Eco-environmental Quality Research Articles

Comprehensive Eco-Environmental Effects Caused by Land Use Transition from the Perspective of Production–Living–Ecological Spaces in a Typical Region: A Case Study of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

With the promotion of rapid economic and social development, land use has undergone profound processes of transition worldwide, leaving the production–living–ecological spaces (PLES) and landscape pattern reconfigured, thus further affecting regional eco-environmental quality and landscape ecological risk. This paper first introduces a research framework of comprehensive eco-environmental effects caused by shifts in land use, to analyze the relations and interactions among land use transition, interconversion of PLES, eco-environmental quality, and landscape ecological risk, and then this framework was applied to the empirical analysis of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi), to examine the comprehensive eco-environmental effects caused by land use transition there. The results show the following: (1) During 1990–2018, ecological space in Guangxi tended to continuously shrink in area, while the area of production and living space kept expanding. The areas of forest ecological land, grass ecological land, and agricultural production land clearly decreased over time, having been mainly converted into both urban living land as well as industrial and mining production land. (2) The eco-environmental quality in Guangxi showed a trend of continual decline, this characterized by high and medium-high quality zones decreasing in area as the low-quality zone expanded. Further, the spatial distribution of eco-environmental quality tended to diminish when moving from Guangxi’s surrounding towards its central and southern parts. (3) However, the landscape ecological risk continued to rise mainly because of reductions in ecological space. Its spatial distribution was the inverse of that of eco-environmental quality; i.e., being at high risk in the central and southern parts, but lower in the surroundings. (4) The bivariate global Moran’s I analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the eco-environmental quality and landscape ecological risk. Going from remote mountainous and hilly areas to rural areas, and then into urban areas, the eco-environmental quality displayed a gradually decreasing trend, while landscape ecological risk was initially reduced but then augmented. We conclude that land use transition in Guangxi has caused a continuous reduction in its regional eco-environmental quality, and also exacerbated its landscape ecological risk. Hence, it is of great importance to balance the PLES and optimize the landscape pattern, so as to restore the eco-environmental quality while also mitigating the landscape ecological risk of Guangxi and similar regions.

RSEIFE: A new remote sensing ecological index for simulating the land surface eco-environment

With the development of remote sensing technology, significant progress has been made in the evaluation of the eco-environment. The remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) is one of the most widely used indices for the comprehensive evaluation of eco-environmental quality. This index is entirely based on remote sensing data and can monitor eco-environmental aspects quickly for a large area. However, the use of RSEI has some limitations. For example, its application is generally not uniform, the obtained results are stochastic in nature, and its calculation process cannot consider all ecological elements (especially the water element). In spite of the widespread application of the RSEI, improvements to its limitations are scarce. In this paper, we propose a new index named the remote sensing ecological index considering full elements (RSEIFE). The proposed RSEIFE is compared with commonly used evaluation models such as RSEI and RSEILA (Remote Sensing Ecological Index with Local Adaptability) in several types of study areas to assess the stability and accuracy of our model. The results show that the calculation process of RSEIFE is more stable than those of RSEI and RSEILA, and the results of RSEIFE are consistent with the real eco-environment surface and reveal more details about its features. Meanwhile, compared with RSEI and RSEILA, the results of RSEIFE effectively reveal the ecological benefits of both water bodies themselves and their surrounding environments, which lead to more accurate and comprehensive basis for the implementation of environmental protection policies.

The establishment of an eco-environmental evaluation model for southwest China and eastern South Africa based on the DPSIR framework

The establishment of a standard and unified evaluation system model and its application to a cross-regional eco-environmental quality evaluation and analysis are required for identifying patterns of change in eco-environmental quality in different regions and the driving factors. This knowledge is important for achieving sustainable development. This study used remote sensing (RS) data and geographic information science (GIS) to construct a unified eco-environmental quality evaluation index system based on the Driving Forces, Pressure, State, Impact and Response (DPSIR) framework and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Entropy method, and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). The index system was applied to evaluate the eco-environmental quality of central Yunnan Province (CYP) and eastern South Africa (ESA) at the county scale and to identify driving factors. The results showed that: (1) The mean ecological quality index of all counties (districts/cities) in the ESA in 2019 was 0.3696, which was slightly higher than that of 0.3449 in the CYP, indicating similar total ecological quality between the CYP and ESA. (2) The Moran's I value of eco-environmental quality in the CYP and ESA both exceeded 0, with significant spatial agglomerations. (3) The strongest correlations were between state class indicators and eco-environmental quality in both study areas. The grey relational coefficients exceeded 0.9, representing state indicators (such as vegetation coverage, habitat quality index, remote-sensed vegetation water supply index, vegetation net primary productivity, and annual mean precipitation) as the main driving forces of eco-environmental quality.

Land Use Changes Influence the Soil Enzymatic Activity and Nutrient Status in the Polluted Taojia River Basin in Sub-Tropical China.

Different land use practices may improve soil quality or lead to soil deterioration. Recently, environmental problems, such as heavy pollution and soil erosion, have led to serious land degradation in the Taojia River basin. In this study, we explored the soil fertility characteristics (mechanical composition; pH; soil organic matter (SOM); soil total nitrogen (TN); and the activity of four enzymes, i.e., urease, hydrogen peroxide, alkaline phosphatase, and sucrose enzymes) under different types of land use in the Taojia River basin. Soil samples were taken from 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-40 cm depths from four different land use types that were widely used in the Taojia river basin, including cultivated land, vegetable fields, woodlands, and wastelands. The results showed that the soil enzyme activity and the constituents of the soil were closely related and significantly affected each other (p < 0.05). Woodland soil exhibited the highest content of SOM in all soil depths. Soil total nitrogen mainly depended on the accumulation of biomass and the decomposition intensity of organic matter, so the changes in TN followed the trends of the changes in SOM. Woodland soil showed an improved mechanical composition. We were also able to observe an increased clay content in woodland soil. Woodland soil also exhibited the reversal of soil desertification and an increase in nutrient/water retention capacity. Therefore, an increase in woodland areas would be an appropriate goal in terms of land use in order to improve the eco-environmental quality of the Taojia River basin.

RSEI or MRSEI? Comment on Jia et al. Evaluation of Eco-Environmental Quality in Qaidam Basin Based on the Ecological Index (MRSEI) and GEE. Remote Sens. 2021, 13, 4543

Recently, Jia et al. employed the index, modified remote sensing ecological index (MRSEI), to evaluate the ecological quality of the Qaidam Basin, China. The MRSEI made a modification to the previous remote sensing-based ecological index (RSEI), which is a frequently used remote sensing technique for evaluating regional ecological status. Based on the investigation of the ecological implications of the three principal components (PCs) derived from the principal component analysis (PCA) and the case study of the Qaidam Basin, this comment analyzed the rationality of the modification made to RSEI by MRSEI and compared MRSEI with RSEI. The analysis of the three PCs shows that the first principal component (PC1) has clear ecological implications, whereas the second principal component (PC2) and the third principal component (PC3) have not. Therefore, RSEI can only be constructed with PC1. However, MRSEI unreasonably added PC2 and PC3 into PC1 to construct the index. This resulted in the interference of each principal component. The addition also significantly reduced the weight of PC1 in the computation of MRSEI. The comparison results show that MRSEI does not improve RSEI, but causes the overestimation of the ecological quality of the Qaidam Basin. Therefore, the modification made by MRSEI is questionable and MRSEI is not recommended to be used for regional ecological quality evaluation.

Empirical Examinations of Whether Rural Population Decline Improves the Rural Eco-Environmental Quality in a Chinese Context

Rural population has continually declined in response to the rapid urbanization process occurring in China, and the related negative socioeconomic impacts on rural development have attracted considerable attention from scholars. Currently, few studies have investigated the eco-environmental impact of rural population decline. By employing remote-sensing data, including land-use and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, this study proposed a method based on the eco-environmental quality index (EQI) to measure the changes in the rural eco-environmental quality (REQ) at the prefectural level from 2000 to 2020. Then, we examined the impacts of rural population decline on REQ variations. We found that (1) most of the research units experienced continuous rural population decline during the research period, with the rural population density declining more than 25% from 2010 to 2020 in approximately half of the research units; (2) the REQ improved in most of the units, especially in the western region, but there were still many units that experienced a decline in the REQ, which were primarily concentrated in the coastal and central regions; (3) rural population decline improved the REQ, but its impacts varied regionally; and (4) rural population density, natural factors, and eco-environmental protection programs had significant influences on REQ variations. These findings may provide a reference for sustainable-development policies in rural China and other developing countries.

Eco-Environmental Effects of Changes in Territorial Spatial Pattern and Their Driving Forces in Qinghai, China (1980–2020)

As urbanization and industrialization have advanced in leaps and bounds, the territorial spatial pattern of Qinghai has experienced profound transformation and reconstruction, which has been directly reflected in land-use changes and affected the eco-environment. In this context, we constructed a functional classification system of “production-living-ecological” (PLE), used remote sensing data for six periods from 1980 to 2020, and employed the land transfer matrix, eco-environmental quality index, ecological contribution rate of land-use transformation and geographical detectors to analyze the changes in the territorial spatial patterns, eco-environmental effects and driving forces of eco-environmental quality. The results revealed that (1) the spatial distribution of the province was characterized by the relative agglomeration of the production and living spaces and the absolute dominance of ecological spaces; (2) The eco-environmental quality of the region portrayed a steady improvement, with a significant reduction in the medium–low and low-quality areas; and (3) the annual average precipitation, proportion of non-agricultural area, and socio-economic factors had a significant impact on the eco-environmental quality of the region, meanwhile, national economy and ecological policies are important indirect driving forces of eco-environmental quality. Our findings will provide guidelines for territorial spatial management and serve as a reference for eco-environmental protection in Qinghai.

Spatial and temporal variation of multiple eco-environmental indicators in Erhai Lake Basin of China under land use transitions.

Environmental degradation is a global ecological concern, and land use transitions play a critical role in a region's ecological well-being and long-term sustainability. In this paper, indicators related to land use transitions, including the regional eco-environmental quality index (EV), the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI), and soil erosion, are selected to analyze the eco-environmental quality of Erhai Lake Basin from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that (1) from 2000 to 2020, forestland, grassland, and cultivated land were the major land use types in the study region, and also the land use types where land use transition was notable; (2) over the 20years of study, the EV value of Erhai Lake Basin increased by 0.003, its average RSEI increased by 0.14, and the average soil erosion modulus there decreased by 15.48 t/(km2·a), indicating that the eco-environment of the Erhai Lake Basin was improving. Evaluation based on multiple ecological indicators was superior to assessment relying on single indicators; (3) all three ecological indicators showed that the ecological environment of the basin was improving, but with significant regional differences. Forestland had the best ecological quality, while unused land and built-up land had the worst. RSEI was more regionally adaptable than the other two indices. (4) The transition of cultivated land into other land use types was the main reason for the improved ecological quality in the basin, while tourism had accelerated land use transformation. Compared with assessment based on single ecological indicators, evaluation based on a combination of multiple ecological indicators can more accurately reflect the ecological condition of the study area and provide a basis for eco-environmental protection in Erhai Lake Basin.

Evaluation of the Ecological Environment Quality of the Kuye River Source Basin Using the Remote Sensing Ecological Index.

Landsat remote sensing images obtained from 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 were analyzed. The normalized vegetation index (NDVI), moisture index (WET), land surface temperature (LST), and normalized building-soil index (NDBSI) were extracted based on the four aspects of greenness, humidity, heat, and dryness. The Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) was calculated using principal component analysis to quantitatively analyze and dynamically monitor and evaluate the ecological environment changes in the Kuye River Basin over the past 20 years. From the perspective of spatial and temporal distribution, the ecological and environmental quality of Kuye River Basin had a downward trend from 2000 to 2020. The overall RSEI grade was medium or poor, and the average RSEI decreased. The proportion of excellent and good grade watershed areas decreased, whereas that of medium, low, and poor grade watershed areas increased over the study period. Spatially, RSEI decreased gradually from southeast to northwest. The degraded areas were mainly distributed in urban areas with frequent human activities. Conversely, the superior eco-environmental quality areas were mainly distributed in eastern sections of the watershed. Compared with 2000, the eco-environmental quality of the Yulin urban area and Shenmu County in the southern section of the watershed are worsening.

Developing a system for comprehensive regional Eco-environmental quality assessment in mountainous areas—A case study of Western Sichuan, China

Eco-environmental quality assessment is an important process for ensuring sustainable regional development because it encourages the construction of an ecological civilization. This assessment also lays a foundation for informing digital management and decision-making for the ecological environment in the near future. Due to the particularity of mountainous areas, its Eco-environmental quality assessment needs to be deeply specific and may require re-working. Here, the AHP-Entropy model was developed and constructed to scientifically analyze and evaluate the Eco-environmental quality in mountainous Western Sichuan in 2009 and 2019 at the township (street) unit. It is based on indicators representing Biological richness, Vegetation cover, Water network density, Land stress, and Social-economic stress. This newly developed model offers a more complete assessment, is based on more easily acquired data and has a higher accuracy than past models. The Eco-environmental quality index (EQI) representing eco-environmental quality (EEQ) has five levels of rating: Better, Good, Moderate, Bad and Worse. After applying this model to the region, the results show that: 1) The ecological environmental quality in the Western Sichuan mountains has improved over the past 10 years. 2) The eco-environment in the study area is generally Good, with small areas receiving a rating of Moderate. 3) The areas considered Better are mainly distributed on Longmen Mountain, Daliang mountain and Qionglai mountain, while the Moderate areas are mainly distributed in the western Chengdu Plain, the Panzhihua urban area, and Shaluli mountain. 4) The areas rated Better earn their rating due to high vegetation coverage, high habitat quality, and low degree of land degradation, such as land desertification and soil erosion. The areas with moderate eco-environmental quality were mainly affected by frequent human activity or serious land degradation. This comprehensive regional Eco-environmental quality assessment can also be used in other areas with mountains.

Key indicators of high-quality urbanization affecting eco-environmental quality in emerging urban agglomerations: Accounting for the importance variation and spatiotemporal heterogeneity

As the basis of social sustainable development, eco-environmental quality (EEQ) plays an essential role in the process of high-quality urbanization (HQU). Therefore, evaluating the response mechanism of EEQ in the context of HQU will provide effective guidance for promoting sustainable development. Based on the requirements of high-quality development and the component elements of urbanization and eco-environment, the appropriate variables were selected to construct an evaluation index system between HQU and EEQ of the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration (SPUA) in north China. This study employed the improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model and Moran's I to explore the dynamic mechanism and spatiotemporal distribution of coupling coordination between HQU and EEQ of the SPUA from 2001 to 2020. Meanwhile, the random forest model and the geographically and temporally weighted regression model were used to further investigate the variation in importance and spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the HQU indicators affecting EEQ. This study found that the CCD between HQU and EEQ followed a continuous upward trend in the SPUA from 2001 to 2020, which was much higher in eastern developed cities with a spatial dependency of high-high clustering. Due to the irreplaceability of energy in residents' lives, per capita energy consumption was found to be the most important impact indicator on EEQ. Population density achieved the fastest growth in importance over the study period, and the spatial indicators exhibited greater importance in the west of the SPUA. Furthermore, significant spatiotemporal differences were identified in the effects of HQU indicators on EEQ. HQU was more conducive to an improvement of EEQ in the eastern coastal SPUA. These findings could provide guidance for policy makers to adopt scientific measures in rational urban planning and ecological management of urban agglomerations in developing countries.

Eco-environment and coupling coordination and quantification of urbanization in Yangtze River delta considering spatial non-stationarity

Since the 21st century, the rapid development of China’s mega-city clusters has posed a major threat to the healthy and coordinated development of cities. Therefore, it is necessary to be develop the comprehend the state of coupling coordination among mega-city cluster and EEQ under mesoscale. In this study, the largest Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration is taken as the research object, NS-RSEI is constructed to evaluate the EEQ of the Yangtze River Delta, and the coupling coordination mechanism on the long-time series of the Yangtze River Delta in recent 20 years is explored by means of spatio-temporal analysis. The outcome verify that CCD of the Yangtze River Delta growth with a strong spatial dependence from 2001 to 2020, showing a spatial distribution pattern of " East West high-low". Above all, this study shows that urbanization is the main factor determining the development of CCD. In addition, compared with the traditional remote sensing eco-environment monitoring model, NS-RSEI proposed in this study shows better ability in mesoscale environmental monitoring, and provides great convenience for mesoscale EEQ evaluation. This study fills the research gap of the interactive coupling mechanism between urbanization and eco-environment quality of mesoscale mega-city group, and provides a new perspective on the sustainable development of megacity clusters.

Land-use function evolution and eco-environmental effects in the tarim river basin from the perspective of production–living–ecological space

The identification of land type multi-functionality is a basic tool for the organization, coordination, and configuration of basin land, and provides a key criterion for determining the combination of land-use functions and the status quo of the ecological environment in the basin. However, a feasible identification method system for this purpose has not yet been established. Therefore, in this study, we construct a production–living–ecological space (PLES) classification system from the comprehensive perspective of land-use type and ecological environment. Based on remote sensing of PLES and statistical land-use status data for 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, we analyze the evolutionary characteristics of land-use function using the transfer matrix and center of gravity transfer methods. These are combined with the eco-environmental quality index to reveal the driving factors of eco-environmental quality spatial differentiation using the geographic detector model. The results indicate that the overall ecological environment quality index of the Tarim River Basin presents a downward trend, with a spatial differentiation pattern of high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Over the past 20 years, the ecological environment quality index has dropped by 0.852. The structural evolution and regional differentiation of PLES areas are remarkable, all of which expanded over the study period (except for the key ecological land). The center of gravity of production land presented the most obvious migration, with a total migration of 10,601.76 m to the northeast. Eco-environmental effects are found to be mainly driven by socio-economic factors, of which population density growth is the most important. The implementation of some ecological restoration projects has played a role in slowing down the degradation trend of the ecological environment quality in the Tarim River Basin; however, due to population increases and socio-economic development, the ecological environment degradation has overall been exacerbated.

Spatio-temporal evolution and driving factors of eco-environmental quality based on RSEI in Chang-Zhu-Tan metropolitan circle, central China

Accurately analyzing the spatial and temporal evolution of regional eco-environmental quality and exploring the response of eco-environmental quality to natural environment and human factors are essential to protect the regional ecological environment. This study analyzed the ecological environmental quality of Chang-Zhu-Tan metropolitan circle, central China from 2000 to 2020 based on Google Earth Engine (GEE) and Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI). Subsequently, we introduced the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to explore the response of RSEI to the direct and indirect effects of natural and anthropogenic factors, and assessed the spatial autocorrelation of regional ecological environmental quality. The results showed that the mean value of RSEI in the study area was showing an increasing trend, with the lowest mean value of RSEI in 2010 (0.6508) and the highest mean value of RSEI in 2020 (0.6948). The eco-environmental quality level was mainly good and excellent, and the average area accounted for more than 70% of the total area, and showed an upward trend during 2000–2020. Climate, soil, terrain, and urbanization had different effects on the ecological environment, with climate, soil, and terrain had positive effects on the ecological environment, while urbanization had negative effects on it. The positive effect of climate on ecological environment was gradually weakened, while the negative effect of urbanization on ecological environment was gradually strengthened. Climate and urbanization weakened the positive effect of soil and terrain in different degrees. This study provides a method for rapid and accurate assessment of regional eco-environmental quality and exploration of complex interaction pathways of influencing factors, which is essential for balancing the relationship between regional development and nature.

Land Space Change Process and Its Eco-Environmental Effects in the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration of China

Urban agglomeration is the strategic core area of social–economic high-quality development in the world. However, high-density agglomeration and high-speed expansion have caused dramatic changes in land space, leading to prominent eco-environmental problems and, thus, threatening human well-being. How to solve the contradiction between urban agglomeration land expansion and eco-environment protection has become an urgent scientific problem. In this paper, we constructed a framework of assessing land space change and its eco-environmental effects in the urban agglomeration by using the Geo-informatic Graphic, eco-environmental quality index (EQI), and eco-environmental contribution rate. We then quantitatively analyzed the characteristics of land space transition as well as its eco-environmental effects in the Guanzhong Plain urban Agglomeration (GPUA) based on the land use data in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020. The results indicated that from 1990 to 2020, the production space of the GPUA continued to shrink, the living space continued to expand, and the ecological space showed a fluctuating increasing trend. There were significant regional differences in the land space change of the GPUA, with 92.2% of the counties showing a significant contraction in agricultural production space, 93.3% and 91.1% showing a significant expansion in urban and rural living space, and 64.4% showing an increase in woodland ecological space. Agricultural production space is transformed into ecological space and living space, and living space occupies ecological space and agricultural production space, which is the main mode of land space transition in the GPUA. With the continuous expansion of low-quality and high-quality areas of the eco-environment and the continuous contraction of medium-quality areas, the improvement and deterioration of the eco-environmental quality of the GPUA have coexisted, first showing a trend of deterioration and then improvement. The transition of agricultural production space into grassland and woodland ecological space improved the eco-environmental quality, while the transition of grassland ecological space into agricultural production space, and the occupation of agricultural production space by urban and rural living space as well as industrial and mining production space resulted in the deterioration of eco-environmental quality. The findings of this study may provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the allocation of land space resources in ecologically fragile urban agglomeration.

Production–living–ecological space transition and its eco-environmental effects based on an improved area-weighted method: A case study of Gangcheng District, a typical industrial base in China

In the context of rapid social and economic development, it is important to clarify the evolution process of production–living–ecological space (PLES) and its eco-environmental effects on the sustainable utilization of land resources on industrial bases. Based on existing research, it is difficult to accurately measure the differences in eco-environment quality caused by conversions between land-use types in different years. This paper puts forward an improved area-weighted calculation method of the eco-environmental quality index (EQI), combining the land-use transfer matrix and ecological contribution rate to analyze eco-environmental effects on typical industrial bases. The results show that PLES transitions in Gangcheng District from 2009 to 2020 have been mainly from agricultural production and grassland ecology to forest ecology space, from urban living to industrial production space, and from grassland ecology to agricultural production space. This improved method can capture the environmental changes caused by conversions between land-use types in different years. The EQI of agricultural production space increased from 0.373 to 0.388, while the EQI of forest ecology space decreased from 0.810 to 0.739, and the comprehensive EQI increased from 0.441 to 0.470, showing that the eco-environment quality of the study area was improved overall. The conversions of agricultural production and grassland ecology space to forest ecology space were the main factors in improving eco-environment quality, and the conversions of grassland and forest ecology to agricultural production and of agricultural production to industrial production space were the main reasons for the deterioration of eco-environment quality. This paper may contribute to the scientific planning of land-use direction, support the coordination of regional economic and ecological development, and provide case references for similar regions.

Impacts of eco-environmental quality, spatial configuration, and landscape connectivity of urban vegetation patterns on seasonal land surface temperature in Harare metropolitan city, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The study examined the impact of eco-environmental quality conditions, spatialconfigurations and landscape connectivity of urban vegetation on seasonal land surfacetemperature (LST) in Harare, Zimbabwe between May and October 2018. The resultsshowed that densely built-up areas with sparse vegetation experienced extremelypoor eco-environmental conditions. Clustered and highly connected were morebeneficial in decreasing LST. These findings haveimportant urban and landscape planning implications regarding how thespatial configuration and landscape connectivity patterns of urban vegetationcan be optimized to mitigate UrbanHeat Island (UHI) effects and to improve the thermal comfort conditions in rapidlyurbanizing cities.

Exploring the Driving Factors of Remote Sensing Ecological Index Changes from the Perspective of Geospatial Differentiation: A Case Study of the Weihe River Basin, China.

Using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, Moderate-resolution image spectroradiometer (MODIS) data of the Weihe River Basin from 2001 to 2021 were acquired, four ecological indicators, namely, greenness, wetness, heat, and dryness, were extracted, and the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) was constructed through principal component analysis. In addition, the geographic detectors and a multi-scale geographic weighted regression model (MGWR) were used to identify the main driving factors of RSEI changes and capture the differences in spatial changes from different perspectives using multiple indicators. The results show that (1) the quality of the eco-environment in the Weihe River basin improved as a whole from 2001 to 2021, and the RSEI increased from 0.376 to 0.414. In terms of the RSEI grade, the medium RSEI and high RSEI areas increased significantly and the growth rate increased significantly, reaching 26.42% and 27.70%, respectively. (2) Spatially, the quality of the eco-environment in the Weihe River Basin exhibited a spatial distribution pattern that was high in the south and low in the north, among which the quality of the eco-environment in the Weihe River Basin in northern Shaanxi and northwestern Ningxia and Gansu was relatively low. In addition, during the study period, the RSEI of the Qinling Mountains in the southern part of the Weihe River Basin and the Jinghe River and Luohe River areas improved significantly. The urban area on the Guanzhong Plain in the Weihe River Basin experienced rapid economic growth, and urban expansion led to a significant decrease in the quality of the eco-environment. (3) The eco-environment quality in the Weihe River Basin is the result of the interaction of natural, anthropogenic, and landscape pattern factors. All of the interactions between the influencing factors had a stronger influence than those of the individual factors. There were significant differences between the individual drivers and the spatial variation in RSEI, suggesting that different factors dominate the variation in RSEI in different regions, and zonal management is crucial to achieving sustainable management of RSEI. The study shows that to improve the eco-environment quality of the Weihe River Basin, it is necessary to further strengthen ecological protection projects, reasonably allocate landscape elements, and strengthen the resistance and resilience of the ecosystem.

Temporal and spatial variations of eco-environment in Association of Southeast Asian Nations from 2000 to 2021 based on information granulation

As a multinational organization with rapid economic development, the eco-environment of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be an important factor in determining the success or failure of the future development of the region. This study uses information granulation based on granular computing and spatial distribution characteristics of the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) to granulate indicator. According to the different influences of different countries in ASEAN, a new scale-up evaluation method of RSEI is proposed, which considers the influence of countries and establishes the weight by scale transformation knowledge granularity entropy. The RSEI research results of ASEAN from 2000 to 2021 show that 1) from 2000 to 2021, the eco-environmental quality of ASEAN was good. The areas with better RSEI accounted for 40.3566%, while the poor areas accounted for 32.6194%. The areas with extremely poor and excellent remote sensing ecology accounted for less. 2) From 2000 to 2021, the remote sensing eco-environment of ASEAN showed a certain volatility, the quality of the remote sensing eco-environment was declining, and the spatial differentiation was increasing. 3) The spatial distribution of the remote sensing eco-environmental quality of the Malay Peninsula is better than that of the Indochina Peninsula. 4) The order of impact of ASEAN remote sensing eco-environmental indicators is heat, dryness, greenness and humidity.

Influence of Green Finance on Ecological Environment Quality in Yangtze River Delta.

Along with the development of society and the deepening contradiction between economic growth and natural resources, green finance has attracted more and more attention. As an area of great strategic significance in China’s modernization, the development of green finance can improve the quality of its ecological environment and find new economic growth points for it. Based on the index system of pressure state response and while considering the scientific nature and desirability of the indicators, this paper selects 12 indicators to construct an index system of eco-environmental quality. It uses the entropy method to calculate the level of eco-environmental quality. Then, three control variables are selected, and the difference-in-difference model is used for empirical analysis. It is found that green finance positively affects the ecological environment quality of the Yangtze River Delta. In addition, the level of opening to the outside world and the level of economic development also have a positive effect on the quality of the ecological environment to a certain extent. Still, the impact of industrial structure on it is negative. Therefore, this paper puts forward some suggestions for strengthening the disclosure of green financial information, paying attention to the concept of green development and strengthening regional cooperation and exchange to promote the development of green finance further and promote the coordination of economic development and ecological protection in the Yangtze River Delta.