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Land
Special Issues
Human–Land Coupling in Watersheds and Sustainable Development
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Human–Land Coupling in Watersheds and Sustainable Development

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1544

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wei Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Land Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Interests: land-use cover change; ecosystem services; landscape ecology; regional development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Guoqian Chen

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanics, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Interests: systems ecology; computational fluid dynamics; ecological economics; environmental hydrodynamics; energy and water resources; climate change thermodynamics; environmental modeling and informatics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global climate change is becoming increasingly evident, and regions are facing multiple pressures such as ecological degradation, vulnerability and increased risks, as well as economic development. The contradiction between humans and the environment is prominent, and there is an urgent need to explore the dynamic coupling mechanism between humans and the environment, coordinate ecological protection and economic and social development and form the concept of a ‘community of life’. The coupling of humans and land in watersheds and sustainable development has become a research focus in many interdisciplinary fields such as urban and rural planning, geography, resource management, ecology and environmental science.

The journal of Land takes ‘Sustainable Use of Land Resources’ as its core research objective, with key research directions including land system science, water-energy-food nexus, ecosystem services, sustainability, etc. The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to provide insights into ‘Human–Land Coupling in Watersheds and Sustainable Development’ as its theme describes, which contribute innovations of interdisciplinary methodologies and new methods and technologies. 

This Special Issue welcomes manuscripts that link themes including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Mechanism and model construction: Analyzing the human–environment coupling mechanism, developing a scientific framework and coupling model for watershed human settlements system
  • Resource collaborative management: Optimization strategies for water food energy linkages
  • Sustainable development paths such as regional optimization schemes based on supply and demand perspectives
  • Policy and practice innovation: Local adaptation strategies for integrated watershed management

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Wei Wu
Prof. Dr. Guoqian Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • human–land coupling
  • sustainable development/sustainable development goals
  • analysis of coupling mechanism/big data/machine deep-learning
  • governance/strategies/policies/development path
  • region/scales

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3449 KB  
Article
Integrating Sentinel-2 Land-Cover Classification with Peatland GHG Assessment in Latvia
by Maksims Feofilovs, Linda Gulbe-Viluma, Andrei Grishanov, Ilze Barga, Amrutha Rajamani, Nidhiben Patel, Claudio Rochas and Francesco Romagnoli
Land 2026, 15(5), 766; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050766 - 30 Apr 2026
Viewed by 195
Abstract
Draining peatlands for peat extraction converts them into significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantifying GHG emissions at the regional scale remains challenging because direct field measurements are spatially limited, while GHG accounting for land-use planning requires spatially explicit information. Building on [...] Read more.
Draining peatlands for peat extraction converts them into significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantifying GHG emissions at the regional scale remains challenging because direct field measurements are spatially limited, while GHG accounting for land-use planning requires spatially explicit information. Building on the advances in remote sensing (RS) as a scalable low-cost emission accounting tool for large areas, this study presents a proof-of-concept workflow that integrates satellite-based land-cover classification with an emission-factor (EF) approach to support spatial upscaling of peatland GHG estimates. Using Sentinel-2 imagery and a supervised Random Forest classifier, peatland-related land-cover classes were mapped for selected sites in Latvia. The classification results show higher accuracy for spectrally distinct classes such as raised bogs and active peat-extraction areas, while more heterogeneous classes exhibited lower performance. The study provides an overview of how to utilize the RS approach to generate accurate land-cover maps, which can be used to upscale GHG estimation in Latvia when field data is limited. The study does not include calibration against site-level flux measurements, uncertainty propagation, or temporal variability analysis; therefore, the emission results are illustrative and consistent with current EF-based inventory practice rather than validated site-specific fluxes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Land Coupling in Watersheds and Sustainable Development)
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26 pages, 7848 KB  
Article
Integrating DPSIR and Ecology-Production-Life Space Frameworks for Assessing Multi-Basin Water Ecological Security in Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang, China
by Junjie Liu, Yujiao Xu, Yao Wang, Wanqing Zhao, Xiaoyu Ding, Mengtian Qin and Ziyi Wang
Land 2026, 15(3), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030392 - 28 Feb 2026
Viewed by 390
Abstract
Against global ecological and environmental challenges, water ecological security in arid desert regions is of great significance to regional ecological balance and socio-economic development. This study focuses on the Kashgar Prefecture, specifically the Yarkant River Basin and Kashigaer River Basin, in Xinjiang, China. [...] Read more.
Against global ecological and environmental challenges, water ecological security in arid desert regions is of great significance to regional ecological balance and socio-economic development. This study focuses on the Kashgar Prefecture, specifically the Yarkant River Basin and Kashigaer River Basin, in Xinjiang, China. Employing the perspective of the “Ecology-production-life Space” and the Drive-Pressure-Status-Influence-Respond (DPSIR) model, this study utilizes the objective entropy value method to construct a comprehensive evaluation index system to assess the status of water ecological security and its spatial security in the three regions from 2012 to 2019. The results show that the two major river basins and Kashgar Prefecture present an underbalanced state of production-led ecology, and life space lagging in the Ecology-production-life Space, with different trends and substantial fluctuations in the comprehensive indices of ecology, production, and life of the three. From the DPSIR model, the changes in the indices of the dimensions of the three are complicated, and the response indices are generally low. The composite indices of the two basins and the Kashgar Prefecture are in fair condition, which is affected by the synergistic influence of human activities and natural factors. The production pressure threatens the safety of water ecology, while the ecological protection has a certain degree of effectiveness, but still needs to be improved overall. The rate of improvement is slow due to the limitations of production-led and ecological lag in the future, although there is an upward trend. This study establishes a coupled, complementary assessment framework integrating spatial patterns and causal chains. It validates an evaluation model applicable to discontinuous multi-basin networks in an arid desert region, revealing the evolution patterns and core contradictions of water ecological security in arid multi-basin areas. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis and data support for the study of water ecological security in arid desert multi-basin watersheds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Land Coupling in Watersheds and Sustainable Development)
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29 pages, 9732 KB  
Article
Socio-Ecological Coupling and Multifunctional Spatial Differentiation in Watershed Rural Systems: Toward Coordinated Development
by Yanjun Meng, Hui Zhai, Yuhong Xu, Bak Koon Teoh and Robert Lee Kong Tiong
Land 2026, 15(1), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010194 - 21 Jan 2026
Viewed by 536
Abstract
Socio-ecological systems in basin regions characterized by diverse cultural traditions and hierarchical village spatial structure are undergoing profound transformation driven by multifunctional demands and spatial restructuring. This study develops an analytical framework encompassing economic production, socio-cultural functions, and ecological potential to examine the [...] Read more.
Socio-ecological systems in basin regions characterized by diverse cultural traditions and hierarchical village spatial structure are undergoing profound transformation driven by multifunctional demands and spatial restructuring. This study develops an analytical framework encompassing economic production, socio-cultural functions, and ecological potential to examine the spatial differentiation and socio-ecological coupling mechanisms within the Yilong Lake Basin, Yunnan Province. Through the entropy weighting method and a coupling coordination model, the framework evaluates the “lake–mountain–village” gradient of spatial differentiation. The results indicate that: (1) the overall coordination level of multifunctional systems in the region remains relatively low, exhibiting a decreasing trend from lakeshore to the mountain periphery; (2) village-level dependencies of spatial functions can be summarized into three coupling categories—associated with institutional embedding, self-organization, and value mismatch—revealing distinct socio-ecological interaction patterns; and (3) three coupling categories correspond to three differentiated governance pathways, namely coupling optimization, functional transition, and conflict mitigation. The study advances theoretical and methodological insights into the spatial differentiation and evolution of complex village systems, highlighting the nonlinear coexistence of interdependence and constraint among economic, social, and ecological functions. It further provides practical guidance for coordinated governance and sustainable spatial planning in similar rural and basin environments worldwide. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human–Land Coupling in Watersheds and Sustainable Development)
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