Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China
Ecosystem services (ESs) are increasingly recognized as critical to sustainable development and human well-being and are frequently used as indicators in environmental governance policies. However, existing studies mostly assess the performance of isolated single ESs, ignoring the management data ne...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| author | Zhenwei Wang Jinjin Mao Yelin Peng Jiahui Wu Xiaochun Wang Lilan Su |
| author_facet | Zhenwei Wang Jinjin Mao Yelin Peng Jiahui Wu Xiaochun Wang Lilan Su |
| author_sort | Zhenwei Wang |
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| description | Ecosystem services (ESs) are increasingly recognized as critical to sustainable development and human well-being and are frequently used as indicators in environmental governance policies. However, existing studies mostly assess the performance of isolated single ESs, ignoring the management data needs of local governments for comprehensive gate-keeping and the easy monitoring of regional ecosystems, and lacking holistic gate-keeping indicators for local ESs. To address these shortcomings, this study assessed the spatial changes in five main ESs in the Yangtze River basin (YTRB) in China by creating a comprehensive ESs indicator (CESI) using multi-source data, and introduced the hotspot analyses and spatial econometric models to explore the driving forces of CESI. Results showed that during the study period, the CESI in the YTRB increased from 0.44 in 2000 to 0.47 in 2020. High-value areas were mainly concentrated in the hilly and mountainous regions, whereas the low-value areas were predominantly situated in the plain areas. From 2000 to 2020, the hot spots of CESI were primarily located in the middle and the lower reaches of the YTRB. Conversely, the cold spots were situated in the upper reaches of the YTRB. The regression analysis revealed a significant negative association between socioeconomic factors and CESI, while a significant positive association between natural background factors and CESI. Of the natural background factors, average precipitation has the largest positive effect on CESI, with each 1% increase resulting in up to 0.369% increase in CESI. In contrast, GDP density had the greatest negative impact on CESI, with each 1% increase triggering a reduction in CESI of up to 6.210%. The findings suggest that CESI, which integrates multiple ESs, can effectively simplify the difficulty of regional ecological regulation. The driving mechanism indicates that environmental protection policies, when combined with the natural conditions and intensity of human activities in the region, would be more coherent with varying regulatory intensities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-afab19f4e2b44c57ba07054f53e60246 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj-art-afab19f4e2b44c57ba07054f53e602462025-08-20T02:44:42ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2025-02-0114241110.3390/land14020411Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, ChinaZhenwei Wang0Jinjin Mao1Yelin Peng2Jiahui Wu3Xiaochun Wang4Lilan Su5School of Public Administration, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, ChinaSchool of Public Administration, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, ChinaDepartment of Geography, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430078, ChinaDepartment of Geography, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430078, ChinaSchool of Public Administration, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, ChinaSchool of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, ChinaEcosystem services (ESs) are increasingly recognized as critical to sustainable development and human well-being and are frequently used as indicators in environmental governance policies. However, existing studies mostly assess the performance of isolated single ESs, ignoring the management data needs of local governments for comprehensive gate-keeping and the easy monitoring of regional ecosystems, and lacking holistic gate-keeping indicators for local ESs. To address these shortcomings, this study assessed the spatial changes in five main ESs in the Yangtze River basin (YTRB) in China by creating a comprehensive ESs indicator (CESI) using multi-source data, and introduced the hotspot analyses and spatial econometric models to explore the driving forces of CESI. Results showed that during the study period, the CESI in the YTRB increased from 0.44 in 2000 to 0.47 in 2020. High-value areas were mainly concentrated in the hilly and mountainous regions, whereas the low-value areas were predominantly situated in the plain areas. From 2000 to 2020, the hot spots of CESI were primarily located in the middle and the lower reaches of the YTRB. Conversely, the cold spots were situated in the upper reaches of the YTRB. The regression analysis revealed a significant negative association between socioeconomic factors and CESI, while a significant positive association between natural background factors and CESI. Of the natural background factors, average precipitation has the largest positive effect on CESI, with each 1% increase resulting in up to 0.369% increase in CESI. In contrast, GDP density had the greatest negative impact on CESI, with each 1% increase triggering a reduction in CESI of up to 6.210%. The findings suggest that CESI, which integrates multiple ESs, can effectively simplify the difficulty of regional ecological regulation. The driving mechanism indicates that environmental protection policies, when combined with the natural conditions and intensity of human activities in the region, would be more coherent with varying regulatory intensities.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/2/411ecosystem servicesdriving forceshotspots analysisspatial econometric modelthe Yangtze River basin |
| spellingShingle | Zhenwei Wang Jinjin Mao Yelin Peng Jiahui Wu Xiaochun Wang Lilan Su Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China Land ecosystem services driving forces hotspots analysis spatial econometric model the Yangtze River basin |
| title | Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China |
| title_full | Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China |
| title_short | Exploring the Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services in the Yangtze River Basin, China |
| title_sort | exploring the driving forces of ecosystem services in the yangtze river basin china |
| topic | ecosystem services driving forces hotspots analysis spatial econometric model the Yangtze River basin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/2/411 |
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