Ecological Function Areas Research Articles

Impact of ecological governance policies on county ecosystem change in national key ecological functional zones: A case study of Tianzhu County, Gansu Province

Policy is a key element of ecological governance, however, insufficient attention has been given to how different policies and regulations in a systematic way affect ecosystem processes and functions. This study evaluated the impact of ecological policies in the national key ecological functional areas (NKEFAs) since 1990, taking Tianzhu County as a case study. We first evaluated the change in policy intensity through quantitative analysis of policy texts, then analyzed the change in the ecosystems with carbon storage, habitat quality, ecosystem service and water conservation. Finally, the partial least squares (PLS) was used to quantify the effective path for and effect of policies on the ecosystem through adjustments in agriculture, animal husbandry and population. The results showed that policies have a significant direct impact on the agricultural planting industry, animal husbandry and population size and structure, and have a significant indirect impact on the whole ecosystem. The research demonstrated the usefulness of applying PLS-SEM and ecosystem function indicators to evaluate the impact of ecological governance policies on ecosystems in NKEFAs. The research can provide reference for the ecological policy making of NKEFAs.

Analyzing the Land Use and Cover Change Inside and Outside China’s Ecological Function Area

The establishment of nature reserves and ecological function areas is crucial for preserving the natural environment and the invaluable services provided by ecosystems. In our study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using the 2011–2020 Chinese land cover dataset to examine the impact of ecological function areas on regional land use and cover change. This analysis allowed us to quantify and visualize the intensity, aggregation effects, and transformation paths of land cover change while considering China’s ecological function areas. Our findings highlight notable disparities in land cover types between the ecological function area and its surroundings. Within the ecological function area, forest and grassland dominate, constituting 67% of the total land cover. In contrast, outside the ecological function area, there is a greater presence of wasteland, in addition to forest and grassland. Moreover, the abundance of impervious surfaces, which are closely linked to human activities, is significantly higher outside the ecological function area, almost double the amount found inside. By examining specific land cover types, we observed that forests exhibit the least change within the ecological function area, whereas croplands experience the least change outside. Throughout the study period, approximately 8.1% of land cover pixels underwent changes, with some areas displaying a frequency of change reaching up to 2. Interestingly, the number of high-frequency land use and cover change pixels inside the ecological function area is only half of the outside. Notably, a higher percentage of impervious surfaces within the ecological function area (0.13%) were converted into cropland compared to the outside (0.07%). Understanding the dynamics of land cover change within China’s ecological function areas provides valuable insights for effective land resource management and planning. It enables us to make informed decisions to ensure the sustainable development and conservation of these areas.

Can China’s transfer payment in key ecological function areas reduce the carbon intensity? – Quasi – Natural experimental evidence from Jiangxi, China

Reducing carbon intensity while sustaining economic growth is a major challenge for China's ecological civilization construction in the context of global warming. China’s transfer payment policy in National Key Ecological Function areas plays a crucial role in promoting ecological improvement and reducing local carbon intensity. In this study, we examine the impact of transfer payment policies on carbon intensity in Jiangxi Province, a demonstration area for national ecological civilization, and we further investigate the carbon reduction mechanism and the spatial spillover effect of the policies. Results show the following: (1) the transfer payment policy in key ecological function areas has significantly reduced the carbon intensity, and the research conclusion is still valid after the robustness test; (2) the transfer payment policy in key ecological function areas reduces the carbon intensity by promoting the upgrading of industrial structure; (3) the transfer payment policy in key ecological function areas has a significant role in promoting the reduction of carbon intensity in this region and the adjacent regions. The findings highlight the significant promoting role of transfer payment policies in key ecological function zones on carbon emission reduction in both local and neighboring areas. It also underscores the importance of expanding policy coverage, establishing horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms, exploring multidimensional approaches to carbon reduction, and fostering cross-regional exchanges and cooperation. These insights provide valuable guidance for policymakers working towards effective and sustainable carbon emission reduction.

Spatial-Temporal Evolution, Trade-Offs and Synergies of Ecosystem Services in the Qinba Mountains

A scientific understanding of the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services is the prerequisite for maintaining the structure, function and health of forest ecosystems, which is conducive to promoting the “win-win” goal of economic development and ecological protection. As an important ecological function area in China, the Qinba Mountain region is responsible for important ecological services such as biodiversity conservation and water conservation, and exploring the trade-offs and synergistic relationships of ecosystem services is important for ecological conservation and high-quality development in this region. This paper analyzes the spatial and temporal characteristics of water conservation, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and habitat quality services and their synergistic/balancing relationships in the Qinba Mountain region from 1990 to 2020 using tools such as the InVEST model, ArcGIS, and Matlab. The results showed that (1) the overall trend of water connotation, soil conservation and carbon sequestration in the Qinba Mountains is increasing, while the trend of habitat quality is fluctuating and decreasing. The spatial distribution pattern of water conservation and soil conservation services was “high in the southwest and low in the northeast”, while the spatial pattern of habitat quality services was the opposite; the spatial distribution pattern of carbon sequestration services was “low in the middle and high around”. (2) Habitat quality in the Qinba Mountains has a trade-off relationship with water connotation and soil conservation, as water connotation–soil conservation is a synergistic relationship, while carbon sequestration is unrelated to water connotation–soil conservation and habitat quality. (3) The area of habitat quality–water conservation showed a decreasing trend; the area of habitat quality–soil conservation showed an increasing trend; the area of habitat quality-water conservation showed a decreasing trend; the area of habitat quality-soil conservation showed an increasing trend; the area of water conservation-soil conservation service synergistic relationship showed a decreasing and then increasing trend; while the area of carbon sequestration service and In most of the regions, carbon sequestration, soil conservation and habitat quality services are not related to each other.

Evolution of Industrial Ecology and Analysis of Influencing Factors: The Yellow River Basin in China

The Yellow River Basin is an important ecological function area and economic zone in China that faces the dual pressure of economic development and ecological protection. Industrial ecology designs industrial activities by imitating the ecosystem and would solve the dilemma in the development process of the Yellow River Basin. In this study, we evaluated the industrial ecology of 100 prefecture-level cities along the Yellow River Basin from 2003 to 2020 using the entropy weight method and analyzed their long-term spatial and temporal evolution trends. We also deconstructed the driving factors affecting the industrial ecology in the Yellow River Basin, regarding both internal and external aspects, using the coupled coordination model and the panel quantile model. We found the following: (1) The industrial ecology in the Yellow River Basin was slowly increasing in a “N”-type transformation trajectory, but the overall was still relatively low. (2) The slow improvement in ecosystem efficiency and the low coordination between the industrial system and the ecosystem are the main internal factors limiting the improvement in industrial ecology. (3) The population agglomeration, human capital accumulation, government guidance, and technology level are all important for improvements in industrial ecology in the Yellow River Basin. The impact of the financial level on industrial ecology in the Yellow River Basin was found to be negative. Therefore, it is necessary to take the correlation and coordination between the industrial system and the ecosystem as the main means and actively and positively promote the role of the external influencing factors to improve the industrial ecology in the Yellow River Basin.

Analysis of the gains and losses of ecosystem service value under land use change and zoning in Qiqihar

Under a background of uncoordinated economic development and the ecological environment, quantifying the ecological effect brought by land resource changes, have become research key and hotspots. To explore land use change and its impact on ecosystem service value (ESV), the land use change analysis method, ecosystem service evaluation model, flow direction analysis model and two-dimensional graph theory clustering method were used to analyze the profit and loss of ESV in Qiqihar in 2010 and 2020 and the division of ecological function areas with counties as units. The results show that: 1) The land use change in Qiqihar city is more obvious, Among them, the area of cultivated land, wetland, construction land and other increases, Woodland, grassland, water area decreased, The changed land area accounts for 30.95% of the total area; 2) The ESV in Qiqihar city increased by 869 million yuan, The sum of the value of cultivated land and wetland exceeded 70.0% of the ESV, is the main source of ESV in Qiqihar city; 3) Not all land-use shifts are conducive to ESV growth. The increase of ESV mainly comes from the flow of cultivated land and grassland to the wetland; Conversion of woodlands, water area, wetlands to other types causes ESV loss, the most loss is the conversion of wetlands to cultivated land; 4) Qiqihar city is divided into the central wetland ecological conservation area, the western characteristic agriculture and dotted wetland ecological function area, and the northeast agricultural ecological environment construction functional area. Three policies were proposed to improve ESV:(1) give play to the radiation role of wetland nature reserves; (2) popularize the black land protection technology model; and (3) prevent and control agricultural non-point source pollution and promote clean agriculture.

Research on the Trade-Offs and Synergies of Ecosystem Services and Their Impact Factors in the Taohe River Basin

The Taohe River Basin is an essential ecological function area in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Understanding the intricate trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ESs) and exploring the impact of different factors are essential for achieving win–win outcomes in ecosystem management and socioeconomic development. The role of impact factors on the relationship between ESs, nevertheless, is more challenging to spatialize. This study used different models to estimate the net primary productivity (NPP), water yield (WY), and soil conservation (SC), and analyzed synergies and trade-offs between Ess. The spatial heterogeneity of the effects of natural and social factors on the relationships between Ess was explored using a geographic detector and a multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model. The results show that: (1) NPP, WY, and SC all exhibit a rising trend, with multi-year averages of 488.99 gC/m2, 157.29 mm, and 1441.51 t/hm2, respectively; (2) NPP–WY and NPP–SC exhibit trade-offs in the majority of regions, while WY–SC are primarily synergistic in the upper and middle reaches, and they have the highest percentage of cropland, forest, and grassland; and (3) precipitation (PRE) has the greatest impact on the trade-off between NPP–WY and NPP–SC in the upper and middle reaches, and the gross domestic product (GDP), population density (POP), and distance from cropland (CROP) are the primary factors determining the synergy between NPP and WY in the lower reaches of the Loess Plateau cropping sector. PRE, digital elevation model (DEM), and CROP are the primary impact factors affecting the synergy of WY–SC. This study may serve as a reference for examining the evolutionary mechanism underlying the trade-offs and synergies between ESs and provide a scientific basis for future ecological environmental protection and regional land management in the Taohe River Basin.

Fuzzy evaluation of ecological vulnerability based on the SRP-SES method and analysis of multiple decision-making attitudes based on OWA operators: A case of Fujian Province, China

Evaluation of the ecological vulnerability facilitates ecological protection and management. We presented a well-organized and comprehensive evaluation system and analysis method of ecological vulnerability. We used Fujian Province, China, as a case study and validated the reliability of evaluation results. The details are as follows. Based on the framework of sensitivity-resilience-pressure (SRP) coupled with the “social-environmental” system (SES), this study selected 23 indicators and determined their weights by a combination of subjective and objective weighting methods to systematically construct the ecological vulnerability evaluation system. By establishing a fuzzy evaluation model, the indicator data were fuzzily mapped into evaluation scores for the calculation of the ecological vulnerability index (EVI). Following the calculation results, the spatial clustering analysis based on K-means, driving factor analysis based on GeoDetector and spatial autocorrelation analysis were conducted. Finally, an ecological vulnerability analysis under multiple decision-making attitudes was conducted based on the ordered weighted average (OWA) operators. The results were as follows. (1) The ecological vulnerability of Fujian Province showed a trend of higher in the east and lower in the west, and there is an obvious spatial aggregation effect. The high-high aggregation areas mainly distributed in the eastern coastal areas of Fujian Province, and the low-low aggregation areas mainly distributed in the western and central areas. (2) Landscape pattern sensitivity had the highest degree of explanation for the EVI. The main driving factors of the EVI in coastal cities were different from those of the EVI in inland cities. (3) We divided the study area into four categories: high-quality development areas, transformational development areas, ecological-economic synergy areas and ecological function areas. (4) With an increase in the decision-making risk coefficient, the ecological vulnerability of Fujian Province gradually increased. The results of the study provide important guidance for ecological protection and sustainable development in Fujian Province. Moreover, the study framework has reference value for related studies of regional ecological vulnerability evaluation.

The effect of time scales on the distribution of evapotranspiration and driving factors in desert grasslands

Promoting the reasonable allocation of evaporation (E) and transpiration (T) at a certain time scale is important for controlling the grassland desertification. Nevertheless, evapotranspiration (ET) and its components on a single time scale often cannot guarantee the dynamic and reasonable distribution of E and T. This study quantified ET and its component distribution in different time scales of the plant-growing season in desert grassland ecosystems to address this contradiction. Further the main driving factors of ET and its components at different time scales were clarified under multi-factor coupling. Results indicated that E was the leading component of ET in the ecosystem, with an average T/ET of 39.64%. The dominant factors of T/ET on different time scales were air temperature (Ta) and surface temperature (Ts), which showed significant negative correlations (p < 0.05). ET and its components showed obvious unimodal changes at the hourly scale. The peaks occurred at 12:00–14:00, and they all increased with increasing radiation (Ra), Ts, Ta, and saturated water vapor pressure difference (VPD). Ta was the dominant factor with a correlation coefficient of 0.76, followed by VPD> Ra>Ts. At the daily scale, ET and its components showed clear seasonal changes, ET was 1.94 mm d-1and T was 0.77 mm d-1. The dominant factors were soil moisture content (SWC) of the 0–10 cm soil layer and Ts. The dominant factors affecting ET and its components in the early, middle, and late stages of growth were relative humidity (RH), SWC, and Ts. At the monthly scale, the cumulative values of ET and its components were the largest in August and the lowest in October, mainly regulated by precipitation (P), whereas, T/ET had no significant correlation with P. The results from this study can provide a scientific basis for vegetation restoration and environmental protection in desert grassland ecological function areas.

Evolution of County Socio–Ecological Systems in Nature Reserves in Western China Over the Past 30 Years

The evolution process of socio–ecological systems from 1990 to 2020 in the Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, located in the National Key Ecological Function Area of western China, was analyzed quantitatively based on resilience theory and methodology combined with catastrophe theory and adaptive cycle theory, through field investigation, questionnaires and interviews, social data collection and remote sensing data analysis. The results show that the coordinated development of socio–ecological systems has made great progress in recent decades in the study area, and the coordinated development of social systems and ecosystems has a high degree of coupling and a strong connection. Changes in ecosystem resilience regularly surpassed changes in the social system, indicating the significant impact and success of ecological protection policies and projects in recent decades. In future, improvements in the social sub-system will be the key to developing the socio–ecological system in the study area. Enhancing social sub-system resiliency, implementing transformational development and green industry development, and transforming and realizing ecological product values are important topics for further investigation in the study area. Substantial changes in policy, production, population and climate change are needed to promote the evolution of socio–ecological systems. Stable national policies are crucial for improving people's livelihoods and providing ecological protections.

Ecological Security Pattern Construction in Rural Settlements Based on Importance and Vulnerability of Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Southeast Region of Chongqing, China

With the development of urbanization, a large number of village settlements have disappeared. As important carriers of ethnic and cultural heritage, village settlements are important for the continuation of folk culture and farming spirit. Building a regional ecological security pattern helps to protect the integrity of village settlements and promote the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. In this work, the importance of ecosystem services was first obtained by using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model (In-VEST) and the revised universal soil loss equation model (RUSLE) to evaluate the regional ecosystem services in the southeastern region of Chongqing (SRC). Then, the ecological importance evaluation results were combined with the sensory evaluation results to derive ecological conservation importance areas and identify ecological source points in their high-value areas. Finally, the ecological corridors were obtained by the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR). The regional ecological security pattern was constructed, i.e., the triangular protection area strategy of “one screen, one belt, and three cores”. The results show the following: the total area of ecological source sites larger than 20 km2 in SRC is 436.02 km2, accounting for 2.28% of the area of SRC. The largest ecological patch is 69.93 km2, accounting for 16.04% of the total area of ecological source sites. Thirteen ecological source sites were identified as follows: four in Youyang County, three in Shizhu County, three in Wulong County, and one in Pengshui County. There are 78 ecological corridors with a total length of 4832.82 km, including 32 important ecological corridors with a length of about 1544.53 km and 46 potential ecological corridors with a length of about 3288.29 km. Based on the minimum cumulative model constructed by eight resistance factors, the spatial variation of the ecological resistance surface was analyzed, showing a trend of being high in the west and central part and low in the surrounding area. There are one high-value area of the resistance surface of Wulong County Nature Reserve and one high-value area of ecological sensitivity that overlap to the extreme, and which should be given sufficient protection attention. The core protected areas consist of three mountains including the Qiyao Mountain Range, the Wuling Mountain Range, and the Wulong County Nature Reserve. The ecological security pattern in SRC based on the mode of “source–ecological corridor–ecological node” can identify important ecological function areas, providing scientific guidance for sustainable development and ecological security protection in the ethnic village settlements in China.

Exploring the differences of ecosystem service values in different functional areas of metropolitan areas

Exploring the differences of ecosystem service values (ESV) in different functional areas is the basis for implementing differentiated ecological management in metropolitan areas. In this study, a general evaluation framework was first established to explore the differences of ESV in different functional areas of metropolitan areas. Then, taking Nanjing metropolitan area as a typical case, the land use transfer matrix and equivalent factor method were used to evaluate land use changes and ESV in different functional areas (moderate development area, key development area and optimization improvement area). Finally, spatial autocorrelation analysis, hotspot analysis and one-way analysis of variance were adopted to explore the spatial agglomeration characteristics, distribution of hotspots and cold spots and significant differences of ESV in different functional areas. The results showed that the expansion of developed land and degradation of ecological land occurred in different functional areas, especially in the optimization improvement area, which resulted in a significant decrease of ESV in different functional areas. The ESV of the three functional areas showed spatial positive correlation, but the distribution of hotspots and cold spots was different in different functional areas. The one-way analysis of variance found that optimization improvement area displayed significant differences in the values of four ecosystem service types with those of other functional areas, but there were no significant differences between moderate development area and key development area. In addition, the ecological function area with clear boundary was identified, which was mainly composed of the northern water network area (Hongze, Jinhu, Gaoyou) and the southern hilly area (Ningguo, Jixi, Jingde and Guangde). Therefore, differential ecological management measures such as green space construction in the optimization improvement area and ecological compensation mechanism in the moderate development area were formulated to promote the sustainable development of metropolitan ecosystems. This study can also provide reference for exploring the differences of ESV in different functional areas of other metropolitan areas within and beyond China.

Ecological Risk Evaluation and Ecological Restoration Model of Mining in the Source Area of the Yellow River Basin

Finding out about the ecosystem damaged by mining development and carrying out ecological risk diagnoses are important prerequisites for formulating mine ecological restoration strategies. This study established an integrated approach to quantitatively analyze mining ecological risks by combining water conservation and biodiversity conservation ecosystem service functions with natural ecological conditions, and based on these, proposes appropriate mine ecological restoration strategies. Results show that: (1) A total of 14,874.80 hm2 of ecosystems were damaged in the Qinghai section of the Yellow River Basin, caused by mining excavation, crushing and hollow collapse, and of which 52.10% were located in national important ecological function areas and National Nature Reserves, which caused a decrease of the important ecosystem service functions of water conservation and biodiversity conservation in the area, and aggravated the ecological risks of the river source area; (2) The areas of high ecological risk and comparatively high ecological risk in the research area are 1,093,800 hm2 and 902,100 hm2, which accounted for 7.27% and 6.00% of the land area, respectively. Ecological risk hotspot areas are mainly distributed in the Qilian Mountains, Hehuang Valley, Sanjiangyuan and other key water systems and water sources; (3) According to the principle of “one mine, one policy”, we propose five mine ecological restoration models: ecological reconstruction, artificial assistance and protection and conservation, artificial assistance, protection and conservation and natural restoration. This study provides a reliable basis for exploring the status of mining ecological risk at the source of the Yellow River and scientifically carrying out ecological restoration and risk management.

Unusual recent prolonged low flow in the Moqu River, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, inferred from tree-ring width variations

The runoff of Moqu river in Zoige, one of most important water conservation ecological function areas in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, located in the north-east of the Tibetan Plateau, is highly sensitive to climate change. However, the current understanding of the long-term changes in the hydrology of this rives is still fragmentary. In this study, we created a regional tree-ring width chronology from two sample sites in Moqu River Basin and analysed the relationships between tree-ring width, climate, and runoff. We found significant positive correlations between tree-ring width and runoff in multiple months, the highest correlation coefficient occurred with annual runoff from previous July to current June (r = 0.617, 1981–2013). Based on this highly significant (p < 0.01) relationship, we reconstructed runoff variations of Moqu River for the period 1672 to 2019. The reconstructed runoff showed unusual prolonged and frequent low flow periods in recent decades. We found that the continuous low precipitation and the high temperature in the context of global warming are the main reasons for the abnormal runoff in recent decades. We assume that a weakening of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) circulation system may be the key large-scale factor that caused the unusually prolonged low flow. With global warming, the weakening of ISM intensity leads to reduced water vapor transport from the tropical Indian Ocean to High Asia, resulting in less precipitation and low runoff events in Zoige. Our reconstruction improves the understanding of regional runoff variability over multiple timescales, and also provides a scientific basis for the protection, development, and utilization of water resources related to ongoing global warming.

The establishment of the national key ecological functional zone and the county’s ecological green development

Ecological green development is the development of conforming to nature and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. As the most basic and supportive grassroots political unit, the county level occupies a special key position in the overall national green development strategy. How to evaluate the ecological green development of the county, protect the green earth, and respond to climate change, have become a new problem facing various countries around the world. To this end, China is determined to implement the establishment of a national key ecological functional zone pilot policy to study its ecological green development from the perspective of the county. Based on the literature review and theoretical mechanism, this paper selects 1997 county-level data indicators in mainland China from 2007 to 2019 to explore the role of the establishment of national key ecological function areas on the ecological green development of counties. The implementation of the national key ecological function zone policy can significantly increase the vegetation normalization index by about 0.035–0.037 units. The implementation of the policy has greatly expanded the capacity and range of above-ground and below-ground biomass. The reduction of large-scale investment by the government, the improvement of quality and efficiency of enterprises in the region, and the increase artificial afforestation are important transmission mechanisms for the implementation of policies to affect the green development of counties. The implementation of the policy has a positive green spillover effect on adjacent areas, which can realize regional coordinated ecological governance. Each additional hectare of artificial afforestation can absorb about 134,800 tons of carbon emissions each year, bringing additional benefits of 730 million yuan. It releases about 98,000 tons of oxygen a year, which can be used for 1.312 billion people for oxygen respiration consumption every year.

Construction of international important wetland White-headed crane ecological corridor in Chongming Dongtan, China

At the Yangtze River estuary, the Chongming Dongtan International Important Wetland is a typical estuary wetland. It is an essential habitat for international migratory birds. The habitat of birds in this area changes rapidly. The ecological corridor is an important means to maintain the stability of the watershed ecosystem and enhance the ecological sustainability of the watershed. It has significant demonstration implications for the preservation of biodiversity and the restoration of ecological functions of wetlands with significant ecological value. In this study, the rare white-headed crane distributed in Chongming Dongtan was taken as the research object, and the land use change in Chongming Dongtan in recent ten years was obtained by ENVI and ArcGIS10.8 software. The ecological sources of the white-headed crane population were screened using morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and landscape connectivity. Using GIS technology to construct a comprehensive resistance surface, combined with circuit theory, the ecological processes in heterogeneous landscapes are simulated by calculating ' resistance ' or ' current ' to identify important ecological corridors, ecological pinch points, and ecological obstacles. The results showed that the region included 24 ecological sources, 46 ecological corridors, 127 ecological pinch points, and 134 Ecological obstacle points. The habitat in the study area showed a trend of fragmentation. The high-resistance areas of Chongming Dongtan were mainly distributed in low-altitude areas with rapid urbanization and frequent human activities, such as Qiyao Town and Yuxi Village. The ecological corridors of White-headed cranes are mainly distributed in bare flat, reed beaches, grassland, and paddy fields. The optimal threshold of MSPA landscape in the study area is 500 m. At the same time, the ecological function area is optimized and divided into different levels, such as ecological core area, ecological buffer zone, ecological crisscross area, production and living area. This study constructs the ecological corridor of the White-headed crane in Chongming Dongtan from the regional wetland scale, which is helpful to optimize the suitable habitat pattern, and provide the method basis for the habitat protection and ecological network construction of regional wetland habitat.

Evolution and Coordination of Cultivated Land Multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone

This study had three objectives: (1) to consolidate poverty alleviation achievements and connect them with the current rural vitalization strategy; (2) to inaugurate agricultural modernization development in rural areas of the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone, an important grain production area in China, during the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan in China (2021–2025); and (3) to assess the ecological function area and economic development highland in Jiangxi Province. This study aimed to examine cultivated land multifunctionality (economic, social, and ecological functions) and explore its evolution and coordination in the context of increasingly serious contradiction between man and land in China. This study established an index system based on a mechanical model to evaluate cultivated land multifunctionality, the spatiotemporal pattern of multifunctionally cultivated land, and the coordination among sub-functions in different periods. Its results were as follows: (1) the cultivated land’s multifunctional value generally increased from 2016 to 2020, with spatial characteristics of highland surrounding a lake; (2) the cultivated land functions’ coordination values were generally better in 2020 than in 2016, showing a generally positive development trend; (3) changes in cultivated land function were concentrated in Quadrants Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅵ; and (4) the ecological function had the advantage in the study areas. Study conclusions were as follows: (1) the development of cultivated land multifunctionality has achieved notable successes through the significant benefits of an ecological economy; (2) the coordination of the cultivated land’s economic, social, and ecological functions has increased dramatically; (3) the ecological significance in the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone, whose ecological economy was flourishing, was outstanding; and (4) most importantly, it supports implementing the rural vitalization strategy in the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan in China.

Marine Ecological Function Zoning and Management Countermeasures: A Case Study of the Sea Area of Zhejiang Province

The contradiction between the development of marine resources and ecological protection in Zhejiang is prominent, which restricts the high-quality and continuous supply of marine ecological products. As a result, the efficient maintenance of the ecological security pattern of inshore waters relies on the scientific division of marine ecological function zones and the management and maintenance of zoning areas. This paper constructs a technical framework for marine ecological function zoning from the aspects of marine ecosystem health, marine ecosystem diversity and economic and social development balance using GIS-based overlay analysis and the three-dimensional matrix discriminant model to divide marine ecological function zones in the managed waters of Zhejiang Province. The results indicate that the managed sea areas in Zhejiang Province are divided into ten marine ecological function areas, including three marine ecological supply areas (54%), four marine mariculture and resting areas (24%) and three marine ecological restoration areas (22%). As per the zoning results of the marine ecological function, this study further proposes protection and management strategies for different zoning units, in the hopes of providing technical support and practical reference for the division and management of marine ecological function areas in other sea areas.

Spatial identification and optimization of ecological network in desert-oasis area of Yellow River Basin, China

Scientific layout of ecological network is a basic guarantee for regional environmental protection and ecological restoration given the influence of global ecosystem changes, which is one of the important national strategies for coordinating ecosystem protection and economic development in China. We adopt a method involving ecosystem services and landscape connectivity to identify ecological source area. Furthermore, the method also can identify key ecological elements such as ecological corridors and ecological nodes based on the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and gravity model to optimize the spatial pattern, formulate ecological security control area planning, and propose a development model for ecological spatial functional areas. The results reveal that (1) the high value areas of ecosystem services are mainly distributed in wetland parks, Ningxia Helan Mountain Nature Reserve, Xiangshan Grassland Nature Park and other areas; (2) the ecological network includes 19 ecological source areas with a total area of 1348.25 km2, 169 ecological corridors with a total length of 7098.75 km and 46 ecological nodes; (3) ecological network improves the rationality after the optimization, including 6 supplementary source areas with an area of 797.75 km2, 45 optimized ecological corridors with a total length of 1106.00 km and 30 ecological nodes, spatial formation of “one belt, four areas and multi-center” ecological functional area development model.

A socio-ecological and geospatial approach for evaluation of ecosystem services to communities of the Eastern Himalayan Region, India.

Mountains are one of the most ecological functional areas and provide wide range of ecosystem services (ESs) to the adjoining people. However, the mountainous ESs are highly vulnerable due to land use and land cover (LULC) change and climate change. Therefore, evaluations of the nexus between ESs and mountainous communities are essentially required for policy purpose. This study aims to assess ESs by analyzing LULC focusing in three ecosystems (forest, agriculture, and home garden) from urban and peri-urban areas for last 3 decades, applying participatory and geospatial approaches for a mountainous city in Eastern Himalayan Region (EHR), India. The findings showed that a substantial loss in ESs has occurred during the period. Moreover, there were substantial variations of ecosystem importance and dependency between urban and peri-urban areas with highest importance of provisioning ESs in peri-urban areas and cultural ESs in urban areas. Moreover, among the three ecosystems, forests were strongly supporting the peri-urban areas communities. The result demonstrated that the communities are highly dependent on various ESs for their livelihoods, but the changes of LULC had substantial impact on the loss of ESs. Therefore, implementation of effective land uses planning strategies and measures for ecological security and livelihood sustainability is to be managed with people participation in mountainous areas.