Ecosystem Health Responses of Urban Agglomerations in Central Yunnan Based on Land Use Change

Abstract

Land use change in urban agglomerations is gradually becoming a major cause and a key factor of global environmental change. As a consequence of the interaction between land use and ecological processes, the transformation in natural ecosystem structure and function with human activity disturbances demands a systematic assessment of ecosystem health. Taking the Central Yunnan urban agglomeration, undergoing transition and development, as an example, the current study reveals the typical land use change processes and then emphasizes the importance of spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services in health assessment. The InVEST model-based ecosystem service assessment is incorporated into the ecosystem health evaluation, and hotspot analysis is performed to quantitatively measure the ecosystem health response degree to land use according to spatial latitude. The study had three major findings: First, the urban land expansion in the urban agglomeration of central Yunnan between 1990 and 2020 is the most significant. Further, the rate of the dynamic change of urban land is 16.86%, which is the highest among all land types. Second, the ecosystem health of the central Yunnan urban agglomeration is improving but with obvious spatial differences, showing a trend of increasing from urban areas to surrounding areas, with the lowest ecosystem health level and significant clustering in the areas where the towns are located. The ecosystem health level is mainly dominated by the two classes of ordinary and well grades, and the sum of the two accounts for 63.35% of the total area. Third, the process of land transfer, mutual transfer between forest and grassland, and conversion from cropland to forest land contributed the most to the improvement of ecosystem health across the study area. Furthermore, the conversion from cropland and grassland to urban land is an important cause of the sustained exacerbation of ecosystem health. Significantly, the study provides a scientific reference for maintaining ecosystem health and formulating policies for macro-control of land in the urban agglomerations of the mountain plateau.

Landscape Ecological Risk Assessment and Spatial Pattern Evolution Analysis of the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration from 1995 to 2020 Based on Land Use/Cover Change

“…This trend corresponds with findings from previous research [47]. In general, the region has experienced rapid economic development and an accelerated urbanization process [48] over the past twenty-five years. This has led to a substantial demand for construction land to support urban expansion and industrial development, prompted by a significant population influx, requiring extensive residential and urban infrastructure.…”

Multi-Scenario Prediction of Landscape Ecological Risk in the Sichuan-Yunnan Ecological Barrier Based on Terrain Gradients

“…In maintaining the synchronization of environmental protection and economic development, we focus on optimizing the regional development pattern, reasonably allocating ecological, living, and production spaces, and reducing the negative effects of human development on the ecological environment [78]. On the other hand, the landscape ecological risk assessment with land use change as the causal factor is incorporated into the land use planning process, the unique natural conditions and landscape pattern characteristics of mountainous areas are recognized, land macro-control is strengthened, land use optimization and improvement are systematically carried out, the level of land protection and intensive use is improved [79], and different ecological restoration measures and intensities are applied to different vegetation areas to achieve ecosystem function Maximization [80], to attenuate the sensitivity of topographic gradients to ecological risk impacts.…”

Study on the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Urban Land Use Efficiency in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region

“…Changes in land use and cover significantly affect ecosystem health. Chen [11] and Gao [12] pinpoint urban expansion and land transfer as key influencers. Yu et al found that urban expansion, along with farmland protection policies, can harm ecological quality [13], while Chen et al identified the critical role of forests and hydrological systems in ecosystem services [14].…”