Xin Lu

New urbanization often leads to land-use and land-cover change (LUCC), which inevitably affects ecosystem services (ESs). Although it is traditionally believed that urbanization reduces ecosystem services, some studies have shown that reasonable urban development facilitates ecosystem conservation. Previous studies have focused on the impacts of urbanization on either LUCC or ESs, with fewer dynamic assessments of the coordination of the three. Taking China’s contiguous poor areas (CPAs) as an example, this study applied coupling coordination, path analysis, and a multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model to identify the dynamic relationship among urbanization, land use, and the environment and then predicted their coupling coordination under shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP-RCP) in 2035 using the Patch Generation Land Use Simulation (PLUS) and a random forest model. The results of the study show that (1) urbanization, land-use change, and environmental loads in China’s CPAs showed an inconsistent upward trend. There was a slight overall decrease in ESs before 2013, which was consistent with the early stage of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC); after that time, they showed different characteristics. (2) From 2000 to 2018, the coupling coordination degree of CPAs decreased slightly due to urbanization, geographic factors, and grassland and unused land. LUCC was essential to maintaining the system balance. The SN (southern contiguous poverty area) was at a basic level of coordination, while the other regions showed a moderate imbalance. (3) According to scenario projections, the degree of coupling coordination in all regions will increase by 2035. Environmental prioritization and sustainable routes are the best options for CPAs’ development. The SN is more stable, while the WN (western contiguous poverty area) has the lowest coupling coordination. (4) Environmentally friendly urbanization should be carried out with land management tailored to local conditions. Measures that could be recommended include establishing ecological pilot zones in SN areas, prioritizing the protection of grassland ecosystems in WN areas, and promoting intensive land use in the NN (northern contiguous poverty area). The present study offers a novel perspective on the interplay between the economy and the environment at the county level and achieves predictive coupling coordination through the integration of PLUS and random forest models. This investigation into coordinated urbanization–LUCC–ES development in CPAs yields valuable insights for enhancing environmental and economic well-being in similar regions within China, as well as globally.

Arid and semiarid wetlands, the core geographical unit of desert oases, significantly benefit and improve the ecological environment. In this study, we systematically compared the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving forces of natural and constructed wetlands in arid and semiarid regions of northern China from 1995 to 2019. For these comparisons, we utilized a land-use transition matrix, partial least-squares–structural equation model (PLS-SEM), and geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The results showed that (1) the area of wetlands as a whole showed an upward trend, with natural and constructed wetlands increasing by 4.16% and 11.86%, respectively. The increases mainly resulted from conversions of grassland and other lands (shrub, sparse vegetation, and bare land). (2) The direct dominant factors that drove natural wetland changes were soil and terrain, while those that drove constructed wetlands were human disturbances. Human disturbance, by affecting soil, had a higher significant indirect effect on natural wetlands. Heat, by affecting moisture, had the greatest indirect effect on constructed wetlands. (3) The sensitivity of natural and constructed wetlands to the responses of different drivers showed significant spatial heterogeneity. This study explores the interaction and driving mechanisms of human and natural attributes on natural and constructed wetlands and provides a scientific foundation for the restoration and sustainable development of wetlands in arid and semiarid areas.

With the continuous development of China’s modern economy and agricultural society, the discharge of rural sewage has been recognized as a major threat to the safety of the rural ecological environment. This study discussed the purification efficiency of a tower-shaped integrated ecological purification device (TIEPD)—consisting of a measuring tank, detention tank and three-stage purification unit—towards various common pollutants in rural areas during operation and tested the stability and efficiency of the TIEPD under different rural life events (fair activity days and nonfair activity days) and different precipitation intensities (light rain, moderate rain and heavy rain). The results showed that the average removal efficiencies of the TIEPD towards chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were 69%, 67%, 54% and 73%, respectively. The average effluent concentration of each pollutant can meet the standard of the discharge of pollutants in China. The system exhibited good stability in removing pollutants and good ecological and economic benefits. This study provides the treatment of domestic sewage in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and in mountainous areas of China and strengthens the prevention and control of rural nonpoint source pollution.

Economic development and trade activities are some of the main driving forces leading to land use and land cover changes (LUCC) with impacts on ecosystem services (ESs) functions. As the origin of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) initiated by China, Central Asia nations (CANs) provide a prism to examine the impact of LUCC and ESs changes brought by the BRI. The impacts of LUCC and ecological influences were evaluated. The land use transfer matrix and dynamic index, the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST), the Carnegie Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model, and the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) model were used to evaluate the impact of export trade from the CANs to China (ETCC) on LUCC and ESs in the CANs before and after the BRI. Results showed that before and after BRI (2001–2020), agricultural land and construction land increased by 59,120 km² and 7617 km², respectively, while ecological land decreased by 66,737 km². The annual growth rate of agricultural land and the annual reduction rate of ecological land after the BRI were higher than that before the BRI, while the annual growth rate of construction slowed down. Among the ecological land, the forestland increased by 5828 km² continuously, while the grassland increased by 12,719 km² and then decreased of 13,132 km². The trends for LUCC spatial variation were similar. The development of ETCC positively affected the changes in agricultural and construction land in the CANs and negatively affected the changes in ecological land. The average contribution rates of the ETCC to changes in agriculture, construction, and ecological lands after the BRI were higher than those before the BRI. They increased by 5.01%, 3.33% and 5.01%, respectively. The ESs after the BRI improved compared with those before the BRI, indicating that, during short-term implementation of the BRI, ETCC growth also ensures the ecological protection of CANs. This study provides a reference for dealing with trade, land management and environmental protection relations between member countries of international economic alliances worldwide.