Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in drylands. Identifying the dominant natural factors of wind erosion and using targeted treatment measures are the key steps in wind erosion control. Using Horqin Left Back Banner in China as a case study, we applied the revised wind erosion equation to simulate the spatial distribution of wind erosion in the semi-arid sandy area. Contribution assessment and constraint line analysis were used to investigate the contributions of driving forces to wind erosion changes. The results showed that the wind erosion in the whole area was reduced by 0.35 t/hm²·a from 2005 to 2016. The wind factor and vegetation coverage factor had dominant contributions to the wind erosion modulus and accounted for the erosion in 49.87% and 50.13% of the total area, respectively. In addition, the average wind speed exceeding the threshold and the number of occurrences exhibited significant correlations with the wind erosion severity. Meanwhile, the mitigation effects of vegetation coverage on wind erosion decreased with the increase in wind speed. The temporal mismatch between the wind speed and vegetation coverage was the main reason for the frequent severe wind erosion in spring. Reducing the spring wind speed through adding windbreaks would be an effective method for decreasing wind erosion in semi-arid areas.

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.

Context: Cultural ecosystem services (CESs) play a critical role in maintaining and improving human well-being in rapidly urbanizing landscapes. Few empirical studies, however, have comprehensively identified and revealed the interactions between urbanization, CES supply, CES demand, and subjective well-being (SWB). Objectives: The study aimed to understand human–ecosystem interactions from a bottom-up perspective through an analysis of residents’ perceived supply and demand of CESs and SWB at different urbanization levels. Methods: Questionnaire surveys including public participation GIS were adopted to obtain residents’ perceived provision of CESs, importance of CESs and SWB in a peri-urban area of Shanghai. Multiple statistical and spatial analyses were performed to uncover their relationships. Results: Residents identified cultural heritage and education as the highest supply of CES, whereas aesthetic and recreation were of the highest demand. Urbanization had a significant negative correlation with the supply of recreation, aesthetic, education and social interaction but had a significant positive correlation with the supply of cultural heritage. The demands of recreation and social interaction were significantly lower in areas with moderate urbanization level. In these areas, CESs were dominated by high supply–low demand and low-degree matches, whereas residents’ SWB was lower. Conclusions: The variations of the CES–SWB relationship in our study indicate the development trajectory of social–ecological systems in the context of urbanization. Thus, policies adapted to local conditions are needed to foster landscape sustainability in rapidly urbanizing areas.