Ecological Indicators (Mar 2024)
Temporal-spatial evolution and driving mechanism of ecosystem service in coal-based towns in loess region, China
Abstract
The game between socio-economic development and ecological development has always been the core issue in coal-based areas, and ecosystem services could unify the two into one framework. However, at present, the related research has made slow progress in ecosystem structure optimization and regional sustainable development. Pinglu, as a representative area of China’s Reform and Opening Up and the first Sino-foreign joint venture open-pit coal mine, has fragile ecological characteristics and resource development attributes that are typical in related research at home and abroad. Therefore, this study took the typical coal-based town as an example and analyzed the ecosystem service situation with its driving mechanism relied on ArcGIS, InVEST and Geodetector tools to solve the contradiction between development and protection of such areas. The results revealed that: (1) The overall supply capacity of each ecosystem service in Pinglu during the 40-year period showed an improving trend, but there was also a deterioration of habitat quality and carbon sequestration services; (2) The ecosystem service provisioning capacity in Pinglu needed to be improved comprehensively, and the key areas for upgrading and improvement were southwestern townships; (3) The driving force for food supply and soil conservation changed from mainly environmental and socio-economic to environmental, the driving force for water production, habitat quality and wind-sand conservation mainly environmental and socio-economic, the land-use type was the complete driving factor for carbon sequestration. (4) The study area development successively experienced a slow-growth period, a rapid-growth period, a rapid-decline period and a stable-development period, and accordingly formed a labor-intensive economy, a resource-intensive economy, a structural-adjustment economy and a high-quality oriented economy. The study of ecosystem services and their driving mechanisms in coal-based towns could provide optimization strategies for the green and sustainable development of such regions. And this study could make up for the shortcomings of national ecological civilization construction and ecological protection in resource-based areas.
