Abstract
Exploring the flow intensity of virtual cultivated land is the key to improving the ecological compensation and food security policy. This study aimed to analyze the dynamic evolution, spatial convergence, and its affecting factors of the virtual cultivated land flow intensity. The spatial convergence model was used in this study. The results showed that, during 2000–2018, the growth rate of the surplus state of virtual cultivated land at the national level is less than that of the deficit state of virtual cultivated land in China. Moreover, the number of deficit provinces of virtual cultivated land flow intensity is increasing. The absolute β-convergence characteristics of the virtual cultivated land flow intensity are significant at the national, northeast, central, and western regions. Additionally, the conditional β-convergence exists at the national and four regional levels. Meanwhile, cultivated land resource endowment, population scale, regional economic development level, and agricultural mechanization level play an important role in the convergence process of inter-regional virtual cultivated land flow intensity. However, the influence degree of different control variables on different regional virtual cultivated land flow intensity is not consistent. Therefore, policymakers should pay attention to cultivated land resources’ spatial transfer mechanism when making regional cultivated land ecological compensation policies to coordinate the interesting relationship between the deficit area and surplus area of virtual cultivated land. Therefore, it is necessary to take the virtual cultivated land flow intensity as the reference index and use the combination of market guidance and government control to stimulus the stakeholders to protect cultivated land by taking different measures.
Highlights
Cultivated land resources are an essential material basis for human survival and necessary strategic resource for social and economic growth, which has been observed worldwide [1,2]
Some results are shown: (1) At the national level, the number of deficit provinces of virtual cultivated land flow intensity is increasing during the period 2000–2018, and these provinces are mainly distributed in the eastern coastal areas of China; (2) To the deficit status of virtual cultivated land flow intensity, the maximum value of the virtual cultivated land flow intensity is 59.38 in 2000, and its maximum value is 264.61 in 2018
The results showed that chemical fertilizers (CCF) promotes the increase of the flow intensity of virtual cultivated land
Summary
Cultivated land resources are an essential material basis for human survival and necessary strategic resource for social and economic growth, which has been observed worldwide [1,2]. Has ecological functions such as regulating climate, maintaining soil and water, maintaining biodiversity, and so on [4,5,6]. It means that cultivated land can produce economic value [5] and produce ecological value [7]. Due to the environmental importance of cultivated land belonging to public goods [8], which has externality characteristics [9], the value cannot be traded in the market in the form of physical objects [10], so the cultivated land’s ecological value has been ignored by people [11]. To protect the cultivated land ecological value [12] and realize the sustainable
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