Research on the Resilience Assessment of Rural Landscapes in the Context of Karst Rocky Desertification Control: A Case Study of Fanhua Village in Guizhou Province
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 3)
Manuscript id: forests-2256223
Title: Research on the resilience assessment of rural landscapes in the context of karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province
Comments: The author adequately addressed all of the reviewer's queries. The reviewers' suggestions led to a significant improvement in the revised manuscript. The publication of the manuscript has been approved.
Author Response
Comments to the manuscript by Ying et al.
Responds to the reviewers’ comments
Dear Editor and Reviewer:
Thank you for your letter and for the comments of reviewer concerning our manuscript entitled Research on the resilience assessment of rural landscapes in the context of karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province. Those comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our manuscript, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in gray background in the revised version. The main observations and the responds to the reviewer’s comments are as flowing:
The main observations:
- The language is acceptable but needs revising and correcting.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion about the language. All authors carried out further language correction on the revised version and we invited native English scholars to polish the paper. Pleases don’t hesitate to tell us if you have any further suggestions about the language in the revised vision.
(2) The text has very long paragraphs that must divide into small sections, such as the first paragraph in the introduction.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s constructive suggestion. It is true that first part of the manuscript is too long to friendly for readers. In the revised vision, we narrowed or divided some very long paragraphs. For example, the first paragraph as your mention was divided into three small sections according to the content of each part, three sub-headings are set as: 1.1 Karst rocky desertification in southern China, 1.2 The progress karst rocky desertification control in China, and 1.3 Rural landscape in karst rocky desertification control area, respectively. The original manuscript and the revised content are respectively as follows, and we have also marked in the revised version for your review.
Original manuscript:
- Introduction
The world’s karst landforms are mainly distributed in southern China, central and southern Europe and eastern North America, accounting for 12% of the world's total land area [1]. Karst landforms account for more than 30% of the total land area in China. Karst areas in Southwest China centered on the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau are characterized the most intense karst development and acute human-land conflict, which makes this area as a typical ecologically fragile region [2]. In the 1990s, the researchers of China pointed out the root causes of the rapid expansion of KRD in southern China and its impact on economic development, and suggested control measures and scientific and technological investment strategies, which attracted great attention from all sectors of society and government departments [3]. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the control of karst ecological degradation and KRD. During the 10th Five-Year Plan period, "promoting the comprehensive control of KRD of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan" was listed as a national goal. Since then, the 11th, 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans clearly stated that efforts will continue to be intensified to comprehensively promote the comprehensive KRDC. The world's largest KRD ecological restoration and protection project has been carried out in 300 counties [4], forming a complete set of technical systems with ecological governance technology, biological and engineering management technology [5]. Under the background of the Chinese government's implementation of karst rocky desertification control (KRDC) and ecological civilization construction, China's ecological environment and landscape pattern have undergone significant changes [6,7]. The serious KRD problem in karst areas of Southwest China has been gradually addressed, the degree of KRD has been reduced, and the impact of ecological damage has diminished [8]. The results of China KRD monitoring showed that the area of KRD in Guizhou Province decreased by 8457 km2 in 2016 compared with 2005 [9]. However, due to the regional heterogeneity and differences in the development of KRD, the management methods are also relatively diverse. The comprehensive management model of the fragile ecological environment, ecological agriculture construction model, agroforestry model, poverty alleviation and ecological construction model, returning farmland to forest and forest ecological construction model, nature reserve and forest park model, ecological tourism and scenic area construction and other models have achieved outstanding results [10,11]. In particular, the rich biodiversity and unique geomorphic landscapes in karst areas have high aesthetic, scientific and conservation values [12]. At present, there are 32 national geoparks with karst landscapes as the main or auxiliary land type, accounting for 23.2% of the national geoparks. Among them, Shilin Karst in Yunnan, Libo Karst in Guizhou, Wulong Karst in Chongqing, Guilin Karst in Guangxi, Shibing Karst in Guizhou, Jinfoshan Karst in Chongqing and Huanjiang Karst in Guangxi are nominated as World Natural Heritage Sites, highlighting the global value and importance of the karst landscape in Southwest China [13]. In general, China's KRDC measures have achieved remarkable progress, effectively supporting the sustainable development of Southwest China. However, in vast rural areas, due to the constraints of the karst geological background (overground-underground water and soil dual structure, slow soil formation and shallow and discontinuous soil layer, rapid hydrological process, etc.) and the influence of human-land conflict, there are some problems in the process of KRDC, such as difficulty in consolidating control effects and lack of sustainability [14].The assessment of landscape resilience by identifying the potential risks and system stability ability of the landscape system can not only be used as an effective means to detect the effect of rocky desertification control, but also can be based on the principle of landscape ecology to enhance the ability of the village system in rocky desertification areas to land degradation through the optimization and coordination of landscape patches. It has the potential to be an effective measure to control rocky desertification.
In 2017, the Chinese government put forward the strategy of rural revitalization, with the strategic goals of accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and improving the living environment, introducing a new connotation to rural environmental governance in KRDCA. Rural landscape systems usually refer to the expression of rural ecology, engineering, and social culture in the landscape, which can not only provide a liveable residential environment and activity space for people, but also promote the sustainable and diversified development of rural areas [15]. Villages developed on KRD are extremely vulnerable to the external environment, posing a serious threat to the landscape pattern of rural man-land systems. The practical problem of how to improve rural landscapes in KRDCA based on the consideration of ecological, social, and cultural factors must be urgently addressed. The concept of "resilience" provides a new perspective for the study of the anti-disturbance capacity of rural landscapes in KRDCA. The concept of ecological resilience was first proposed by Canadian ecologist Holling in 1973 and mainly refers to the ability of ecosystems to recover quickly without collapse in the face of disturbance [16]. Later, the idea was gradually introduced into the fields of landscape planning and risk management to identify potential risks and maintain the operational capacity of landscape systems [17-19]. In recent years, due to the impact of global climate change and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, rural vulnerability in KRD areas has become prominent. The concept of resilience, as an important framework for evaluating the anti-disturbance ability of the system, has received widespread attention in the academic community. Currently, research on landscape resilience is gradually increasing, mainly focusing on the connotation and representation of resilient landscapes [20], the maintenance and management of resilient landscapes [21], the relationship between resilient landscapes and climate [22], and the planning and design of resilient landscape cases [23]. Due to the complexity of the influencing factors of landscape resilience, there have been relatively few empirical studies that truly involve the assessment of landscape resilience. The quantitative assessment of resilience in rural area has mainly focused on the dynamic changes in village livelihood and the assessment of individual resilience adaptability but has ignored the role of rural landscape resilience which is an important factor in rural development. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a rural landscape resilience assessment framework for KRDCA and to analyze the systematic adaptation and resilience of human-land landscape systems to the interference of natural disasters in the context of KRDC. To provide strategies for improving the resilience of karst rural landscapes and controlling KRD, this paper systematically analyze the sensitivity characteristics of villages in KRDCA, based on the concept of resilience proposed by the United Nations International Agency for Disaster Reduction [24]. This paper also evaluate the resilience capacity of karst rural landscape elements, construct the analysis framework of rural landscape resilience identification in KRDCA, and select typical karst villages in southern China to carry out empirical research.
Revised content
- Introduction
Introduction
1.1 Karst rocky desertification in southern China
The world’s karst landforms are mainly distributed in southern China, central and southern Europe and eastern North America, accounting for 12% of the world's total land area [1]. Karst landforms account for more than 30% of the total land area in China. Karst areas in Southwest China centered on the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau are characterized the most intense karst development and acute human-land conflict, which makes this area as a typical ecologically fragile region [2]. Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is caused by various factors and considered as a major socio-environmental problem in karst areas, which is a typical ecological degradation process governed by vegetation degradation and succession, surface water and soil erosion, land productivity degradation, and finally shown a desert-like landscape on the ground surface [3,4,5]. The result of KRD in southern China triggers a serious threat to the ecological security and downgrades sustainable economic and social development in this region. In the past 30 years, Chinese government has realized the problems of KRD in southwest China and implemented many ecological projects in karst area to mitigate the severity of rocky desertification [6], such as the project of Grain for Green and Natural Forest Protection.
1.2 The progress karst rocky desertification control in China
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the control of KRD. During the 10th Five-Year Plan period, "promoting the comprehensive control of KRD of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan" was listed as a national goal. Since then, the 11th, 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans clearly stated that efforts will continue to be intensified to comprehensively promote the comprehensive of karst rocky desertification control (KRDC). The world's largest KRD ecological restoration and protection project has been carried out in 300 counties [7], forming a complete set of technical systems with ecological governance technology, biological and engineering management technology [5]. Under the background of the Chinese government's implementation of KRDC and ecological civilization construction, China's ecological environment and landscape pattern have undergone significant changes [8,9,10]. The serious KRD problem in karst areas of Southwest China has been gradually addressed, the degree of KRD has been reduced, and the impact of ecological damage has diminished [11,12,13]. The results of China KRD monitoring showed that the area of KRD in Guizhou Province decreased by 8457 km2 in 2016 compared with 2005 [14]. And the comprehensive management model of the fragile ecological environment, ecological agriculture construction model, agroforestry model, poverty alleviation and ecological construction model, returning farmland to forest and forest ecological construction model, nature reserve and forest park model, ecological tour-ism and scenic area construction and other models have achieved outstanding results in karst areas [15,16]. In particular, the rich biodiversity and unique geomorphic landscapes in karst areas have high aesthetic, scientific and conservation values [17,18]. At present, there are 32 national geoparks with karst landscapes as the main or auxiliary land type, accounting for 23.2% of the national geoparks. Among them, Shilin Karst in Yunnan, Libo Karst in Guizhou, Wulong Karst in Chongqing, Guilin Karst in Guangxi, Shibing Karst in Guizhou, Jinfoshan Karst in Chongqing and Huanjiang Karst in Guangxi are nominated as World Natural Heritage Sites, highlighting the global value and importance of the karst landscape in Southwest China [19,20]. In general, China's KRDC measures have achieved remarkable progress, effectively sup-porting the sustainable development of Southwest China. However, in vast rural areas, due to the constraints of the karst geological background (overground-underground water and soil dual structure, slow soil formation and shallow and discontinuous soil layer, rapid hydrological process, etc.) and the influence of human-land conflict, there are some problems in the process of KRDC, such as difficulty in consolidating control effects and lack of sustainability [21].
1.3 Rural landscape in karst rocky desertification control area
In 2017, the Chinese government put forward the strategy of rural revitalization, with the strategic goals of accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and improving the living environment [22], introducing a new connotation to rural environmental governance in KRDCA. Rural landscape systems usually refer to the expression of rural ecology, engineering, and social culture in the landscape, which can not only provide a livable residential environment and activity space for people, but also promote the sustainable and diversified development of rural areas [23,24]. Villages developed on KRD are extremely vulnerable to the external environment, posing a serious threat to the landscape pattern of rural man-land systems. The practical problem of how to improve rural landscapes in KRDCA based on the consideration of ecological, social, and cultural factors must be urgently addressed. The concept of "resilience", first proposed by Canadian ecologist Holling in 1973 [25], provides a new perspective for the study of the anti-disturbance capacity of rural landscapes in KRDCA. Resilience was early refers to the ability of ecosystems to recover quickly without collapse in the face of disturbance and gradually introduced into the fields of landscape planning and risk management to identify potential risks and maintain the operational capacity of landscape systems [26,27,28]. In recent years, due to the impact of global climate change and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, rural vulnerability in KRD areas has become prominent. The assessment of landscape resilience by identifying the potential risks and system stability ability of the landscape system can not only be used as an effective means to detect the effect of rocky desertification control, but also can be based on the principle of landscape ecology to enhance the ability of the village system in rocky desertification areas to land degradation through the optimization and coordination of landscape patches. It has the potential to be an effective measure to control rocky desertification.
Currently, research on landscape resilience is gradually increasing, mainly focusing on the connotation and representation of resilient landscapes [29], the maintenance and management of resilient landscapes [30,31], the relationship between resilient landscapes and climate [32], and the planning and design of resilient landscape cases [33]. Due to the complexity of the influencing factors of landscape resilience, there have been relatively few empirical studies that truly involve the assessment of landscape resilience. The quantitative assessment of resilience in rural area has mainly focused on the dynamic changes in village livelihood and the assessment of individual resilience adaptability but has ignored the role of rural landscape resilience which is an important factor in rural development. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a rural landscape resilience assessment framework for KRDCA and to analyze the systematic adaptation and resilience of human-land landscape systems to the interference of natural disasters in the context of KRDC. To provide strategies for improving the resilience of karst rural landscapes and controlling KRD, this research constructs the analysis framework of rural landscape resilience identification in KRDCA based on the concept of resilience proposed by the United Nations International Agency for Disaster Reduction [34], and select typical karst villages in southern China to carry out empirical re-search.
(3) In some parts (e.g., Assessment Indicators), the study depended on a few references, so please, add more references, especially in the discussion and introduction. In the result sections, after representing the values of the results, the author's explanation can be evidenced by references.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. In the revised version, we have added a total of 17 references, among them, 10 references have been added in the introduction part and 7 references in the section result and discussion. Here, we list the added references as follows, and we also marked in the revised vision for you review.
Added references:
Yuan, D. X.; Rock desertification in the subtropical karst of south China. Ztschrift Fur Geomorphologie 1997, 108.
Xiong, K.N.; Li, P., Zhou, Z.F., An,Y.,Lyu,T.,Lan, A. Remote Sensing of Karst Rocky Desertification-A Typical Re-search of GIS: Taking Guizhou Province as an Example. Geology Publishing House, Beijing 2002, p.18 in Chinese.
Wang, S.J.; Liu, Q.M.; Zhang, D.F. Karts rocky desertification in south-west China geomorphology, land use, im-pact and rehabil-itation. Land Degrad Dev 2004,15(2),115–121. 10.1002/ldr.592
Tong, X.W.; Wang, K.L.; Yue, Y.M.; Brandt, M.; Liu, B.; Zhang, C.H.; Liao. C.J.; Fensholt, R. Quantifying the effectiveness of ecological restoration projects on long-term vegeta-tion dynamics in the karst regions of Southwest China. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 2017, 54,105-113. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.jag.2016.09.013
Wu, Z.G.; Zhu, D.Y.; Xiong, K.N. Dynamics of landscape ecological quality based on benefit evaluation coupled with the rocky desertification control in South China Karst. Ecological Indicators 2022, 138, 108870. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108870
Tong, X.; Brandt, M.; Yue, Y. Increased vegetation growth and carbon stock in China karst via ecological engineering. Nat Sustain 2018, 1(1), 44–50. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/s41893-017-0004-x
Macias-Fauria M. Satellite images show China going green[J]. Nature, 2018, 553: 411- 413. 10.1038/d41586-018-00996-5
Sya, B.; Cl, A.; Hl, A.; Pw, A.; Xw, A.; Yz, C. Role of the countryside landscapes for sustaining biodiversity in karst areas at a semi centennial scale. Ecological Indicators 2021, 123, 107315. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107315
Wang, L.; Xiao, S. Tourism space reconstruction of a world heritage site based on actor network theory: A case study of the Shibing Karst of the South China Karst World Heritage Site. International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks 2020, 8(2). 10.1016/j.ijgeop.2020.05.005
Liu, Y.S.; Zang, Y.Z.; Yang, Y.Y. China’s rural revitalization and development: theory, technology and management. J. Geogr. Sci 2020, 30 (12), 1923–1942. 10.1007/s11442-020-1819-3
Holmes, G.; Clemoes, J.; Marriot, K.; Jones, S.W. The politics of the rural and relational values: Contested discourses of rural change and landscape futures in west wales. Geoforum 2022, 133, 153-164. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.05.014
Hossain, M.S.; Ramirez, J.A.; Haisch, T.; Speranza, C.I.; Martius, O.; Mayer, H.; Keiler, M. A coupled human and landscape conceptual model of risk and resilience in Swiss Alpine communities. Science of the total environment 2020. 730, 138322. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138322
Xu, G.Y.; Xiong, K.N.; Shu, T.; Shi,Y.J.; Chen, L.S.; Zheng, L.L.; Fan, H.X.; Zhao, Z.M.; Yang, Z.H.Bundling evaluating changes in ecosystem service under karst rocky desertification restoration: projects a case study of Huajiang-Guanling, Guizhou province, Southwest China. Environ Earth Sci 2022, 81(302). https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s12665-022-10400-1
Dong, S.J.; Malecha, M.; Farahmand, H. Integrated infrastructure-plan analysis for resilience enhancement of post-hazards access to critical facilities. Cities, 2021, 117, 103318. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103318
Lambert, S.; Scott, J. International Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies and Indigenous Peoples. International Indigenous Policy Journal 2019, 10(2). 10.18584/iipj.2019.10.2.2
Wu, Z.G., Zhu, D.Y., Xiong, K.N., Wang, X. F. Dynamics of landscape ecological quality based on benefit evaluation coupled with the rocky desertification control in South China Karst. Ecological Indicators 2022, 138, 108870. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108870
Chen, Y.; Tan, Y.; Gruschke, A. Rural vulnerability, migration, and relocation in mountain areas of Western China: An overview of key issues and policy interventions. Chin. J. Popul. Resour. Environ 2021, 19, 110–116. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cjpre.2021.12.012
(4) Tables 1 & 4 were not in the manuscript's text; please add them.
Response: We are very sorry for our careless. We add it in the revised version, and express our appreciate for pointing out our mistake.
(5) When using an abbreviation in the text after the abstract, the first time must be written with the full name, for example, "KRD" in the introduction and "RI in the table 3".
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. We checked carefully all the abbreviations in the revised version to make sure that be used their full names when first appeared.
(6) In the study area, please, add more details about the average climate parameters such as temperature, rain, and humidity in the study regions.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. We add more background information of the study area including some climate parameters as your mentioned in the revised version. For your review, we revised as follows and marked up using the “Track Changes” it on the paper.
The main part of the village is in the southeast to northwest trend of the peak cluster basin, covering an area of about 6 km2, the lithology is mainly dominated by limestone. The climate type of study area is subtropical monsoon climate that characterized by sufficient heat and rain in the summer, the cumulative average annual temperature, average maximum and minimum temperature are 16.2℃, 16.9℃ and 15.4℃, respectively, the annual precipitation is 1205.1 mm, and 81% of average annual humidity.
(7) In the introduction, please, add a paragraph with more explanation and information about the threats on KRD.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. In the revise version, we have added more information about the hazards of KRD in the introduction part. We revised as follows and marked up using the “Track Changes” it on the paper.
Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is caused by various factors and considered as a major socio-environmental problem in karst areas, which is a typical ecological degradation process governed by vegetation degradation and succession, surface water and soil erosion, land productivity degradation, and finally shown a desert like landscape on the ground surface. The result of KRD in southern China triggers a serious threat to the ecological security and downgrades sustainable economic and social development in this region. In the past 30 years, Chinese government has realized the problems of KRD in southwest China and implemented many ecological projects in karst area to mitigate the severity of rocky desertification, such as the project of Grain for Green and Natural Forest Protection.
(8) In the introduction "line 41", "researchers"??, please, determine them or rewrite the sentence.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. We have rewritten this sentence in the revised version.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)
Comments to the manuscript by Ying et al.
This manuscript studied the resilience assessment of rural landscapes in karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province.
The manuscript was written according to the results of hard work according a good idea. It constructed a framework for assessing rural landscape resilience in KRDCA (karst rocky desertification control areas) from the three dimensions of ecology, engineering, and social culture, based on the resilience concept defined by the United Nations International Agency for Disaster Reduction that leads to reduce risks and improve the resilience of landscapes of KRDCA.
The main observations:
(1) The language is acceptable but needs revising and correcting.
(2) The text has very long paragraphs that must divide into small sections, such as the first paragraph in the introduction.
(3) In some parts (e.g., Assessment Indicators), the study depended on a few references, so please, add more references, especially in the discussion and introduction. In the result sections, after representing the values of the results, the author's explanation can be evidenced by references.
(4) Tables 1 & 4 were not in the manuscript's text; please add them.
(5) When using an abbreviation in the text after the abstract, the first time must be written with the full name, for example, "KRD" in the introduction and "RI in the table 3".
(6) In the study area, please, add more details about the average climate parameters such as temperature, rain, and humidity in the study regions.
(7) In the introduction, please, add a paragraph with more explanation and information about the threats on KRD.
(8) In the introduction "line 41", "researchers"??, please, determine them or rewrite the sentence.
Author Response
Comments to the manuscript by Ying et al.
Responds to the reviewers’ comments
Dear Editor and Reviewer:
Thank you for your letter and for the comments of reviewer concerning our manuscript entitled Research on the resilience assessment of rural landscapes in the context of karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province. Those comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our manuscript, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in gray background in the revised version. The main observations and the responds to the reviewer’s comments are as flowing:
The main observations:
- The language is acceptable but needs revising and correcting.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion about the language. All authors carried out further language correction on the revised version and we invited native English scholars to polish the paper. Pleases don’t hesitate to tell us if you have any further suggestions about the language in the revised vision.
(2) The text has very long paragraphs that must divide into small sections, such as the first paragraph in the introduction.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s constructive suggestion. It is true that first part of the manuscript is too long to friendly for readers. In the revised vision, we narrowed or divided some very long paragraphs. For example, the first paragraph as your mention was divided into three small sections according to the content of each part, three sub-headings are set as: 1.1 Karst rocky desertification in southern China, 1.2 The progress karst rocky desertification control in China, and 1.3 Rural landscape in karst rocky desertification control area, respectively. The original manuscript and the revised content are respectively as follows, and we have also marked in the revised version for your review.
Original manuscript:
- Introduction
The world’s karst landforms are mainly distributed in southern China, central and southern Europe and eastern North America, accounting for 12% of the world's total land area [1]. Karst landforms account for more than 30% of the total land area in China. Karst areas in Southwest China centered on the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau are characterized the most intense karst development and acute human-land conflict, which makes this area as a typical ecologically fragile region [2]. In the 1990s, the researchers of China pointed out the root causes of the rapid expansion of KRD in southern China and its impact on economic development, and suggested control measures and scientific and technological investment strategies, which attracted great attention from all sectors of society and government departments [3]. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the control of karst ecological degradation and KRD. During the 10th Five-Year Plan period, "promoting the comprehensive control of KRD of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan" was listed as a national goal. Since then, the 11th, 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans clearly stated that efforts will continue to be intensified to comprehensively promote the comprehensive KRDC. The world's largest KRD ecological restoration and protection project has been carried out in 300 counties [4], forming a complete set of technical systems with ecological governance technology, biological and engineering management technology [5]. Under the background of the Chinese government's implementation of karst rocky desertification control (KRDC) and ecological civilization construction, China's ecological environment and landscape pattern have undergone significant changes [6,7]. The serious KRD problem in karst areas of Southwest China has been gradually addressed, the degree of KRD has been reduced, and the impact of ecological damage has diminished [8]. The results of China KRD monitoring showed that the area of KRD in Guizhou Province decreased by 8457 km2 in 2016 compared with 2005 [9]. However, due to the regional heterogeneity and differences in the development of KRD, the management methods are also relatively diverse. The comprehensive management model of the fragile ecological environment, ecological agriculture construction model, agroforestry model, poverty alleviation and ecological construction model, returning farmland to forest and forest ecological construction model, nature reserve and forest park model, ecological tourism and scenic area construction and other models have achieved outstanding results [10,11]. In particular, the rich biodiversity and unique geomorphic landscapes in karst areas have high aesthetic, scientific and conservation values [12]. At present, there are 32 national geoparks with karst landscapes as the main or auxiliary land type, accounting for 23.2% of the national geoparks. Among them, Shilin Karst in Yunnan, Libo Karst in Guizhou, Wulong Karst in Chongqing, Guilin Karst in Guangxi, Shibing Karst in Guizhou, Jinfoshan Karst in Chongqing and Huanjiang Karst in Guangxi are nominated as World Natural Heritage Sites, highlighting the global value and importance of the karst landscape in Southwest China [13]. In general, China's KRDC measures have achieved remarkable progress, effectively supporting the sustainable development of Southwest China. However, in vast rural areas, due to the constraints of the karst geological background (overground-underground water and soil dual structure, slow soil formation and shallow and discontinuous soil layer, rapid hydrological process, etc.) and the influence of human-land conflict, there are some problems in the process of KRDC, such as difficulty in consolidating control effects and lack of sustainability [14].The assessment of landscape resilience by identifying the potential risks and system stability ability of the landscape system can not only be used as an effective means to detect the effect of rocky desertification control, but also can be based on the principle of landscape ecology to enhance the ability of the village system in rocky desertification areas to land degradation through the optimization and coordination of landscape patches. It has the potential to be an effective measure to control rocky desertification.
In 2017, the Chinese government put forward the strategy of rural revitalization, with the strategic goals of accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and improving the living environment, introducing a new connotation to rural environmental governance in KRDCA. Rural landscape systems usually refer to the expression of rural ecology, engineering, and social culture in the landscape, which can not only provide a liveable residential environment and activity space for people, but also promote the sustainable and diversified development of rural areas [15]. Villages developed on KRD are extremely vulnerable to the external environment, posing a serious threat to the landscape pattern of rural man-land systems. The practical problem of how to improve rural landscapes in KRDCA based on the consideration of ecological, social, and cultural factors must be urgently addressed. The concept of "resilience" provides a new perspective for the study of the anti-disturbance capacity of rural landscapes in KRDCA. The concept of ecological resilience was first proposed by Canadian ecologist Holling in 1973 and mainly refers to the ability of ecosystems to recover quickly without collapse in the face of disturbance [16]. Later, the idea was gradually introduced into the fields of landscape planning and risk management to identify potential risks and maintain the operational capacity of landscape systems [17-19]. In recent years, due to the impact of global climate change and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, rural vulnerability in KRD areas has become prominent. The concept of resilience, as an important framework for evaluating the anti-disturbance ability of the system, has received widespread attention in the academic community. Currently, research on landscape resilience is gradually increasing, mainly focusing on the connotation and representation of resilient landscapes [20], the maintenance and management of resilient landscapes [21], the relationship between resilient landscapes and climate [22], and the planning and design of resilient landscape cases [23]. Due to the complexity of the influencing factors of landscape resilience, there have been relatively few empirical studies that truly involve the assessment of landscape resilience. The quantitative assessment of resilience in rural area has mainly focused on the dynamic changes in village livelihood and the assessment of individual resilience adaptability but has ignored the role of rural landscape resilience which is an important factor in rural development. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a rural landscape resilience assessment framework for KRDCA and to analyze the systematic adaptation and resilience of human-land landscape systems to the interference of natural disasters in the context of KRDC. To provide strategies for improving the resilience of karst rural landscapes and controlling KRD, this paper systematically analyze the sensitivity characteristics of villages in KRDCA, based on the concept of resilience proposed by the United Nations International Agency for Disaster Reduction [24]. This paper also evaluate the resilience capacity of karst rural landscape elements, construct the analysis framework of rural landscape resilience identification in KRDCA, and select typical karst villages in southern China to carry out empirical research.
Revised content
- Introduction
Introduction
1.1 Karst rocky desertification in southern China
The world’s karst landforms are mainly distributed in southern China, central and southern Europe and eastern North America, accounting for 12% of the world's total land area [1]. Karst landforms account for more than 30% of the total land area in China. Karst areas in Southwest China centered on the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau are characterized the most intense karst development and acute human-land conflict, which makes this area as a typical ecologically fragile region [2]. Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is caused by various factors and considered as a major socio-environmental problem in karst areas, which is a typical ecological degradation process governed by vegetation degradation and succession, surface water and soil erosion, land productivity degradation, and finally shown a desert-like landscape on the ground surface [3,4,5]. The result of KRD in southern China triggers a serious threat to the ecological security and downgrades sustainable economic and social development in this region. In the past 30 years, Chinese government has realized the problems of KRD in southwest China and implemented many ecological projects in karst area to mitigate the severity of rocky desertification [6], such as the project of Grain for Green and Natural Forest Protection.
1.2 The progress karst rocky desertification control in China
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the control of KRD. During the 10th Five-Year Plan period, "promoting the comprehensive control of KRD of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan" was listed as a national goal. Since then, the 11th, 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans clearly stated that efforts will continue to be intensified to comprehensively promote the comprehensive of karst rocky desertification control (KRDC). The world's largest KRD ecological restoration and protection project has been carried out in 300 counties [7], forming a complete set of technical systems with ecological governance technology, biological and engineering management technology [5]. Under the background of the Chinese government's implementation of KRDC and ecological civilization construction, China's ecological environment and landscape pattern have undergone significant changes [8,9,10]. The serious KRD problem in karst areas of Southwest China has been gradually addressed, the degree of KRD has been reduced, and the impact of ecological damage has diminished [11,12,13]. The results of China KRD monitoring showed that the area of KRD in Guizhou Province decreased by 8457 km2 in 2016 compared with 2005 [14]. And the comprehensive management model of the fragile ecological environment, ecological agriculture construction model, agroforestry model, poverty alleviation and ecological construction model, returning farmland to forest and forest ecological construction model, nature reserve and forest park model, ecological tour-ism and scenic area construction and other models have achieved outstanding results in karst areas [15,16]. In particular, the rich biodiversity and unique geomorphic landscapes in karst areas have high aesthetic, scientific and conservation values [17,18]. At present, there are 32 national geoparks with karst landscapes as the main or auxiliary land type, accounting for 23.2% of the national geoparks. Among them, Shilin Karst in Yunnan, Libo Karst in Guizhou, Wulong Karst in Chongqing, Guilin Karst in Guangxi, Shibing Karst in Guizhou, Jinfoshan Karst in Chongqing and Huanjiang Karst in Guangxi are nominated as World Natural Heritage Sites, highlighting the global value and importance of the karst landscape in Southwest China [19,20]. In general, China's KRDC measures have achieved remarkable progress, effectively sup-porting the sustainable development of Southwest China. However, in vast rural areas, due to the constraints of the karst geological background (overground-underground water and soil dual structure, slow soil formation and shallow and discontinuous soil layer, rapid hydrological process, etc.) and the influence of human-land conflict, there are some problems in the process of KRDC, such as difficulty in consolidating control effects and lack of sustainability [21].
1.3 Rural landscape in karst rocky desertification control area
In 2017, the Chinese government put forward the strategy of rural revitalization, with the strategic goals of accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and improving the living environment [22], introducing a new connotation to rural environmental governance in KRDCA. Rural landscape systems usually refer to the expression of rural ecology, engineering, and social culture in the landscape, which can not only provide a livable residential environment and activity space for people, but also promote the sustainable and diversified development of rural areas [23,24]. Villages developed on KRD are extremely vulnerable to the external environment, posing a serious threat to the landscape pattern of rural man-land systems. The practical problem of how to improve rural landscapes in KRDCA based on the consideration of ecological, social, and cultural factors must be urgently addressed. The concept of "resilience", first proposed by Canadian ecologist Holling in 1973 [25], provides a new perspective for the study of the anti-disturbance capacity of rural landscapes in KRDCA. Resilience was early refers to the ability of ecosystems to recover quickly without collapse in the face of disturbance and gradually introduced into the fields of landscape planning and risk management to identify potential risks and maintain the operational capacity of landscape systems [26,27,28]. In recent years, due to the impact of global climate change and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, rural vulnerability in KRD areas has become prominent. The assessment of landscape resilience by identifying the potential risks and system stability ability of the landscape system can not only be used as an effective means to detect the effect of rocky desertification control, but also can be based on the principle of landscape ecology to enhance the ability of the village system in rocky desertification areas to land degradation through the optimization and coordination of landscape patches. It has the potential to be an effective measure to control rocky desertification.
Currently, research on landscape resilience is gradually increasing, mainly focusing on the connotation and representation of resilient landscapes [29], the maintenance and management of resilient landscapes [30,31], the relationship between resilient landscapes and climate [32], and the planning and design of resilient landscape cases [33]. Due to the complexity of the influencing factors of landscape resilience, there have been relatively few empirical studies that truly involve the assessment of landscape resilience. The quantitative assessment of resilience in rural area has mainly focused on the dynamic changes in village livelihood and the assessment of individual resilience adaptability but has ignored the role of rural landscape resilience which is an important factor in rural development. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a rural landscape resilience assessment framework for KRDCA and to analyze the systematic adaptation and resilience of human-land landscape systems to the interference of natural disasters in the context of KRDC. To provide strategies for improving the resilience of karst rural landscapes and controlling KRD, this research constructs the analysis framework of rural landscape resilience identification in KRDCA based on the concept of resilience proposed by the United Nations International Agency for Disaster Reduction [34], and select typical karst villages in southern China to carry out empirical re-search.
(3) In some parts (e.g., Assessment Indicators), the study depended on a few references, so please, add more references, especially in the discussion and introduction. In the result sections, after representing the values of the results, the author's explanation can be evidenced by references.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. In the revised version, we have added a total of 17 references, among them, 10 references have been added in the introduction part and 7 references in the section result and discussion. Here, we list the added references as follows, and we also marked in the revised vision for you review.
Added references:
Yuan, D. X.; Rock desertification in the subtropical karst of south China. Ztschrift Fur Geomorphologie 1997, 108.
Xiong, K.N.; Li, P., Zhou, Z.F., An,Y.,Lyu,T.,Lan, A. Remote Sensing of Karst Rocky Desertification-A Typical Re-search of GIS: Taking Guizhou Province as an Example. Geology Publishing House, Beijing 2002, p.18 in Chinese.
Wang, S.J.; Liu, Q.M.; Zhang, D.F. Karts rocky desertification in south-west China geomorphology, land use, im-pact and rehabil-itation. Land Degrad Dev 2004,15(2),115–121. 10.1002/ldr.592
Tong, X.W.; Wang, K.L.; Yue, Y.M.; Brandt, M.; Liu, B.; Zhang, C.H.; Liao. C.J.; Fensholt, R. Quantifying the effectiveness of ecological restoration projects on long-term vegeta-tion dynamics in the karst regions of Southwest China. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 2017, 54,105-113. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.jag.2016.09.013
Wu, Z.G.; Zhu, D.Y.; Xiong, K.N. Dynamics of landscape ecological quality based on benefit evaluation coupled with the rocky desertification control in South China Karst. Ecological Indicators 2022, 138, 108870. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108870
Tong, X.; Brandt, M.; Yue, Y. Increased vegetation growth and carbon stock in China karst via ecological engineering. Nat Sustain 2018, 1(1), 44–50. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/s41893-017-0004-x
Macias-Fauria M. Satellite images show China going green[J]. Nature, 2018, 553: 411- 413. 10.1038/d41586-018-00996-5
Sya, B.; Cl, A.; Hl, A.; Pw, A.; Xw, A.; Yz, C. Role of the countryside landscapes for sustaining biodiversity in karst areas at a semi centennial scale. Ecological Indicators 2021, 123, 107315. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107315
Wang, L.; Xiao, S. Tourism space reconstruction of a world heritage site based on actor network theory: A case study of the Shibing Karst of the South China Karst World Heritage Site. International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks 2020, 8(2). 10.1016/j.ijgeop.2020.05.005
Liu, Y.S.; Zang, Y.Z.; Yang, Y.Y. China’s rural revitalization and development: theory, technology and management. J. Geogr. Sci 2020, 30 (12), 1923–1942. 10.1007/s11442-020-1819-3
Holmes, G.; Clemoes, J.; Marriot, K.; Jones, S.W. The politics of the rural and relational values: Contested discourses of rural change and landscape futures in west wales. Geoforum 2022, 133, 153-164. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.05.014
Hossain, M.S.; Ramirez, J.A.; Haisch, T.; Speranza, C.I.; Martius, O.; Mayer, H.; Keiler, M. A coupled human and landscape conceptual model of risk and resilience in Swiss Alpine communities. Science of the total environment 2020. 730, 138322. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138322
Xu, G.Y.; Xiong, K.N.; Shu, T.; Shi,Y.J.; Chen, L.S.; Zheng, L.L.; Fan, H.X.; Zhao, Z.M.; Yang, Z.H.Bundling evaluating changes in ecosystem service under karst rocky desertification restoration: projects a case study of Huajiang-Guanling, Guizhou province, Southwest China. Environ Earth Sci 2022, 81(302). https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s12665-022-10400-1
Dong, S.J.; Malecha, M.; Farahmand, H. Integrated infrastructure-plan analysis for resilience enhancement of post-hazards access to critical facilities. Cities, 2021, 117, 103318. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103318
Lambert, S.; Scott, J. International Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies and Indigenous Peoples. International Indigenous Policy Journal 2019, 10(2). 10.18584/iipj.2019.10.2.2
Wu, Z.G., Zhu, D.Y., Xiong, K.N., Wang, X. F. Dynamics of landscape ecological quality based on benefit evaluation coupled with the rocky desertification control in South China Karst. Ecological Indicators 2022, 138, 108870. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108870
Chen, Y.; Tan, Y.; Gruschke, A. Rural vulnerability, migration, and relocation in mountain areas of Western China: An overview of key issues and policy interventions. Chin. J. Popul. Resour. Environ 2021, 19, 110–116. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cjpre.2021.12.012
(4) Tables 1 & 4 were not in the manuscript's text; please add them.
Response: We are very sorry for our careless. We add it in the revised version, and express our appreciate for pointing out our mistake.
(5) When using an abbreviation in the text after the abstract, the first time must be written with the full name, for example, "KRD" in the introduction and "RI in the table 3".
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. We checked carefully all the abbreviations in the revised version to make sure that be used their full names when first appeared.
(6) In the study area, please, add more details about the average climate parameters such as temperature, rain, and humidity in the study regions.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. We add more background information of the study area including some climate parameters as your mentioned in the revised version. For your review, we revised as follows and marked up using the “Track Changes” it on the paper.
The main part of the village is in the southeast to northwest trend of the peak cluster basin, covering an area of about 6 km2, the lithology is mainly dominated by limestone. The climate type of study area is subtropical monsoon climate that characterized by sufficient heat and rain in the summer, the cumulative average annual temperature, average maximum and minimum temperature are 16.2℃, 16.9℃ and 15.4℃, respectively, the annual precipitation is 1205.1 mm, and 81% of average annual humidity.
(7) In the introduction, please, add a paragraph with more explanation and information about the threats on KRD.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. In the revise version, we have added more information about the hazards of KRD in the introduction part. We revised as follows and marked up using the “Track Changes” it on the paper.
Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is caused by various factors and considered as a major socio-environmental problem in karst areas, which is a typical ecological degradation process governed by vegetation degradation and succession, surface water and soil erosion, land productivity degradation, and finally shown a desert like landscape on the ground surface. The result of KRD in southern China triggers a serious threat to the ecological security and downgrades sustainable economic and social development in this region. In the past 30 years, Chinese government has realized the problems of KRD in southwest China and implemented many ecological projects in karst area to mitigate the severity of rocky desertification, such as the project of Grain for Green and Natural Forest Protection.
(8) In the introduction "line 41", "researchers"??, please, determine them or rewrite the sentence.
Response: Thanks for reviewer’s suggestion. We have rewritten this sentence in the revised version.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)
"Table 1" was not in the manuscript's text; please add them.
Please, divide the long paragraphs into small sections.
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This article entitled " Research on the resilience assessment of rural landscapes in the context of karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province ", provides an interesting work about the assessment of rural landscape resilience in karst rocky desertification control from three dimensions of ecology, engineering and social culture, based on the resilience concept. The authors claimed that the analysis of the disaster preparedness capacities of rural landscape structures with different vulnerability characteristics can be used as an effective means of evaluating the resilience level of rural landscapes in karst rocky desertification control. And the unstable sociocultural value system reduces the ability of rural landscapes to adapt to disturbance or environmental change. The topic is interesting. The experiment is well done and the writing is good. Some modifications are necessary before the consideration of publication. The suggestions are as following:
1. Line 14-25 in the abstract, past tense should be used when describe the experiment and the results, but the modern tense should be used in Line 28 when describe the conclusions.
2. Still in the abstract, I think it’s better not mix the results and conclusions. We can present the results first and then conclusions.
3. The introduction need to retrench. For example, it is not necessary to talk about the Five-Year Plan too much in Line 47-50 as a consideration of pulication in the international journal; Line 67-73, Line 90-94 etc. they are need to slim down.
4. Usually, the method will follow the introduction. So I don’t understand what the authors arrange the title “2 Assessment Framework for rural Landscape Resilience in Karst Areas Desertification Control Areas in Southern China” in Line 119. Similarly, I think it is not concise.
5. Where is the discussion?
6. The conclusion is also needed to refined.
7. I suggest the authours can focus on exploring the connection between landscape planning and improving rural resilience, put forward practical guidance suggestions for the landscape planning and future development of Fanhua Village combined with the research conclusions. On the other side, readers of this journal focus on the study of forest ecology, so I suggest the authours can add some forest-related content.
8. Also, the authors should pay attention to the use and format of some punctuation marks and spaces. The format should be adjusted in strict accordance with the requirements of the journal submission template.
Reviewer 2 Report
KRDCA, as one of the most important social-ecological fragile areas in the world, rural landscapes in the world, show strong sensitivity to disturbance. It is very interesting to assess the rural landscape resilience for ecological and economical sustainability. But there are some issues need further improvement, such as the method description is unclear, the structure of some sections.
1. Lines115, what is the disaster preparedness capacity
2. Lines78-79, the importance of the resilience assessments should be pointed out to be related to these problems in the process of KRDC.
3. Lines106-108, what the rural landscape resilience should focus on?? And why it is important??
4. Lines172-173, why choose the rural ecosystem, engineering facility system and social and cultural system to represent the landscape resilience in KRDCA.？？
5. It seemed that the sentences in Lines179-180 is duplicated with those in lines165-167.
6. In the section of 2.2，the third and fourth paragraphs were suggested to reverse their positions.
7. The section of 2.1, Landscape Characteristics of Karst Areas in Southern China is not necessary, and the section can be changes as study area，and move Lines205-225 there.
8. Lines 235-237, although the authors pointed out the quantitative indicators and were the qualitative indicators are evaluated by on-site data collection along with local statistical data, and villagers' interview respectively, but more detailed information should be provided.
9. Lines 341, the comparison scale is the same as aij?? Is the same with the direct influence degree???
10. Lines 350-353， it is not clear how the indirect influence calculate. N in eq. (4) is the same with N in eq.6?? what does K mean??and why use the power exponent of K?
11. It is very easy to confuse the impact degree and influence degree, they have the same literal meaning. I think it is the impact of one element on the other elements in step 4, while it is the impact from the other elements in step5.maybe, you can use output impact and input impacts, or some other words.in eqs8 and 10, how to calculate tij ?
12. How to calculate the weight of the first and second level index such as wi , uij ,Yi and Xij, ,are they calculate by DEMATEL method??
13. Lines 494-495, it seemed that the disaster preparedness and vulnerability scores of the landscape are the sum of the ecological, engineering and sociocultural system, it is better to add a column to summarize the total resilience assessment. Moreover, the row of RI, you can calculate the RI of each system.
14. The section of conclusion was suggested to change as discussion and conclusion. And More discussions about the main conclusion are suggested.
Reviewer 3 Report
Manuscript ID: forests-2192238
Title: Research on the resilience assessment of rural landscapes in the context of karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province
Reviewer’s Review Comments to Author: KRDCA is one of the world's most important social-ecological fragile areas, although rural landscapes in KRDCA remain very sensitive to disturbance. Authors perform research to build a framework for assessing rural landscape resilience from ecology, engineering, and social culture to reduce risks and improve landscape resilience. However, a few minor adjustments could be done to improve the general quality of this manuscript. These are listed below.
Originality: 1. The entitled research paper is novel. This may be useful for the particular location and it is suitable for this journal.
Scientific Quality: Research on the resilience evaluation of rural landscapes in the context of karst rocky desertification control: a case study of Fanhua village in Guizhou Province is a well-organized, scientific, and easily understandable piece of work.
Relevance to the Field(s) of this Journal: The article is relevant to this journal as the aim and scopes have been matched.
General Comment: The writers' dedication to their craft is greatly appreciated. This work is innovative and does a nice job of explaining the data that was collected. Although the methodology is sound, the introduction, analysis, and commentary could use more substantial data. Grammar errors must be fixed by authors. The authors should read their work at least once before submitting it.
Abstract and Keywords: The structure of the manuscript is sound.
Introduction: The word "We" should be avoided by authors. It is advised that authors rewrite any "we"-containing statements.
Literature Review: Authors should focus on this area, and it is encouraged to cite a few more recent works linked to the core issue to enrich your study if possible.
Materials and methods: It is advised that authors separate the study region into this section and state the spatial coverage in Square Kilometers.
Making a flowchart of the full technique is advised for authors.
Results: Authors should separate results and discussion. In this regard, you may see the following link:
https://0-www-mdpi-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/journal/forests/instructions
Discussions: _______________
Conclusions: Everything appears to be fine.
References / Bibliography: It appears like everything is in order.
Figures: Fig. 1 should be improved.
Tables: All fine.
Others: Nothing More
Reviewer’s Decision Comment: Before the ultimate acceptance, a few changes are required.
Best wishes
Reviewer 4 Report
The paper has a reasonable structure, rigorous logic and strong innovation. The professional theoretical knowledge is sorted out completely and fully, the elasticity evaluation framework constructed in this research is rigorous and proper, and the data acquisition and processing methods are scientific and reasonable. The conclusions obtained are of high practical significance and academic value. But generally speaking, your paper still has the following issues:
1. The use and format of some punctuation marks and Spaces are not standard, and the paper format should be adjusted in strict accordance with the requirements of the journal submission template.
2. The English description of some contents in the article is not clear or ambiguous, which can be improved by professional institutions' English language polishing service.
Such as: “...Under the similar vulnerability status, the disaster preparedness capacity of village landscapes to natural disasters is a key factor determining the resilience level of rural landscapes.”
3. Attention should be paid to whether the information expression in the picture is clear. We noticed that in Figure 1, the location marking of the case site and the name of the village are blocked. It is suggested to fine-tune the picture while ensuring the correct information.
4. Whether there is a certain correlation between the evaluation results of Fanhua Village and the description of landscape characteristics of Fanhua Village in the last two paragraphs, we can consider whether the two paragraphs can be combined.
“The study results indicated that the rural landscape resilience of Fanhua village was higher from the three dimensions of ecology, engineering and social culture. Specifically, the scores for ecological resilience, engineering resilience and sociocultural resilience, which constitute the rural landscape resilience of Fanhua village, were 2.08, 1.24 and 0.88, respectively...”
“Through the analysis of the rural landscape resilience of Fanhua village, we found that most villages in typical KRDCA in Guizhou Province have developed a unique system in terms of economy and culture, which has allowed a large number of traditional villages and local culture to be well preserved...”
5. The opinions on the improvement of landscape elasticity of the evaluation results can be numbered and listed one by one to make the order clearer.
Such as: “...The vulnerability of the engineering system of Fanhua village can be reduced by further planning the location and number of firefighting facilities in the village, checking whether they can be used normally on time, repairing buildings or facilities with cultural heritage, and dismantling abandoned buildings without cultural value.”
6. Some more relative references should be added in the section of Introduction and Discussion.
The dominant driving factors of rocky desertification and their variations in typical mountainous karst areas of Southwest China in the context of global change
A novel remote sensing monitoring index of salinization based on three dimensional feature space model and its application in the Yellow River Delta
Quantitative distinction of the relative actions of climate change and human activities on vegetation evolution in the Yellow River Basin of China during 1981–2019
Furthermore, we suggest that you can focus more on exploring the connection between landscape planning and improving rural resilience in the following research, and put forward feasible guidance and suggestions for landscape planning and future development of karst regions on the background of karst rocky desertification control based on the research conclusions of current research.
Please revise and improve according to the review comments. I wish everything goes well!
