population is mostly concentrated in ecologically fragile areas. We need to take more inclusive and effective initiatives to prevent the population in ecologically fragile areas from returning to poverty. In this study, a decision tree and logistic regression model were used to assess the risk of returning to poverty in Karst ecologically fragile areas. The data comes from 303 households in four counties in Guizhou and Guangxi. There are 12 main influencing factors identified, with the percentage of workforce numbers and loans having interactive effects. The results show that: (1) Poor resilience of livelihood assets, external shocks, and the effects of some support measures will be visible after a long period, leading to "transient" poverty and return to poverty. (2) Ecological environment management in ecologically fragile areas is very important to solve the problem of returning to poverty. (3) Appropriate loans can reduce poverty, especially when loans are used to cultivate a new excellent labor force. At the same time, it is necessary to evaluate farmers’ repayment ability reasonably and scientifically to reduce the risk of returning to poverty. The combination of ecological restoration and agricultural development is the key to solving ecological and social problems in Karst areas. Efforts should be made to improve the risk-resilience of farmers’ livelihood assets and the efficiency of livelihood assets utilization by implementing targeted support measures. This research provides a new approach to studying the mechanism of poverty recurrence, which is of great practical significance for consolidating the results of poverty eradication and realizing rural vitalization.
Rapid urbanization with unreasonable human disturbances has caused a serious ecological crisis. By constructing an ecological-security pattern (ESP), key landscape elements can be effectively identified. ESP optimization helps to improve a city’s ecosystem services and achieve the harmonious development between man and nature. Therefore, it is crucial to construct an accurate ESP and propose practical ESP optimization strategies. Taking Liyang City as an example, this paper first constructed the ESP with a combination methodology of circuit theory, graph theory, the granularity-reverse method, and the comprehensive-evaluation method. Then, strategies for ESP optimization were proposed in terms of ecological restoration and ecological source promotion. Finally, the optimized ESP was verified by quantitative assessment involving landscape connectivity and network structure. Research results show that the current ESP includes 24 ecological sources, 41 ecological corridors, and 50 ecological nodes that need ecological restoration. In the optimized ESP, 31.5 km2 of ecological land is added, 3 ecological sources are added, 55 ecological corridors are generated, and the number of nodes in the ecological network is increased by 4. By comparing the evaluation results before and after optimization, it can be seen that the optimization scheme has a positive effect on landscape connectivity and ecological coordination of the whole region.
Constructing an ecological security pattern is vital to guaranteeing regional ecological security. The terrain and geomorphology of the alpine valley are complex and sensitive, meaning it is difficult to construct ecological security patterns. Therefore, the study takes Nujiang Prefecture as the study area and builds an “Importance–Sensitivity–Connectivity” (Importance of ecosystem service, eco-environmental sensitivity, and landscape connectivity) framework to carry on the comprehensive evaluation of the ecological security and identification of ecological sources. Furthermore, we constructed an ecological resistance surface using land-use type. Using the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, the study identifies the ecological corridors and nodes to build ecological security patterns to optimize the ecological spatial structure of Nujiang Prefecture. The results showed that (1) the importance of ecosystem services was higher in the west and lower in the east. The high-sensitive areas of the ecological environment were distributed discontinuously along the banks of the Nujiang and the Lantsang River, and the areas with high landscape connectivity were distributed in patches in the Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve and the Biluo Snow Mountain. (2) The overall ecological security was in a good state, and the ecologically insecure areas were primarily distributed in Lanping County and the southeast region of Lushui City. (3) The primary ecological source area was identified to be 3281.35 km2 and the secondary ecological source area to be 4224.64 km2. (4) In total, 26 primary ecological corridors, 39 secondary ecological corridors, and 82 ecological nodes were identified.
The Minjiang River Basin is one of the first pilot areas for ecological conservation and the restoration of mountain–river–forest–farmland–lake–grass in China. Taking the Minjiang River Basin as an example, this paper selected the importance of ecosystem service functions and ecological sensitivity to evaluate the ecological environment and identify ecological sources. Furthermore, we constructed an ecological resistance surface using artificial and natural interference factors. Through a minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), the ecological security pattern (ESP) of “two barriers, one belt, many corridors, and many spots” was constructed. Research shows that: (1) In total, 43 ecological sources were identified, with a total area of 523 km2, accounting for 0.6% of the total land area. These were mainly distributed in the southwest and northwest of the Minjiang River Basin, such as in Zhangping, covered forest land, and cultivated land. (2) The connectivity of the network was low, and the spatial distribution of the ecological pinch points was uneven. A total of 118 ecological corridors and 22 important ecological pinch points were identified. The total length of the ecological corridor is 3,732,051.88 km, which is dense on the left side and sparse on the right side. (3) The ecological restoration area was composed of a low ecological safety area and a lower ecological safety area; the ecological control area was composed of a medium ecological safety area and a higher ecological safety area; and the ecological conservation area was composed of a high ecological safety area, at 6.5%, 27.7%, and 65.8%, respectively. Constructing the ESP of the Minjiang River Basin is important for promoting harmonious socioeconomic development and ecological protection. In addition, it can provide a reference basis for other experimental areas of mountain–river–forest–farmland–lake–grass.
Most studies in the field of ecological restoration have only focused on repairing damaged land and have made no attempt to account for the impact of high-intensity land use on future landscape patterns. The purpose of this study was to propose a framework for evaluating the expected effects of ecological restoration based on land-use change and the ecological security pattern. Therefore, we integrated the PLUS model with the ecological security pattern and used Hefei City as a case study to conduct research. The results showed that from 2020 to 2030, land-use changes would occur primarily in the main urban area of Hefei and along the eastern shore of the Chaohu Lake watershed. Under the ecological protection scenario, arable land would be converted to construction land and woodland. Additionally, there would be an increase in ecological sources and pinch points in the area, and the number and area of the barriers would show a certain degree of reduction. The ecosystem quality, ecological integrity, and landscape connectivity of Hefei would be improved. This study offers a novel perspective for evaluating the expected effects of regional ecological restoration and provides an important reference for the dynamic formulation of multilevel ecological restoration policies.
Latin America experiences an increasing urban primacy index and a rapid expansion of the financial system, putting direct pressure on the demand for resources to satisfy the consumption of large cities. We investigate the convergence of per capita biocapacity in 16 Latin America countries and evaluate the factors that influence its evolution over time. Specifically, we analyze the impact of the urban primacy index, economic progress, and the financial globalization index on the convergence of per capita biocapacity. We use the methodological framework developed by Phillips and Sul Econometrica 75:1771-1855, (2007) to analyze the convergence and the formation of convergence clubs of biocapacity during 1970–2017. The findings indicate that the countries of the region do not share a common trend of biocapacity, although they are grouped into five converging clubs. Biocapacity transition analysis reveals that countries have heterogeneous transition pathways between them. Using marginal effects, we find that the urban primacy index and economic progress reduce the biocapacity. The effect of the financial globalization index on biocapacity is not conclusive. The quantile regressions reveal that quantiles’ impact of the urban primacy index and financial globalization on per capita biocapacity is heterogeneous. However, the effect of economic progress on biocapacity that predominates among quantiles is positive. The adoption of common policies among the countries that form the converging clubs could improve the effectiveness of pro-environmental policies and promote the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to environmental quality.
Habitat quality is a key indicator for assessing the biodiversity-maintenance functions of ecosystem services. The issue of habitat quality changes in semi-arid and arid areas has been becoming serious, but there are few deep investigations of habitat quality in these regions, such as studies of the temporal and spatial changes of habitat quality and its driving forces. This study focuses on the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern Shaanxi with vulnerable biodiversity. By using the Fragstats software, the InVEST model, and the Geo-detector model, we analyzed land-use data collected from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, and we explored the landscape pattern index, the spatial and temporal variation of habitat quality, and the influence of its drivers. GDP, population density, precipitation, temperature, land use, NDVI, elevation, and slope were detected by Geo-detector. The research results show that: (1) Arable land and grassland were the dominant land types from 1990 to 2020, and there was significant mutual circulation between arable land and grassland. Forest area increased by 24%. Many other land-use types were transformed into construction land, and construction land increased by 727% compared with the base period. (2) Landscape heterogeneity increased in the study region, shown by the fractured structure of the overall landscape and by the aggravated human disturbance of the landscape. (3) Average habitat quality underwent a trend of oscillation. Regarding spatial distribution, habitat quality was higher in the east than in the west. (4) The influencing factors of habitat quality monitored by Geo-detectors show that the driving force of land use on habitat quality was the strongest, followed by precipitation and vegetation coverage. Elevation, slope, GDP, and population density had the least influence on habitat quality. The bi-factor interaction enhanced habitat quality to different levels. This study is critical to the conservation of biodiversity and to ecological civilization construction in arid and semi-arid regions.
Ecological security patterns are employed to characterize the health and integrity of an ecosystem. It is essential to achieve sustainable and high-quality development of cities and urban agglomerations and to enhance human well-being. Considering the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration as an example, this paper proposes a technical framework for the delineation of ecological security patterns at the urban agglomeration scale with the objective of protecting and restoring mountains-rivers-forests-farmlands-lakes-grasslands. The ecological sources were indicated by the importance-sensitivity ecological assessment method. Ecological corridors were identified by a minimum resistance model, and the ecological security pattern was derived. Twenty-three important ecological source sites were identified within the urban agglomeration, mainly located in the southern part of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, with an area of 9122.36 km², accounting for 8.52% of the study area. The ecological sensitivity of the mountainous areas was relatively high, with ecological corridors showing a denser distribution in the south. The results of the study suggest that green infrastructure in the northern region should be strengthened, that the ecological functions of ecologically sensitive areas should be protected and enhanced, and that the connectivity of ecological corridors should be strengthened. The results provide guidance for the optimization of regional ecological security patterns for and the joint prevention and control of environmental pollution in the Guanzhong Plain.
Rapid urbanization would lead to deterioration of the eco-environment and damage the functioning of ecosystem services. Ecological security pattern (ESP) is one of important national strategies in China for coordinating the ecosystem protection and economic development. Previous studies have mainly focused on how to identify ecological sources and extract ecological corridors, but optimization of the identified ecological sources and resistance surfaces are seldom explored. In this study, a new strategy to optimize ecological sources and resistance surfaces was proposed. The optimal diffusion distance of each existing ecological source with poor landscape connectivity was analyzed to meet future needs. The radial effect of resistance in areas with high resistance values were considered in combination with the characteristics of species migration. Hunan is an important province in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) and the Rise of Central China strategies. Taking a rapidly urbanizing region in Hunan Province as an example, the results showed that the total area of the optimized ecological sources was 9.60% higher than that of the existing area, which expanded the radial range of ecosystem services and enhanced ecosystem internal connectivity. According to the spatial distribution of important ecological landscape elements, the ecological framework of “two axes, four cores, and four belts” was proposed. This study offers a new insight for ESP construction, which can provide a new reference for ecological protection and development planning of rapidly urbanizing regions in central-south China.
The Ecological Functional Zone of the Upper Yellow River (EFZUYR) is a critical water-catching area in the Yellow River Basin, the ecological security of which affects the sound development of the ecosystem in the entire basin. Recently, significant land use changes have aggravated regional ecological risks and seriously affected the sustainable development of EFZUYR. In this context, this paper provides an in-depth study of the ecological risks caused by land use landscape changes. With the help of land use data and dynamic degree analysis, the land use transfer matrix, and the landscape pattern index, this paper quantifies the distribution trends of land use landscape patterns in EFZUYR from 1990 to 2018. In addition, this research explores the temporal and spatial dynamic distribution characteristics of landscape ecological risks in this functional zone. The research results show the following: (1) The transfer of land use in EFZUYR from 1990 to 2018 mainly occurred among cultivated land, grassland, and woodland, with the transferred area accounting for 87.16% of the total changed area. (2) The fragmentation degree of built-up areas is 0.1097, 0.1053, 0.0811 and 0.0762 in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018, respectively, with a decreasing trend. The dominance degree of grassland has been maintained at the highest level for a long time, with all values above 0.59. The separation degree and the interference degree of built-up areas were the highest and the values of the four periods were above 1.2 and 0.44, respectively. The loss degree of water was the highest, with a value above 0.67, while the value of other land use was mostly below 0.4. (3) The landscape ecological risk of EFZUYR presented a fluctuating rising, falling, and then rising trend. The spatial distribution characteristic of EFZUYR presented “high in the north and south, low in the middle.”, which has been maintained for a long time. The proportion of low-risk areas is as high as 70%, and the overall ecological risk of the region was low. However, the ecological risk of some areas, such as Linxia City and Magu County, increased. These findings can provide theoretical support for land use planning and achieving sustainable development of EFZUYR.
Increasing land utilization, population aggregation and strong land–sea interaction make coastal areas an ecologically fragile environment. The construction of an ecological security pattern is important for maintaining the function of the coastal ecosystem. This paper takes Jiaodong Peninsula in China, a hilly coastal area, as an example for evaluating landscape ecological risk within a comprehensive framework of “nature–neighborhood–landscape”, based on spatial principal component analysis, and it constructs the ecological security pattern based on the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR). The results showed that the overall level of ecological risk in the study area was medium. The connectivity between the areas of low landscape ecological risk was relatively low, and the high risk areas were concentrated in the north of the Peninsula. A total of 11 key ecological corridors of three types (water, green space and road corridors) and 105 potential corridors were constructed. According to the ecological network pattern, landscape ecological optimization suggestions were proposed: key corridors in the north and south of Jiaodong Peninsula should be connected; urban development should consider current ecological sources and corridors to prevent landscape fragmentation; and the ecological roles of potential corridors should be strengthened. This paper can provide a theoretical and practical basis for ecological planning and urban master planning in coastal areas in the future.
The basic premise of regional ecological construction would be to scientifically and effectively grasp the characteristics of land use change and its impact on landscape ecological risk. The research objects of this paper are the typical areas of the Yellow River Basin in China and “process-change-drive” as the logical main line. Moreover, this paper is based on multi-period land use remote sensing data from 2000 to 2020, the regional land use change process and influencing factors are identified, the temporal and spatial evolution and response process of landscape ecological risk are discussed, and the land use zoning control strategy to reduce ecological risk is put forward. The results indicated: (1) The scale and structure of land use show the characteristics of “many-to-one” and “one-to-many”; (2) the process of land use change is affected by the alternation of multiple factors. The natural environment and socio-economic factors dominate in the early stage and the location and policy factors have a significant impact in the later stage; (3) the overall landscape ecological risk level and conversion rate show a trend of “high in the southeast, low in the northwest”, shift from low to high and landscape ecological risks gradually increase; and (4) in order to improve the regional ecological safety and according to the characteristics of landscape ecological risk and spatial heterogeneity, we should adopt the management and control zoning method and set different levels of control intensity (from key intensity to strict intensity to general intensity), and develop differentiated land use control strategies.
In order to explore the spatiotemporal changes and driving factors of soil organic carbon (SOC) in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China, we took Aohan banner, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as the study area, used the random forest (RF) method to predict the SOC from 1989 to 2018, and the geographic detector method (GDM) was applied to analyze quantitatively the natural and anthropogenic factors that are affecting Aohan banner. The results indicated that: (1) After adding the terrain factors, the R2 and residual predictive deviation (RPD) of the RF model increased by 1.178 and 0.39%, with root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 1.42 g/kg and 1.05 g/kg, respectively; (2) The spatial distribution of SOC was higher in the south and lower in the north; the negative growth of SOC accounted for 55.923% of the total area, showing a trend of degradation; (3) Precipitation was the main driving factor of SOC spatial variation in the typical agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China, which was also affected by temperature, elevation, soil type and soil texture (p < 0.01). (4). Anthropogenic factors (carbon input and gross domestic product (GDP)) had a greater impact on SOC than did climate factors (temperature and precipitation), making anthropogenic factors the dominant factors affecting SOC temporal variation (p < 0.01). The results of this work constitute a basis for a regional assessment of the temporal evolution of organic carbon in the soil surface, which is a key tool for monitoring the sustainable development of agropastoral ecotones.
Constructing the ecological security pattern is imperative to stabilize ecosystem services and sustainable development coordination of the social economy and ecology. This paper focuses on the Karst region in southeastern Yunnan, which is ecologically fragile. This paper selects the main types of ecosystem services and identifies the ecological source using hot spot analysis for Guangnan County. An inclusive consideration of the regional ecologic conditions and the rocky desertification formation mechanism was made. The resistance factor index system was developed to generate the basic resistance surface modified by the ecological sensitivity index. The Ant algorithm and Kernel density analysis were used to determine ecological corridor range and ecological restoration points that constructed the ecological security pattern of Guangnan County. The results demonstrated that, firstly, there were twenty-three sources in Guangnan County, with a total area of 1292.77 km2, accounting for 16.74% of the total. The forests were the chief ecological sources distributed in the non-Karst area, where Bamei Town, Yangliujing Township and Nasa Town had the highest distribution. Secondly, the revised resistance value is similar to “Zhe (Zhetu Township)-Lian (Liancheng Town)-Yang (Yangliujing Township)-Ban (Bambang Township)”. The values were lower in the north and higher in the south, which is consistent with the regional distribution of Karst. Thirdly, the constructed ecological security pattern of the “Source-Corridor-Ecological restoration point” paradigm had twenty-three ecological corridors. The chief ecological and potential corridor areas were 804.95 km2 and 621.2 km2, respectively. There are thirty-eight ecological restoration points mainly distributed in the principal ecological corridors and play a vital role in maintaining the corridor connectivity between sources. The results provide guidance and theoretical basis for the ecological security patterns construction in Karst areas, regional ecologic security protection and sustainable development promotion.
The middle reaches of the Yellow River represent an important area for the protection and development of the Yellow River Basin. Most of the area of the river basin is within the Loess Plateau, which establishes it as a fragile ecological environment. Firstly, using high-resolution data of land use in the watershed from the past 30 years, landscape ecological risk (LER) sample units are defined and an ecological risk index (ERI) model is constructed. Kriging interpolation is used to display the LER spatial patterns, and the temporal and spatial evolution of risk is examined. Secondly, the spatial evolution of land use landscape change (LULC) is analyzed, and the correlation between land use landscape and ecological risk is discussed. Finally, Based on the LER model, a risk-based minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model is established, and a comprehensive protection and management network system for the ecological source-corridor-node system designed. The results suggest that in the past 30 years, LER has a high spatial correlation and areas with extremely high ecological risks are concentrated in northwest and southeast areas of the region, of which the northwest area accounts for the highest proportion. Risk intensity is closely related to the spatial pattern of land use landscape. ERI values of forestland, grasslands, and unused land and farmland are low, medium, and high, respectively. The trend of risk evolution is “overall improvement and partial deterioration”. Man-made construction and exploitation is the most direct reason for the increase of local ecological risks. The high ecological-risk areas in the northwest are dominated by deserts which reduce excessive interference by human activities on the natural landscape. Recommendations are: high-quality farmland should be protected; forestland should be restored and rebuilt; repair and adjust the existing ecosystem to assist in landscape regeneration and reconstruction; utilize the overall planning vision of “mountain, water, forest, field, lake, grass, sand” to design a management project at the basin scale; adhere to problem-oriented and precise policy implementation.
Rapid urbanization has resulted in fragmentation and decreased connectivity in urban landscapes, endangering regional biodiversity conservation and high-quality, sustainable development. networks (ENs) construction and optimization is a critical technique to enhance landscape connectivity effectively, promote species interaction and dispersal, and thereby hence urban biodiversity., most existing studies on ENs construction have been undertaken from the perspective of ecosystem service functions or the value of landscape structure, with regional species still being overlooked. on the distribution data of critical species in this study, the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt), wilderness mapping model, and granularity reverse method were integrated to identify ecological sources. the habitat quality (HQ) index was utilized to construct a resistance surface modified by landscape connectivity and ecological sensitivity. findings indicate that: (1) a grid scale of 1700 m is the relatively optimal minimum threshold for ecological source sites in Guangzhou; (2) 35 crucial ecological sources in Guangzhou are identified, with a total area of 1100.42 km2, mainly woodlands, distributed in mountain systems in the northern and central parts of the city; and (3) 59 ecological corridors are identified, with a total length of 817.4 km, with a relatively high density in the central part of the city. some extent, this study offers fresh ideas for constructing urban ENs from the standpoint of biodiversity conservation. contributes to the city achieving a win-win economic development and ecological protection situation.
The Yellow River Basin (YRB), which has faced severe ecological issues since ancient times, is one of the largest and most difficult-to-govern basins in the world. Recently, all provincial governments within the basin have individually enacted a series of measures to protect the Yellow River; however, the lack of central governance has inhibited efforts. Since 2019, the government has comprehensively managed the YRB, improving the governance to unprecedented levels; however, evaluations of the YRB's overall ecological status remain lacking. Using high-resolution data from 2015 to 2020, this study illustrated major land cover transitions, evaluated the correlated overall ecological status of the YRB via the landscape ecological risk index, and analyzed the relationship between risk and landscape structure. The results showed that the (1) main land cover types in the YRB in 2020 are farmland (17.58%), forestland (31.96%), and grassland (41.42%), with urban land accounting for 4.21%. Some social factors were significantly related to changes in major land cover types (e.g., from 2015 to 2020, forest and urban lands have increased by 2.27% and 10.71%, grassland and farmland decreased by 2.58% and 0.63%, respectively). (2) Landscape ecological risk improved, albeit with fluctuations (high in the northwest, low in the southeast). (3) Ecological restoration and governance were imbalanced since no obvious changes were observed in the western source region of the Qinghai Province (Yellow River). (4) Finally, positive impacts of artificial re-greening showed slight lags as the detected improvements in NDVI were not recorded for approximately 2 years. These results can facilitate environmental protection and improve planning policies.
In semi-arid regions, land vulnerability and food security are crucial challenges for the scientific community, as millions of livestock keepers depend on rangeland ecosystem services. However, the Aravalli range is a fragile ecotonal arid ecosystem of western India, which acts as a barrier against the desertification of the Thar Desert. Besides increasing biotic pressure, land cover change, precipitation variability, and climate water deficits have a high potential to render the exploitation of resources unsustainable. This study is on the urgent basis addressing the sensitivity, fragility, and vulnerability status for rangeland ecosystem conservation management practices. Based on 17 distinct environmental indicators under five themes: topography, geo-climatic, socioeconomic , ecological, and edaphic, which measure their susceptibility. Then, they evaluate their characteristics and sensitivity responses, as well as the resilience capabilities of the areas, utilizing the integrative methodology of the E-PSR (Ecosystem-Pressure, Sensitivity, and Resilience) model using a weightage decision matrix geo-statistical approach. As a result, the study area is categorised into four eco-sensitive areas: I, II, III, and IV; they have an area of 4.1%, 62.5%, 32.2%, and 1.2%, respectively. As well, vulnerability reasons, i.e., human intervention , regulations, and management strategies for the arid rangeland ecosystem were discussed. To achieve eco-sensitivity and ecosystem stability in this study area, the government and conservationists must manage invasive species dominance and adjust buffer zones in reserve areas. In addition, study suggests using cutting-edge-technology for monitoring. In sum, this study helps governments and ecologists understand arid mountainous environments, their sensitivity and management.
The coordinated development of territorial space is a necessary condition for sustainable regional development. In the context of rapid socio-economic development, how to construct a spatial control model to coordinate land use conflicts between agriculture, construction, and ecology has become an urgent problem to be resolved. By taking the Rao River Basin, a typical region with land use conflict issues, as an example, this study developed various land use suitability evaluation systems to identify and evaluate the land use conflict status in 2020 under the three major land use objectives: agricultural production, urban construction, and ecological protection. Then, based on the consideration of ecological priority, the remote sensing ecological index was applied to characterize the ecological quality of the watershed. Afterwards, a framework for spatial control zoning was developed to guide the land use approach within the context of territorial spatial planning by integrating regional ecological quality and land use conflict status. The results found that the spatial distribution of the suitability of agricultural land, construction land, and ecological land in the Rao River Basin exhibited overlap and intersection, causing significant land use conflicts. According to statistics, 36.55 % of the basin was affected by conflict, with medium conflict as the main grade and agriculture-construction conflict being the most significant with an area of up to 1,397.01 km². Therefore, it is necessary to develop differentiated management strategies and divide spatial control zones to mitigate land use conflicts according to the basin's current development status. Integrated land use conflicts and ecological quality, the watershed was split into six spatial control zones: eco-dominated zones, agricultural production zones, urban construction zones, priority treatment zones, controlled development zones, and development potential zones. The study results can provide a basis for decision-making on the spatial development of the Rao River Basin and a methodological reference for identifying and mitigating land use conflicts.
Ecological networks (ENs) can bridge the paradox between conservation and development. Although many useful methods can be applied to establish ENs, their differences in spatial outputs and scale applicability need to be examined as landscape planners and policymakers start including implementation concerns. Dividing Jiangsu into three scales (i.e., provincial, city cluster, and city scale), we comparatively analyzed the spatial consistency of the structure-oriented, function-oriented and integration-oriented methods in establishing three types of ENs (i.e., SENs, FENs and IENs), and comprehensively assessed their scale applicability under specific goals in improving network connectivity, optimizing landscape pattern and maintaining ecosystem services value (ESV). Our results show that the consistency of the three methods in identifying spatially priorities of protection ranged from 81.03% to 93.70%. A structure-oriented method to establish SENs had applicability in improving network connectivity despite scale changes, while an integration-oriented method to establish IENs had the advantages of forming an ecological space with low fragmentation, high complexity and dominance, and maintaining the maximum ESV, relatively. We discussed the speciality of each method performed at each scale and suggested the possible trade-offs of decision-making in landscape planning which would be complicated during scale changes. Thus, although the applicable method could be selected under clear goals/orientations, its applicability would be limited to different contexts and observational scales. The seemingly inconsistent results could be used synergistically to promote ENs implementation across scales under inclusive decision-making. The developed multi-scale analysis framework and study results can provide new insights to incorporate ENs into landscape planning practice.
Territorial ecological restoration is an important measure of China’s ecological civilization construction strategy. However, one of the difficulties in the current land space planning is to scientifically determine the crucial areas of territorial ecological restoration. Taking the central Yunnan urban agglomeration as a case, from the perspective of ecosystem service supply (ESS) and ecosystem service demand (ESD), this study proposed a scientific solution to construct ecological security pattern (ESP) and identify the crucial areas of territorial ecological restoration at the scale of urban agglomeration. The results showed that: (1) The ESS and the ESD had significant diversity in their spatial distribution pattern. The high-value areas of ESS were primarily located in the west, whereas the high-value areas of ESD were primarily located in the middle. (2) The ESP was composed of 2 kinds of sources and 3 kinds of corridors. In details, the area of ecological sources and urban sources was 3.04 × 10⁴ km² and 2.60 × 10³ km², respectively, and the total length of river ecological corridors, potential ecological corridors and demand corridors was 1883.78 km, 982.67 km and 603.09 km, respectively. (3) The crucial areas of territorial ecological restoration were composed of the 37 ecological pinch points, 5 ecological barrier points, 35 urban sources and 62 demand corridors. Targeted restoration of these crucial areas can significantly improve the ecological connectivity. Combined with the land use status and spatial distribution characteristics of crucial areas of territorial ecological restoration, some improvement directions of ecological restoration were put forward. This study provides new ideas for the source identification and the corridor extraction of ESP, and provides a reference for the identification and restoration strategy of crucial areas of territorial ecological restoration.
It is evident that countries with abundant natural resources have comparatively higher wealth sources. However, there is no conclusive evidence regarding the impact of natural resources on economic performance. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the impact of mineral and forestry resources volatility on economic performance using a frequency domain causality approach and Breitung-Candelon spectral ganger causality for global data. For this purpose, we employ Autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH), Threshold Generalized ARCH (TARCH), and the exponential general ARCH (EGARCH) methods. The results confirm an uni-directional cau-sality from mineral and forestry resources volatility to economic performance in the short, medium, and long run. There is no feedback effect observed from economic growth to volatility in mineral and forestry resources. The results suggest that sustainable use of material resources is imperative to achieve green growth agenda.
Social-economic development and urbanization greatly modify landscape patterns and their associated ecological processes at regional scales, resulting in serious landscape ecological risk (LER). Effectively evaluating the LER is the basis for sustainable land use and development of regions. Because of the uncertainties in future socioeconomic development, precisely projecting future LER distribution is still challenging. To overcome this weakness, by using the Fujian Delta region as a case study, we employed patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model coupled with multiple linear regression and a Markov chain model to project the landscape patterns in 2050. The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were selected as the scenario framework. Thus, the spatiotemporal characteristics of the landscape pattern changes and LER from 2000 to 2020 and the projections for 2050 under different localized SSPs scenarios were explored. The results show that the cropland and water areas changed remarkably during 2000–2020. The PLUS model based on the couple of multiple linear regression and Markov chain model has higher prediction accuracy (FoM = 0.244) than that without the multiple linear regression (FoM = 0.146). The simulation results show that the urban land continued to expand westward and northward in 2050. Large amounts of cropland will be transformed into urban land in the eastern part. The conversion area is the largest under the SSP2 scenario, and the smallest area occurs under the SSP4 scenario. From 2000 to 2020, the LER exhibited the characteristics of an east–west polarized spatial distribution, and the LER gradually increased. The localized SSP4 scenario is projected to have the largest LER, and the smallest LER occurs under the SSP1 scenario. The conversions from cropland to urban land will lead to the most significant increases in LER, followed by the conversion of grassland to urban land.
This paper analyses the environmental degradation associated with the ecological footprint in Latin America. The studied region has an important feature of less industrialization and are having high advantage of biodiversity. As ecological footprint is a comprehensive indicator of environmental deterioration because it assesses the impact of all human activities on nature. This research examines the effect of economic complexity and the natural resources rents on the per capita ecological footprint in Latin America. To assess the sensitivity of the parameters and to capture the impact of the growth in the structure of the industrial sector for the region, the study includes globalization, inequality, internal credit and trade as additional covariates. The theoretical framework comprises the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and for the methodology the quantile regression approach, proposed by Canay (2011), Powell (2016) and Machado and Santos Silva (2019), has been used in this study. The study found that the impact of economic complexity and the natural resources rents is heterogeneous throughout the distribution on the ecological footprint. It is also observed that the level of inequality for the utilization of region-specific climatic distribution of natural resources, increases the ecological footprint in the lower quantiles, while in the upper quantiles, it decreases the same. This study provides a new approach to analyze the degradation of environment in countries with high dependence on natural resources rents and high income inequality.
This paper attempts to analyze the variations in technical efficiency of the individual farmers of distinct (small, medium and large) size of land holdings and different types (family and hired) of labor with given set of input variables for the agricultural production across different Agro-Climatic Zones. A field survey was conducted to collect the information from a randomly stratified sample of 300 farmers operating in six districts falls under Trans-Gangetic Plains and Semi Sandy Desert zones of the states of Punjab and Haryana in India. A model of stochastic frontier analysis for cross sectional data with half normal truncated features has been used to measure the technical efficiency under the assumptions of Cobb-Douglas production function. The model comprises eight dummy variables for the farmers owning distinct size of land and using distinct type of labor in their production. The results for the estimates of technical inefficiency with family and hired labor depict; small farmers are 50.30 and 68.11 per cent, medium farmers are 61.09 and 67.75 per cent, large farmers are 71.03 and 56.67 per cent and average farmers are 71.94 and 70.07 per cent inefficient respectively. This paper helps the farmers and the policy makers in identifying the second best-alternative crop for obtaining the sustainable agricultural production.