Exploring the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services (ESs) and their driving factors under various interaction patterns is essential for informing sustainable development policies. Using Northeast China as a case study, this research investigates eight key ESs, including water yield (WY), carbon storage (CS), food provision (FP), habitat quality (HQ), soil conservation (SC), wind-break and sand-fixation (WS), water purification (WP) and aesthetic landscape (AL). The study examines the complexity of ESs from three dimensions: individual ES, ES pairs and ES bundles, and further evaluates their spatial heterogeneity and socio- ecological drivers. The results indicate that the spatial distribution of ESs remained relatively stable from 2000 to 2020. During this period, WY and FP increased significantly, CS and HQ remained relatively unchanged. SC, WS and AL followed an “increase-decrease-increase” trend, and WP exhibited a “decrease-increase” fluctuation. Overall, synergistic relationships among ES Pairs were more prevalent than trade-offs. Notably, CS showed trade-offs with over 70% of the other ESs, while HQ exhibited trade-offs with SC, WS, WP, and AL. The FP-HQ synergy bundle, primarily located in the Greater Hinggan Mountains and eastern regions, emerged as the dominant ES bundle. Ecological factors—such as solar radiation, temperature, slope, DEM, and NDVI—exerted a stronger influence on ES patterns than social factors like GDP and population density. Furthermore, these ecological drivers had a greater impact on individual ESs compared to ES pairs or ES bundles. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers to understand the complex interrelationships among ESs and to design more effective and regionally tailored management strategies.

Situated in the semi-arid regions of North China, the Nihewan Basin documents the fluvio-lacustrine sequence and Pleistocene archaeological sites, offering an excellent opportunity to investigate human adaptation to environmental change in East Asia, especially in North China. However, paleoenvironmental datasets from Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites are not fully understood. Focusing on the evidence from the 0.63-0.49 Ma-old site of Jijiazhuang (Nihewan Basin, North China), this paper presents the results of various environmental indicators from the site context. Moreover, it explores the links between hominin behavioral adaptations and ecological variability during the extra-long interglacial period in North China. Sedimentological features of the excavated section indicate that the site was formed in the margin of the Nihewan paleolake. Based on well-constructed pollen, sediment grain size, color reflectance, and major geochemical element analyses, five stages of environmental changes were identified during site formation. This study indicates that hominins occupied the site at the early part of Stage 2, when the Nihewan paleolake had a relatively low water level and the climate was temperate, with strong weathering intensity dominated by wooded grassland landscapes. In conclusion, the results suggest that the extra-long duration of interglacial or mild stadial climate events (MISs 15-13) in the Northern Hemisphere may have provided favorable conditions for increased technological innovations and adaptive strategies among Middle Pleistocene hominins in the Nihewan Basin even in North China.

Uncovering the evolution process of rural revitalization level (RRL) in China and elucidating the complex driving mechanism hold significant implications for implementing rural revitalization strategy and advancing rural modernization. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal evolution of China’s RRL from 2002 to 2022 and reveals its complex driving mechanism. The results show that China’s RRL steadily increased from 0.1083 to 0.4463, and the provincial RRL exhibited the characteristic of decreasing successively in the eastern region, the central region, and the western region. The overall differences of RRL are shrinking, and intra-group differences contribute almost 1/3 of the overall variation, more than the contribution of inter-group differences. Although the influencing factors show nonlinear characteristics, on the whole, economic level and human capital exhibit positive effects, while relief degree, urbanization, industrialization, and opening degree exhibit negative effects. Farmland resources and investment intensity exhibit the characteristics of positive effect and negative effect equilibrium. At the regional scale, influencing factors exhibit significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity. In the future, to achieve comprehensive rural revitalization, it is vital to implement systemic policy measures, such as enhancing industrial competitiveness, supplementing rural talents, and optimizing the relations between urban and rural areas as well as between industry and agriculture.

Understanding the characteristics and driving factors behind changes in vegetation ecosystem resilience is crucial for mitigating both current and future impacts of climate change. Despite recent advances in resilience research, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding the drivers of resilience changes. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of ecosystem resilience across China and identified potential driving factors using the kernel normalized difference vegetation index (kNDVI) from 2000 to 2020. Our results indicate that vegetation resilience in China has exhibited an increasing trend over the past two decades, with a notable breakpoint occurring around 2012. We found that precipitation was the dominant driver of changes in ecosystem resilience, accounting for 35.82% of the variation across China, followed by monthly average maximum temperature (Tmax) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), which explained 28.95% and 28.31% of the variation, respectively. Furthermore, we revealed that daytime and nighttime warming has asymmetric impacts on vegetation resilience, with temperature factors such as Tmin and Tmax becoming more influential, while the importance of precipitation slightly decreases after the resilience change point. Overall, our study highlights the key roles of water availability and temperature in shaping vegetation resilience and underscores the asymmetric effects of daytime and nighttime warming on ecosystem resilience.

The Liaohe River Valley was one of the key centers of the origination and development of agriculture in northern China during the Holocene. To understand the long-term interaction among the evolutions of climate, agriculture, and human activities, it is essential to quantitatively reconstruct the spatiotemporal changes in regional prehistoric human land use. In this study, known archaeological sites and a prehistoric land use model (PLUM) were combined to reconstruct changes in land use in the Liaohe River Valley during 8-2 ka BP from a quantitative perspective. The land use area experienced two stages of increase (during 8-5 ka BP and after 4 ka BP) and one stage of decrease (during 5-4 ka BP); these periods were characterized by spatial expansions and contractions. The land use intensity level differed significantly in the western and eastern parts of the valley before 4 ka BP, but the situation changed as the distribution center of the human activity shifted to the southern part of the valley around 5-4 ka BP. Overall, the spatial and temporal changes in the land use areas in both the western and eastern parts of the valley responded well to variations in precipitation during 8-2 ka BP, which potentially provides useful insights into understanding the responses of human activity to future climate change.

As the largest desert in China, the Taklimakan Desert features unique mobility and alternating mega-dune and inter-dune landscapes with rich dune types. Most areas of the sand sea were explored in the early 20th century. However, the eastern Taklimakan Desert characterized by extremely tall dunes, had received little attention until 2022 owing to transportation inconveniences. This study examined the alternating mega-dune and inter-dune landscapes in the eastern Taklimakan Desert, through spatial analysis and field surveys. Results demonstrate that the tallest mega-dunes are distributed primarily to the east of the central desert, with the occurrence of approximately 240 mega-dunes exceeding 150 m in height. The height-spacing relationship of mega-dunes with different orders exhibits a weak correlation, suggesting that the dune formation and evolution are more complex than previously documented; this could be attributed to the factors other than solely the wind regime. Additionally, from the field survey, we found that sand availability is the dominant factor for constraining the sustained growth of mega-dunes. A pattern coarsening may be responsible for the development of the dune fields in the eastern Taklimakan Desert, thus yielding constraints on the development of mega-dunes, and other dune fields on Earth as well.

Green roofs play a vital role in promoting sustainable urban development and achieving carbon neutrality by enhancing carbon sequestration, oxygen release, and efficiency of land use. Despite these benefits, living roof coverage in China remains limited. To address the challenges in policy formulation, operational monitoring, and the absence of multi-scale retrofit strategies supported by robust assessment methods, this study develops a comprehensive evaluation framework. The framework integrates vector data, building age information, and point-of-interest (POI) data, and applies an optimized Prophet model to classify six major climate zones. This approach facilitates the selection of appropriate plant species and substrates while quantifying the potential for carbon sequestration and oxygen release. An assessment of 90 cities reveals approximately 1.3861 billion square meters of rooftop area suitable for green roof implementation, with an estimated annual carbon sequestration potential of 67.30 million tons and oxygen release of 30.36 million tons. Commercial buildings contribute significantly, comprising 65% of the total suitable area. Climate zones 2 and 3 exhibit the most favorable outcomes. The current study provides a reliable quantitative reference for evaluating the carbon sequestration and oxygen release capacities of green roofs and supports the formulation of effective retrofit policies.

The amplitude of the annual temperature cycle (ATC) is a crucial component of Earth’s climate and profoundly influences its phenology and ecosystem dynamics. However, most previous studies on ATC amplitude have been confined to the post-industrial instrumental period. Although a few studies have reconstructed ATC amplitudes over the past few centuries using proxy data, these efforts have been limited to regional scales, leaving the global profile of ATC amplitude from the pre- to post-industrial periods poorly understood. Here, leveraging rigorous evaluation and screening of monthly mean air temperature data derived from eleven CMIP5/CMIP6 models spanning the last millennium, combined with grid-based weighted averaging, we produced reliable ATC amplitude series for global and hemispheric land areas since 850 CE. Our analysis reveals a significant reduction in ATC amplitude since the 1860s across global and Northern Hemispheric lands, whereas the Southern Hemisphere has been relatively stable. The unprecedented decline in ATC amplitude since the late 19th century stands in stark contrast to the modest increases observed during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (ca. 1000-1300 CE) and the Little Ice Age (ca. 1400-1850 CE). These findings, particularly the distinct shift in ATC amplitude between the pre- and post-industrial periods, provide an early global fingerprint of anthropogenic forcing on climate change.

Climate change significantly affects the arid/humid processes and patterns in China, directly impacting management decisions related to adaptive agriculture and water resources management, desertification control, and spatial ecological restoration. However, current studies primarily focus on changes in arid/humid climate variables, lacking quantitative characterization of the dynamic evolution of areal systems and their nonlinear responses. Based on the data of national meteorological stations from 1961 to 2020, we systematically quantified the nonlinear response of arid/humid patterns to climate change. The results revealed that 6.98% of eco-geographical arid/humid regions underwent type shifts over the past six decades, with 4.95% transitioning toward wetter conditions. Humid and semi-arid regions expanded significantly while sub-humid and arid regions contracted significantly. In the late 1990s, trends of the humid and sub-humid region shifted. Humid region contraction in northern China was driven primarily by precipitation decline, whereas the Tibetan Plateau responded to increasing potential evapotranspiration. During the same period, the retreat rate of the arid region slowed, linked to intensified aridification in the west part of northern China and a decelerating wetting trend in northwest China, both primarily driven by precipitation trends. Our study reveals the nonlinear response of the arid/humid patterns under climate change, providing a scientific basis for the improvement of regional climate resilience.

Drought significantly constrains vegetation growth and reduces terrestrial carbon sinks. Currently, the spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms of the differential impacts of soil and meteorological droughts on vegetation productivity remain inadequately understood. In this study, we analyzed soil moisture (SM), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and gross primary productivity (GPP) to investigate their spatiotemporal patterns and the combined effects on GPP over China. The results revealed that: (1) Soil drought and meteorological drought generally exhibited temporally synchronous trends across China. (2) GPP was predominantly affected by the combined and synchronous effects of both SM and VPD, although their effects displayed directional variability differences in certain regions. (3) SM demonstrated a greater relative importance on GPP than VPD across more than half of the regions in China, whereas deciduous broadleaf forests were the only vegetation type primarily affected by VPD. (4) Under the lag effects, both SM and VPD exhibited bidirectional Granger causality with GPP, with the interaction between VPD and GPP proving more pronounced than that of SM. Our research provides valuable insights into the mechanisms through which SM and VPD influence GPP, contributing to improved predictions vegetation productivity and implementing ecological restoration.

Data centers operate as physical digital infrastructure for generating, storing, computing, transmitting, and utilizing massive data and information, constituting the backbone of the flourishing digital economy across the world. Given the lack of a consistent analysis for studying the locational factors of data centers and empirical deficiencies in longitudinal investigations on spatial dynamics of heterogeneous data centers, this paper develops a comprehensive analytical framework to examine the dynamic geographies and locational factors of techno-environmentally heterogeneous data centers across Chinese cities in the period of 2006-2021. First, we develop a “supply-demand-environment trinity” analytical framework as well as an accompanying evaluation indicator system with Chinese characteristics. Second, the dynamic geographies of data centers in Chinese cities over the last decades are characterized as spatial polarization in economically leading urban agglomerations alongside persistent interregional gaps across eastern, central, and western regions. Data centers present dual spatial expansion trajectories featuring outward radiation from eastern core urban agglomerations to adjacent peripheries and leapfrog diffusion to strategic central and western digital infrastructural hubs. Third, it is empirically verified that data center construction in Chinese cities over the last decades has been jointly influenced by supply-, demand-, and environment-side locational factors, echoing the efficacy of the trinity analytical framework. Overall, our findings demonstrate the temporal variance, contextual contingency, and attribute-based differentiation of locational factors underlying techno-environmentally heterogeneous data centers in Chinese cities.

Rapid regional population shifts and spatial polarization have heightened pressure on cultivated land—a critical resource demanding urgent attention amid ongoing urban-rural transition. This study selects Jiangsu province, a national leader in both economic and agricultural development, as a case area to construct a multidimensional framework for assessing the recessive morphological characteristics of multifunctional cultivated land use. We examine temporal dynamics, spatial heterogeneity, and propose an integrated zoning strategy based on empirical analysis. The results reveal that: (1) The recessive morphology index shows a consistent upward trend, with structural breaks in 2007 and 2013, and a spatial shift from “higher in the east and lower in the west” to “higher in the south and lower in the north.” (2) Coordination among sub-dimensions of the index has steadily improved. (3) The index is expected to continue rising in the next decade, though at a slower pace. (4) To promote coordinated multidimensional land-use development, we recommend a policy framework that reinforces existing strengths, addresses weaknesses, and adapts zoning schemes to current spatial conditions. This research offers new insights into multifunctional cultivated land systems and underscores their role in enhancing human well-being, securing food supply, and supporting sustainable urban-rural integration.

Human activities have significantly impacted the land surface temperature (LST), endangering human health; however, the relationship between these two factors has not been adequately quantified. This study comprehensively constructs a Human Activity Intensity (HAI) index and employs the Maximal Information Coefficient, four-quadrant model, and XGBoost- SHAP model to investigate the spatiotemporal relationship and influencing factors of HAI-LST in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) from 2000 to 2020. The results indicated that from 2000 to 2020, as HAI and LST increased, the static HAI-LST relationship in the YRB showed a positive correlation that continued to strengthen. This dynamic relationship exhibited conflicting development, with the proportion of coordinated to conflicting regions shifting from 1:4 to 1:2, indicating a reduction in conflict intensity. Notably, only the degree of conflict in the source area decreased significantly, whereas it intensified in the upper and lower reaches. The key factors influencing the HAI-LST relationship include fractional vegetation cover, slope, precipitation, and evapotranspiration, along with region-specific factors such as PM_2.5, biodiversity, and elevation. Based on these findings, region-specific ecological management strategies have been proposed to mitigate conflict-prone areas and alleviate thermal stress, thereby providing important guidance for promoting harmonious development between humans and nature.

Dryland regions face complex interactions between urbanization and ecological changes, where effective coordination is essential for enhancing sustainability and resilience. However, most studies concentrate on the national or provincial scales, with insufficient research on county-level coordination, limiting the ability to provide targeted policies from a precise perspective. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 39 counties within the Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos-Yulin Urban Agglomeration (HBOYUA), a typical dryland urban cluster in China. We use daytime and nighttime remote sensing images to track the spatio-temporal evolution of urbanization and ecological conditions from 1992 to 2023. A novel quantitative framework based on an improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) is proposed to assess their coordination relationship. The results reveal that: (1) Urbanization and ecological quality both exhibited fluctuating upward trends, with spatial heterogeneity increasing for urbanization and decreasing for the eco-environment. Regions with better ecological conditions had higher urbanization levels. (2) The overall coordinated level improved from imbalance (0.36) to low-level coordination (0.55), although its spatial distribution remained uneven, with central urban areas showing higher CCD than surrounding counties. (3) Socioeconomic factors exerted greater effects on CCD than natural factors, with GDP and land surface temperature (LST) playing a significant role in interaction analysis. (4) In western arid regions, urbanization did not necessarily harm ecosystems; instead, ecological conditions improved alongside urbanization. This research offers targeted and valuable references for county and city governments in resource allocation and sustainable development. The proposed methodology is also adaptable for urban resilience studies in other regions.

Since 2000, China’s investment in Africa has grown rapidly, following a steady upward trajectory. However, this influx of Chinese capital has sparked both economic and political controversies. By integrating multi-source data—from micro-level individual projects to national statistics—this study examines the impact of Chinese investment on African economic development between 2000 and 2022. The results reveal a significant positive correlation between Chinese investment and economic growth across different scales, with investment-intensive regions achieving stronger economic outcomes. The DID analysis indicates that the Belt and Road Initiative has contributed positively to Africa’s economic development. Both static and dynamic panel models confirm that Chinese investment significantly stimulates growth, exhibiting notable lag effects. Furthermore, β-convergence models demonstrate that Chinese investment fosters economic convergence among African countries. Regarding regional inequality, the findings suggest that Chinese investment helps to narrow disparities across Africa, promoting a more balanced economic landscape. Overall, this research underscores the constructive role of China’s investment in fostering economic growth and reducing inequality within the African context.

Soil erosion (SE) is a critical form of land degradation that significantly threatens the health of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. The Qinba Mountains represent a vital geo-ecological transition zone in China. Therefore, analyzing the dynamics of SE in relation to climate changes and land use/cover (LULC) change is essential for guiding ecological conservation efforts in this region. The soil erosion intensity (SEI) from 2001 to 2020 was estimated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). For the period of 2021-2040, SEI projections were made based on CMIP6 data, utilizing the Statistical Downscaling Model alongside the CA-Markov model. Variations in SEI under four distinct shared socio-economic pathways were compared. Additionally, statistical methods were employed to evaluate the long-term impacts of climate and LULC change on SE. Findings indicate that between 2021 and 2040, both precipitation and rainfall erosivity are expected to increase by approximately 8%-12% and 3%-14%, respectively. Based on differing socio-economic pathways, the soil erosion rate (SER) is predicted to rise by 12%-32%, with SSP2-4.5 anticipated to result in the highest SER. An analysis of contributing factors revealed that precipitation intensity and total precipitation are likely to escalate SE, while elevated temperatures may mitigate it. Among all types of LULC, barren land is particularly susceptible to erosion and remains a priority for conservation. The generated SEI maps will aid in promoting sustainable land use and provide crucial support for mitigating ecological risks from climate change.

Agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are influenced by a combination of climate, soil and agricultural management practices. Over the past 30 years, approximately 5% of China’s cropland has shifted from the south to the north. This shift has significantly altered the geographical environment, with potential substantial impacts on agricultural GHG emissions. This study used the DeNitrification DeComposition (DNDC) process-based model to simulate GHG emissions (CH₄ and N₂O) from the production of China’s 10 major food crops and explored changes in agricultural GHG emissions caused by the spatial shift of cropland in China. Results from the validated DNDC model indicate that total emissions from the major food crop production in China were approximately 343 Tg CO₂-eq yr^-1 with CH₄ emissions accounting for about 74%. Meanwhile, the spatial shift of cropland from 1990 to 2020 resulted in a 3% decrease in average CH₄ emissions per unit cropland area and an 8% increase in average N₂O emissions per unit cropland area, respectively. The expansion of dryland in the Northwest Arid Region emitted less CH₄ but significantly more N₂O, thereby driving changes in national GHG emissions. This study provides a scientific foundation for the sustainable use of cropland and the formulation of strategies to reduce agricultural GHG emissions.

Rapid urbanization in China has led to spatial antagonism between urban development and farmland protection and ecological security maintenance. Multi-objective spatial collaborative optimization is a powerful method for achieving sustainable regional development. Previous studies on multi-objective spatial optimization do not involve spatial corrections to simulation results based on the natural endowment of space resources. This study proposes an Ecological Security-Food Security-Urban Sustainable Development (ES-FS- USD) spatial optimization framework. This framework combines the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) and patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model with an ecological protection importance evaluation, comprehensive agricultural productivity evaluation, and urban sustainable development potential assessment and optimizes the territorial space in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in 2035. The proposed sustainable development (SD) scenario can effectively reduce the destruction of landscape patterns of various land-use types while considering both ecological and economic benefits. The simulation results were further revised by evaluating the land-use suitability of the YRD region. According to the revised spatial pattern for the YRD in 2035, the farmland area accounts for 43.59% of the total YRD, which is 5.35% less than that in 2010. Forest, grassland, and water area account for 40.46% of the total YRD—an increase of 1.42% compared with the case in 2010. Construction land accounts for 14.72% of the total YRD—an increase of 2.77% compared with the case in 2010. The ES-FS-USD spatial optimization framework ensures that spatial optimization outcomes are aligned with the natural endowments of land resources, thereby promoting the sustainable use of land resources, improving the ability of spatial management, and providing valuable insights for decision makers.

Focusing on investment security along the Belt and Road (B&R) routes, this study analyzes the geopolitical environment (GE) of countries (regions) along the B&R routes from two dimensions: political and business environment (PBE) and political orientation. The results show that since the proposal of the B&R Initiative in 2013, the PBE of these countries (regions) has shown slight improvement but with significant spatial disparities, presenting a pattern of better conditions in the eastern and western regions and poorer conditions in the central regions. There is no strong spatial dependence in the PBE among these countries (regions), but a weak homogenization trend toward improvement is observed. Low-scoring countries (regions) are mainly located in former Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Middle East, and the Indochina Peninsula. These countries (regions) exhibit weak interconnections, demonstrating a characteristic of “similarity without harmony.” (a Confucian concept describing nations sharing superficial traits but lacking substantive cooperation). Therefore, the B&R construction should adopt a clustered and contiguous breakthrough strategy. The evaluation of political orientation reveals significant political divergence among B&R countries (regions), with varying attitudes toward China. Moreover, as pro-China sentiment increases, the PBE tends to deteriorate. This negative correlation suggests that countries (regions) actively engaging in the B&R Initiative generally face political instability and economic underdevelopment, and seek to leverage the B&R Initiative for domestic growth. Consequently, while prioritizing investment security, it is important for the B&R construction to actively promote Chinese values in order to garner support and participation from countries (regions) with more favorable PBE. Given the generally underdeveloped PBE and political polarization among B&R countries (regions), China urgently needs to develop a geopolitical theory aligned with the B&R’s geopolitical model to safeguard its advancement. Simultaneously, China should reshape geopolitical narratives to reclaim discourse power in political interpretation. This study provides preliminary insights into cross-country (regional) political polarization and contributes to advancing GE research.

The effects of the built environment factors on urban vitality have attracted wide attention in the urban planning fields in recent years, but few studies have considered the variables’ relative importance and their nonlinear effects on urban vitality. Taking a Chinese metropolis—Hangzhou as a case study, this study applied the gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) model to explore the nonlinear effects of the 5D factors of the urban built environment on urban social vitality and economic vitality and the importance of variables. The results show that the GBDT model has better goodness of fit than the traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) regression in the urban vitality models. The urban built environment plays an important role in affecting urban vitality, while built environment designs witness the most important effect. Specifically, the density of shopping facilities, medical facilities, and road networks are the most important factors affecting urban social vitality, while road network density, destination accessibility, and population density play the most important roles in affecting urban economic vitality. Finally, the urban built environment factors have nonlinear threshold effects on both urban economic and social vitality in Hangzhou, with differing nonlinear response patterns observed between social and economic dimensions.

As the most important large-scale communication infrastructure in the world today, submarine cable can profoundly reflect the global Internet communication pattern, and is of great significance for understanding the global digital divide. We used multi-scale and network analysis methods to depict the distribution pattern, network structure and spatio-temporal evolution of global submarine cables at the national and landing point scales, in order to analyze the current situation, challenges and main directions of global digital divide governance. Results show that: (1) spatial distribution of global submarine cables is unbalanced, the United States and Europe are the concentrated distribution areas of submarine cables and global information flow centers; (2) core connections of the global submarine cable network are only composed of a tiny minority of countries or regions or landing points, and have strong geographical proximity and clustered-type characteristic, noting that multitudinous landing points of developed countries are at the semi-periphery or even periphery of the network; (3) submarine cables can alleviate the global digital divide through the three paths of infrastructure universalization, digital ecosystem reconstruction and economic empowerment, and the global digital divide governance still faces the dilemma of the differences in digital strategy development and the lack of a governance system. However, due to the increasingly important position of cities in developing countries in the international communication pattern, the global digital divide problem is being alleviated.

To address the contradiction between the rapid development of ski tourism and effective protection of the ecological environment, this study constructed the DPSIR-EES (Drive-Pressures-State-Impact-Response-Environment-Economy-Society) model and Ski Tourism Destination Ecological Security System (STDESS) framework system. They form an integrated methodology system based on the “entropy weighting-hierarchical analysis-gray correlation projection” composite weighting method that can be used to clarify the intrinsic mechanism of ecological security in ski tourism destinations. Taking Chongli as a case study, this study evaluated the evolution of its ecological security from 1995 to 2023, predicted the ecological security early warning levels from 2024 to 2050, and analyzed the mechanism of influences on regional ecological security. The findings indicate that the ecological security of ski tourism destinations shows a significant “stepped leap - dynamic equilibrium” evolutionary path. The dynamic response mechanism of the subsystems is characterized by significant heterogeneity. The ecological security early warning system revealed the temporal and sequential differentiation of risk transmission. The factors influencing ecological security show the significant dual dominance of policy and climate. This paper enhances the applicability of ecological security systems within ski tourism contexts by analyzing their evolutionary characteristics, predicted future changes and impact factors, and it provides an effective case study for ecological improvement.

A comprehensive understanding of urbanization impacts on landscape dynamics, eco-environmental consequences, and advancements in human habitation is paramount for effectively advancing urbanization-related sustainable development goals. This study predicted the urbanization process within the Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos-Ulanqab (HBOU) region and its projected implications for ecology, human settlement, and energy consumption in 2020-2050 using multi-source data and models under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The results revealed that the HBOU region’s urban area grew by 624.66 km² between 1990 and 2020. By 2050, it is expected to reach 1793.49±169.30 km², mainly expanding into cropland (58.95%) and natural ecological land (31.79%). Urban greening is projected to enhance, with the highest urban green space (UGS) predicted under SSP1 (32.42%). Under this scenario, the per capita urban area (PCUA) and per capita urban green space area (PCUGA) are projected to reach 172.66 and 55.63 m²/person in 2050, respectively. Furthermore, the ecological and energy utilization impacts are anticipated to decrease by 3.99% to 37.52% relative to alternative scenarios. Our projections suggest that limiting urbanization area in the HBOU region to 1500-1600 km² would significantly enhance the settlement environment and mitigate ecological and energy consumption effects. These results guide urban strategies balancing ecology, energy use, and habitation in arid regions.

Tropical cyclone activity has undergone significant changes under the impact of global warming since the 20th century. However, the characteristic and trend changes of landfalling tropical cyclones over China still need to be further clarified. The study conducted an analysis of the spatiotemporal characteristics and trends of landfalling tropical cyclones over China from 1949 to 2022 using the dataset of the best tracks of tropical cyclones from the China Meteorological Administration. Additionally, we explored the influences of ENSO and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) on landfalling tropical cyclone activities. The results indicate that: (1) The annual average number of landfalling tropical cyclones over China is approximately 8.85, showing a significant decreasing trend, and the decreasing range becomes larger with lower latitude overall. However, both the proportion of landfalling tropical cyclones to the total number and the percentage of higher intensity tropical cyclones increase. (2) The landfall locations of tropical cyclones in China are mainly concentrated between 18°N and 26°N, accounting for approximately 88.2% of the total, and the landfall frequency shows a sharp decline in the regions north of 30°N. The central landfall location of tropical cyclones has shifted significantly northwestward, moving closer to China. Compared to 1949-1969, the central genesis location from 2010 to 2022 shifted 4.5° westward and 2.0° northward. (3) There is a correlation between ENSO and the genesis frequency variation of tropical cyclones in the Northwest Pacific and landfalling over China. El Niño promotes the genesis of strong tropical cyclones and leads to a more southeastern bias in the genesis location of landfalling tropical cyclones, while La Niña has an opposite effect. The PDO also affects the tropical cyclones to a certain extent. During the PDO warm phase, the genesis position of tropical cyclones is westward and the number is smaller than that in the cold phase. This study further clarifies the changing trends and characteristics of landfalling tropical cyclones over China since 1949. It also highlights the impacts of ENSO and the PDO on tropical cyclone activities. The findings can serve as a scientific basis for conducting simulations and assessments of tropical cyclones and for disaster prevention and mitigation efforts.

Promoting the synergistic governance of pollution control (PC) and carbon reduction (CR) in the agricultural sector was an important way for the Chinese government to implement the “dual carbon” initiative and respond to climate change. Based on the data of China’s crop production from 31 provincial-level regions from 1997 to 2022, this paper constructs a framework consisting of spatiotemporal evolution, synergy effect measurement, differences in contributions across regions, and influencing factors analysis to reveal the relationship between agricultural PC and CR. The results showed that the annual growth rates of pollutant emissions and carbon emissions were 1.85% and 0.79%, respectively. However, the annual decline rates of their emission intensities were 3.14% and 4.32%, respectively. This indicated that China’s actions to reduce pollution and carbon emissions in agriculture have achieved good results, that the effect of PC was weaker than that of CR and had an obvious “policy node effect.” Simultaneously, the synergy between PC and CR evolved from “basic coordination” to “basic imbalance.” The contribution of inter-regional differences was relatively large, while intra-regional differences were smaller, highlighting the importance of reducing regional disparities in promoting the synergistic governance of PC and CR. The basic conditions, industrial structure, input intensity, and development potential of agricultural development were key factors in widening the coupling coordination gap between PC and CR, and the influence of these significant factors exhibited clear spatiotemporal heterogeneity. These findings have provided important evidence for understanding China’s agricultural environmental governance strategies and could offer experiential insights for developing countries in advancing the coordinated governance of agricultural PC and CR.

The Neolithic period at the Wutaishan site (WTS) in China provides valuable insights into the utilization of plant and animal resources by ancient communities. This study employed a comprehensive archaeological approach to examine animal and plant remains excavated from the WTS site. The findings reveal a primary reliance on animal resources by the site’s inhabitants, which were utilized extensively for food acquisition, tool manufacturing, and clothing production. The community predominantly targeted small herbivores, land birds, and specific fish species for sustenance while also domesticating animals such as dogs for hunting assistance and as a food source. In comparison, plants played a slightly lesser role but remained significant. The residents supplemented their diet through the collection of wild plants and the cultivation of crops, with broomcorn millet being more prevalent. Additionally, the discovery of cannabis seeds reflects the characteristic agricultural structure of Northeast China in the early stage. The inhabitants of the WTS site employed a diversified livelihood strategy encompassing hunting, gathering, farming, and animal husbandry. This comprehensive lifestyle supported their settled existence and marked a transition from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural society. These practices facilitated ecosystem sustainability and the maintenance of a relatively harmonious relationship with the environment.

Administrative division adjustments serve as crucial policy tools for spatial governance, significantly impacting regional resource allocation, economic development, and administrative governance. However, the impact of administrative division adjustment policies (ADAPs) on air quality is often overlooked. Can these policies improve air quality? By what mechanisms do they achieve this? To address this research gap, in this study, we used a two-way fixed-effects difference-in-differences model to analyze panel data from 192 prefecture-level cities in China from 2000 to 2021 in an effort to examine the effects of China’s ADAPs on haze pollution, utilizing actual implementation as empirical evidence. We analyzed the impact mechanisms from the perspectives of regional industrial structure transformation, technological innovation, and governmental regulatory capacity. We found that first, the implementation of China’s ADAPs significantly improved urban haze pollution, with varying effects observed across different types of policies. Second, ADAPs promote the upgrading of the industrial structure, technological innovation, and the enhancement of governmental regulatory capacity, thereby ameliorating urban haze pollution in China. Third, the influence of ADAPs on urban haze pollution exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity, with differing outcomes observed in regions of varying development levels. Therefore, achieving the dual goals of spatial optimization and environmental improvement necessitates the flexible application of ADAPs tailored to regional realities.

Existing studies have mostly focused on sustainable intensification (SI) in agricultural systems, while neglecting the integrated analysis of SI for the land space utilization system (LSUS). This has resulted in a lack of systematic solutions in balancing sustainable resource utilization and environmental protection. This study reviewed SI’s conceptual framework and evaluation, identified the gaps, and proposed an analytical framework of SI with clear logic and modeling processes for LSUS. Key findings include: (1) Resource competition and ecosystem pressures have highlighted the need to extend traditional agriculture-focused SI to LSUS and establish a clear quantitative evaluation framework for SI; (2) SI for LSUS refers to a system state in which a specific sub-system produces its dominant functions with resource savings, reduced environmental impact, efficient function output, and stable/enhanced function provision, while sub-systems evolve in a coordinated and orderly manner; (3) The assessment framework of SI for LSUS clarifies modeling processes, suggested indicators, methods and scale hierarchy system to help policymakers identify SI priorities across scales, informing strategies to balance agricultural, socioeconomic, and ecosystem goals. This study overcomes the limitations of traditional SI, providing crucial insights for tracking SI performance and identifying barriers in LSUS to enlighten the sustainable land use and management practices.

Lithic miniaturization is a key adaptive and technological feature of human populations and one of the key cultural hallmarks in the Late Pleistocene of Eastern Asia. In northern China this form of stone tool technology is well represented, including by microblade technology. Lithic miniaturization has been identified in South China, though this technological feature has received little research attention in comparison to the north. Here, we examine three miniaturized lithic assemblages in South China, ranging from the terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene. To examine technological variations in lithic miniaturization, the three assemblages were subject to comparative quantitative analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA), K-means clustering and the Zingg system. The three sites were found to exhibit varied temporal and geographic patterns of lithic miniaturization across South China, potentially related to fluctuating climatic conditions and changes in population dynamics since the Late Pleistocene.

Vernacular marine knowledge that is originally created by, and circulated among, the indigenous groups is usually appropriated and adapted by authorities and markets to achieve various geopolitical, economic, and social ends. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the territorially contested South China Sea (SCS). Folk and indigenous heritage, customs, rituals, and knowledge in relation to the maritime space are utilized and proclaimed as historical evidence to boost maritime sovereignty claims. This research investigates and interrogates the geopolitical relevance and resonance of the continuing evolution of the Chinese marine knowledge record Genglubu, a living part of seacraft and guides written by the Chinese fishermen in Hainan Island recording navigation routes, meteorological, hydrological, and other information for fishing in the SCS. Drawing from assemblage approach, we see Genglubu as an assemblage of marine knowledge (re)production which is engaged and shaped by multiple actors possessing diverse desires and constituted by complex, intertwined processes of human-sea-land interactions. The emergence of Genglubu originates from Hainan fishermen’s daily encounters and use of the SCS, while the transformation and evolution of Genglubu are intimately embroiled in the fierce, dynamic territorial rivalry in the SCS. We also find that the changes to Genglubu risk may alienate local fishermen. By focusing on the relationship between vernacular marine knowledge and the territorial geopolitics playing out across multiple scales, this research advances understanding of the complex geopolitical entanglements surrounding maritime knowledge.