Coordinate degree and differential optimizing "production-living-ecological" function in the Yellow River Basin

Abstract: The sustainable utilization of the Yellow River Basin greatly determines the socio-economic development and ecological security in China. Taking the Yellow River Basin as the study area, this study aims to propose some improvement suggestions to optimize the land resources for better ecological protection and high-quality development, particularly from the perspective of the coordination of "living-ecological-production" functions. Therefore, the specific relationship between "living-ecological-production" functions in the study area was the focus. A GIS spatial analysis was made to measure the function coordination. A mechanical equilibrium model was established to identify the dysfunctional areas using geospatial data and socio-economic statistics. Firstly, the initial values of various land use functions were determined, according to the relationship between land-use types and functions. The specific values of the living function, ecological function, agricultural, and non-agricultural production function were corrected using the population density, habitat quality, gross primary productivity, and non-agricultural industry output, concurrently considering the differences of regional socio-economic development and natural conditions. Secondly, three values of land-use function were converted into the standard function per unit of land, further enhancing the comparability of various functions in different regions. Finally, the mechanical equilibrium model was utilized to determine the coordination level and land use type of three functions in each county unit. The results showed that there were four levels and six types of coordination degrees for the "living-ecological -production" function in the study area, namely, the level of coordination, amelioration, confliction, and disorder level, while the higher-production & lower-ecology, higher-life & lower-ecology, higher-life & lower-production, higher-ecology &lower-production, higher-ecology & lower-living, and higher-production & lower-life type. Furthermore, the coordination level of different regions was significantly different, but the coordination was at the "amelioration" level as a whole. Specifically, the lower basin presented the highest coordination degree, as well as the value of living and production function, whereas, the upper basin behaved the maximum ecological function, while the middle basin had the middle value of living-ecological-production functions, compared with the three sub-regions. The production function was the lowest in the study area, where only about 24% of the county units presented a higher value of production function than the standard. There was a similar trend in the ecological and living function, accounting for about 43.50% and 43.77% of the county units, comparing the three functions. The coordination degree was better at the coordination and amelioration level in most county units, considering the specific situation of each county. In addition, only about 3.64% of the county units in the disorder level were mainly distributed along the two sides of the study area. The coordination degrees of the county units were mainly higher-production & lower-ecology, and higher-ecology & lower-life types, most of which were scattered in the whole Yellow River region. Consequently, the county units in the Yellow River Basin needed to optimize the coordination of the "living-ecological-production" function in terms of land use and industrial structure, thereby strengthening the supply of public service facilities and ecological maintenance. The improved short board function can be expected to achieve the ultimate goal of sustainable development and utilization of land resources in the Yellow River region. The finding can provide sound scientific guidance to determine the coordination level and type of land use.