Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances

Balancing economic and social development with ecosystem sustainability has become a key challenge in promoting sustainable regional development, especially in arid inland river zones with limited resources. Using multi-source data and virtual water theory, we assessed the matching of water and land...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cai Ren, Yanyun Wang, Ji Zhang, Yi Xiao, Jiawen Yu, Aihua Long
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Environmental and Sustainability Indicators
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972725002831
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849228364648284160
author Cai Ren
Yanyun Wang
Ji Zhang
Yi Xiao
Jiawen Yu
Aihua Long
author_facet Cai Ren
Yanyun Wang
Ji Zhang
Yi Xiao
Jiawen Yu
Aihua Long
author_sort Cai Ren
collection DOAJ
description Balancing economic and social development with ecosystem sustainability has become a key challenge in promoting sustainable regional development, especially in arid inland river zones with limited resources. Using multi-source data and virtual water theory, we assessed the matching of water and land resources in the inland river zone of Xinjiang, China. The results show that the increase in total oasis area is accompanied by opposite economic and ecosystem trends. Artificial oasis area and economic water use increased, while natural oasis area and ecological water use decreased. The degree of artificial water and land matching shows a spatial pattern of “South Xinjiang > East Xinjiang > North Xinjiang”. The degree of match between natural water and land is “high in the north and south, low in the center”, with “low values clustered and high values dispersed”. We used the coupled coordination degree model to examine the level of coupled economic-ecological coordinated development in Xinjiang's inland river areas from 1990 to 2020, and explored its influencing factors using correlation analysis. We found that the degree of coordination between the economy and ecology increased from 0.42(borderline disorder) to 0.74(moderate coordination), and generally showed an upward trend of coupling. In 2000, the coupling coordination degree was 0.56, which was a critical year for the transition from a state of disorder(coupled coordination degree≤0.5) to a state of coordination(coupled coordination degree>0.5). Increased levels of water use(R2 = 0.3992, P < 0.05) and agricultural inputs(R2 = 0.3998, P < 0.01) can effectively improve the level of coupled coordination. Through dynamic analysis and factor identification, our study provides a fresh perspective on sustainable development practices in Xinjiang in both economic and ecological terms, a case that is equally applicable to other arid regions of the world.
format Article
id doaj-art-4fe7edf7021f4e2eadcf49a8425c77d5
institution Kabale University
issn 2665-9727
language English
publishDate 2025-09-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Environmental and Sustainability Indicators
spelling doaj-art-4fe7edf7021f4e2eadcf49a8425c77d52025-08-23T04:49:09ZengElsevierEnvironmental and Sustainability Indicators2665-97272025-09-012710086210.1016/j.indic.2025.100862Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal DisturbancesCai Ren0Yanyun Wang1Ji Zhang2Yi Xiao3Jiawen Yu4Aihua Long5College of Water Conservancy &amp; Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832000, China; College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, ChinaChina Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100038, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, ChinaCollege of Water Conservancy &amp; Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832000, China; College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, ChinaCollege of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Corresponding author.College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Corresponding author.Balancing economic and social development with ecosystem sustainability has become a key challenge in promoting sustainable regional development, especially in arid inland river zones with limited resources. Using multi-source data and virtual water theory, we assessed the matching of water and land resources in the inland river zone of Xinjiang, China. The results show that the increase in total oasis area is accompanied by opposite economic and ecosystem trends. Artificial oasis area and economic water use increased, while natural oasis area and ecological water use decreased. The degree of artificial water and land matching shows a spatial pattern of “South Xinjiang > East Xinjiang > North Xinjiang”. The degree of match between natural water and land is “high in the north and south, low in the center”, with “low values clustered and high values dispersed”. We used the coupled coordination degree model to examine the level of coupled economic-ecological coordinated development in Xinjiang's inland river areas from 1990 to 2020, and explored its influencing factors using correlation analysis. We found that the degree of coordination between the economy and ecology increased from 0.42(borderline disorder) to 0.74(moderate coordination), and generally showed an upward trend of coupling. In 2000, the coupling coordination degree was 0.56, which was a critical year for the transition from a state of disorder(coupled coordination degree≤0.5) to a state of coordination(coupled coordination degree>0.5). Increased levels of water use(R2 = 0.3992, P < 0.05) and agricultural inputs(R2 = 0.3998, P < 0.01) can effectively improve the level of coupled coordination. Through dynamic analysis and factor identification, our study provides a fresh perspective on sustainable development practices in Xinjiang in both economic and ecological terms, a case that is equally applicable to other arid regions of the world.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972725002831OasisWater footprintEcological water demandCoupling coordination degreeXinjiang inland river area
spellingShingle Cai Ren
Yanyun Wang
Ji Zhang
Yi Xiao
Jiawen Yu
Aihua Long
Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators
Oasis
Water footprint
Ecological water demand
Coupling coordination degree
Xinjiang inland river area
title Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances
title_full Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances
title_fullStr Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances
title_full_unstemmed Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances
title_short Balancing the relationship between anthropogenic-natural water and land resources to address External Shocks and Internal Disturbances
title_sort balancing the relationship between anthropogenic natural water and land resources to address external shocks and internal disturbances
topic Oasis
Water footprint
Ecological water demand
Coupling coordination degree
Xinjiang inland river area
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972725002831
work_keys_str_mv AT cairen balancingtherelationshipbetweenanthropogenicnaturalwaterandlandresourcestoaddressexternalshocksandinternaldisturbances
AT yanyunwang balancingtherelationshipbetweenanthropogenicnaturalwaterandlandresourcestoaddressexternalshocksandinternaldisturbances
AT jizhang balancingtherelationshipbetweenanthropogenicnaturalwaterandlandresourcestoaddressexternalshocksandinternaldisturbances
AT yixiao balancingtherelationshipbetweenanthropogenicnaturalwaterandlandresourcestoaddressexternalshocksandinternaldisturbances
AT jiawenyu balancingtherelationshipbetweenanthropogenicnaturalwaterandlandresourcestoaddressexternalshocksandinternaldisturbances
AT aihualong balancingtherelationshipbetweenanthropogenicnaturalwaterandlandresourcestoaddressexternalshocksandinternaldisturbances