Abstract
The past decades have witnessed rapid urbanization around the world. This is particularly evident in Zhuhai City, given its status as one of the earliest special economic zones in China. After experiencing rapid urbanization for decades, the level of ecosystem health (ESH) in Zhuhai City has become a focus of attention. Assessments of urban ESH and spatial correlations between urbanization and ESH not only reveal the states of urban ecosystems and the extent to which urbanization affected these ecosystems, but also provide new insights into sustainable eco-environmental planning and resource management. In this study, we assessed the ESH of Zhuhai City using a selected set of natural, social and economic indicators. The data used include Landsat Thematic Mapper images and socio-economic data of 1999, 2005, 2009 and 2013. The results showed that the overall ESH value and ecosystem service function have been on the decline while Zhuhai City has continued to become more urbanized. The total ESH health level trended downward and the area ratio of weak and relatively weak health level increased significantly, while the areas of well and relatively well healthy state decreased since 1999. The spatial correlation analysis shows a distinct negative correlation between urbanization and ESH. The degree of negative correlation shows an upward trend with the processes of urban sprawl. The analysis results reveal the impact of urbanization on urban ESH and provide useful information for planners and environment managers to take measures to improve the health conditions of urban ecosystems.
Highlights
Urbanization is one of the main forces driving environmental and ecological change [1].Characterized by population aggregation, urban expansion and economic development [2,3,4], urbanization has resulted in conversions of ecological land to constructed land, and as a result the conversions of natural ecosystems into human-dominated and coupled human-nature ecosystems [5,6,7].urbanization disrupts the flows of materials, energy and information and the structures and functions of ecosystems [8]
Of which the analyses were performed at the regional scale or using administrative districts, this study investigated the spatial relationships between ecosystem health (ESH) and urbanization at the local scale, which provides fine-grained recommendations for future urban ecological planning
This study investigated spatiotemporal changes of urban ecosystem health and three indicators of urbanization (GDPD, constructed area proportion (CAP) and population density (POPD)) in 1999, 2005, 2009 and 2013 at the urban scale
Summary
Urbanization is one of the main forces driving environmental and ecological change [1].Characterized by population aggregation, urban expansion and economic development [2,3,4], urbanization has resulted in conversions of ecological land to constructed land, and as a result the conversions of natural ecosystems into human-dominated and coupled human-nature ecosystems [5,6,7].urbanization disrupts the flows of materials, energy and information and the structures and functions of ecosystems [8]. Urbanization is one of the main forces driving environmental and ecological change [1]. Characterized by population aggregation, urban expansion and economic development [2,3,4], urbanization has resulted in conversions of ecological land to constructed land, and as a result the conversions of natural ecosystems into human-dominated and coupled human-nature ecosystems [5,6,7]. The increasing population and urban development demand greater ecological services for the sustainability of social development [9], which gives rise to a mutually affecting relationship between urbanization and urban eco-environment [10]. Monitoring the state of ecosystems and quantifying the effects of urbanization on urban ecosystems have become an important means for effective urban landscape planning and eco-environmental policy making. Public Health 2019, 16, 4717; doi:10.3390/ijerph16234717 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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