The value of ecosystem services is an extremely important parameter that reflects regional ecological benefits and resources. Estimating the value of ecosystem services is essential for regional land-use optimization, ecological construction, and biodiversity protection. In this study, Landsat-TM/ETM remote sensing images were used to analyze land-use data in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 of the Yellow River Basin (Henan section), China, defined by natural boundaries. An equivalent factor method was used to construct a model to calculate the ecosystem services value that introduced grain yield, regional difference coefficient, and social development stage coefficient. Thus, land-use changes and evolution of ecosystem services values in the Yellow River Basin (Henan section) in the past 30 years were analyzed. Land use in the basin changed significantly from 1990 to 2020. Except for an increase in area of construction land, areas of other land-use types decreased. Cultivated land area first increased and then decreased, whereas the water area first decreased and then increased. The total value of ecosystem services in the study area fluctuated but increased overall by 43.82 × 10⁸ USD in the past 30 years. Spatially, the total value of ecosystem services was high in the southwest and low in the northeast. Among individual ecosystem service values, water conservation, gas regulation, and climate regulation accounted for a relatively high proportion of the total value. Regulation services were the main ecosystem service functions, followed by support and supply services, with cultural services accounting for the lowest proportion. Sensitivity coefficients of different land types in different periods were all less than one. Therefore, the value coefficients were reasonable, and the results were consistent with the actual situation of the study area. The study improves the method to estimate the ecosystem services value of the basin and also indicates ways to support ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin (Henan section), China.

A large amount of cultivated lands in China is occupied by vacant residential areas, thereby wasting land resources and placing local food security at risk. Therefore, transforming vacant rural residential land back to its previous form is urgently required to maintain the amount of cultivated land and guarantee food security. We comprehensively analyzed the willingness of farmers to participate in vacant residential land transformation and determine the factors that influence such willingness, including the awareness of farmers about their rural residential environment, their knowledge of residential land-use policies and their awareness of the consequences of such transformation. A detailed survey was conducted amongst 252 farmers owning vacant residential lands in central China. Amongst these farmers, 75, 87 and 90 were entirely, partly and not living on farming, respectively. Only half of these farmers were willing to transform the vacant residential land, whilst those farmers who were partly living on farming were less willing to participate in the transformation than those who were entirely and were not living on farming. The factors that influence the willingness to transform varied across different types of farmers. Farmers who were not and were partly living on farming were significantly affected by their awareness of their rural residential environment, their knowledge of residential land-use policies, the length of residential land vacant time and their household income. Those farmers who were partly living on farming were also influenced by the number of vacant residential plots they possessed. Farmers who were entirely living on farming were significantly affected by their knowledge of the residential land-use policies, the number of vacant residential plots they possessed, their awareness of the consequences of land transformation and their family size. Results indicate that farmers are anxious about vacant residential land loss and that a communication gap is observed between them. Therefore, along with the communication between farmers and the government, the publicity and transparency of the rural residential land-use policies must be improved to eliminate the communication gap, relieve the anxiety of farmers, and increase the willingness to transform their vacant residential lands.

The changes and interrelationships of ecosystem services at different global and regional scales have been actively investigated. Clarifying the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services from a multi-scale scientific perspective is vital to improve the coordinated and sustainable development of the watershed and ecological protection. As an important ecological barrier region of the Yellow River Basin, the Henan section provides a variety of important ecosystem services. This study analyzes the characteristics of land use changes in the Yellow River Basin (Henan section) from 1990 to 2020. Based on the InVEST model, four ecosystem services—water production, soil conservation, carbon storage and food supply have been evaluated. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to further reveal the spatial and temporal characteristics of the trade-offs and synergies at different levels of each service. The results showed that: (1) From 1990 to 2020, the basin was dominated by farmland conservation. The construction land area mainly exhibited an inflow behavior, while other land use types were mainly related to outflow. (2) From 1990 to 2020, the water yield, soil conservation and carbon storage first increased and then decreased, while food supply gradually increased. The spatial distribution of these ecosystem services was lower in the southwest and slightly higher in the northeast and farmland had the highest capacity of water production and food supply, while woodland had the highest capacity for soil conservation and carbon storage. (3) The Spearman rank correlation coefficient indicated that the trade-offs for the ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin (Henan section) dominated before 2000, and the synergies gradually strengthened after 2000. (4) There were clear spatial heterogeneities in the ecosystem services of the basin; for instance, the functions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin (Henan section) were mainly trade-offs, while the higher elevations in the middle reaches exhibited synergistic relationships. This study aims to clarify the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services at the different levels. Based on our findings, countermeasures and suggestions for ecological protection and management are proposed to promote the coordinated development of social economy and ecological protection.

Today, constructing well-facilitated capital farmland on a large scale is one of the key strategic initiatives for enhancing the national capacity for food security. In order to strengthen the scientific and rational distribution of well-facilitated capital farmland, this article, starting with the discussion of ecosystem integrity of regional well-facilitated capital farmland on the basis of ecological niche theory, proposes the concept of ecological niche for well-facilitated capital farmland, and constructs “ecostate” and “ecorole” evaluation models (Ni model) of ecological niche for well-facilitated capital farmland. This is verified by studying the case of the city of Xinzheng, Henan Province, China. As the research result shows, first the condition of farmland in Xinzheng is generally good, and the farmland in the whole city is suitable for the construction of well-facilitated capital farmland covering 34,224.48 km2, 63.18% of the total area, which is mainly distributed in the southern and northwestern parts of the city. Second, the evaluation results are generally in consistency with the actual situation, which indicates that the Ni model is scientific and realistic in the evaluation of suitability for constructing well-facilitated capital farmland. Meanwhile, the Ni values are helpful for indicating the suitability for regional well-facilitated capital farmland. Third, using the most suitable ecological niche to explain standards of construction for well-facilitated capital farmland, and matching n dimension resources ecological niche along with most suitable ecological niche to evaluate well-facilitated capital farmland will convey clear ecological significance and be quite helpful to develop plans and measures for constructing well-facilitated capital farmland based on the size and changes of niche-fitness values.