IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2024i1p139-d1554945.html

Sustaining Carbon Storage: An Analysis of Land Use and Conservation Strategies in China’s Huang-Huai-Hai Plain

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaofang Wang

    (College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Weiwei Zhang

    (Henan Provincial Forestry and Ecological Construction and Development Center, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Xinghui Zhao

    (College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Dongfeng Wang

    (Henan Provincial Forestry and Ecological Construction and Development Center, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Yongsheng Li

    (College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

Abstract

The Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, a vital agricultural area in China with a significant amount of arable land, plays a pivotal role in influencing grain production, ecological carbon cycles, and global climate change through its shifts in land use. Within this research, we have employed the ArcGIS tool and the In-VEST-Geodetector-PLUS methodology to scrutinize the shifts in carbon storage from the year 2000 to 2020, determine the pivotal influences behind these shifts, and anticipate the projected carbon storage for 2030. Although there has been a slight increase in forested areas as a result of environmental policies, the conversion of cropland to impervious surfaces due to urbanization has led to a persistent decrease in carbon storage, with a cumulative loss of 272.79 million metric tons over the two decades. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Night-Time Lights (NTL), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and Population (POP) are critical factors impacting carbon storage, reflecting the intricate connection between socio-economic development and natural ecosystems. The multi-scenario simulations for 2030 suggest that the least reduction in carbon storage would occur under the scenario of protecting arable land, while the most significant decrease would be under the urban expansion scenario, highlighting the impact of urbanization. The study’s results emphasize the critical need to harmonize agricultural land conservation with economic progress for the enduring growth of the Huang-Huai-Hai region.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaofang Wang & Weiwei Zhang & Xinghui Zhao & Dongfeng Wang & Yongsheng Li, 2024. "Sustaining Carbon Storage: An Analysis of Land Use and Conservation Strategies in China’s Huang-Huai-Hai Plain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-30, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:139-:d:1554945
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/139/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/139/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jinghang Cai & Hui Chi & Nan Lu & Jin Bian & Hanqing Chen & Junkeng Yu & Suqin Yang, 2024. "Analysis of Spatiotemporal Predictions and Drivers of Carbon Storage in the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration via the PLUS-InVEST-GeoDetector Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Qiao, Renlu & Liu, Xiaochang & Gao, Shuo & Liang, Diling & GesangYangji, Gesang & Xia, Li & Zhou, Shiqi & Ao, Xiang & Jiang, Qingrui & Wu, Zhiqiang, 2024. "Industrialization, urbanization, and innovation: Nonlinear drivers of carbon emissions in Chinese cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Lu & Li, Xin & Liu, Wei & Kang, Xinyu & Zhao, Yifei & Wang, Minxi, 2024. "System dynamics-multiple the objective optimization model for the coordinated development of urban economy-energy-carbon system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    2. Chen, Jianbao & Shen, Jiamin & Ke, Nan, 2025. "Assessing the impact of new energy demonstration city policy on industrial carbon intensity using machine learning," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1690-1707.
    3. Renlu Qiao & Shuo Gao & Xiaochang Liu & Li Xia & Guobin Zhang & Xi Meng & Zhiyu Liu & Mo Wang & Shiqi Zhou & Zhiqiang Wu, 2024. "Understanding the global subnational migration patterns driven by hydrological intrusion exposure," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Qiao, Renlu & Wu, Zhiqiang & Jiang, Qingrui & Liu, Xiaochang & Gao, Shuo & Xia, Li & Yang, Tianren, 2024. "The nonlinear influence of land conveyance on urban carbon emissions: An interpretable ensemble learning-based approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. Cai, Angzu & Guo, Ru & Zhang, Yuhao & Wang, Leyi & Lin, Ruimin & Wu, Haoran & Huang, Runyao & Zhang, Jing & Wu, Jiang, 2025. "Assessing urban carbon health in China's three largest urban agglomerations: Carbon emissions, energy-carbon emission efficiency and carbon sinks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    6. Yilun Cao & Xinwei He & Chang Wang & Yuhao Fang, 2025. "Estimation of Carbon Density in Different Urban Green Spaces: Taking the Beijing Main District as an Example," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-31, January.
    7. Zhang, Qiang & Du, Debin & Yang, Yu & Hu, Senlin & Chen, Yuling & Ding, Junfeng & Xia, Qifan, 2025. "The impact of economic sanctions on traditional and renewable energy interests of target countries: Insights from a global outlook 2002–2022," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    8. Zhou, Fengxiu & Chen, Ming & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2025. "Impact of digital climate governance on carbon neutrality in China: A framework for carbon technological progress," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Tang, Ling & Yu, Hui & Huang, Yan & Ruan, Jianhui & Qin, Ziyu & Wang, Shouyang, 2026. "The synergistic impacts of green finance and the digital economy on urban low-carbon transition: Insights from 293 Chinese cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    10. Mehmood, Jafir & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Wang, Jing & Malik, Muhammad Nasir, 2025. "Unveiling the dynamics of agriculture greenhouse gas emissions: The role of energy consumptions and natural resources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 379(C).
    11. Zia, Hafiz Muhammad Yasir & Yang, Wanping & Masood, Abdullah & Ahmed, Afaf & Aldawsari, Salem Hamad, 2025. "Can money help to achieve the Paris agreement goal? the missing piece of the puzzle: How green monetary policy can bridge the emissions gap," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 494-529.
    12. Liu, Kui & Huang, Tao & Xia, Zheyi & Xia, Xingneng & Wu, Rongrong, 2025. "The impact assessment of low-carbon city pilot policy on urban green innovation: A batch-time heterogeneity perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PB).
    13. Amin, Nabila & Sharif, Arshian & Shabbir, Muhammad Salman & Pan, Yanchun, 2025. "Evaluating the impact of natural resource rents, R&D expenditures, green finance and energy efficiency on carbon emissions in BRICS economies: Greening the path to carbon neutrality in the post-COP 27 era," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Deng, Feng & Wang, Tianhang & Tao, Wanting & Darkwa, Jo & Li, Yilin, 2025. "A LSTM-model based approach for long-term forecasting of high-rise residential building integrated photovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    15. Fayaz Hussain Tunio & Agha Amad Nabi & Rafique Ur Rehman Memon & Tayyab Raza Fraz & Daniela Haluza, 2025. "Sustainability in High-Income Countries: Urbanization, Renewables, and Ecological Footprints," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-22, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:139-:d:1554945. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.