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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 18980

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yang Gao

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Guest Editor

College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: land use and land cover change; ecosystem services; landscape ecology

Prof. Dr. Wenbo Zhu

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Guest Editor

The College of Environment and Planning of Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Interests: land use and land cover change; ecosystem services

Dr. Zhe Feng

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Guest Editor

School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Interests: ecosystem service; landscape ecology; land resources management; land policy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The relationship between humans and nature is the core issue of sustainable development. Land use is the most intuitive embodiment of human activities on the ecosystem. During the past 40 years, more than 50% of the loss of biodiversity is due to land-use change and habitat loss on our planet. Protecting land, ecosystems, and biodiversity need to be taken more seriously in order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In order to systematically discuss related research progress and thinking, this Special Issue is dedicated to integrating the knowledge and methodology in land use and land cover changes, as well as their impact on the ecosytem, in order to recognize and explore the factors, mechanisms, and pathways that can better promote and implement sustainable development.

The Special Issue will include, but not be limited to, the following:

Factors, mechanisms, and pathways in land use patteran optimization in order to achieve sustainable development;

Theoretical and practical research based on the framework of land use and land cover changes, and its impact on ecosystems;

Human behaviors and land use adaption to climate change, disturbances, and uncertainties in the future;

The relationship between land spatial planning and sustainable development goals;

Integrated frameworks and methods to address human and nature coupling;

Case studies focusing on urban land use and sustainability integrated the ecosystem services and ecological security are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Yang Gao
Prof. Dr. Wenbo Zhu
Prof. Dr. Zhe Feng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

land use and land cover change
ecosystem services
sustainability
human and nature coupling

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Multi-Scenario Simulation and Optimization of Land Use with a Markov–FLUS Coupling Model: A Case Study in Xiong’an New Area, China

by Jingeng Huo, Zhenqin Shi, Wenbo Zhu, Hua Xue and Xin Chen

Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2425; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14042425 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3368

Abstract

Multi-scenario simulation and pattern optimization of land use plays a role in improving regional functionality and balancing anthropogenic and natural environments. The simulation of future land use can provide a reference to demark the regional urban development boundary and identify spaces for ecological protection and agricultural development. Policy makers can use the simulated dynamic process to identify problems in the current trend of regional land use change. On the basis of land use data for Xiong’an New Area, China in 2010, 2015, and 2020, this paper established four scenarios to meet the planning requirements for this region: comprehensive evolution, protection of basic farmland, control of construction land, and prioritization of ecological protection. We used an optimized Markov–FLUS coupling model to simulate future land use changes. We found that the land suitability probability in the four scenarios successfully calculated the effect of land expansion in Xiong’an New Area. In 2010–2015 and 2015–2020, the overall accuracy was 0.9827 and 0.8805, respectively, and Kappa was 0.9675 and 0.7892, respectively. In 2035, the simulation results from the four scenarios and the eight land types were significantly different. Construction land, water area, wetland, and woodland increased by approximately 380%, 178%, 137%, and 3224%, respectively, while dry land and rural land decreased by approximately 55% and 43%, respectively. The multi-scenario simulation results were able to couple production, living, and ecological needs to optimize the spatial pattern and resource allocation in Xiong’an New Area. The scenarios provide new strategies to control population growth, permanently protect essential farmland, and restrict urban development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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18 pages, 6227 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Land Use, Landform, and Soil Management as Determinants of Soil Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Abundance of Lower Brahmaputra Valley, India

by Surabhi Hota, Vidyanand Mishra, Krishna Kumar Mourya, Krishna Giri, Dinesh Kumar, Prakash Kumar Jha, Uday Shankar Saikia, P. V. Vara Prasad and Sanjay Kumar Ray

Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2241; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14042241 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1925

Abstract

Due to the shifting course of the Brahmaputra River, the fluvial landforms of the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, India, are prone to changes in landform and land use. For sustainable soil management under such conditions, it is crucial to have information about soil physicochemical and biological properties for different land uses. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the soil physicochemical properties and soil microbial population across five major land uses under different landforms, such as paddy fields, banana systems, and arecanut cultivations in the alluvial plains; and rubber plantations and sal forests in the uplands, with varying slope gradients and soil depths (0–25 cm and 25–50 cm) in the lower Brahmaputra Valley. The results of the analysis of variance revealed that the effects of different landforms and land uses were found to be statistically significant on very labile soil organic carbon (VLSOC), available K, B, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu, and soil moisture content across two different soil depths. Paddy cultivated systems recorded the highest (1.23%) soil organic carbon (SOC), but these levels were statistically at par with other land use scenarios except for banana systems; whereas, forests and rubber plantations showed the highest VLSOC (0.38% and 0.34%, respectively,) and were significantly different from other land use scenarios. All soil microbial populations (bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes) studied varied significantly in different land uses across varying soil depths. Perennial land uses under arecanut, rubber, and forest cultivations showed significantly higher microbial populations than paddy and banana systems. The principal component analysis (PCA) identified SOC, VLSOC, Cu, K, B, P, and the bacteria count as the major soil quality parameters of the study area. The results showed that landforms, land use, and management practices collectively affect soil properties. Therefore, soil management choices should take into consideration the landforms and land use for maintaining soil health and its sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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18 pages, 6458 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Analysis of Changes in Land Use/Land Cover and Hydrological Processes Caused by Earthquakes in the Atsuma River Basin in Japan

by Yuechao Chen and Makoto Nakatsugawa

Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13041; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132313041 - 25 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1740

Abstract

The 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake and its landslides threaten the safety and stability of the Atsuma River basin. This study investigates land use and land cover (LULC) change by analyzing the 2015 and 2020 LULC maps of the basin, and its impact on runoff and sediment transport in the basin by using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model to accurately simulate the runoff and sediment transport process. This study finds that the earthquake and landslide transformed nearly 10% of the forest into bare land in the basin. The simulation results showed that the runoff, which was simulated based on the 2020 LULC data, was slightly higher than that based on the 2015 LULC data, and the sediment transport after the earthquake is significantly higher than before. The rate of sediment transportation after the earthquake, adjusted according to the runoff, was about 3.42 times more than before. This shows that as the forest land decreased, the bare land increased. Conversely, the runoff increased slightly, whereas the sediment transport rate increased significantly in the Atsuma River basin after the earthquake. In future, active governance activities performed by humans can reduce the amount of sediment transport in the basin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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15 pages, 38842 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Land Use Change on the Surface Albedo and Climate Change in the Qinling-Daba Mountains

by Fang Zhao, Xincan Lan, Wuyang Li, Wenbo Zhu and Tianqi Li

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10153; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810153 - 10 Sep 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2407

Abstract

Land use changes affect the surface radiative budget and energy balance by changing the surface albedo, which generates radiative forcing, impacting the regional and global climate. To estimate the effect of land use changes on the surface albedo and climate change in a mountainous area with complex terrain, we obtained MODIS data, identified the spatial–temporal characteristics of the surface albedo caused by land use changes, and then calculated the radiative forcing based on solar radiative data and the surface albedo in the Qinling-Daba mountains from 2000 to 2015. The correlation between the land use changes and the radiative forcing was analyzed to explore the climate effects caused by land use changes on a kilometer-grid scale in the Qinling-Daba mountains. Our results show that the primarily land use changes were a decrease in the cultivated land area and an increase in the construction land area, as well as other conversions between six land use types from 2000 to 2015. The land use changes led to significant changes in the surface albedo. Meanwhile, the radiative forcing caused by the land use had different magnitudes, strengths, and occurrence ranges, resulting in both warming and cooling climate change effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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24 pages, 6698 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Land Use Dynamics and Optimization from 2000 to 2020 in East Guangdong Province, China

by Yong Lai, Guangqing Huang, Shengzhong Chen, Shaotao Lin, Wenjun Lin and Jixin Lyu

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3473; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13063473 - 21 Mar 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3224

Abstract

Anthropogenic land-use change is one of the main drivers of global environmental change. China has been on a fast track of land-use change since the Reform and Opening-up policy in 1978. In view of the situation, this study aims to optimize land use and provide a way to effectively coordinate the development and ecological protection in China. We took East Guangdong (EGD), an underdeveloped but populous region, as a case study. We used land-use changes indexes to demonstrate the land-use dynamics in EGD from 2000 to 2020, then identified the hot spots for fast-growing areas of built-up land and simulated land use in 2030 using the future land-use simulation (FLUS) model. The results indicated that the cropland and the built-up land changed in a large proportion during the study period. Then we established the ecological security pattern (ESP) according to the minimal cumulative resistance model (MCRM) based on the natural and socioeconomic factors. Corridors, buffer zones, and the key nodes were extracted by the MCRM to maintain landscape connectivity and key ecological processes of the study area. Moreover, the study showed the way to identify the conflict zones between future built-up land expansion with the corridors and buffer zones, which will be critical areas of consideration for future land-use management. Finally, some relevant policy recommendations are proposed based on the research result. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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19 pages, 2327 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coupling and Coordination Level of the Population, Land, Economy, Ecology and Society in the Process of Urbanization: Measurement and Spatial Differentiation

by Xuesong Sun and Zaisheng Zhang

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3171; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13063171 - 13 Mar 2021

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 2371

Abstract

Coupled and coordinated development is key to improving the level of regional urbanization and sustainable urban development and has important practical significance for solving a series of problems that arise in the process of rapid urbanization. First, from the perspective of system coupling, the development mechanism of the urbanization internal subsystems was deconstructed into five dimensions: population, land, economy, ecology and society. Second, based on data from 2017, the coupling coordination degree of urbanization in 13 cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region was measured using the entropy method and a coupling coordination model. Finally, the spatial differences in the levels of subsystem development, comprehensive development and coupling and coordination development of urbanization were analyzed using spatial analysis tools. The results indicate that there are significant differences in the development indices of urbanization subsystems in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, among which the economic and social development indices have the greatest differences, and the ecological development index has the smallest. The comprehensive urbanization index shows a core–periphery distribution pattern, in which Beijing and Tianjin have the highest values, the cities in middle-southern Hebei Province generally have lower values, and the cities in northern Hebei Province have the lowest values. The coupling coordination level of urbanization in the Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan region and Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, is high, and the difference is small. In contrast, in middle-southern and northern Hebei Province, the coupling coordination degree of urbanization is generally low, and the difference is large. Based on the current situation of urbanization in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, policy suggestions are proposed from the perspectives of strengthening the market mechanism of urbanization, adjusting the regional industrial structure and attaching importance to the coupled and coordinated development of urbanization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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19 pages, 2915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Economic Agglomeration Lead to Efficient Rural to Urban Land Conversion? An Examination of China’s Metropolitan Area Development Strategy

by Ke Huang, Martin Dallimer, Lindsay C. Stringer, Anlu Zhang and Ting Zhang

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2002; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13042002 - 12 Feb 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1855

Abstract

Urbanization involves expansion of the amount of land covered by urban uses. Rural to urban land conversion (RULC) can satisfy demand for the additional space that growing cities require. However, there can be negative consequences, such as the loss of productive agricultural land and/or the destruction of natural habitats. Considerable interest therefore exists among policy makers and researchers regarding how the efficiency of RULC can be maximized. We used the Gini index and a data envelopment analysis to quantify the relationship between RULC and economic development for 17 metropolitan areas in China. We did this from two perspectives: (i) coordination; and (ii) efficiency. We found that economic agglomeration fosters the coordination of the amount of rural land that is allocated to be converted to urban uses. Similarly, economic agglomeration increases the efficiency of RULC in terms of the processes of socio-economic production. Through production technology innovation and readjustment in the scale of input factors, the productive efficiency of RULC can be promoted. Our findings suggest a need to strictly limit the amount of RULC, design differential land management policies according to location and development level, and adjust RULC allocation between different cities. Further, in harnessing the potential of intensive urban land use and restructuring, production factors, including land, can be enhanced through technological innovation. Research presented in this paper provides insights for areas of the world which are yet to undergo the rapid urbanization that China has experienced, but where it is projected to occur over the coming decades. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem)

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