Ecological Environment In China Research Articles

Analysis of the Heterogeneous Coordination between Urban Development Levels and the Ecological Environment in the Chinese Grassland Region (2000–2020): A Case Study of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Scientifically identifying the impact of urban development levels on the ecological environment in China’s grassland regions from a classification perspective is crucial for stabilizing grassland ecosystems and optimizing urban development in grassland cities. Using the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as a case study, this research constructs a conceptual analysis framework for the coordinated state between the urban development level and the ecological environment in China’s grassland regions based on the theory of dual economic structures. Employing the Granger causality test, nonlinear fitting, and coupling coordination degree model methods, the heterogeneity and coordination between urban development levels and ecological environment in China’s grassland areas from 2000 to 2020 are comprehensively analyzed. The findings reveal the following: (1) Capital-type central cities and growing resource-based cities, with high levels of development, positively nurture the grassland ecology, exhibit high labor mobility, and experience low endogenous and exogenous pressures, resulting in high coordination. (2) Pure agro-pastoral cities, with low development levels, negatively impact the grassland ecology, have low labor mobility, and face high endogenous and exogenous pressures, resulting in low coordination. (3) Regional central cities, with moderate development levels, exert a neutral counterbalance effect on the grassland ecology, with opposing endogenous and exogenous pressures, leading to moderate coordination. (4) When the impact relationship ranges from “positive-neutral-negative,” the endogenous and exogenous pressures on the grassland ecology by declining resource-based cities and developing agro-pastoral cities are determined by their specific development levels, showing variations from “large → balance → small” to “small → balance → large,” with coordination fluctuating between “high-moderate-low”. (5) Special ecological cities are less affected by urban development levels, with coordination levels determined by the ecological foundation. Analyzing the heterogeneous coordination between urban development levels and the ecological environment for different types of cities in grassland regions is significant for improving the overall quality of the grassland ecological environment and exploring distinctive urban development models.

Research on the Coupling Coordination and Driving Mechanisms of New-Type Urbanization and the Ecological Environment in China’s Yangtze River Delta

For high-quality growth to occur, new-type urbanization and environmental preservation must coexist and advance at the same time. The focus has shifted to maintain a balance between ecological quality and urbanization growth. This study focuses on the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in China, utilizing panel data from 41 cities in the YRD spanning from 2009 to 2021 to construct evaluation index systems for new (type of) urbanization and ecological environment. To analyze spatial-temporal evolutionary aspects and determine the causes of the degree of coupling coordination between new-type urbanization and the ecological environment, methodologies such as the entropy weight method, coupled coordination degree model, and Tobit regression approach were used. The results show that (1) economic urbanization has experienced the most growth in the level of new-type urbanization in the YRD, which has been steadily increasing. Moreover, the ecological environment evaluation score increased from 0.581 in 2009 to 0.701 in 2021, revealing a cyclical pattern of increase and decrease in its evolutionary trajectory. (2) Within the scope of the study, the overall coupling coordination degree between new-type urbanization and ecological environment has increased, with the average value rising from 0.512 in 2009 to 0.540 in 2021. In comparison to Lishui, Huaibei, Huainan, Ningbo, Chuzhou, and Bozhou saw a greater increase in coupling and coordination degree, with pronounced variations and clustering patterns visible in their spatial distribution. (3) According to the Tobit regression analysis, the level of economic development, technological progress, industrial concentration, global openness, and educational investment had significant positive effects on the degree of coupled coordination between new-type urbanization and the ecological environment in the YRD, whereas the level of information technology did not reach the significance threshold. The findings of the study are crucial for establishing a regional framework for green and sustainable development, as well as for facilitating the coordinated growth of new-type urbanization and ecological environment. These findings hold great potential for driving positive change in both urban development and environmental conservation efforts.

Tripartite Coordinated Governance Evolutionary Game and System Simulation Study on the Ecological Environment in China's Pearl River Basin

Tripartite Coordinated Governance Evolutionary Game and System Simulation Study on the Ecological Environment in China's Pearl River Basin

The Temporal and Spatial Evolution Characteristics of the Ecosystem Service Value and Conversion Rate in China’s Key State-Owned Forest Regions

To achieve a sustainable development path that harmonizes ecological and economic considerations, China has advocated the “two mountains” concept: “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”. This idea posits that those who protect the environment can economically benefit by selling pristine landscapes and utilizing rich ecological resources. This paper use “the equivalence factor method” to calculate ecological benefits, introduces a technical measure—the conversion rate of ecosystem service value—and analyzes its temporal and spatial evolution from 2003 to 2020 in the operational areas of 87 state-owned forestry enterprises in Northeast China. The findings show: (1) a significant improvement in ecosystem-service quality, with its value increasing from 404.7 to 850.2 billion CNY between 2003 and 2020. The restoration of the ecological environment in China’s KSFR provides a foundation for economic and social development. (2) A decrease in the economic gains derived by operators from developing protected ecosystems, with the most significant decline observed in economic benefits generated from the supply product, including timber harvesting. However, the industrial structure in KSFR shifted from being dominated by timber production to diversified development, with non-timber forest resources becoming an important part of regional economic growth. (3) Significant potential for realizing the value of ecosystem services, evidenced by an increasing trend in the conversion rates of cultural, regulatory, and supporting services. These findings underscore the effectiveness of China’s natural forest protection and restoration policies in optimizing forest ecology and realizing the “two mountains” concept through appropriate market transactions and ecological compensation mechanisms.

The impact of green-listed companies on rural ecological environments in China: A spatial heterogeneity and empirical analysis

Based on the panel data of 22 inland provinces in China from 2010 to 2020, this study constructs and measures the level of rural ecological environment in China. The impact of the financial performance of green-listed companies on the rural ecological environment and its moderating and threshold effects are analyzed. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) During 2010–2020, China's rural ecological environment shows a trend of “fluctuating-decreasing-rising” with significant regional non-equilibrium characteristics. (2) The financial performance of green-listed companies has a significantly negative impact on rural ecology. This negative impact has a crucial heterogeneous feature, with a more significant negative impact in areas with a higher rural ecological environment index and less substantial performance in regions with a lower rural ecological environment index. (3) There is a significant positive moderating effect of education level and digitalization on the relationship between the financial performance of green-listed companies on the level of rural ecological development. As moderating variables, the digitalization and education level weakens the negative impact of green-listed companies' performance on the ecological environment. The positive impact of the financial performance of green-listed companies on the development level of the rural ecological environment is more vital in areas with higher per capita education levels and digitalization in rural areas. (4) There is a significant threshold effect on the financial performance of green-listed companies on the level of rural ecological development. When the financial performance of green-listed companies exceeds a particular threshold value, the impact of the financial performance of green-listed companies on the development level of the rural ecological environment is significantly positive. Based on the above findings, this paper puts forward corresponding countermeasure suggestions.

A coupling coordination development model of new energy electric vehicles and ecological environment

Analysing the degree of coupling and coordination between new energy electric vehicles and ecological environment in China is of great significance to optimize and enhance the development of new energy vehicles in China. This paper constructs the evaluation index system of China’s new energy development and ecological environment level respectively, and analyses the coupling and coordination level of the two based on the game theory combination empowerment method, the simulated annealing optimization projection tracing evaluation model and the coupling coordination degree model. The results show that the coupling degree of coordination gradually increases from 0.292 in 2010 to 0.828 in 2021, and the impact of the development of new energy electric vehicles on the ecological environment in China presents a positive and positive development year by year.

贵州普定土壤酶活性和氮循环功能基因数据集

The karst ecosystem in southwest China is the most fragile ecological environment in China. To protect the ecological environment, the project of "Grain to Green Program" was initiated in the late 1990s for the vegetation restoration in this region. Changes in soil microbial abundance, community composition and functional activity are closely linked to soil nutrient supply and turnover, which are the critical factors influencing vegetation restoration processes. Soils were sampled from five different vegetation types at Chenqi catchment and Tianlong Mountain, and rhizosphere soils were sampled from the typical tree species at Tianlong Mountain. Through rigorous data quality control processes (including survey sampling, sample analysis, and data accuracy checks), we obtained a dataset of soil microbial enzyme activities and nitrogen cycling functional genes in different vegetation types from the karst ecosystem. This dataset consisted of one excel file with eight different sheets, which contains the data on soil microbial enzyme activities, nitrogen cycling functional gene abundance and nitrogen transformation rate, microbial living biomass, microbial residue carbon, and soil physicochemical properties along soil profile ranging from the surface to bedrock layer in various vegetation types of 2016. Furthermore, the dataset also includes the enzyme activity and physicochemical properties of the rhizosphere soils from typical tree species in the primary forest in 2018. The dataset serves as valuable reference data for better understanding the microbial regulation mechanism of soil nutrient cycling in karst areas, and it is also of great practical significance for soil nutrient management in ecologically fragile regions under the background of "Grain to Green Program" policy.

The characteristics and countermeasures of coupled and coordinated development between technological innovation and ecological environment in China's Gansu province.

The investigation of the coupling and coordination association between scientific and technological innovation and the eco-environmental system is of vital practical significance for promoting the high-quality economic development of China's Gansu province. The evaluation index system is constructed based on the explanation of the coupling and coordination mechanism of a "Binary system". Subsequently, a comprehensive evaluation model is developed using the entropy method, whereas the coupling coordination relationship between "Binary systems" is analyzed in the context of the coupling coordination degree model. The study findings indicate that the innovation drive has become the primary driving force that leads the high-quality economic development in Gansu province. Furthermore, the comprehensive development level and coupling and coordination degree of all systems in Gansu province demonstrate a sound trend of steadily rising. Additionally, there is an issue of uncoordinated development between scientific and technological innovation and eco-environment systems in Gansu province. Thus, this research study proposes certain policy suggestions, such as optimizing the environment of Sci-tech innovation, insisting on the priority of ecology, increasing the input of Sci-tech innovation, and building up a contingent of talents.

Coordinated development of shale gas benefit exploitation and ecological environmental conservation in China: a mini review

The large-scale development and utilization of shale gas is significant for achieving the “Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality” goals. However, addressing the ecological environmental challenges stemming from extensive hydraulic fracturing is imperative. Drawing from the successful exploration and development of shale gas in the Sichuan Basin, this paper employs a bibliometric approach and utilizes the Web of Science database as its data source to review the impact of shale gas development on the ecological environment. Furthermore, effective strategies for achieving coordinated development of shale gas benefit exploitation and ecological environmental conservation in China are identified. The findings highlight that the ecological impact of shale gas development has been a major focus of research over the past decade, primarily involving concerns such as water resources consumption, groundwater pollution, methane emissions, and waste management. These challenges can be addressed by adopting measures such as responsible water usage, maintaining well integrity, proper storage and disposal of fracturing flowback fluids, and appropriate management of drilling solid waste. The key to achieving green and efficient shale gas development in China lies in constructing a solid theoretical framework for benefit exploitation, refining environmental management standards and regulations, and promoting the development of clean production technologies specific to shale gas. Additionally, establishing a distinct exploration and development theory and fostering technical innovation for deep shale gas (buried depth > 3500m) are pivotal for enhancing and stabilizing production in China. Clarifying the theoretical logic of benefit development and improving the environmental protection law of shale gas development are of great significance for realizing the scale benefit development of shale gas and the harmonious development of ecological environment in China.

Land resource management patterns and urban air quality-evidence from the "land for development" model with Chinese characteristics.

Based on panel data of 282 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2013 to 2020, this paper investigates the impact and transmission paths of the "LFD" land disposal model on urban air quality at the theoretical and empirical levels using dynamic fixed-effects and dynamic spatial Durbin models. The results show that the way land is allocated in a city has a lagging and long-term impact on air quality not only locally but also in neighboring cities. The type of land supply by local governments to different sectors is an important pathway to influence urban air quality. Extended analysis shows that land market reforms in China can significantly reduce urban air quality index (AQI) and effectively mitigate urban air quality, with long-term effects. This paper provides a theoretical and scientific basis for correcting the mismatch of land resources and promoting urban ecological environment in China.

The Spatial Spillover Effect of Environmental NGOs on the Urban Ecological Environment in China

The Spatial Spillover Effect of Environmental NGOs on the Urban Ecological Environment in China

Drought monitoring based on temperature vegetation dryness index and its relationship with anthropogenic pressure in a subtropical humid watershed in China

Drought has serious impacts on agricultural production and ecological environment in China. Study on the causes of drought and drought monitoring technology is crucial for drought mitigation. This study conducts drought monitoring based on temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI) and investigates with the impact of anthropogenic pressure in the Poyang Lake basin (PYLB). In the study, the MODIS normalized vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) products from 2000 to 2021 were selected to construct NDVI-LST feature space processed with elevation correction, from which the monthly TVDI data was calculated. The land use data and nighttime light data were used to construct the anthropogenic pressure index (API). The results indicate that the frequency of drought in the PYLB is higher in the south and lower in the north. According to drought influence scope (DIS), the occurrence frequency of basin-wide drought (DIS ≥ 50%) in the PYLB is the highest, followed by regional drought (33%≤DIS < 50%), partial local drought (25%≤DIS < 33%), and local drought (10%≤DIS < 25%). The basin as a whole showed an obvious wetting trend in spring and a drying trend in autumn. During the study period, API in the north of PYLB was obviously higher than that in the south, and showed a general increasing trend. The contribution of human activities to drought in the PYLB increased exponentially with the improvement of social development level. Meanwhile, the impact of human activities on drought shows spatial differentiation. Ecological protection and green development have been implemented in the northerly region of the PYLB, and anthropogenic pressure inhibited the degree of drought. Oppositely, extensive socioeconomic development in the central and southern parts of the PYLB has caused damage to the environment and indirectly aggravated regional drought. This study makes important contributions to exploring the response between remote sensing drought monitoring and anthropogenic pressure and promoting regional drought mitigation in humid areas.

Coordinated Development of Marine Economy and Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas of China: Development Level, Coupling Coordination Measurement, and Obstacle Analysis

The ecological environment (EE) is an important factor affecting the sustainable development of the marine economy (ME): achieving coordinated development between the ME and EE remains a problem to be explored. From three perspectives—comprehensive development level, coupling coordination degree spatiotemporal analysis, and obstacle degree recognition—this paper explores the development level and spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of ME and EE coupling coordination in 11 coastal areas in China from 1999 to 2019. The results indicate the following: (1) During the research period, the comprehensive development levels of the ME and EE in China’s coastal areas continued to improve, with relatively high levels of economic structure subsystems and pressure subsystems. (2) There was a clear coupling relationship between the ME and EE, with a high degree of coupling, mainly consisting of high-quality coupling and good coupling. The increase in coupling coordination was significant, especially in Guangdong, Shandong, and Liaoning. (3) The analysis of the obstacle degree found that the crucial obstacle elements affecting the coordinated development of the ME and EE included the ME vitality subsystem and the EE response subsystem. Finally, policy suggestions are put forward, including promoting the development of an ecotype ME, promoting marine technology innovation, and adopting differentiated EE governance policies according to local conditions. This study helps evaluate the development capacity of the ME in China’s coastal areas and provides a basis for formulating targeted ME development strategies.

Research on the Coupling Coordination of Green Finance, Digital Economy, and Ecological Environment in China

This study analyzes the coupling coordination of green finance, digital economy, and ecological environment, and constructs an evaluation index system of coupling coordination degree. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, this study applies the coupling coordination model, spatial autocorrelation model, and gray correlation model to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of coupling coordination degree and driving factors. The results indicate that the overall level of green finance, digital economy, and ecological environment maintains steady development, among them, the digital economy is developing the fastest. The coupling coordination degree among the three subsystems exhibits an ascending trend and transitions from dissonance to coordination and displays significant global and local spatial autocorrelation characteristics. Regional disparities exist between the driving factors that influence the coupling coordination degree. Therefore, the existing green financial system should be optimized, coordination of green finance and digital economy synergies should be improved, and each region should devise a development strategy tailored to its regional characteristics.

The Impact of Green M&amp;A Listed Companies’ Size on the Rural Ecological Environment—Digitalization as Moderating Effect

In promoting high-quality economic development, environmental protection has become an essential responsibility for the sustainable development of listed companies. This research constructs and measures the level of rural ecological environment in China based on panel data on the rural ecological environment in Chinese inland provinces. Further, the impact of the size of green M&amp;A listed companies on the rural ecological environment and its moderating effect is analyzed. This study uses the entropy method to measure the Rural Ecosystem Index (REI) and STATA software to conduct OLS, 2SLS, IV-GMM regressions, and regressions on moderating variables. This research aims to analyze the impact of listed companies on the environment and explore the role of the digitalization level’s moderating effect. The results show that the size of green M&amp;A listed companies has a negative effect on the development of the rural ecological environment, and the digitalization level positively moderates the relationship between them. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The average value of the rural ecological index for the 22 provinces in China ranged from 17.32 to 65.17. The index value is higher in the southeastern coastal region, with the highest values in Jiangsu, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces. (2) From 2010–2020, green M&amp;A listed companies were divided into 14 sectors. The industries with the most extensive green M&amp;A are the raw chemical, non-metallic, rubber, and plastic industries. (3) During 2010–2016, the quantity of green M&amp;A listed companies in China showed an upward trend with prominent regional non-equilibrium characteristics, then gradually declined in 2017–2020. It shows that the number is higher in the eastern coastal areas and lower in the inland regions. (4) The size of green M&amp;A listed companies has a negative impact on the rural ecological environment. This negative impact has prominent heterogeneous characteristics, and the higher the index of the rural ecological environment is, the more significant its negative impact is. (5) The digitalization level positively moderates the size of green M&amp;A listed companies and the rural ecological environment. The positive influence of the size of green M&amp;A listed companies on the development level of the rural ecological environment is more significant in the regions with a higher degree of rural digitalization. In other words, the increase in the level of rural digitalization can improve the negative effect of the size of green M&amp;A listed companies on the ecological environment. Based on the above findings, this paper puts forward corresponding countermeasure suggestions.

Research on Architectural Design Innovation from a Low Carbon Perspective

With the improvement of living standards, people's requirements for residential functions are also increasing, that is, residential buildings should not only provide a safe and comfortable living environment for people, but also meet the low-carbon and energy-saving requirements of construction projects. Based on this, the article elaborates on the advantages of architectural design under the low-carbon concept, introduces the current development status of architectural design under the low-carbon concept, and proposes optimization strategies for architectural design under the low-carbon concept. It is necessary to use low-carbon environmental protection energy and building materials, optimize the surrounding environment of buildings, and fully utilize renewable energy, aiming to make strong contributions to the construction of ecological environment in China.

How does carbon emission trading scheme affect enterprise green technology innovation: evidence from China's A-share non-financial listed companies.

More and more emphasis is placed on the common development of economy and ecological environment in China's development strategy, and one of the key solution is green technology innovation of enterprises. This paper takes the carbon emission trading scheme carried out in China in 2013 as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the data of China's A-share non-financial listed companies and the DID method to empirically test the impact of the scheme on enterprise green technology innovation from the micro level. The results suggest that the carbon emission trading scheme has a significant role in promoting enterprise green technology innovation, mainly through the innovation of green practical patents and alternative energy-based patent. Using a series of robustness tests such as dynamic effect test, placebo test, and PSM-DID, it is found that the results are still valid. Further analysis finds that debt financing will weaken the role of carbon emission trading scheme in promoting enterprise green technology innovation. And the carbon emission trading scheme plays a greater role in promoting green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises, enterprises belonging to areas with strong pollution control intensity and high pollution industry.

Spatial Econometric Analysis of the Level and Influencing Factors of Coupling and Coordination between Regional Logistics and the Ecological Environment in China.

With the logistics industry becoming an important part of economic development, logistics activities have given rise to various environmental problems, which that affect the sustainable development of the ecological environment. In order to understand the status of regional sustainable development, it is of great significance to study the level of coordinated development of regional logistics and the ecological environment, and determine which variables will affect their coordinated development. To accomplish this objective, the entropy method is used to give the corresponding weight to each index and calculate the coupling degree and coordination degree of regional logistics and the ecological environment; next, the coupling coordination level of regional logistics and ecological environment in different provinces from 2010 to 2019 is measured by the coupling coordination degree model; then, we study the spatial effect of the influencing factors on the coordinated development level of regional logistics and ecological environment in 30 provinces of China from 2010 to 2019. At the same time, we investigate the spatial effect of each influencing factor on the coordination level. On the basis of the findings, relevant suggestions and measures are proposed. The main conclusions are as follows: (i) As China's economy is in the process of transformation to high-quality development, the coordinated development of regional logistics and the ecological environment is still at a relatively low level; (ii) due to the differences in the development basis of each region, the coordinated development level of regional logistics and the ecological environment is characterized by a regional imbalance; (iii) because of the significant spatial spillover effect, the coordinated development level of regional logistics and ecological environment shows obvious correlation in space.

Research on the Realization Path of Legal Governance of Ecological Environment in China in the New Era

The new era puts forward stricter requirements for ecological environment governance. At present, there are some problems in ecological environment governance in China, such as incomplete legislative system, unclear law enforcement authority, insufficient ability, limited functions, poor judicial protection, and inadequate law-abiding. Therefore, in the new era, strengthening the process of environmental legislation, perfecting the environmental legal system, strengthening the construction of the law enforcement system of ecological environment, constructing the judicial guarantee of ecological environment, and promoting the whole people to abide by the law are the only paths and choices to strengthen ecological environment governance.

Alternative stable state and its evaluation in wetland reconstruction based on landscape design

An alternative stable state is closely related to the health and sustainable development of ecosystems; however, knowledge of the alternative stable state and its quantitative evaluation in wetland reconstruction remains incomplete. In this study, we used landscape design to reconstruct an optimized ecological polder wetland and a lake wetland in the Yunmeng Marsh area, China, and the alternative stable states of the two wetland ecosystems were assessed from an ecosystem perspective via emergy/eco-exergy and fractal dimensions. The emergy densities for the optimized ecological polder wetland and the lake wetland were 2.35E+13 sej yr−1 m−3 and 2.18E+13 sej m−3, and the emergy sustainability index (ESI) values were 216.57 and 193.31, respectively, indicating that the reconstructed wetland ecosystems were dominated by renewable energy flows and were highly sustainable. The eco-exergy density and emergy/eco-exergy ratio results showed that natural selection self-organized the reconstructed wetland ecosystems to tolerate environmental stresses and changes. In addition, the fractal dimensions of the morphology and contour of the polder wetland, which reflect the space occupation capacity of geometric and physical constraints in the wetland, were 1.57 and 1.75, and those of the lake wetland were 1.03 and 1.47, respectively. The synthetic evaluation results showed that the alternative stable states of both the optimized ecological polder wetland ecosystem and the lake wetland ecosystem were ecofriendly modes of wetland reconstruction, which can be implemented together to create a “lake-polder” ecosystem. Our study on the alternative stable states of wetland ecosystems is helpful for exploring the synergistic symbiosis between traditional culture and the ecological environment in China and other wetland-rich regions and countries with severe disturbances.