A Novel Approach to Bridging Physical, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Indicators with Spatial Distributions of Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS) in China

Guilin Liu and Domenico M. Doronzo
Additional contact information
Guilin Liu: School of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Domenico M. Doronzo: National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Vesuvian Observatory, 80124 Naples, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-22

Abstract: This paper aimed at analyzing the spatial distribution and variation of agricultural heritage systems (AHSs) in China. In particular, the spatial relationships between AHS sites and influencing factors were analyzed by employing a spatial analysis approach, i.e., solving for cause–effect relations. Then, two reasonable pathways for protecting AHSs were proposed following this methodology. The results showed that the number of AHS sites in eastern China was larger than in western China. This peculiar distribution is thought to be affected by distinctive natural resource endowments and sociocultural traits of local agricultural systems. Indeed, a series of natural, sociocultural, and economic factors were analyzed to reveal their relationships with AHSs. In China, AHS sites have excellent and unique natural conditions, and their clustered distributions positively correlate with the spatial distribution of high-quality agricultural products and the biological abundance index; on the other hand, they negatively correlate with the relief degree of the land surface and GDP. Further results showed that regions with AHSs were mainly located in rural areas of major Chinese cultural zones. In conclusion, two pathways of implementation of high-quality agricultural products and agro-tourism were proposed in order to play an integrated economic, social, and ecological function for protecting AHSs in China. These scientific findings may encourage local governments to protect AHSs and the transition of rural communities.

Keywords: agricultural heritage systems; spatial analysis; influencing factors; cause–effect relations; spatial distribution; AHS protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6921/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6921/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:17:p:6921-:d:404055

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().