Impacts of the integrated pattern of water and land resources use on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in China during 2006–2017: A water-land-energy-emissions nexus analysis

Abstract

The exploitation and utilization of agricultural water-land resources are important sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agricultural production. The study of water-land-energy-emission systems can provide an important basis for reducing agricultural GHG emissions. Based on calculations of agricultural CO2e emissions in the 30 provinces of China from 2006 to 2017, this study explores the contribution of the integrated patterns of water and land resources (IPWL), agricultural carbon emission intensity, and economic output per unit water resources to agricultural CO2e emissions per unit sown area using a spatiotemporal index decomposition approach. The conclusions are as follows. (1) In 2006–2017, the IPWL in China fluctuates, increasing from 1.19 × 106 m3/km2 to 1.35 × 106 m3/km2 and is generally distributed as “high in the south and low in the north.” (2) In the temporal domain, a comparison between the periods 2006–2011 and 2006–2017 shows that, with the increase in IPWL, fewer provinces inhibit the IPWL to agricultural CO2e emissions per unit sown area; furthermore, this effect has been weakened in seven provinces. (3) In the spatial domain, the higher the IPWL is in most areas in China, the higher the contribution rate of IPWL is to agricultural CO2e emissions per unit sown area. Finally, several suggestions are offered for mitigating agricultural GHG emissions in China.