Quantifying the direct effects of long-term dynamic land use intensity on vegetation change and its interacted effects with economic development and climate change in jiangsu, China

Impacts of Multi-Land Use Decisions on Temperate Forest Habitat Quality in the Changbai Mountain Region, Northeast China

Human-driven land use changes significantly contribute to habitat loss and fragmentation in temperate forests, prompting the implementation of ecological conservation programs. However, these efforts may be undermined by the competing demands of ecological conservation and economic development. This study assessed changes in temperate forest habitat quality and the relative contribution of competing land use decisions (ecological programs, cropland expansion, and urbanization) to these changes in the Changbai Mountain region, Northeast China from 1990 to 2050. Our results revealed a region-wide decline (-20.77%) in habitat quality over the past 30 years, with projected improvements (+14.64%) under the future scenario, albeit with considerable regional variations. Ecological programs contributed to long-term habitat improvements by preserving and expanding forest cover. However, cropland expansion and urbanization through forest conversion were identified as the primary drivers of habitat quality degradation, leading to both direct habitat loss and indirect negative effects on the quality of the remaining habitat. Our findings offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of ecological programs and the trade-offs posed by economic pressures, highlighting the need for integrated land use strategies that balance ecological and socio-economic objectives in temperate forest management.

Spatial variation of land use carbon budget and zoning for carbon compensation in the Huai River Eco-economic Belt, China

Carrying out carbon budget assessment and carbon compensation zoning research from inter-regional perspective can actively boost the formulation of green, low-carbon transformation strategies, guiding the flow of compensation credits, promoting regional equity and sustainable development, and realizing China's "dual-carbon" goal. Huai River Eco-economic Belt is considered to be a typical example of how land use affects carbon budget due to its more drastic land changes. The paper uses the carbon emission coefficient method to analyze the carbon revenue and expenditure of kinds of land-use patterns, and constructs the carbon compensation model with the help of the carbon budget concentration index and the dominant comparative advantage index, and puts forward the carbon compensation zoning program. Results indicate that (1) Carbon emissions in the Huai River Eco-economic Belt are generally showing a downward trend, and carbon absorption rises modestly. (2) Carbon emissions exhibit a spatial distribution of higher in the western, northern and eastern regions and lower in the center zone, with large differences in carbon absorption among cities in the same year. (3) Carbon compensation types in the Huai River Eco-economic belt include 7 payment zones, 5 balanced zones and 14 compensated zones, which can be finally classified into 5 categories of carbon compensation space optimization areas by combining with the Normalized Revealed Comparative Advantage Index and model for zoning of carbon compensation. Our study enriches practical approaches to reducing carbon emissions through land regulation from inter-regional scales.

Global property rights and land use efficiency

The study investigates the global impact of land property rights on land use efficiency (LUE), as measured by the key indicator for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11.3.1, namely Land Consumption Rate to Population Growth Rate. By utilizing human-land change data from 165 countries spanning the period between 1990 and 2020, we have developed a fixed effects model and employed legal origins as an instrumental variable to examine the influence of land property rights security on LUE. Our findings demonstrate that the security of land property rights significantly influences LUE, with common law countries exhibiting higher levels of LUE compared to civil law countries while controlling for other variables. Stability in property rights encourages long-term investments in infrastructure and sustainable land management practices, thereby enhancing land productivity and mitigating urban sprawl. Furthermore, safeguarding property rights limits governments' power to expropriate lands, facilitating rational and efficient land transactions that contribute towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Reforestation of Cunninghamia lanceolata changes the relative abundances of important prokaryotic families in soil

Over the past decades, many forests have been converted to monoculture plantations, which might affect the soil microbial communities that are responsible for governing the soil biogeochemical processes. Understanding how reforestation efforts alter soil prokaryotic microbial communities will therefore inform forest management. In this study, the prokaryotic communities were comparatively investigated in a secondary Chinese fir forest (original) and a reforested Chinese fir plantation (reforested from a secondary Chinese fir forest) in Southern China. The results showed that reforestation changed the structure of the prokaryotic community: the relative abundances of important prokaryotic families in soil. This might be caused by the altered soil pH and organic matter content after reforestation. Soil profile layer depth was an important factor as the upper layers had a higher diversity of prokaryotes than the lower ones (p < 0.05). The composition of the prokaryotic community presented a seasonality characteristic. In addition, the results showed that the dominant phylum was Acidobacteria (58.86%) with Koribacteraceae (15.38%) as the dominant family in the secondary Chinese fir forest and the reforested plantation. Furthermore, soil organic matter, total N, hydrolyzable N, and NH 4 + - N were positively correlated with prokaryotic diversity (p < 0.05). Also, organic matter and NO 3 - - N were positively correlated to prokaryotic abundance (p < 0.05). This study demonstrated that re-forest transformation altered soil properties, which lead to the changes in microbial composition. The changes in microbial community might in turn influence biogeochemical processes and the environmental variables. The study could contribute to forest management and policy-making.

Threshold effect of ecosystem services in response to human activity in China's urban agglomeration: a perspective on quantifying ecological resilience

Ecological resilience reflects the role of human activity intensity (HMI) on regional ecosystem services (ESs), and resilience improvement is crucial for the high-quality development of urban agglomeration areas. However, a theoretical framework for ecological resilience needs to be developed based on ES thresholds under human activities. Based on the threshold index, we used threshold regression model to determine of the nonlinear dominant factors affecting ESs and to identify the priority areas for ecological restoration. The results suggest that (1) CS, HQ, and TES declined, while FP increased. The spatial distribution of each ES showed higher values in the central region and lower values in the surrounding areas. HMI showed a significant upward trend, with expanding high-HMI areas. There is a threshold effect in the relationship between HMI and ESs, leading to variations in their positive, non-monotonic, or non-linear interactions. (2) HMI positively and significantly affects ESs, especially at low threshold levels. The effect of HMI on ESs is negative in counties with higher threshold levels rather than in lower-level grids. (3) The critical area of artificial potential ecological restoration was 712 km2, primarily concentrated around urban; the critical area of natural restoration was 490 km2. Therefore, the threshold in the relationship between HMI and ESs should be given more attention. This study serves as a guide for picking out key regions for territorial ecological restoration.

Spatial differences and influence mechanisms of construction land development intensity in China, 2002-2020

Construction land development intensity is a spatial mapping of modern urbanization level, which integrally reflects urban development strategy, land use efficiency, and population carrying intensity. This article analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution of construction land development intensity using panel data of 31 provincial administrative divisions in China from 2002 to 2020, with the application of the Theil index and spatial autocorrelation. To further investigate the relationship between human activities and land development, the article used geographic detectors to analyze the influencing mechanisms. The results showed that: (1) The average intensity of construction land development of Chinese provinces from 2002 to 2020 showed a trend of "steady increase, a short decline, and then a steady increase," and there were significant differences in the characteristics of construction land development intensity changes in different regions. (2) The regional differences in construction land development intensity between provinces showed a decreasing trend. There were uneven differences among regions, with more minor regional differences in Central, South, and North China but more significant differences in Northwest, East, Southwest, and Northeast China. (3) The spatial agglomeration of construction land development intensity in the region increased initially and then decreased during the study period. The overall pattern was "small agglomeration and large dispersion." (4) Economic development factors such as GDP per land, industrial structure, and fixed asset investment completion significantly affect land development intensity. The interaction between the factors was apparent, and the effect of "1 + 1 > 2" was produced. Based on the study's results, it is suggested that scientific regional development planning, guiding inter-provincial factor flow, and rational control of land development efforts are the key to promoting sustainable regional development.