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Decoupling of Land Use Intensity and Ecological Environment in Gansu Province, China

Author

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  • Yanjie Zhang

    (Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    College of Tourism and Urban-Rural Planning, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China)

  • Wei Song

    (Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

  • Shun Fu

    (College of management science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China)

  • Dazhi Yang

    (Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

Abstract

Land is the carrier of the production and living activities of human society and the basis of survival and development of all living organisms. With the continuous development of the social economy, the unreasonable use of land is becoming more and more serious, aggravating the deterioration of the ecological environment. Most studies in this field have mainly focused on land use changes and the corresponding impacts on the ecological environment, but relatively few studies have delinked the relationship between land use intensity and the ecological environment. Based on data on these two factors for Gansu Province from 1998 to 2017, we used the Tapio decoupling model to evaluate the decoupling relationship between land use intensity and ecological environment. From 1998 to 2017, the comprehensive land use intensity in Gansu province increased by 107.77%, and the comprehensive ecological environment index increased by 63.76%. In general, the relationship between land use intensity and ecological environment experienced five states, namely weak decoupling, strong negative decoupling, strong decoupling, expansive negative decoupling, and declining decoupling. During 1999–2013 and 2013–2016, land use intensity and ecological environment had decoupled, and the main reasons were as follows: (1) The Chinese government introduced a series of farmland protection policies and measures, controlled the area of newly added construction land, and reduced urban land expansion; (2) ecological restoration projects for mountains, forests, fields, lakes, and grassland strengthened the environmental protection in Gansu Province; and (3) in the process of economic development, the increased investment of technology and capital improved the land use efficiency, finally realizing the “double growth” of land use intensity and environmental quality. Based on these results, land use intensity and environmental quality are not necessarily contradictory, and a moderate improvement of land use efficiency and environmental protection can probably result in increased land use intensity and higher environmental quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanjie Zhang & Wei Song & Shun Fu & Dazhi Yang, 2020. "Decoupling of Land Use Intensity and Ecological Environment in Gansu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2779-:d:339947
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Eva Litavcová & Jana Chovancová, 2021. "Economic Development, CO 2 Emissions and Energy Use Nexus-Evidence from the Danube Region Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, May.
    3. Xueru Zhang & Wei Song & Jingtao Wang & Bo Wen & Dazhi Yang & Shiliang Jiang & Yanbin Wu, 2020. "Analysis on Decoupling between Urbanization Level and Urbanization Quality in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Hui Yang & Liang Zheng & Ying Wang & Jiangfeng Li & Bowen Zhang & Yuzhe Bi, 2022. "Quantifying the Relationship between Land Use Intensity and Ecosystem Services’ Value in the Hanjiang River Basin: A Case Study of the Hubei Section," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-22, September.
    5. Shunqian Gao & Liu Yang & Hongzan Jiao, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Analysis of the Effects of Human Activities on Habitat Quality: A Case Study of Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Ziyang Wang & Peiji Shi & Xuebin Zhang & Huali Tong & Weiping Zhang & Yue Liu, 2021. "Research on Landscape Pattern Construction and Ecological Restoration of Jiuquan City Based on Ecological Security Evaluation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    7. Min Shang & Ji Luo, 2021. "The Tapio Decoupling Principle and Key Strategies for Changing Factors of Chinese Urban Carbon Footprint Based on Cloud Computing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.

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