Territorial Space Research Articles

The "Hedgehog-Halo Sign" Is Associated with Gait Symptom Severity and Tap Response in Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

Reduced cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clearance may play a vital role in the pathogenesis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), but the radiologic marker is yet to be elucidated. This open-label study presents two novel neuroimaging biomarkers based on enlarged perivascular spaces (ePVS) of the sub-insular territory: the Hedgehog and Hedgehog-Halo (H-H) sign, designed to predict gait symptom severity and tap response in NPH. We retrospectively reviewed 203 patients with possible NPH with baseline magnetic resonance imaging and gait analyses before and after lumbar puncture (LP). The Hedgehog/H-H sign was scored using T2-weighted images. The clinical severity at baseline and post-tap gait improvement was compared in patients with and without Hedgehog/H-H sign. The association between Hedgehog/H-H sign and post-tap gait outcomes was assessed using multivariate regression. The diagnostic performance of Hedgehog/H-H sign was compared with conventional radiological markers. Patients with H-H showed higher global disability and more severe gait impairment than those without any signs. Following LP, patients with Hedgehog/H-H sign significantly improved in various gait parameters, unlike those with neither sign. Additionally, sub-insular ePVS was significantly associated with post-tap gait improvement after adjusting covariates. Finally, the Hedgehog/H-H sign showed a higher performance than conventional markers in predicting post-tap gait response. The Hedgehog/H-H sign is a useful neuroimaging biomarker related to the severity and tap response in NPH. This biomarker can be readily applied in clinical practice before undergoing LP, independent of conventional radiological signs. Further research is warranted to determine applicability in predicting post-shunt gait response.

Research on identification and zoning control of territorial spatial risk pattern based on deep learning: A case study of Shenzhen, China

In the era of globalization, digitalization, and diversification, currently societal cities face risks intertwined by uncertainty and complexity. Thus, it is crucial to address risks concerns to achieve modernization of spatial management. Moreover, how to scientifically identify the risk pattern of territorial space and how to map and control it in space becomes a critical and urgent issue to be addressed for achieving modernization of spatial management. Understanding the intricate relationship between land use, environmental factors, and population density is essential for identifying risk patterns that can inform effective disaster management strategies. By employing advanced analytical methods, this study aims to provide a comprehensive framework for recognizing and mitigating territorial spatial risks in an increasingly complex urban landscape. This study used a case study to conduct the unsupervised algorithm of stack autoencoder self-organizing map to analyze the distribution and spatial clustering of Shenzhen's land spatial risk pattern and reveal the driving mechanism of its risk pattern formation in detail. It was found that: (1) The overall territorial spatial risk pattern of Shenzhen presents a distribution trend of "high in the west and low in the east, high in the south and low in the north"; that is, I and II risk areas are clustered in the hilly areas in the northeast and IV and V risk areas in the coastal areas in the southwest; (2) Population density, land use intensity, seawater intrusion, geological disasters, relief amplitude, soil type, soil erosion intensity are the main driving forces for the formation of Shenzhen's territorial spatial risk pattern. In particular, seawater intrusion, population density and land use intensity, soil type were found having significantly synergistic impact on the risk pattern.

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Territorial Spaces and Its Effect on Carbon Emissions in Qingdao City, China

Land use change has always been a significant factor affecting global carbon emissions. Dissecting the characteristics of territorial space evolution and its impact on carbon emissions is crucial for developing low-carbon-oriented territorial space optimization and governance strategies. This paper calculates the carbon emissions associated with territorial spaces in Qingdao from 2000 to 2020, utilizing land use data alongside various statistical data. Based on the accounting results, the evolution characteristics of territorial spaces and their corresponding carbon emissions, as well as the carbon transition dynamics resulting from space transfer, are analyzed. A carbon transition decomposition formula is then proposed to quantify the differential and spatially heterogeneous impacts of changes in space types and socio-economic development on emissions. The results indicate that: (1) the evolution of territorial spaces in Qingdao during 2000–2020 is characterized by an expansion of living space and a contraction of production and ecological spaces; (2) net carbon emissions rose from 313.98 × 104 tons to 1068.58 × 104 tons, with urban production space contributing the most (69.96% in 2020) due to its significantly high emission density. The spatial distribution of carbon emissions exhibited a stable “northwest–southeast” pattern, with increased dispersion and weakened directionality; (3) the transformation of territorial spaces promoted carbon emissions in Qingdao, with the conversion of urban production space to other uses yielding the most favorable carbon transitions, while the expropriation of agricultural production spaces for urban production and residents’ living has resulted in the most detrimental carbon transitions; (4) socio-economic development shapes the overarching pattern of regional emission density changes, whereas space transfers account for local variations. This paper also identifies priorities for spatial optimization and key sectors for emission reduction. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the carbon emission consequences of territorial space transformation in Qingdao, thereby providing valuable insights for regional spatial planning and optimization aimed at promoting low-carbon development.

Study on the Coupling Coordination Degree and Driving Mechanism of “Production-Living-Ecological” Space in Ecologically Fragile Areas: A Case Study of the Turpan–Hami Basin

One of the key conditions for achieving superior regional growth is ensuring the harmonious development of both the layout and functions of territorial space. Territorial space, which includes production space, living space, and ecological space, serves as a critical system and venue for economic, cultural, and social activities in a region. The harmonized growth of production–living–ecological space (PLES) is essential for attaining sustainable development goals. Research on PLES offers a fresh perspective on promoting sustainable development of the spatial domain and the sustainable use of resources. However, studies on PLE functions in ecologically fragile areas are lacking. Therefore, in this study, which adopts a PLES perspective, land-use data are used to classify land according to the dominant functions of production, ecology, and living. Integration of point-of-interest (POI) data with socio-economic data was established to spatially describe indicators at the grid level and create a scoring system for PLES indicators in ecologically fragile areas. Finally, the entropy weight method, holistic assessment methods, coupling coordination degree model (CCDM), and geodetector were employed to explore the coupling coordination relationships and factors influencing PLESs in the Turpan–Hami Basin from 2010 to 2020. The results indicate that the Turpan–Hami Basin consists predominantly of potential ecological space, mainly in the central and northern regions, which are characterized by the Gobi Desert and bare rock landforms. Over the past decade, the PLES framework has seen a notable rise in the allocation of residential and ecological areas, whereas the portion dedicated to production spaces has diminished. The overall coupling coordination degree (CCD) of PLES in the Turpan–Hami Basin is at a coordinated level and gradually increasing. The most significant impact on the degree of PLES coupling coordination is exerted by population and natural factors. The research findings provide theoretical support for the sustainable utilization of resources in the Turpan–Hami Basin and other ecologically fragile areas while also offering scientific evidence to promote the coupling coordination of PLES, thereby contributing to high-quality regional development.

Optimization of a “Social‒Ecological” System Pattern from the Perspective of Ecosystem Service Supply and Demand: A Case Study of Jilin Province

This study establishes and refines a social-landscape ecological security pattern that integrates the demand and supply of ecosystem services, providing a substantial foundation for the ecological restoration of territorial spaces. This foundation is crucial for enhancing the effectiveness of “social–ecological” systems in achieving sustainable development. Jilin Province, serving as a national ecological security buffer and experiencing rapid economic growth, exhibits a significant spatial imbalance between social and economic progress and ecological conservation. The balance of ecosystem service demand and supply is pivotal in this context, making Jilin Province an ideal study area. We employed a multifaceted approach, including MSPA, the InVEST model, landscape connectivity assessment, circuit theory, and ecological network integrity evaluation, to elucidate the spatial disparities between the demand and supply of ecosystem services. We then developed and optimized social and landscape ecological security patterns to meet human demands and safeguard ecological integrity, thereby promoting the sustainable development of “social–ecological” systems. The key findings are as follows: (1) The supply of ecosystem services shows a clear spatial gradient, with lower values in the west and higher in the east, while demand is concentrated in the central region with lower values in the east and west, indicating a pronounced spatial mismatch in Jilin Province. (2) The landscape ecological security pattern includes 18 barrier points, 33 pinch points, 166 ecological corridors, and 101 ecological sources. (3) The social–ecological security pattern comprises 119 demand sources and 150 supply–demand corridors. (4) The study introduces 14 supply–demand nodes and 47 optimization corridors, proposing zoning schemes for the eastern core protection area, the central ecological demand area, and the western core restoration area. Additionally, recommendations are concerning the optimization of the “social–ecological” system pattern. This research advances the theoretical understanding of “social–ecological” system development in Jilin Province and offers insights for more harmonized development strategies.

Update of the non-marine (terrestrial & freshwater) molluscs systematic inventory occurring in Santa Catarina State/ SC, Central Southern Brazil region

Introduction: The survey of the mollusc fauna (malacofauna) of a geopolitical region (State) is important from several aspects, reaching several important sectors of knowledge. So if all regions could do the same we would have within, a few years, expanded and completed the catalog of molluscs in Brazil, with much still to be added with regard to terrestrial and freshwater fauna. Objective: Updated general rеᴠiеw of the inventory of non-marine molluscs occurring in the Santa Catarina State/ SC, subtropical Central Southern portion of the Brazilian territory. Methodology: Organization of a occurring State species taxonomic checklist and their corresponding reference database, comprising the regional knowledge formally produced around the theme at least since the year 2003. Results and Conclusions: Confirmed and recorded regional total of 241 species (202 Gastropoda & 39 Bivalvia), among which at least 86 (79 Gastropoda & 7 Bivalvia) exhibit radicals synonymical (among others) changes recently reported through the global platform "MolluscaBase" and available literature of recent production, taxonomically included all in 95 genera (83 Gastropoda & 12 Bivalvia) and 40 families (35 Gastropoda & 5 Bivalvia), with aggregated additional information about their known biogeographical distribution in the territorial space of the State.

Land Space and High-Speed Transportation Coordinated Development Evaluation in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration of China

There is a complex interaction between national land space and transportation. China is accelerating its strategy of building a strong transportation country and territorial spatial planning, which requires evaluating and strengthening the coordination relationship between transport and land space to promote development. Taking the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration in China as an example, this study analyze the high-speed transportation construction and land space development process, evaluates the coupling and coordination degree between high-speed transportation and land space, as well as the “development-protection” situation in the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 by means of the coupling and coordination model, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and GIS analysis. The result shows: (1) high-speed transportation construction and territorial space development have been active for a long time, and most of the cities have maintained a high level of increase in these two indicators. In terms of protection indicators, Tangshan and other coastal cities have been lagging behind for a long time without any improvement trend. (2) The coupling and coordination level between high-speed transportation and development is high, with slight weakening over time, with an average annual decrease of less than 0.09%. The change in the coupling coordination level with protection shows the wave dynamics of ‘low-middle-low’. (3) In the future, high-speed transportation will have a significant impact on land space in the country for a long time. In this regard, it is suggested to: (1) promote the construction of high-speed transportation for network, systematic, and serial development; (2) accelerate the extension of the high-speed transportation advantages of the existing growth poles of Beijing and Tianjin; and (3) develop Shijiazhuang and Langfang as the new growth poles. This study will promote the integration of transportation and urban planning, which will contribute to the development of high-quality synergistic urban agglomerations around the world.

The Privilege of Territory: Christian Wolff at the Origins of Statist International Thought

The modern state is often taken as the only legitimate claimant to the division of the globe. Political theorists offer many theories of territorial rights but tend to agree that the state remains the proper institutional bearer of such rights. This article examines how states became the exclusive bearers of territorial rights by returning to the international theory of the eighteenth-century Prussian jurist Christian Wolff (1679–1754), who wrote in a moment when sovereign states were not the heirs apparent to the globe but competed with other claimants to territorial rights. Despite proposing a radically pluralistic and anti-imperial account of land ownership, Wolff nonetheless paved the way for the state to become the sole bearer of territorial rights. Wolff’s international thought is an illustration of how building a state-centric international order was a double-edged sword: it criticized imperial overreach while also closing the international arena to nonstate forms of collective life. In this process, he offered two distinct ideas of political space: the territorial space of states, and the land ownership tracts of nonstate peoples, including pastoralists and nomads. To Wolff, only states were entitled to full and permanent territorial rights, while nonstate peoples were shut out of the international system, made both de facto and de jure stateless.

Coupling Coordination Measurement and Multi-dimensional Conflict Diagnosis among Territorial Space Functions

Exploring the relationship between urban, agricultural, and ecological functions is crucial for optimizing the territorial spatial patterns and achieving balanced territorial spatial development. Based on the classification system of "urban-agricultural-ecological" territorial spatial planning and with the help of multi-source data, including land use, population density, nighttime light, road network, precipitation, and county statistical data from 2010 to 2020, we constructed an evaluation index system of territorial space functions at the grid scale in the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone. The coupling coordination levels among territorial space functions was measured using the coupling coordination degree model and spatial autocorrelation analysis. Moreover, the multi-dimensional function conflict identification model was used to diagnose the type and intensity of function conflicts. The results showed that： ① The urban function was mainly improved, accounting for 75.67%. The grids with high function evaluation index were mainly located in the south of the study area, whereas the intensity of urban function improvement in the north was higher than that in the south. Otherwise, the agricultural and ecological functions were mainly reduced, accounting for 77.44 % and 57.66%, respectively, and the majority of grids with a significant decrease were distributed in the south of Poyang Lake. ② From 2010 to 2020, the coupling coordination type was dominated by an imbalance recession, accounting for 53.87% and 49.89 %, respectively. However, the number of grids with crucial imbalance and primary coordination was reduced, and the coupling coordination types tended to change from both ends to the middle. The coupling coordination hot spots were mainly concentrated in the southern plain, whereas the cold spots were mainly distributed in the northern mountainous and hilly areas, both of which showed a reducing trend. However, in the north of Poyang Lake, a small number of hot spots, distributed along the lake area with relatively flat terrain, showed an expanding trend. ③ The intensity of four territorial space function conflicts was mainly moderate or severe. In addition to the slight positive trend of 'urban-agricultural' function conflict, the function conflicts of "urban-ecological", "agricultural-ecological", and "urban-agricultural-ecological" were all aggravated. The grids with aggravating conflicts were mainly distributed in the Ganjiang River and Fuhe River Basin. The major reason for the aggravation was that the urban function increased obviously, whereas the ecological and agricultural functions decreased significantly. In conclusion, in both the coupling coordination types and multi-dimensional conflicts among territorial space functions, significant spatial differences existed； thus, proposing optimization strategies according to local conditions is necessary. Additionally, the protection of ecological and agricultural spaces during each stage of urbanization development must be focused.

The Elusive Borders of Regional Feeling: Re-Imagining the Federalist Map in Early West Germany

While a rich body of work on nations and national borderlands has demonstrated how the ideal of the nation state resulted in ever greater (and often violent) demands for geographic fixity, this article shows how territorial visions of regional communities permitted a tremendous level of flexibility and were able to hold highly divergent geographic imaginings in suspension. The article seeks to demonstrate this by looking at a unique moment in post-war West German history when spatial planers, parliamentary committees, regionalists and an army of experts sought to determine the boundaries of regional belonging in preparation for a planned redrawing of the West German federal map. Many believed that a viable federalist democracy required stronger federal states rooted in a sense of regional community. The states created by the Allies were initially seen as temporary, and Article 29 of the new constitution required that states be redrawn by considering boundaries of regional belonging. The intense efforts of experts, politicians, and regionalists, however, ultimately failed and revealed widely diverging ideas about which territories corresponded to a common sense of regional community. Conflicting historic state borders, the historic force of physical geographies, confession, orientation to urban centres, a profusion of dialect borders, and regional cultural practices all shaped geographic visions of region, but simultaneously underpinned widely-variant cognitive maps. While the failure to redraw the West German map resulted in this episode of history largely being forgotten, I argue that it speaks volumes about how forms of community beyond and beneath the nation state have been imagined in territorial space.

Assessing spatio-temporal heterogeneity and drivers of ecosystem services to support zonal management in mountainous cities

With complex topography and geomorphology, mountainous cities possess abundant natural resources. They are constrained by ecological environment and topographic conditions, leading to a prominent contradiction between urbanization development and ecological protection. As a result, ecosystem services (ESs) are under greater regulatory pressure. The identification of ecosystem services bundles (ESBs) can be the foundation for developing zonal ecological protection planning policies. We took Chongqing as a case study, investigated the impact mechanisms of socio-ecological factors on the level of ES supply in each ESB. The findings reveal that: (1) The quantitative assessment of ESs for 2000, 2010, and 2020 showed that ESs were temporally stable and spatially heterogeneous. Areas with high supplies of food production (FP) and water yield (WY) were predominantly found in the northwestern cropland and urban built-up regions, whereas high supply areas for the other four ESs were primarily located in the northeastern Dabashan Mountains and the southern Wuling Mountains. (2) The quantification of trade-offs and synergies between ESs showed that FP had a trade-off effect with all five other ESs, while most other ES pairs exhibited synergistic effects. It was found that the interrelationships produced changes over time. (3) Then, three types of ESBs were identified. After examining the influence mechanisms of socio-ecological factors across the three ESBs, individual ESs were found to have essentially the same types of main impact factors in three ESBs, but varies in impact. (4) Finally, with reference to changes in ES levels and interrelationships and the driving mechanisms of socio-ecological factors in each zone, this study proposed zonal strategies for managing ecosystem services and optimizing territorial space based on the geographic characteristics and socio-economic development in different ESBs, with the goal of attaining sustainable urban development and improving human welfare.

The Territorial Space of Green Transition / Transitioning from One Territorial System to Another through Nature-based Solutions - The Case of Finiq Municipality

Climate change has been recognised by many, be it nations or international organizations, as an existential threat to the world. In this context, the EU has introduced the European Green Deal, with the aim of transforming the continent into a modern, climate- neutral, resource-efficient, and competitive economy. In this scenario, the goals set by the EU are: no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050; economic growth decoupled from resource use; no person and no place left behind. The new growth strategy of the EU was also recognized by the Western Balkan Countries (nonmembers of the EU) through the Sofia Declaration in November 2020, acknowledging the need for transformation of the region to turn sustainability and resilience challenges into opportunities and transpose elements of the European Green Deal in all interrelated priority sectors. Those sectors are represented by five main pillars: Climate, energy, mobility; Circular economy; Depollution; Sustainable agriculture and food production; and Biodiversity. Even though it is a multi-sectorial approach, it does not directly address the territorial aspect. The territory is rather seen as a common dominator of the five pillars. This resizes the question, what is the spatial domain of green transition in a given territory? In the Albanian context, after the territorial reform of 2014, the territory was consolidated into 61 municipalities. In the framework of the General Local Plans, each municipality cat- egorized its territory into five main territorial systems: Urban; Nature; Agriculture; Water; and Infrastructure. Through the case of Finiq Municipality, we will further analyze the complexity of territorial systems in a given territory. For the purpose of analysis, a buffer of 1 km was ap- plied to the territory of Finiq Municipality (Bistrica River Basin) where the predominance of a territorial system over another and the mixture of them was evaluated. After this evaluation, an operational framework was conceptualized using the most relevant documents related to climate change, from the international level to the local level, that are pertinent to the case of Finiq Municipality. Taking into account the evidenced framework of green transition for the selected area, it is easier to propose effective nature-based solutions to be implemented in the transitional space between territorial systems. This was done by analyzing the concept of nature-based solutions, at first, and by reviewing case studies that deal with similar societal challenges as the ones identified in Finiq Municipality. The main focus will be the area surrendering the Bistrica River, for the simple fact that it flows from the east, where we find a high predominance of the natural landscape, to the west where a predominance of human activity is more evident. Through the river, we will illustrate the unfolding of what was explained above.

Social and environmental dimensions of public spaces of the indigenous territory of the Sierra de Manantlan mountain range, Jalisco state, western Mexico

The social and environmental dimension of the public space occupants of the indigenous territory of the Sierra de Manantlan, Jalisco, has a crucial place in the heritage of Mexico, such is the case of its form of idiosyncrasy, mutual interaction, and coexistence. The cultural, political, and economic organizations the Sierra de Manantlan mark an identity of the native peoples, where their customs, communal life, and solidarity work are preserved. The research objective was to evaluate the social perception and environmental habitability conditions of public space occupants in the towns of Chacala and Telcruz. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted for the primary actors in both study areas and 259 information cards were applied to the inhabitants with data regarding social interaction variables and meteorological conditions in two seasons (summer and winter of a calendar year). Regarding data analysis and statistical purposes, the Pearson and Spearman correlations was used according to the needs of the study. The results revealed that the occupants of public spaces mostly report the pleasure of interacting in said spaces; however, they indicate that they would like an intervention or remodeling in the place that would encourage greater interaction with their neighbors, family, and friends. Another additional fact is that climatic variables, especially in summer, harm the desire to attend or stay in said spaces because of the lack of natural elements or bioclimatic devices that mitigate the environmental impact.

Variegated urban and rural spaces: Defining village types in China

China’s system of territorial spatial planning requires an integrated layout of ecological, agricultural, and urban functional space. This paper examines urban and rural villages and finds that villages can be classified into five types: urban villages, suburban villages, rural villages, semi-ecological villages, and eco-villages. These villages have multiple functions such as ecological services, agricultural production, and town services, according to the relationship between villages and territorial space. Urban villages refer to villages within the urban space, which have certain urban socio-ecological service functions; suburban villages are villages located at the junction of urban and agricultural spaces, which adapt their functions to the needs of the town; rural villages refer to villages located in the vast agricultural space, which are dominated by large-scale agriculture, and which need to undertake the function of guaranteeing food security; semi-ecological villages refer to villages at the junction of the agricultural space and the eco-villages, which can develop diversified ecological services; and eco-villages refer to villages that are in, or essentially in, eco-space, and have an important role to play in the maintenance of natural ecosystems.

Optimization of territorial space layout in China

Optimization of territorial space layout in China

ОСОБЕННОСТИ И ПРИНЦИПЫ РАЗВИТИЯ СЕЛЬСКИХ АГЛОМЕРАЦИЙ

Agglomeration is a form of territorial space and is one of the tools for the sustainable development of rural territories, and their stable development provides the necessary conditions for the for-mation of the social sphere, infrastructure and the creation of additional jobs. One of the factors for the effective development of rural territories is rationally organized local government, one of the activities of which is the creation of rural agglomerations. The rural agglomeration is charac-terized by a high proportion of the population engaged in agriculture. Farmers, entrepreneurs, and specialists of various fields work here, who are engaged in the production and processing of manufactured products. The territory houses warehouses, processing and packaging plants. The rural agglomeration supplies agricultural products, raw materials and food to the trading net-works of cities, thereby playing an important role in the development of the country and increasing the economic well-being of rural territories.

Ecological security assessment of Yunnan Province, China in the context of Production-Living-Ecological space division.

With the rapid development of population, society and economy, human activities have caused serious adverse impacts on the environment, ecosystems and landscape patterns over the long term. In order to address the series of impacts of human activities on the environment, territorial space and resource use, the study of Production-Living-Ecological Space (PLES) and ecological security have all become academic frontiers in the field of sustainable development. In this study, we applied multi-source data and GIS technology to construct an ecological security evaluation model based on the results of PLES delineation and the Pressure-State-Response (PSR)framework, and carried out the three-period PLES ecological security evaluation for 2000, 2010 and 2020 at the county and grid scales in Yunnan Province. The PLES pattern in Yunnan Province is dominated by ecological space, which accounts for 75%, followed by 23% of production space, with ecological space shrinking from 2000 to 2020. Ecological security in ecological space and living space shows an improving trend from 2000 to 2020. The ecological security of production space improved in 2010 compared to 2000 but then showed a decreasing trend in 2020. Ecological security in ecological space shows that north-western and southern Yunnan is safer than central Yunnan, while ecological security in living space is safer in central Yunnan, and ecological security in production space is better in southern Yunnan than in northern Yunnan. Comparison with related research results shows that the ecological security evaluation results of PLES in Yunnan Province in this study are scientific and reasonable. The ecological security evaluation model of PLES constructed in this study solves the problem of complex and incomplete ecological security evaluation indexes in the past, and the results of the study are more refined and precise, which provides new ideas for the study of regional ecological security.

Identification of key areas for ecological restoration of territorial space based on ecological security pattern analysis: A case study of the Taihu Lake city cluster.

The identification of key areas for ecological restoration of national land space based on the ecological security pattern is an important way to balance environmental protection and social development in the new era. With the Taihu Lake city cluster as the study area, we identified the ecological source from both structural and functional aspects, and used the minimum cumulative resistance model to identify the ecological corridors on the basis of constructing the resistance surface. Coupled the landscape ecological risk evaluation, we determined the appropriate width of each ecological corridor in the study area, identified the key restoration zones through the circuit theory. Then, we constructed the ecological security pattern of "six zones and four belts" and controlled by zoning. The results showed that the 32 ecological source areas in the Taihu Lake city cluster presented a spatial pattern of "more in the east and less in the west-mountains and lakes are connected" and 70 ecological corridors were concentrated in the west and the center. The suitable width of most of the ecological corridors was 1500-2000 m. The ecological restoration zones of the national land space were concentrated in the eastern part of the Lake Taihu, Changxing County, and Liyang City. According to the characteristics of the study area and the actual situation of the restoration area, we proposed specific protection and restoration measures, such as protecting the core ecological source, optimizing and restoring the important corridors, and reasonably planning land use of the ecological pinch points and obstacle points.

Spatiotemporal evolution and interaction of water constraints and their socio-ecological drivers in the Taihu Lake Basin

To effectively manage water constraints (WCs) within a basin, it is crucial to first scientifically delineate their spatial distribution and thoroughly understand the interactions between WCs. Investigating the complex driving mechanisms at multiple scales is also essential. In this study, a basin WC evaluation framework is constructed using a conflict risk assessment model. The spatiotemporal variations of four types of WCs across three spatial scales in the Taihu Lake Basin (TLB) are thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, the study quantifies the trade-offs, synergy effects, and bundle patterns of these water constraints. The study employs the Optimal Parameters-based Geographic Detector (OPGD) and multivariate linear regression to identify the key socio-ecological drivers of WCs. Our findings indicate that between 2010 and 2020, water resource constraint (WREC), water environment constraint (WENC), water safety constraint (WSAC), water ecology constraint (WECC), and the comprehensive WC (CWC) displayed varying degrees of heterogeneity. Particularly, the mean values of WSAC, WECC, and CWC witnessed an increase over the decade. Additionally, all WCs exhibited a strong positive spatial autocorrelation. Synergistic interactions among WCs were predominantly observed in pairs such as WREC-WSAC, WREC-WECC, and WSAC-WECC, while a weaker trade-off effect was noted in the WENC-WECC pair. At multiple scales, we identified eight types of WC bundles capable of undergoing mutual transformations, especially at the basin scale. The primary drivers of WCs varied across different stages and scales, with most factors collectively exerting a more significant impact than individually. Notably, factors like secondary and tertiary industry GDP (X2), population density (X3), precipitation (X6), and elevation (X7) were identified as core drivers influencing the evolution of WCs in the TLB. Integrating these spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of WC interactions into basin planning and management can significantly support the alleviation of multidimensional water constraints in territorial spaces.

Spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and driving mechanisms of Urban–Agricultural–Ecological space in ecologically fragile areas: A case study of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Ecologically fragile areas, which are vulnerable to human disturbances, are facing development dilemmas due to the contradiction between economic development and environmental degradation. Examining the driving mechanism and future trends of land use transitions can inform territorial planning and land use policies to address the contradiction. However, research into the mechanisms governing the interaction between ecological and social factors driving land use transitions in ecologically fragile areas is currently limited. Considering the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (URYREB), a typical ecologically fragile area in China, as an example, this study discussed the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and driving mechanisms of Urban-Agricultural-Ecological Space. The results indicated that ecological factors influence the direction, location, and scale of spatial evolution, while social factors dominate the direction and scale of spatial evolution. The interaction between ecological and social elements drives spatial evolution due to the endogenous development needs of the social-ecological system (SES), in conjunction with external policy guidance and economic development. In the future, urban function space may continue to expand and threaten surrounding agricultural function space, thus, corresponding land use policies are necessary to ensure food security. This study unveils the impact of multifactor interactions on land use transitions and offers insights for optimizing territorial space planning in ecologically fragile areas.