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[Display omitted] • We modified an ecological connectivity index considering ecological patches' quality. • We found landscape fragmentation and connectivity loss in Jiangsu from 2000 to 2018. • We gave suggestions on improving ecological network in Jiangsu, China. • The combined method can provide valuable tools for spatial planning. Urbanization in China has led to land-use changes resulting in landscape fragmentation, natural habitats loss and ecological connectivity decline. Aiming to support sustainable landscape planning, we proposed an integrated method for ecological structure assessment and optimization including morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), minimal cumulative resistance (MCR) model and circuit theory to assess landscape fragmentation and ecological connectivity change at regional scale. A modified connectivity index is also proposed by employing the index of relative quality of ecological patches and corridors. We applied the combined methods to Jiangsu province in eastern China for multi-temporal landscape analysis and optimization. The results showed that the combined analysis revealed both fragmentation trend of ecological patches and ecological connectivity reduction with regard to all the species as a whole in the study area from 2000 to 2018. While, the trend has been slowed down to a certain extent lately, which is related to a series of ecological protection policies implemented in the study area, including ecological redlines policy, national park construction and returning marginal farmland into forest or grassland. Furthermore, suggestions for improving the ecological network in the study area were proposed. We proposed to improve the ecological network by fostering twenty-five potential ecological sources, maintaining twenty-five pinch points, restoring eleven dredging corridors and planning fifty-three stepping stones. Overall, we argue that the combined method can reveal both structural connectivity and functional connectivity, and the time series analysis can provide dynamics situation for better understanding and planning landscape process. It can also provide planners with a valuable strategic tool that advances the practical utility of landscape ecology techniques for spatial planning, and the combined application of the method helps to reduce some of the limitations of each individual method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ES decrease with the increase of IS, which has a scale effect. • When the IS growth rate exceeds a certain threshold, the ES will degenerate. • Regional ecological management should be macro-control at the provincial level. • The measures taken to limit IS expansion should be at a smaller grid scale. • ESCI is more suitable for exploring the relationship between IS and the ecosystem. The complexity and fragility of the Yellow River Basin ecosystem limits its economic growth and sustainable social development as a strategic planning area for development in western China. The Chinese government has established the Loess Plateau Ecological Screen (LPES) in the region to eliminate or mitigate the negative ecological impacts of human activities represented by the expansion of impervious surfaces (IS) through active ecological conservation and restoration. However, there are few studies that quantify the effects of impervious surfaces on ecosystem services (ES). To fill this gap, this study takes the LPES in China as an example and explores the response of ES to IS changes and its scale effect from 2000 to 2020. Based on remote sensing, meteorological, soil, hydrological, social, and economic data using GIS spatial analysis techniques. The results show that: From 2000 to 2020, the urbanization of the LPES developed rapidly, and the IS increased rapidly. The increase in IS affected the supply of ES, which decreased with the increase in IS growth rate, and this phenomenon had a scale effect. Overall, except for soil conservation service (SCS) - IS, carbon storage service (C) - IS at the administrative scale, the negative correlation increased with increasing scale, while the opposite was true at the grid scale. There were thresholds for the response of ES to IS, and the thresholds were also influenced by the scale of study. The smaller the scale was, the lower the threshold was. However, there were differences in the ranking of each ES reaching the threshold with increasing IS at the grid-scale and administrative division scale. The ecosystem services composite index (ESCI) was found to be the best indicator for exploring the relationship between IS and ES compared to other single ecosystem services indices, with the largest negative correlation with IS and the least influenced by scale effects. Given the obvious scale effect of IS on ES, this study suggests that the development of ecological management programs at the national level should be macroscopically regulated at the provincial level, with specific measures at smaller grid scales (5 Km × 5 Km) to constrain IS expansion.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The intensity and spatial distribution of land use conflict were accurately identified. • The potential factors affecting land use conflicts were discussed. • Development of a new framework for spatial control zoning to mitigate and guide land use conflicts. • Land use conflict mitigation strategies with regional differences were formulated. The coordinated development of territorial space is a necessary condition for sustainable regional development. In the context of rapid socio-economic development, how to construct a spatial control model to coordinate land use conflicts between agriculture, construction, and ecology has become an urgent problem to be resolved. By taking the Rao River Basin, a typical region with land use conflict issues, as an example, this study developed various land use suitability evaluation systems to identify and evaluate the land use conflict status in 2020 under the three major land use objectives: agricultural production, urban construction, and ecological protection. Then, based on the consideration of ecological priority, the remote sensing ecological index was applied to characterize the ecological quality of the watershed. Afterwards, a framework for spatial control zoning was developed to guide the land use approach within the context of territorial spatial planning by integrating regional ecological quality and land use conflict status. The results found that the spatial distribution of the suitability of agricultural land, construction land, and ecological land in the Rao River Basin exhibited overlap and intersection, causing significant land use conflicts. According to statistics, 36.55 % of the basin was affected by conflict, with medium conflict as the main grade and agriculture-construction conflict being the most significant with an area of up to 1,397.01 km2. Therefore, it is necessary to develop differentiated management strategies and divide spatial control zones to mitigate land use conflicts according to the basin's current development status. Integrated land use conflicts and ecological quality, the watershed was split into six spatial control zones: eco-dominated zones, agricultural production zones, urban construction zones, priority treatment zones, controlled development zones, and development potential zones. The study results can provide a basis for decision-making on the spatial development of the Rao River Basin and a methodological reference for identifying and mitigating land use conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Soil nutrient index method was used to gain a comprehensive insight of soil nutrient characteristics of Tianshan Mountains. • The average soil nutrient indices of the western area were higher than those of the eastern area. • All nutrients except the total salts decreased with increasing depth. • The differentiations of soil nutrients and variation patterns were attributed to the vegetation type and coverage, altitude, and more importantly, to human activity. Soil nutrients are the basic properties and essential characteristics of the soil. Study of areal variability of soil nutrients is an important fundamental work for regional planning, environmental protection, and regionally sustainable development. Dynamic changes in soil nutrients are affected by factors such as soil type, fertilization, farming, irrigation, altitude, and climate. This study takes the Tianshan Mountains, located in the central region of Xinjiang, China, as this region is not only a hub for agriculture, industry, transportation, and tourism, but also it is crucial as a forest-grassland transition zone. Through field sampling, laboratory analysis and supported by statistical analysis, we investigated the soil nutrient characteristics and the soil nutrient index to gain a spatial image of soil nutrient status in Tianshan followed by the discussion of those influencing factors. We selected suitable locations along the forest-grassland transition zone to excavate pits of 40 cm × 40 cm in area and 100 cm in depth. A total of 133 soil samples were collected from 0–5 cm, 5–20 cm, and 20–40 cm in pairs (woodland, grassland). Five soil nutrients (soil organic matter (SOM), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK) and total salts were selected for experimental, multivariate statistical, correlation and soil nutrient index analyses. The results show that (1) the average soil nutrient indices of the western area (M-T and K-B sites) were 0.5 and 0.24, respectively, higher than 0.2 of the eastern area (B-A site); (2) in soil layers of different depths of these three locations, all nutrients except the total salts (SOM, AN, AP, and AK) decreased with the increase in depth; (3) more fertile soils distribute in the western area (M-T and K-B sites) than in others of the Tianshan Mountains, showing higher soil nutrient contents and nutrient indices, abundant vegetation with greater diversity, higher vegetation coverage (80%-90%), and higher altitude. It can be concluded that the differentiation of soil nutrient index between western and eastern section of Tianshan were attributed to theirs' vegetation type and coverage, altitude, and more importantly, human activity.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Carrying Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is being promoted through law in many parts of the world with the aim of integrating environmental consideration into decision-making process and improving sustainable development. Although it is generally agreed that SEA plays an important role in the decisions affecting the environment, SEA is currently experiencing increased pressure from decision makers and politicians to argue and prove its effectiveness. Recently, studies concerning this area have been accelerating. When considering evaluating SEA effectiveness, two main challenges need to be addressed. Firstly, the identification and formulation of evaluating indicators, and secondly, finding ways and methods to quantify and measure conformance to the indicators. In this study, we first review critically the indicators and criteria on the effectiveness of the impact assessment, four dimensions evaluating indicators, including substantive indicator, procedural indicator, contextual indicator, and incremental indicator, and 13 sub-indicators have been identified. An evaluating model is developed and a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP) approach for designing and evaluating SEA is established and applied to a regional planning in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Relations between landscape pattern and water quality were built for a lake cluster region. • Water quality of lakes deteriorated with the increase of patch density of aquaculture area. • The relations can support making regional master plan for restoration of degraded lakes. • Patch density of aquaculture area can be an efficient indicator for water quality of lakes. Understanding the relation between landscape pattern and water quality is essential to making a master plan for restoration of regional lake and wetland clusters, which has not yet been well resolved. Here, we studied the impacts of landscape pattern changes on water quality over lake clusters, taking the aquaculture area in the Lixia River hinterland of China as a case. Multi-temporal Landsat series of remote sensing data from 1985 to 2018 was used and space-for-time substitution (SFTS) method was applied to explore the relationship between landscape pattern and water quality. Results showed that wetland and free water surface were the dominant classes of the lake cluster in 1985 and 1990, but they began to rapidly decrease from 1995 to 2000. The enclosure aquaculture increased rapidly since 1995 and became the dominant class between 1995 and 2018. The patch density of aquaculture water (PD_A) increased from 0.09n/km2 in 1985 to 0.34n/km2 in 2018, with the largest degree of fragmentation in 2000. However, the growth rate of PD_A declined significantly after the enactment of the lake ecological protection policies. The SFTS results showed that PD_A had positive correlation with total nitrogen (TN) (r = 0.26), ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) (r = 0.21), and Chlorophyta (r = 0.33), and the water quality degraded with increasing PD_A. Hence, PD_A could be a water quality indicator of lakes in the Lixia River hinterland. The study is expected to provide a viable method to design regional restoration plan for degraded and over-developed wetland areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Identify the ecological sources by evaluating two indicators. • The effective measure to improve the structure and function of ecosystems. • Strengthen the material and energy flow between ecological sources. The construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) is an effective measure to improve the structure and function of ecosystems, maintain ecosystem services, and ensure ecological security. Our focus is the hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau in China, a typical county area where the extensive use of land has put tremendous pressure on the ecosystem and caused a series of ecological problems. Therefore, considering different targets for decision makers, we introduced hot spot analysis method to construct two plans of ESP based on local conditions and the proposed long-term optimization strategy of ESP. The results showed that the ecological source areas of plans A and B accounted for 31.47% and 43.26% of the ecological land, respectively, covering the core areas of most nature reserves, effectively validating the accuracy and feasibility of our method. Additionally, the total area of the optimized ecological source was 8.91% higher than that of the existing area, which expands the radiation range of ecological sources and enhances the internal connectivity. In order to form a regional functionalized and structured spatial structure layout system, the ecological framework of "two axes, four cores, six belts, and eight zones" was proposed according to the spatial distribution of the river corridors and important ecological landscape components. Overall, this study adds new insight into the methodology of ESP construction that can provide important references for regional development planning and ecological protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]