Impacts and social implications of landuse-environment conflicts in a typical Mediterranean watershed

Quality evaluation and health risk assessment of karst groundwater in Southwest China

Groundwater in karst regions is of immense value due to its vital support for regional ecosystems and residents' livelihoods. However, it is simultaneously threatened by multi-source pollution from agricultural non-point sources, industrial and domestic point sources, and mining activities. This study focuses on the Guangxi of China, which features typical karst topography, aiming to thoroughly assess the groundwater quality and related health risks in Guangxi, especially identifying the impacts of various key pollution sources on the groundwater environment. A total of 1912 groundwater samples were collected, covering an area of approximately 237,600 km2. The spatial distribution of pollutants was analysed using the Nemeroww index method and Kriging interpolation, while multivariate statistical and cluster analysis methods were employed to identify the main types of pollution sources. Furthermore, based on the human health risk assessment model of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), a risk assessment was conducted for key pollutants. The results revealed widespread heavy metal contamination in Guangxi's groundwater, particularly with concentrations of Mn, As, Al, Pb reaching up to 9.4 mg/L, 2.483 mg/L, 37.95 mg/L, 4.761 mg/L, respectively, significantly exceeding China's national Class III groundwater quality standards. Cluster analysis indicated that mining and industrial activities are the primary sources of pollution. The health risk assessment demonstrated that these activities pose a significant risk to public health. The aim of this study is to provide a scientific basis for the protection of the groundwater environment in Guangxi and other karst areas, the formulation of pollution prevention and control strategies, and the optimization of urban and industrial land use layouts. Future research should focus on advanced isotopic and molecular biological techniques to trace pollution sources more precisely and evaluate the effectiveness of pollution control measures.

Flooding in semi-unformal urban areas in North Africa: Environmental and psychosocial drivers

Urban flooding is recognized as a nature-driven disaster shaped by inherent factors such as climate, morphology, and hydrology, affecting vulnerability and flood exposure. While these factors play a paramount role, significant psychosocial intricate drivers are acknowledged, though they are challenging for prediction and assessment. This study delves into these drivers in a specific context, aiming to draw conclusions that extend beyond. It undertakes a comprehensive approach, integrating cloud-based Radar flood detection, analysis of flood causation patterns, and geostatistical analysis of a social survey based on cross-synthesis, contingency analysis, and structural equation modeling. In particular, we characterize the case of the coastal city of Tetouan in Morocco, which is representative in its environmental and socioeconomic settings to most cities in North Africa. It unraveled the nuanced interplay of psychosocial, economic, and territorial dynamics influencing flood exposure. The findings reveal how watershed location molds unique environmental exposures, steering nuanced, emotional, and behavioral responses among residents. Gender and education differentials reveal diverse perceptions and awareness of flood risks. Psychosocial intricacies come to the forefront, portraying education, income, and awareness as crucial mediators influencing cognitive and affective responses. Elevated education, increased income, and heightened awareness correlate with heightened perception and coping strategies. Findings reveal that risk perception significantly and differently influences risk acceptance, coping, and aversion through an array of identified key factors influencing coping strategies, mediating elements in flood damage relationships, and underscoring the pivotal role of perception in shaping responses to risk. Moreover, it found that lower risk acceptance leads to higher coping and aversion, and the latter positively affects coping, indicating that acceptance reduces the motivation to avoid the risk and decreases the willingness to adopt coping strategies to reduce the exposure. The outcomes carry critical implications for comprehending individual and collective social behaviors, informing strategies, and mitigating flood risk that apply at a wider context. It accentuates the inadequacy of relying solely on structural engineering for risk management, citing spatial constraints, misinformation, and lapses in prior-risk memory as compounding exposure challenges. This recognition catalyzes action, advocating tailored awareness campaigns, educational initiatives, and capacity-building programs, spotlighting the need for heightened individual profiles to enhance social understanding, engagement, and resilience. We anticipate profound insights, fostering a richer comprehension of urban flooding complexities and informing adaptive strategies on a broader scale.

Growing coastal tourism: Can biomonitoring provide insights into the health of coastal ecosystems?

Coastal tourism's surge raises concerns for Morocco's Agadir marine environment, notably with Taghazout Bay's impact. Our study assesses Taghazout's health, employing a comprehensive approach. Our study evaluates Taghazout's health, adopting a comprehensive approach covering physicochemical, microbiological aspects, macrobenthic fauna, metal pollution, and biomarkers in D. trunculus mollusks. Seawater quality aligns with Moroccan standards, indicating good bathing water. The intertidal zone hosts ten species, dominated by D. trunculus. Biomarker responses in D. trunculus suggest chemical stress. Land-use maps expose significant changes driven by the Taghazout Bay project, impacting approximately 37.99 % of the landscape. Construction activities notably encroached upon the Arganeraie and the coastal zone, creating a stark contrast from 2003. These findings form a crucial database for future studies, contributing significantly to environmental management and sustainable development, aiding informed decision-making and effective coastal ecosystem preservation strategies.

Assessing production-living-ecological spaces and its urban-rural gradients in Xiangyang City, China: insights from land-use function symbiosis

Understanding the formation process and pattern of production-living-ecological spaces (PLES) is crucial for sustainable land-use management and adaptive city governance. However, previous studies have neglected the symbiotic relationships between land-use functions (LUFs) in identifying and optimizing PLES. To address this gap, this paper proposes a technical framework for assessing PLES from a LUF symbiosis perspective. A case study was conducted in Xiangyang City, China, to identify PLES and analyze its urban-rural differentiation using the symbiosis degree model and landscape pattern indices. Our findings revealed that the symbiotic relationships between LUFs varied. There were 25 combination types of PLES in Xiangyang City, with significantly varied area proportions and spatial distribution. The landscape types and fragmentation of PLES increased along with the gradient change from the old urban area to the rural area. Furthermore, we proposed a PLES optimization strategy involving LUFs symbiosis and the urban-rural gradient. Our study enriches the dimensions of PLES assessment and supports better-coordinated planning and the protection of PLES.

Monitoring grey water footprint and associated environmental controls in agricultural watershed

The grey water footprint (GWF) is an advanced index linking pollution load and water resources. However, the existing agriculture-related GWF was developed based on hydrological processes, which limits its role in watershed water pollution level (WPL) measurements. The main scope of this study is to calculate GWF and WPL based on runoff, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) observations in the Hujiashan Watershed of China's Yangtze River Basin. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized to explore the impact pathways of environmental features on GWF and WPL. On this basis, propose measures for the management of this agricultural watershed. The results showed that the TN concentration had a V-shaped trend in 2008-2015, while the TP gradually decreased. The GWF calculations for the TN and TP were compatible with the temporal trends for the concentrations, which were higher in the wet season (0.45 m3/m2 for TN, 0.10 m3/m2 for TP) than in the dry season (0.11 m3/m2 for TN, 0.02 m3/m2 for TP) and increased from upstream to downstream. The WPLs of TN exceeded 2.0 in the midstream and downstream areas, whereas those for TP were inconspicuous. According to PLS-SEM, the GWF is primarily influenced by topographical variables and hydrological features, whereas the WPL is mainly controlled by hydrological features and landscape composition. Fertilizer reduction and efficiency measures should be implemented on farmland and appropriately reducing farming activities on slopes to relieve the GWF and WPL in the watershed.

Soil erosion and hydroclimatic hazards in major African port cities: the case study of Tangier

Land degradation and soil erosion are becoming increasingly problematic in Africa's rapidly developing urban areas, particularly in Major Port Cities. Uncontrolled expansion and human pressures are hindering planning, adaptation, and conservation efforts. To understand the extent of these issues, this study combined morphometric analysis, soil loss calculation, field monitoring, and remote sensing and GIS tools to assess soil erosion in the Metropolis of Tangier (Morocco) located at the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Gibraltar. The study relied on data from 13 rain gauge stations, official reports, and remote sensing acquisitions, as well as field observations. Results showed an average soil erosion rate of 24.2 t/ha/year, equivalent to an annual soil loss of 588,051 t/year. This high rate was largely due to areas with a high erosion risk (99.8%), covering only 8.3% of the territory, which were characterized by recently burned topsoil, fallow land, and steep slopes. These areas included both uncontrolled neighbourhoods and areas for planned urban and industrial expansion, posing a threat to the landscape's sustainability and socio-economic prospects. The morphometric analysis revealed its high vulnerability to erosion and degradation, with the highest soil loss rates observed in the eastern and western regions. The study also found that flash floods caused by hydroclimatic hazards can lead to significant damage to infrastructure and equipment, particularly in western sub-basins and mountainous regions. In conclusion, the use of remote sensing and GIS technologies provided valuable insights into the physical characteristics and vulnerability of the Tangier Metropolis to land degradation and soil erosion. These findings emphasize the need for effective land management practices and conservation measures to mitigate the impacts of land degradation and soil erosion in the face of climate change. This information is crucial for decision-makers and stakeholders to develop strategies to address these pressing issues.

Cooperation, hotspots and prospects for tourism environmental impact assessments

This study aims to identify hot spots, research limitations and future research directions in tourism environmental impact assessment (TEIA). We analyzed studies from the core database of Web of Science (WoS) based on their coauthorship, keyword co-occurrence and timeline with VOSviewer and CiteSpace. It was found that China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Spain are the major contributors to TEIA, and relatively stable cooperative groups have been formed among the authors. Research hotspots in the past 20 years mainly include: the impact of tourism activities in different tourist destinations on the environment, the approaches to assess the impact of tourism on the environment, and strategies on reducing the negative impact of tourism on the environment. We also found TEIA deficiency in the following five aspects: 1) insufficient studies on macro decision-making; 2) insufficient dynamic interaction analysis; 3) insufficient tourism heat footprint research; 4) insufficient studies on the positive effects of tourism on the environment; and 5) insufficient interdisciplinary innovation. Based on the findings, we suggest that 1) further studies be conducted on tourism activity type, time scale, macro pattern, environmental process and policy effect of tourism impact assessment with more variables and factors considered; 2) the impact of different types of tourism on each subsystem of the environment and the paths of the interaction among subsystems be explored from the perspective of system governance; 3) the study of thermal footprint generated by tourism activities be given more attention, especially large-scale tourism activities; 4) the positive impact of tourism activities on the ecological environment be studied, especially ecotourism; 5) the applicability of TEIA evaluation results be increased by means of interdisciplinary methods such as big data analysis.

Land Use Conflict Identification Coupled with Ecological Protection Priority in Jinan City, China

Land use conflicts exacerbate soil erosion and reduce biodiversity, which is detrimental to sustainable development. Multiple methods such as multi-criteria evaluation and landscape pattern indexes can identify land use conflicts, but few studies conform to the concept of green development. The concept of green development gives priority to ecological protection and coordinates the relationship between production development, food production and ecological protection to achieve sustainable development. Taking Jinan City (China) as the study area, we identified the ecological source areas by evaluating the importance of ecosystem service functions and ecological sensitivity, then extracted and optimized the ecological corridor network (using the minimum cumulative resistance model and gravity model), and constructed the ecological security pattern. Spatial overlay analysis of cultivated land, construction land, and the ecological security pattern was performed to identify the types and intensity of land use conflicts. Spatially, we found that ecological land was in more serious conflict with cultivated land than construction land. Different types of land use conflicts have significant differences in spatial distribution. The key to land use conflict mediation in Jinan City is to balance food security with the improvements in the quality of the ecological environment. Hence, it is necessary to delineate the main functional zones and formulate tailored land use conflict mediation strategies in each zone. The method for land use conflict identification proposed here follows the principle of giving priority to ecological protection, providing a scientific reference for the utilization and protection of territorial space in other similar areas.

Influence of farmland marginalization in mountainous and hilly areas on land use changes at the county level

Agricultural works alter earth's surface at the largest scale among human-driven activities. Previous studies have focused more on the reclamation of natural land, however, farmland marginalization (FM), emerging as an important mean of land use changes in mountainous and hilly areas (MHAs) has always been overlooked in the background of production efficiency improvement along with urbanization and population migration. This paper examined the characteristics of the spatial-temporal distribution and conversion of marginalized farmland in the MHAs of China at county level (excluding Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) from 1990 to 2020, regarding farmland in MHAs converted into non-built-up land as FM. The results showed that: (1) The total area of marginalized farmland in the MHAs was 1.03 × 10⁶ km². The counties with larger area of marginalized farmland were concentrated around the Hu Line, and those with higher ratio were distributed in southern mountainous areas. (2) The area of marginalized farmland in each stage exhibited a fluctuating trend from 1990 to 2020. Forests and grasslands were prioritized as the desirable types in land conversion, and had prominent spatial agglomeration. (3) The influence of FM in MHAs on land use changes at county level demonstrated significant spatial-temporal heterogeneity, with wide range and low intensity from 1990 to 2000 and 2015 to 2020, and narrow range and high intensity from 2000 to 2015, and the counties with high intensity were distributed in the Loess Plateau and Sichuan-Chongqing hilly region. (4) The slope of marginalized farmland exhibited a prominent rule of spatial distribution, but an insignificant temporal trend under the influence of governmental policies. The larger the slope was, the higher the degree of marginalization was, but not necessarily earlier it occurred. The results can provide a reference for the formulation and implementation of farmland protection policies.

Urban versus Rural? Conflict Lines in Land Use Disputes in the Urban–Rural Fringe Region of Schwerin, Germany

Land use conflicts can present major obstacles to sustainable land management. An accurate understanding of their actor constellations and conflict lines is therefore crucial in developing tools for successful landscape governance. In this context, actors from cities and actors from rural areas are often seen as typical opponents. Hence, the objective of this paper is to analyze the extent to which empirical conflict lines indeed run between urban and rural actors. We applied qualitative text analysis to examine 124 land use conflicts in the urban–rural fringe of Schwerin, Germany, which were identified through semistructured interviews with key land use actors in the region. Results showed that actors from the city and the rural fringe were on opposing sides in almost half of the conflicts. However, they were also frequently in conflict among themselves, and many actor constellations involved actors from other regions or administrative levels. In conclusion, the narrative of the urban–rural dichotomy appears in the empirical data but does not appropriately convey the complexity of the actual conflict lines. The findings of this paper therefore emphasize that it is important to empirically identify the actor constellations in land use conflicts rather than rely on preconceived ideas about typical conflict lines.