Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity of Rural Habitat Level Evolution and Its Influencing Factors—A Case Study of Rural Villages in Nature a Reserve of China

Abstract

Taking China’s Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve as an example, entropy, hierarchical analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis methods were combined with geographically and temporally weighted regression to construct an evaluation index system of a rural habitat environment. The spatiotemporal characteristics of the evolution of the rural habitat environment in the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve from 2000 to 2020 were revealed, and the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of factors affecting the evolution of the rural habitat environment in the Qilian Mountains were analyzed. The results show that during the research period, the rural habitat environment of the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve obviously improved. The advantaged areas, such as Liangzhou and Shandan, are located mainly on flat terrain, with perfect supporting resources and convenient transportation. The disadvantaged areas, such as Qilian and Menyuan, are concentrated in the mountainous areas with poor natural conditions and inconvenient transportation. The rural habitat in the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve shows an obvious positive spatial correlation, and areas with similar habitat are adjacent to each other. From 2000 to 2015, the high–high agglomeration area was located in Liangzhou, and the low–low agglomeration area was located in Menyuan. The rural habitat environment in the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve is influenced by the average temperature, investment in fixed assets, the proportion of secondary and tertiary industries, PM2.5 concentration and CO2 emissions. The influence of various factors on the rural habitat showed obvious spatial and temporal heterogeneity. In rural revitalization, it is necessary to allocate resources to local conditions to promote the continuous improvement of the rural habitat environment in nature reserves.

Can Ecological Governance Policies Promote High-Quality Economic Growth? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China

“…Based on the test results in the first and second steps, the third step explores whether the policy indirectly promotes ecological improvement at the scale of agricultural production per unit of land and government tax revenue. The estimation results of models ( 5) and (6) show that the selected mediating variables are all partially mediated, and both are consistent with theoretical expectations. The negative lntax coefficients in model ( 6) may be because the ecological treatment policy closes some higher-polluting enterprises, or the local government provides tax relief for the transformation of high-polluting enterprises, resulting in a decline in local tax revenue in the short term.…”

“…The regression results of model (5) show that the coefficient of the interaction term (DID × gspend) is significantly positive, indicating that the degree of municipal government intervention in the economy can directly affect urban residents; i.e., the ecological governance policy directly improves the business environment and rationalizes the economic structure of the city, and urban residents are the direct beneficiaries. The regression results of model (6) show that the coefficient of the interaction term (DID × gspend) is positive and insignificant, verifying the conclusions of models ( 3) and ( 4): the higher the degree of municipal government intervention in the economy, the less effective the policy implementation in ecological governance at the village level. Regarding the policy spillover effect, it can be observed in model (7) of Table 5 that the coefficient of DID is positive at the 10% significance level and is relatively small at 5.4% from the economic significance level, indicating that there is a significant but not a strong positive spillover effect from the policy.…”

“…It has been observed that ecologically distressed regions not only result from ecological environment deterioration but also face many problems such as economic transformation, e.g., unbalanced economic and social development, insufficient endogenous power, weak economic foundation, and unsound ecological-value conversion mechanisms [5]. Wang et al (2003) [6] observed that ecological governance not only improves the regional ecological environment but also accumulates ecological resources that are necessary for regional development. In particular, ecological governance increases the fertility of land resources within an area.…”

Progress in the Research of Features and Characteristics of Mountainous Rural Settlements: Distribution, Issues, and Trends

“…Due to the unique mountainous terrain, the ecosystems of rural settlements are relatively fragile, making them more susceptible to external disturbances and degradation. Wang, Y. et al point out that spatial planning for mountainous rural settlements plays a critical role in ensuring the harmonious development of mountain ecosystems and human activities [106]. Liu, L. et al found that cultivated land, grassland, and forest are the primary influencing factors in the evolution of rural settlements, and the interactions between mountainous and aquatic environments, aquatic facilities, agricultural production, and cultural heritage collectively shape the living environment of mountainous rural settlements [28].…”