Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes
Scientifically and accurately assessing the interaction between changes in human activity intensity and the surrounding ecological environment along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway is of great significance for the optimized construction of the railway and the restoration of the regional ecological environ...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/13/2215 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849319740591308800 |
|---|---|
| author | Fengli Zou Qingwu Hu Lei Liao Yuqi Liu Haidong Li Xujie Zhang |
| author_facet | Fengli Zou Qingwu Hu Lei Liao Yuqi Liu Haidong Li Xujie Zhang |
| author_sort | Fengli Zou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scientifically and accurately assessing the interaction between changes in human activity intensity and the surrounding ecological environment along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway is of great significance for the optimized construction of the railway and the restoration of the regional ecological environment. Based on different spatial distribution scales and construction phases of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, this study integrates multi-source remote sensing data to construct a long-term spatiotemporal dataset of human activity intensity in the region. Drawing on analytical methods from production theory, a coupling theoretical framework based on remote sensing ecological models is proposed to quantitatively reveal the coupling relationships between the ecological environment and human activities across varying spatiotemporal scales along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway. The study finds that (1) the spatiotemporal distribution of human activity intensity along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway demonstrates clear patterns, with expansion primarily radiating from transportation corridors and their intersections, and marked spatial heterogeneity across different segments. Overall, human activity intensity increased slowly between 1990 and 2002, followed by a significant rise during the construction and opening of the Golmud–Lhasa section (2001–2007). From 2013 to 2020, the growth rate began to slow. Within a 0–30 km buffer zone centered on railway station locations (with a 15 km radius), the growth rate of human activity intensity generally decreased with increasing distance from the railway. In the 30–60 km buffer zone, this trend tended to stabilize. (2) The coupling process between ecological quality and human activity intensity across different spatiotemporal scales along the railway exhibits considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity and complexity. The decoupling relationship is dominated by strong and weak decoupling patterns, with strong decoupling being the most prevalent. Weak decoupling is mainly distributed along the sides of the railway. Overall, in most areas along the railway, ecological quality has shown a certain degree of improvement alongside increasing human activity intensity; however, the rate of ecological improvement is generally lower than the rate of increase in human activity intensity. In some areas adjacent to the railway, intensified human activities have led to a decline in ecological quality, though the resulting ecological pressure remains relatively low. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a8029624df534b3cb748ef1cf37e29ab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-a8029624df534b3cb748ef1cf37e29ab2025-08-20T03:50:21ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-06-011713221510.3390/rs17132215Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality ChangesFengli Zou0Qingwu Hu1Lei Liao2Yuqi Liu3Haidong Li4Xujie Zhang5School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao 276800, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, ChinaRizhao Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Rizhao 276800, ChinaMap Institute of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou 510075, ChinaCo-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Ecological Restoration, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, ChinaScientifically and accurately assessing the interaction between changes in human activity intensity and the surrounding ecological environment along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway is of great significance for the optimized construction of the railway and the restoration of the regional ecological environment. Based on different spatial distribution scales and construction phases of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, this study integrates multi-source remote sensing data to construct a long-term spatiotemporal dataset of human activity intensity in the region. Drawing on analytical methods from production theory, a coupling theoretical framework based on remote sensing ecological models is proposed to quantitatively reveal the coupling relationships between the ecological environment and human activities across varying spatiotemporal scales along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway. The study finds that (1) the spatiotemporal distribution of human activity intensity along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway demonstrates clear patterns, with expansion primarily radiating from transportation corridors and their intersections, and marked spatial heterogeneity across different segments. Overall, human activity intensity increased slowly between 1990 and 2002, followed by a significant rise during the construction and opening of the Golmud–Lhasa section (2001–2007). From 2013 to 2020, the growth rate began to slow. Within a 0–30 km buffer zone centered on railway station locations (with a 15 km radius), the growth rate of human activity intensity generally decreased with increasing distance from the railway. In the 30–60 km buffer zone, this trend tended to stabilize. (2) The coupling process between ecological quality and human activity intensity across different spatiotemporal scales along the railway exhibits considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity and complexity. The decoupling relationship is dominated by strong and weak decoupling patterns, with strong decoupling being the most prevalent. Weak decoupling is mainly distributed along the sides of the railway. Overall, in most areas along the railway, ecological quality has shown a certain degree of improvement alongside increasing human activity intensity; however, the rate of ecological improvement is generally lower than the rate of increase in human activity intensity. In some areas adjacent to the railway, intensified human activities have led to a decline in ecological quality, though the resulting ecological pressure remains relatively low.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/13/2215Qinghai–Tibet railwayhuman activity intensitychanges in ecological environmental qualitycoupling process |
| spellingShingle | Fengli Zou Qingwu Hu Lei Liao Yuqi Liu Haidong Li Xujie Zhang Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes Remote Sensing Qinghai–Tibet railway human activity intensity changes in ecological environmental quality coupling process |
| title | Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal Variations in Human Activity Intensity Along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Analysis of Its Decoupling Process from Ecological Environment Quality Changes |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal variations in human activity intensity along the qinghai tibet railway and analysis of its decoupling process from ecological environment quality changes |
| topic | Qinghai–Tibet railway human activity intensity changes in ecological environmental quality coupling process |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/13/2215 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fenglizou spatiotemporalvariationsinhumanactivityintensityalongtheqinghaitibetrailwayandanalysisofitsdecouplingprocessfromecologicalenvironmentqualitychanges AT qingwuhu spatiotemporalvariationsinhumanactivityintensityalongtheqinghaitibetrailwayandanalysisofitsdecouplingprocessfromecologicalenvironmentqualitychanges AT leiliao spatiotemporalvariationsinhumanactivityintensityalongtheqinghaitibetrailwayandanalysisofitsdecouplingprocessfromecologicalenvironmentqualitychanges AT yuqiliu spatiotemporalvariationsinhumanactivityintensityalongtheqinghaitibetrailwayandanalysisofitsdecouplingprocessfromecologicalenvironmentqualitychanges AT haidongli spatiotemporalvariationsinhumanactivityintensityalongtheqinghaitibetrailwayandanalysisofitsdecouplingprocessfromecologicalenvironmentqualitychanges AT xujiezhang spatiotemporalvariationsinhumanactivityintensityalongtheqinghaitibetrailwayandanalysisofitsdecouplingprocessfromecologicalenvironmentqualitychanges |