Although there is a consensus that protected areas (PAs) can provide various ecosystem services, it is unclear whether protected areas effectively contribute to the preservation and enhancement of ecosystem services. We conducted a case study of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve (HXNR) in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, in order to examine the effectiveness of PA in the conservation of ecosystem services. First, the dynamics of land use/land cover (LULC) were analyzed based on remotely sensed data sets. Then, the ecosystem service value (ESV) in the PA and non-PA were evaluated using a modified benefit transfer method that had been adjusted using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Finally, hotspot analysis was implemented to reveal the ESV changes for the different districts of the PA. The results of the comparison experiment indicate that: (1) The ESV of the HXNR has considerably increased after it was designated as protected, which had been in decline in the previous stage. The ESVs in a near-by non-PA showed opposite results where the values initially increased but then dropped due to urban expansion and desertification. (2) The areas in HXNR with increased ESV significantly outnumbered the areas that had declining values from 1980 to 2018. For the non-PA, the areas that had increased ESV in 1980–1995 saw a decline in value in 1995–2008; moreover, new areas with decreasing ESV emerged in 2008–2018. (3) The HXNR was found to be more effective than non-PA in improving ecosystem services. (4) The core zone of the nature reserve demonstrated better effectiveness in ecosystem service preservation.

Globally, natural habitats have suffered tremendous damage from human activities, a phenomenon that is increasingly evident in basin regions. The management of natural habitats in basin regions is dependent on understanding of the various impacts of human activities on these ecosystems. Despite the various studies that have been conducted on the effects of human activities on habitats in basin regions, there is still a lot of doubt regarding the impact of these activities on the quality of basin ecosystems. To fill this gap, this study employs a series of spatial analysis methods and logistic regression modeling to delve into the spatial and temporal patterns of human activities and habitat quality in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) as well as the differences in the impacts of human activities on habitat quality in the sub-basins of the YRB. The findings indicate a 0.408% decline in the overall environmental quality of the YRB area from 2000 to 2020, accompanied by a 15.396% surge in human activities. Notably, the southeastern Qilian Mountains and the mountainous regions in the northwestern sector of the Sichuan Basin emerge as pivotal areas for habitat quality restoration. Conversely, the southwestern Qilian Mountains and the urban clusters in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) face significant habitat quality deterioration. Spatial regression analyses reveal a noteworthy trend: the burgeoning human activities in the Yangtze River region pose a substantial threat to habitat recovery efforts. Further differential analyses focusing on the upper, middle, and lower basin segments underscore that human activities exert the most pronounced impact on habitat quality within the lower basin region, while the upper basin experiences the least influence. The implications of this study are manifold. It furnishes valuable policy insights for the comprehensive management and targeted preservation of habitats across the YRB. By delineating areas of habitat restoration and degradation and highlighting the differential impacts of human activities across basin segments, this research lays a solid foundation for informed decision making in habitat conservation and ecosystem management within the YRB.

Land consolidation is essential in China for improving land use efficiency and supporting rural public space governance. Previously, the implementation of land consolidation projects (LCPs) had been mainly led by governments in China. In recent years, the Chinese government vigorously promoted land consolidation, and land consolidation in the corporation-leading mode (CLM) has emerged. This study focused on investigating the performance of CLM projects and the difference in performance levels between the CLM projects and the government-leading mode (GLM) projects. Based on the improved extensible matter–element model, the performance levels of 14 LCPs in GLM and CLM of Jianghan Plain, Hubei Province and related impact factors were analyzed. A set of evaluation indices was selected based on the “process-based thinking and logic”. Results showed that: (1) performance levels of the 14 LCPs are different, most of the projects in the GLM have ordinary or poor performance, while most of the projects in the CLM have excellent or good performance; (2) factors affecting the performance levels of LCPs are also different in the two modes. The main influencing factors in the CLM were the poor access to field roads, insufficient shelterbelt planting, and low land reclamation efficiency, while the insufficient shelterbelt planting, low annual output value of farmland and grain production capacity, low increase rate of agricultural labor production, and low land reclamation efficiency were the main influencing factors in the GLM; (3) comparative analysis of the two modes revealed that LCPs in the CLM have clear investment directions, high output benefits, and obvious advantages in the development of modern agriculture when compared with the GLM. To achieve improving the performance levels of LCPs, policy makers should actively innovate the implementation mode of LCPs and encourage all kinds of agricultural corporations to participate in land consolidation.

Humans’ demands for biological resources and energies have always been increasing, whereas evidence has shown that this demand is outpacing the regenerative and absorptive capacity of the planet. Since China is experiencing unprecedented urbanization and industrialization processes, how much impact this has imposed on the earth during economic development worldwide is conspicuous. Therefore, this paper tries to examine the environmental impact in detail and track its changes in a typical city of Central China, Wuhan, based on ecological footprint analysis. By calculating the ecological footprint and its components in terms of biologically productive land areas during the period of 1995–2008, it is found that the ecological footprint increased in fluctuations from 1.48 gha per capita to 2.10 gha per capita, with the carbon footprint contributing most within the whole time period. Compared to the tiny declining biocapacity of the region, a gradually aggravated ecological deficit in the city was observed, which increased from 1.12 gha per capita in 1995 to 1.79 gha per capita in 2008. Component analysis on the trends of the ecological footprint and ecological deficit reveals that the impact on the ecosystem induced by humans’ demands for resource production and energy consumption became greater than before, and cutting down the consumption of fossil fuels could reduce the carbon footprint and the overall ecological deficit of the city.

China has experienced rapid urbanization, causing dramatic changes to the patterns of urban and rural land use relationships. This paper analyzes the spatiotemporal characteristics of rural settlements in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River region (MRYRR) using remote sensing monitoring data from 1990 to 2020 and reveals the influencing factors of spatiotemporal changes. The research found that (1) the overall increase in the quantity of rural settlements in the MRYRR between 1990 and 2020 was 504.70 km². The area of transfer of other land use types to rural settlement was 1382.57 km², of which 78.55% came from arable land and 16.62% came from forests; the area of rural settlement transfer to other land use types was 867.24 km², of which 66.27% was reclaimed as arable land and 8.48% was transferred into urban built-ups. Changes in different stages and regions are diversified. (2) The spatial layout of rural settlements showed no significant differences in the MRYRR between 1990 and 2020, with a cluster distribution of “five main nuclei and many secondary nuclei” and a spatial distribution of “gathering in the north and east, while scattered in the south and west”. (3) The level of fragmentation of rural settlements in the MRYRR has greatly decreased since 1990, with the average patch size expanding significantly. The patch complexity of rural settlements fluctuated moderately, but the connectivity between patches continued to increase, and their distribution became more clustered. (4) Social and economic factors, including rural electricity consumption, the output value of the primary industry, net income per rural resident, urbanization rate, and the effective irrigated area, most strongly impacted the changes in rural settlements in the MRYRR. The research can be utilized as a guide for reconstructing the pattern of rural land use to promote sustainable rural revitalization.