Multi-scale telecoupling effects of land use change on ecosystem services in urban agglomerations --A case study in the middle reaches of Yangtze River urban agglomerations

Abstract

A systematic understanding of the influences of land use change/land cover change (LUCC) on ecosystem services (ES) is significant for maintaining sustainable development of ecosystems. Previous studies on the effects of LUCC on ES have been discussed at multiple dimensions and scales, but there is still a lack of systematic studies on the influences of LUCC and its telecoupling effects on ES at different spatial scales and in different levels of urban agglomerations from a systemic perspective. Therefore, this paper endeavours to fill in the blanks. On the basis of quantifying the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of LUCC and ES in the middle reaches of Yangtze River urban agglomerations (MRYRUA) and its three major metropolitan areas (C-Z-T metropolitan; Wu-Han Metropolian; Poyang Lake Metropolian), a spatial self-lagging of X model (SLX) based on the gravitational spatial weight matrix is constructed to explore this problem. The results show that the overall land use intensity of the MRYRUA has increased by 0.07% from 1990 to 2020, with the largest increase in the C-Z-T metropolitan area. Carbon fixation, soil conservation, habitat quality and water purification service show different degrees of fluctuation within the three metropolitan areas, with the greatest fluctuation in C-Z-T metropolitan area. At different spatial scales, LUCC and its telecoupling effect have a significantly negative effect on ES, and with the expansion of the scale, the negative effect will be strengthened gradually, while the influences of LUCC and its telecoupling effects on ES differ significantly in different levels of urban agglomerations. This paper can provide a reference for the implementation of differentiated land use and ecological protection policies for different levels of urban agglomerations.