Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China

The underlying land surface structure is being reshaped by climate change and human activities, which in turn affects the hydrological processes. However, the patterns and drivers of water and land resources nexus (WLN) in arid inland river basins remain less understood. In this study, we evaluated...

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Main Authors: Lingge Wang, Wei Liu, Qi Feng, Zhenliang Yin, Rui Zhu, Meng Zhu, Jutao Zhang, Yuanyuan Xue, Zexia Chen, Xuejiao Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Environmental and Sustainability Indicators
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972725001230
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author Lingge Wang
Wei Liu
Qi Feng
Zhenliang Yin
Rui Zhu
Meng Zhu
Jutao Zhang
Yuanyuan Xue
Zexia Chen
Xuejiao Li
author_facet Lingge Wang
Wei Liu
Qi Feng
Zhenliang Yin
Rui Zhu
Meng Zhu
Jutao Zhang
Yuanyuan Xue
Zexia Chen
Xuejiao Li
author_sort Lingge Wang
collection DOAJ
description The underlying land surface structure is being reshaped by climate change and human activities, which in turn affects the hydrological processes. However, the patterns and drivers of water and land resources nexus (WLN) in arid inland river basins remain less understood. In this study, we evaluated and predicted water and land resource dynamics by combining the soil quality index function with MCE-CA-Markov and SWAT models. We further constructed the Water-Land Nexus Model (WLNM) for water conservation and consumption zones to quantify responses of WLN to climate and land-use changes in inland river basins. Results showed that the water-land nexus index (WLNI) exhibited decreasing trend from headwaters (water conservation area) to middle and lower reaches (water consumption area). The WLNI decreased in both water conservation and consumption area from 1980 to 2000, with an area-weighted average varying from 0.1105 to 0.1071 for whole basin. It was predicted that the WLNI shows an increasing trend in water conservation area while a decreasing trend in consumption area from 2020 to 2050 under both the natural development (NDS) and ecological protection scenarios (EPS). The Geo-detector analysis showed that soil organic carbon, soil pH and mean annual precipitation are main factors affecting the spatial pattern of WLNI. Furthermore, interactions between natural and socio-economic factors exerted stronger effects on WLNI variations than that of each individual factor, highlighting the importance of interactions between natural factors and human activities in altering water-land resources nexus in arid inland basins.
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spelling doaj-art-7d89dc34a56a4c5987134f8df713b14d2025-08-20T03:52:28ZengElsevierEnvironmental and Sustainability Indicators2665-97272025-06-012610070210.1016/j.indic.2025.100702Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern ChinaLingge Wang0Wei Liu1Qi Feng2Zhenliang Yin3Rui Zhu4Meng Zhu5Jutao Zhang6Yuanyuan Xue7Zexia Chen8Xuejiao Li9Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China; Corresponding author.Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaFaculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, ChinaThe underlying land surface structure is being reshaped by climate change and human activities, which in turn affects the hydrological processes. However, the patterns and drivers of water and land resources nexus (WLN) in arid inland river basins remain less understood. In this study, we evaluated and predicted water and land resource dynamics by combining the soil quality index function with MCE-CA-Markov and SWAT models. We further constructed the Water-Land Nexus Model (WLNM) for water conservation and consumption zones to quantify responses of WLN to climate and land-use changes in inland river basins. Results showed that the water-land nexus index (WLNI) exhibited decreasing trend from headwaters (water conservation area) to middle and lower reaches (water consumption area). The WLNI decreased in both water conservation and consumption area from 1980 to 2000, with an area-weighted average varying from 0.1105 to 0.1071 for whole basin. It was predicted that the WLNI shows an increasing trend in water conservation area while a decreasing trend in consumption area from 2020 to 2050 under both the natural development (NDS) and ecological protection scenarios (EPS). The Geo-detector analysis showed that soil organic carbon, soil pH and mean annual precipitation are main factors affecting the spatial pattern of WLNI. Furthermore, interactions between natural and socio-economic factors exerted stronger effects on WLNI variations than that of each individual factor, highlighting the importance of interactions between natural factors and human activities in altering water-land resources nexus in arid inland basins.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972725001230Climate changesLand-use changesWater-land nexusSoil quality indexArid inland basins
spellingShingle Lingge Wang
Wei Liu
Qi Feng
Zhenliang Yin
Rui Zhu
Meng Zhu
Jutao Zhang
Yuanyuan Xue
Zexia Chen
Xuejiao Li
Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators
Climate changes
Land-use changes
Water-land nexus
Soil quality index
Arid inland basins
title Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China
title_full Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China
title_fullStr Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China
title_full_unstemmed Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China
title_short Patterns and drivers of water-land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern China
title_sort patterns and drivers of water land resources nexus in arid inland river basins of northwestern china
topic Climate changes
Land-use changes
Water-land nexus
Soil quality index
Arid inland basins
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972725001230
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