Special Issue "Land Cover/Land-Use Changes Impacts on Ecosystem"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yang Gao
E-Mail Website
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
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The College of Environment and Planning of Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Interests: land use and land cover change; ecosystem services
Prof. Dr. Zhe Feng
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
Interests: land use and land cover change; ecosystem services; land management

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

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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 1900 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

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

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Land Use Dynamics and Optimization from 2000 to 2020 in East Guangdong Province, China
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3473; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063473 - 21 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 724
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 [...] Read more.
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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Article
Coupling and Coordination Level of the Population, Land, Economy, Ecology and Society in the Process of Urbanization: Measurement and Spatial Differentiation
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3171; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063171 - 13 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 605
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, [...] Read more.
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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Article
Does Economic Agglomeration Lead to Efficient Rural to Urban Land Conversion? An Examination of China’s Metropolitan Area Development Strategy
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2002; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042002 - 12 Feb 2021
Viewed by 618
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 [...] Read more.
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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