Assessing the Impacts of Urban Expansion on Habitat Quality by Combining the Concepts of Land Use, Landscape, and Habitat in Two Urban Agglomerations in China

Huina Wang,Lina Tang,Huaxiang Chen,Quanyi Qiu

doi:10.3390/su12114346

Abstract

Understanding the spatiotemporal variability of habitat quality as a function of land-use changes is important for expanding scientific knowledge of ecological conservation. In this study, the impacts of land-use change on habitat quality were assessed in two urban agglomerations in China at different stages of development, namely (1) the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA), which has reached the middle and late stage of urbanization, and (2) the Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian (GTSF), which has reached the middle and early stage. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) habitat quality model was applied to determine the habitat quality and the degree of habitat degradation in these two agglomerations. Overall, the habitat quality in the YRDUA was found to be clearly inferior to that in the GTSF. In the GTSF, more than 65% of the habitat was of good or excellent quality, whereas in the YRDUA, less than 45% of the habitat reached this quality. By combining the concepts of land use, landscape, and habitat, the boundary of degradation and the general increase in habitat quality from 2000 to 2015 were found to be mainly related to the landform, the dominant landscape, and the concentration of non-habitat areas. Additionally, the type, distribution, and fragmentation of the dominant habitat were shown to play important roles in habitat quality. Moreover, changes in industrial composition over time were demonstrated to be critical drivers of changes in areas of construction land.

Highlights

Introduction55% of the world’s population resided in urban areas in 2018. By 2050, this is projected to increase to 68% [1]
Overall, 55% of the world’s population resided in urban areas in 2018
The spatiotemporal variability of habitat quality was explored in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) and Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian (GTSF) by combining the concepts of land use, landscape, and habitat

Summary

Introduction

55% of the world’s population resided in urban areas in 2018. By 2050, this is projected to increase to 68% [1]. With the attractions of some big cities and the help of convenient transport, flows of materials, energy, and information are occurring with increasing frequency, and the interactive effects between them are getting bigger and bigger. In 1957, Jean Gottmann chose the word “Megalopolis” to describe a vast region of adjacent urban areas that have become increasingly fused over time into what could be conceived as a super city [5]; the origin of urban agglomeration. There are three main ways that land-use change affects ecosystem services: (1) It directly affects the spatial and temporal distribution of biological habitats and resources, and changes the spatiotemporal pattern of the generation, delivery, and expression of ecosystem services [7,8]; (2) It affects ecosystem services by changing biodiversity, such as by varying the characteristics of plants [9] or changing plant functional diversity [10]; (3) It has direct effects on ecosystem services themselves by changing ecosystem processes, such as hydrological processes [11] and the recycling of organic matter and nutrients [12]

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion