Impact of Fast Urbanization on Ecosystem Health in Mountainous Regions of Southwest China

Self Cite

Assessing the health of the ecosystem based on the landscape pattern of national parks can facilitate policy makers in formulating more targeted conservation policies to better manage national park ecosystems. To analyze the landscape patterns and characteristics of the national park, the ecosystem health evaluation index system of the national park was constructed using the vigor-organization-resilience (VOR) model to evaluate the health status. In this study, the Shennongjia National Park in China was selected as a case study area to be assessed using the index system. The results revealed that the patches of construction land and farmland are the largest in number and the most complex in shape, reflecting the obvious fragmentation of construction land and farmland patches. All patch types in this national park were evenly distributed. The results of the analysis showed that the comprehensive index of national park heath, according to the VOR model, is 0.74, indicating that the ecosystems in this study area were in a good state of health. Ecosystems in strictly protected areas of this park had the highest ecosystem health index levels, while the traditional utilization areas had the lowest. Ecosystem health levels were characterized by significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, with high-high aggregation distribution areas, mainly clustered in strictly protected areas, and low-low aggregation distribution, mainly clustered in traditional utilization areas and marginal areas. This study provided a set of ecosystem health assessment systems and their practical use in China’s newly established national parks.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Landscape heterogeneity was measured using Shannon’s Diversity index (SHDI), Shannon’s Evenness index (SHEI) and Patch Richness (PR) [ 39 ]. Landscape connectivity was quantified using the Patch Cohesion index (COHESION), Contagion index (CONTAG) and Interspersion Juxtaposition index (IJI) [ 40 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Health Assessment of Chinese National Parks Based on Landscape Pattern: A Case Study in Shennongjia National Park

Shu

Xiao

et al. 2021

Self Cite

“…This method can help to study the interactions between ecosystems and society. It is meaningful for ecosystem management decision-making with emphasis of well-being in the ESH assessment [63].…”

Section: The Methods Of Esh Assessment and Esh Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A positive I/I i kl value represents a positive spatial correlation between urbanization and ESH, which signifies that a unit with a high level of urbanization is surrounded by units with high ESH. A negative I/I i kl indicates a negative spatial correlation-a unit with a high urbanization level is surrounded by units with a low ESH [63]. The higher absolute value of I/I i kl indicates that the spatial correlation is stronger.…”

Section: Spatial Correlationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization’s Impacts on Ecosystem Health Dynamics in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, China

Wang

Ren

2021

Accelerated urbanization disturbs ecosystems and influences ecosystem structures and functions. Ecosystem health (ESH) assessments in regions undergoing the rapid urbanization process assist us in understanding how ESH changes and how urbanization specifically affects ESH. We assessed the ESH of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China, including the ecosystem service value (ESV). In this study, we selected nine indicators and applied multiple pieces of software, including ArcGIS10.4, Fragstats4.2 and Geoda1.14 to detect the impacts of urbanization on regional ESH in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The results show that ESH in the BTH region increased from 2000 to 2015, especially in the northern parts. The improvements were due to the implementation of key ecological restoration projects protecting and re-establishing the forest in the north. Furthermore, the spatial correlation results indicate that urbanization had a negative impact on ESH in the BTH region, of which the dominant factor was the population density in 1995. The dominant factor was the construction land proportion from 2005 to 2015. We suggest that ecological restoration projects should be continued in northern regions with strong and relatively strong ESH levels to maintain high-level ecosystem health. In addition, more attention should be paid to the ESH level improvement in peri-urban areas.

“…With the rapid development of human society, various ecological problems have become apparent. National and global ecological and environmental problems, such as energy shortages, water pollution, land degradation, biodiversity loss and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather, have emerged [ 2 , 3 ]. Urban expansion has affected large swathes of cultivated land, forest land and water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Its Key Determinants in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration, China

Tang

Ming

et al. 2022

Urban agglomerations have gradually formed in different Chinese cities, exerting great pressure on the ecological environment. Ecosystem health is an important index for the evaluation of the sustainable development of cities, but it has rarely been used for urban agglomerations. In this study, the ecosystem health in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration was assessed using the ecosystem vigor, organization, resilience, and services framework at the county scale. A GeoDetector was used to determine the effects of seven factors on ecosystem health. The results show that: (1) The spatial distribution of ecosystem health differs significantly. The ecosystem health in the centers of Wuhan Metropolis, Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan City Group, and Poyang Lake City Group is significantly lower than in surrounding areas. (2) Temporally, well-level research units improve gradually; research units with relatively weak levels remain relatively stable. (3) The land use degree is the main factor affecting ecosystem health, with interactions between the different factors. The effects of these factors on ecosystem health are enhanced or nonlinear; (4) The effect of the proportion of construction land on ecosystem health increases over time. The layout used in urban land use planning significantly affects ecosystem health.