The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective
Understanding the socioecological nexus between urbanization and ecosystem health (EH) is crucial for formulating sustainable development policies. While prior research has focused on this topic, critical gaps persist in characterizing distributional polarization and decomposing inequality drivers w...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Land |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/801 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850143713706115072 |
|---|---|
| author | Shanshan Guo Junchang Huang Xiaotong Xie Xintian Guo Yinghong Wang Ling Li |
| author_facet | Shanshan Guo Junchang Huang Xiaotong Xie Xintian Guo Yinghong Wang Ling Li |
| author_sort | Shanshan Guo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the socioecological nexus between urbanization and ecosystem health (EH) is crucial for formulating sustainable development policies. While prior research has focused on this topic, critical gaps persist in characterizing distributional polarization and decomposing inequality drivers within coupled human–environment systems—particularly in China’s Yellow River Basin (YRB), a strategic region undergoing concurrent ecological restoration and urbanization. The integration of the kernel density estimation and Theil index establishes a robust analytical framework to effectively overcome spatial heterogeneity limitations in regional disparity research. Therefore, this study combines the coupling coordination degree (<i>CCD</i>), nonparametric kernel density estimation, and Theil decomposition to examine the complex interactions between urbanization and the ecosystem health index (EHI) across 538 county-level units from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity. The key findings reveal the following: (1) Urbanization exhibited phased enhancement yet maintained elementary developmental stages overall, with a distinct spatial gradient descending from the eastern/central riparian counties to the western hinterlands. (2) The EHI showed a marginal upward trend, yet 80.29% of the counties persisted in the suboptimal ecological health categories (EHI-1 to EHI-3), with gains concentrated in high-vegetation mountainous areas (45.72%) versus declines in economically developed areas. (3) The <i>CCD</i> evolved from a mild imbalance (II-1) to low coordination (III-1) but with significant special differences—the midstream and downstream <i>CCD</i> improved markedly, while the upstream counties remained the weakest. (4) Intragroup disparities, particularly among the counties in the middle reaches, were the primary drivers of <i>CCD</i> disequilibrium across the YRB, contributing 87.9% to the overall inequality. In contrast, the downstream regions exhibited significant improvements in the coordination levels, accompanied by the emergence of distinct “multi-polarization” patterns. The findings provide refined and differentiated decision-making references for effectively narrowing the gap in coordinated development in the YRB. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-68c1f39dd8b64dea821b8656eca8e5a4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj-art-68c1f39dd8b64dea821b8656eca8e5a42025-08-20T02:28:37ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2025-04-0114480110.3390/land14040801The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity PerspectiveShanshan Guo0Junchang Huang1Xiaotong Xie2Xintian Guo3Yinghong Wang4Ling Li5College of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, ChinaSchool of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, ChinaUnderstanding the socioecological nexus between urbanization and ecosystem health (EH) is crucial for formulating sustainable development policies. While prior research has focused on this topic, critical gaps persist in characterizing distributional polarization and decomposing inequality drivers within coupled human–environment systems—particularly in China’s Yellow River Basin (YRB), a strategic region undergoing concurrent ecological restoration and urbanization. The integration of the kernel density estimation and Theil index establishes a robust analytical framework to effectively overcome spatial heterogeneity limitations in regional disparity research. Therefore, this study combines the coupling coordination degree (<i>CCD</i>), nonparametric kernel density estimation, and Theil decomposition to examine the complex interactions between urbanization and the ecosystem health index (EHI) across 538 county-level units from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity. The key findings reveal the following: (1) Urbanization exhibited phased enhancement yet maintained elementary developmental stages overall, with a distinct spatial gradient descending from the eastern/central riparian counties to the western hinterlands. (2) The EHI showed a marginal upward trend, yet 80.29% of the counties persisted in the suboptimal ecological health categories (EHI-1 to EHI-3), with gains concentrated in high-vegetation mountainous areas (45.72%) versus declines in economically developed areas. (3) The <i>CCD</i> evolved from a mild imbalance (II-1) to low coordination (III-1) but with significant special differences—the midstream and downstream <i>CCD</i> improved markedly, while the upstream counties remained the weakest. (4) Intragroup disparities, particularly among the counties in the middle reaches, were the primary drivers of <i>CCD</i> disequilibrium across the YRB, contributing 87.9% to the overall inequality. In contrast, the downstream regions exhibited significant improvements in the coordination levels, accompanied by the emergence of distinct “multi-polarization” patterns. The findings provide refined and differentiated decision-making references for effectively narrowing the gap in coordinated development in the YRB.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/801county-level urbanizationecosystem healthcoupling coordinationspatial heterogeneityYellow River Basin |
| spellingShingle | Shanshan Guo Junchang Huang Xiaotong Xie Xintian Guo Yinghong Wang Ling Li The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective Land county-level urbanization ecosystem health coupling coordination spatial heterogeneity Yellow River Basin |
| title | The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective |
| title_full | The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective |
| title_fullStr | The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective |
| title_short | The Coupling Coordination Relationship Between Urbanization and Ecosystem Health in the Yellow River Basin: A Spatial Heterogeneity Perspective |
| title_sort | coupling coordination relationship between urbanization and ecosystem health in the yellow river basin a spatial heterogeneity perspective |
| topic | county-level urbanization ecosystem health coupling coordination spatial heterogeneity Yellow River Basin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/801 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shanshanguo thecouplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT junchanghuang thecouplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT xiaotongxie thecouplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT xintianguo thecouplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT yinghongwang thecouplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT lingli thecouplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT shanshanguo couplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT junchanghuang couplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT xiaotongxie couplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT xintianguo couplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT yinghongwang couplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective AT lingli couplingcoordinationrelationshipbetweenurbanizationandecosystemhealthintheyellowriverbasinaspatialheterogeneityperspective |