Quantifying Dynamic Coupling Coordination Degree of Human–Environmental Interactions during Urban–Rural Land Transitions of China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I popose to add a the title of the paper "China".

It will be great to give a little more details on China Environment (see 2.1. Stydy area).

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Point 1: I popose to add a the title of the paper "China".

Response 1: Thanks for your suggestion. Revised with the title "Quantifying dynamic coupling coordination degree of human-environmental interactions during urban-rural land transitions of China".

Point 2: It will be great to give a little more details on China Environment (see 2.1. Stydy area).

Response 2: Thanks for your comment. The description of Chinese environment is added.

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper documents trends in land transitions, from rural to urban in China from 2001 to 2018.  While an important area of study, especially for China being such a key case concerning urbanization, the work does need significant improvement.  What I see as the principal issue concerns the methods.  While the equations and so on are presented, I struggle with translating the paper into actual issues with land.  For instance, are we seeing farmland loss?  Is there issues such as desertification?  And what about water? Perhaps those themes are in the study, in the tools, but I do not see a discussion.  As is, the paper is very deep into the using the statistical methodology, using that language, but not adequate in explaining both the meaning of the tools and the implications.  Maybe fixing this would get more into discussing the many dimensions of both rural and urban land use.  Food, tourism, commercial, industrial, residential... discussing these uses of land would, for instance, help make the paper more intelligible.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

Point 1: The paper documents trends in land transitions, from rural to urban in China from 2001 to 2018.  While an important area of study, especially for China being such a key case concerning urbanization, the work does need significant improvement.  What I see as the principal issue concerns the methods.  While the equations and so on are presented, I struggle with translating the paper into actual issues with land.  For instance, are we seeing farmland loss?  Is there issues such as desertification?  And what about water? Perhaps those themes are in the study, in the tools, but I do not see a discussion.  As is, the paper is very deep into the using the statistical methodology, using that language, but not adequate in explaining both the meaning of the tools and the implications.  Maybe fixing this would get more into discussing the many dimensions of both rural and urban land use.  Food, tourism, commercial, industrial, residential... discussing these uses of land would, for instance, help make the paper more intelligible.

Response 1: Thanks for your comment.

This study provides a macroscopic investigation on coupling coordination of human-environmental interactions with land as the carrier. The coupling coordination degree (CCD) model is an important tool for assisting human-environmental interactions, and the paper’s contribution is to make it practical rather than just a formula. Based on multi-source remote sensing data, it gives a novel bottom-up perspective on human-environmental interactions. Previous studies, however,  ignored the impact of urban-rural transfer on the model and results, and simply took urban land as the carrier. Moreover, China is undergoing rapid urban-rural transitions, quantifying dynamic coupling coordination degree of human-environmental interactions during urban-rural land transitions is cretical.

Macroscopically, "Farmland, cultivated land and water" are included in the environmental system, while "food, tourism, commerce, industry and residence" are included in the human system. The this study’s limitation is that it does not consider the function of urban land types and the rural land types that urban land encroaches on. This study is inclined to macro-research and model research. In the future, micro-problems will be further explored, and the usability of the coupling coordination model on local micro-problems may be further enhanced.

Reviewer 3 Report

After multiple checks of the paper, it is found that its content can be considered for publication if the authors address all the following major points:

 

1) The objectives and motivation of the study should be clarified.

2) typo error frequently appear in the manuscript please check carefully. Also space should be given after each number in headings

3) What is focus of the study it is not clear.

4) Give adequate references for all equations.

5) Why CCD model is used and preferred by the authors

6) State the considered assumptions.

7) Enrich the concluding points.

 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 3 Comments

Point 1: The objectives and motivation of the study should be clarified.

Response 1: Thanks for your comment. We revised in the Introduction. This study provides a macroscopic investigation on coupling coordination of human-environmental interactions with land as the carrier. Based on multi-source remote sensing data, it gives a novel bottom-up perspective on human-environmental interactions. Previous studies, however, ignored the impact of urban-rural transfer on the model and results, and simply took urban land as the carrier. Moreover, China is undergoing rapid urban-rural transitions, quantifying dynamic coupling coordination degree of human-environmental interactions during urban-rural land transitions is cretical.

 

Point 2:  typo error frequently appear in the manuscript please check carefully. Also space should be given after each number in headings

Response 2: Thanks for your suggestions. The full text has been checked.

 

Point 3: What is focus of the study it is not clear.

Response 3: Thanks for your revision. This is consistent with response1. We provide a macroscopic investigation on coupling coordination of human-environmental interactions with land as the carrier via multi-source remote sensing data. The coupling coordination degree (CCD) model is an important tool for assisting human-environmental interactions. The contribution of the research is to take into account the actual scene of urban-rural transformation, rather than just the theoretical model.

 

Point 4: Give adequate references for all equations.

Response 4: Thanks for your comments. Formula 1 is the formula we proposed, which is introduced in the section. We added more references to the Formula 2, which is a classic formula quantifying CCD research. Formula 3-4 is a description for the process of Figure 2 , similar to a conceptual formula.

 

Point 5: Why CCD model is used and preferred by the authors

Response 5: Thanks for your comment. The CCD model that reflects the overall efficacy and synergistic influence between systems is used to characterize the developing pattern of systems or indicators from disorder to order. Therefore, this study constructs the CCD model of human activity intensity and regional eco-environment quality.

 

Point 6: State the considered assumptions.

Response 6: Thanks for your valueable suggestion. First of all, the most fundamental assumptions is that land transition of urban to rural is negative to the human-environmental interactions. We support that more natural system is beneficial to human-environmental system. Furthermore, we did not include the specific natural and artificial surface functions, implying that diverse forms of environmental transformations are equivalent. It will be added in the Section 5.3(Future work).

 

Point 7: Enrich the concluding points.

Response 7: Thanks for your comments. It is revised.

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

After reading the authors' comments, I better understand their main points.   Stylistically, I would like more context and description.  Regardless, I see more merit in the paper now, especially with the changes and additions.