Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020

Economic globalization has promoted to rapid urban expansion within the Pearl River Basin, leading to the degradation of the Ecological Environmental Quality (EEQ). This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of EEQ in the Pearl River Basin under rapid urbanization period (from 2000 to 2...

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Main Authors: Junyi Chen, Suozhong Chen, Liang He, Shenpeng Qiu, Chao Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-03-01
Series:Geo-spatial Information Science
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2473512
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author Junyi Chen
Suozhong Chen
Liang He
Shenpeng Qiu
Chao Yang
author_facet Junyi Chen
Suozhong Chen
Liang He
Shenpeng Qiu
Chao Yang
author_sort Junyi Chen
collection DOAJ
description Economic globalization has promoted to rapid urban expansion within the Pearl River Basin, leading to the degradation of the Ecological Environmental Quality (EEQ). This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of EEQ in the Pearl River Basin under rapid urbanization period (from 2000 to 2020). A Modified Comprehensive Ecological Evaluation Index (MCEEI) that integrates the anthropogenic pressure index, biological richness index, vegetation cover index, land surface temperature, and surface relative humidity was proposed to address this issue. It was found that, since 2000, the overall EEQ of the Pearl River Basin has declined gradually, and the regions with a low EEQ are primarily located in the central areas of large cities (e.g. Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Shenzhen). Due to the “Grain for Green Project” policy (China’s nationwide program which pays farmers to revert sloping or marginal farm land to trees or grass), 11.11% of the land area in the Pearl River Basin experienced an improvement in EEQ from 2000 to 2010. However, the rapid expansion of urban areas accelerated the degradation in EEQ, and 22.62% of the EEQ degradation areas occurred in the urban areas from 2010 to 2020. Additionally, as human activities extend into mountainous areas, the proportion of poor and failing EEQ in mountain areas have increased rapidly. Our findings provide guidelines for ecological civilization construction and the protection of the ecological environment in the Pearl River Basin.
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spelling doaj-art-94ca3318af9f47c8b071495272fb78652025-08-20T02:30:05ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGeo-spatial Information Science1009-50201993-51532025-03-0111710.1080/10095020.2025.2473512Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020Junyi Chen0Suozhong Chen1Liang He2Shenpeng Qiu3Chao Yang4Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, ChinaKey Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Geo-Environmental Monitoring of Great Bay Area & Guangdong Key Laboratory of Urban Informatics & Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaEconomic globalization has promoted to rapid urban expansion within the Pearl River Basin, leading to the degradation of the Ecological Environmental Quality (EEQ). This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of EEQ in the Pearl River Basin under rapid urbanization period (from 2000 to 2020). A Modified Comprehensive Ecological Evaluation Index (MCEEI) that integrates the anthropogenic pressure index, biological richness index, vegetation cover index, land surface temperature, and surface relative humidity was proposed to address this issue. It was found that, since 2000, the overall EEQ of the Pearl River Basin has declined gradually, and the regions with a low EEQ are primarily located in the central areas of large cities (e.g. Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Shenzhen). Due to the “Grain for Green Project” policy (China’s nationwide program which pays farmers to revert sloping or marginal farm land to trees or grass), 11.11% of the land area in the Pearl River Basin experienced an improvement in EEQ from 2000 to 2010. However, the rapid expansion of urban areas accelerated the degradation in EEQ, and 22.62% of the EEQ degradation areas occurred in the urban areas from 2010 to 2020. Additionally, as human activities extend into mountainous areas, the proportion of poor and failing EEQ in mountain areas have increased rapidly. Our findings provide guidelines for ecological civilization construction and the protection of the ecological environment in the Pearl River Basin.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2473512Urban expansionecological environmental qualityecological evaluation indexspatiotemporal evolutionPearl River Basin
spellingShingle Junyi Chen
Suozhong Chen
Liang He
Shenpeng Qiu
Chao Yang
Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020
Geo-spatial Information Science
Urban expansion
ecological environmental quality
ecological evaluation index
spatiotemporal evolution
Pearl River Basin
title Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020
title_full Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020
title_fullStr Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020
title_full_unstemmed Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020
title_short Spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the Pearl River Basin from 2000 to 2020
title_sort spatiotemporal characteristics of the ecological environmental quality in the pearl river basin from 2000 to 2020
topic Urban expansion
ecological environmental quality
ecological evaluation index
spatiotemporal evolution
Pearl River Basin
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2473512
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AT suozhongchen spatiotemporalcharacteristicsoftheecologicalenvironmentalqualityinthepearlriverbasinfrom2000to2020
AT lianghe spatiotemporalcharacteristicsoftheecologicalenvironmentalqualityinthepearlriverbasinfrom2000to2020
AT shenpengqiu spatiotemporalcharacteristicsoftheecologicalenvironmentalqualityinthepearlriverbasinfrom2000to2020
AT chaoyang spatiotemporalcharacteristicsoftheecologicalenvironmentalqualityinthepearlriverbasinfrom2000to2020