How Human Activity Has Changed the Regional Habitat Quality in an Eco-Economic Zone: Evidence from Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone, China

Tianzhu Zhang, Yang Gao, Chao Li, Zhen Xie, Yuyang Chang and Bailin Zhang
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Tianzhu Zhang: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Yang Gao: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Chao Li: Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100035, China
Zhen Xie: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Yuyang Chang: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Bailin Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-21

Abstract: Human activities such as deforestation and urbanization have affected the regional habitat quality of the Poyang Lake area. To evaluate the evolution of habitat quality and its influencing factors in the area, we used Classification and Regression Trees (CART) to interpret the land-use status and used the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs) model to analyze the characteristics of changes in habitat quality in the Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone (PLEEZ) from 1988 to 2018. The results show that, from 1988 to 2018, land use in the PLEEZ underwent significant changes. The changes in land use led to a gradual increase in habitat degradation and a gradual decrease in habitat quality in the study area. Rapid urbanization notably decreased the habitat quality in the study area. However, at the same time, the ecological protection projects such as returning farmland to forests slowed the decline in habitat quality. Driven by these two factors, habitat quality in the PLEEZ gradually declined but the rate of its decline was suppressed. The findings of this study are of great significance for the coordinated development of social, economic, and ecological development in the PLEEZ and similar areas.

Keywords: habitat quality; land-use change; China; eco-economic zone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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