Assessing the Impacts of Urban Expansion on Habitat Quality by Combining the Concepts of Land Use, Landscape, and Habitat in Two Urban Agglomerations in China

Huina Wang, Lina Tang, Quanyi Qiu and Huaxiang Chen
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Huina Wang: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
Lina Tang: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
Quanyi Qiu: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
Huaxiang Chen: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Understanding the spatiotemporal variability of habitat quality as a function of land-use changes is important for expanding scientific knowledge of ecological conservation. In this study, the impacts of land-use change on habitat quality were assessed in two urban agglomerations in China at different stages of development, namely (1) the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA), which has reached the middle and late stage of urbanization, and (2) the Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian (GTSF), which has reached the middle and early stage. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) habitat quality model was applied to determine the habitat quality and the degree of habitat degradation in these two agglomerations. Overall, the habitat quality in the YRDUA was found to be clearly inferior to that in the GTSF. In the GTSF, more than 65% of the habitat was of good or excellent quality, whereas in the YRDUA, less than 45% of the habitat reached this quality. By combining the concepts of land use, landscape, and habitat, the boundary of degradation and the general increase in habitat quality from 2000 to 2015 were found to be mainly related to the landform, the dominant landscape, and the concentration of non-habitat areas. Additionally, the type, distribution, and fragmentation of the dominant habitat were shown to play important roles in habitat quality. Moreover, changes in industrial composition over time were demonstrated to be critical drivers of changes in areas of construction land.

Keywords: habitat quality; land-use; landscape pattern; InVEST model; urban agglomeration (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 (11)

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