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Habitat quality assessment provides indicators for socio-ecological management: a case study of the Chinese Loess Plateau

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Abstract

The impact of changing land use and land cover (LULC) on regional habitat quality have attracted extensive attention. The Loess Plateau is an ecologically fragile area; LULC changes in this region have complex impacts on habitat quality at multiple spatiotemporal scales. This study developed an integrated assessment method based on multi-source data to assess habitat quality changes in the Loess Plateau during recent years (2000–2015) and in the future (2015–2050) under four typical scenarios. A significant increase in urban land use was observed on the Loess Plateau from 2000 to 2050, which resulted in a continuous decrease in the cropland area. The area of forest and grassland landscapes was also reduced by both urban and cropland expansion, with the most significant loss in the grasslands. A future overall decreasing trend in overall habitat quality is predicted, but the SSP1–2.6 scenario is significantly better than the SSP5–8.5 scenario. Urban expansion contributes a rapidly increasing proportion of habitat quality decline on the Loess Plateau; urban land will become the most significant threat to regional habitat quality by 2030. Policies for socio-ecological protection with clear, high-level objectives can effectively promote habitat quality. It is recommended that national nature reserves be delineated and ecological functions in the study area be continuously monitored. This research provides a potential socio-ecological baseline and implementation strategy for the habitat conservation-oriented management of large and fragile ecological regions.

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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Science Foundation of the Hubei Province, China (2021CFB295), the State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau (A314021402–202110), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42077451 & 42171415).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Youjia Liang, Bo Wang, Zhangcai Yin & Jiejun Huang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Water and Soil Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, 712100, China

    Youjia Liang & Shouzhang Peng

  3. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 1138657, Japan

    Shizuka Hashimoto

  4. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan

    Shizuka Hashimoto

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  1. Youjia Liang
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  2. Bo Wang
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  3. Shizuka Hashimoto
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  4. Shouzhang Peng
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  5. Zhangcai Yin
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  6. Jiejun Huang
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Contributions

Youjia Liang & Bo Wang: Conceptualization, writing – original draft, software, validation, formal analysis, visualization. Youjia Liang: methodology, writing – review & editing, funding acquisition, supervision. Shizuka Hashimoto & Jiejun Huang: review & editing. Shouzhang Peng & Zhangcai Yin: editing & funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Youjia Liang.

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Liang, Y., Wang, B., Hashimoto, S. et al. Habitat quality assessment provides indicators for socio-ecological management: a case study of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Environ Monit Assess 195, 101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10714-4

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