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Promoting the sustainable development of resource-based cities is of great significance for the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. In order to solve the dilemma of the sustainable development of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin, this paper constructs an ecological security evaluation system. It calculates the ecological security level of 30 resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2020 using the TOPSIS model and carries out a classification convergence analysis. The DID empirical test of ecological security factors by sustainable development planning policies is used to distinguish the development characteristics of different resource-based cities. The results show that (1) the ecological security level of resource cities in the Yellow River Basin is generally well developed, and there are differences between different types of resource cities; (2) the resource cities in the Yellow River Basin mainly rely on industrial transformation to improve the ecological security level; and (3) the local governments pay limited attention to environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good grasp of the carbon emission efficiency (CEE) of the provinces in the Yellow River basin (YRB) in China, and its influencing factors, can help promote the sustainable development of the region and smooth realization of the national carbon emission reduction target. Based on stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), this paper calculates the CEE of nine provinces in the YRB from 2005 to 2019, and then, analyzes its spatial and temporal characteristics. The spatial Durbin model (SDM) with two-way fixed effects is selected to investigate the influencing factors of the CEE in the YRB. The results suggest that: (1) the overall CEE of the YRB shows a slow upward trend, and although the gap in CEE between provinces is large, it is slowly narrowing; (2) there is a significant negative spatial autocorrelation in the CEE of the provinces in the YRB; and (3) technological innovation capability, energy consumption structure, population density, and urban greening level are the most significant factors affecting the CEE of the YRB. Both population density and urban greening level have a positive effect on the improvement of the CEE of the provinces themselves and of the whole YRB, and there is also a spatial spillover effect on the improvement of CEE due to population density. Technological innovation capability and energy consumption structure had a negative impact on the overall CEE of the province and the basin during the research period. This study may have some reference value for improving the CEE of the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality development (HQD) is a positive initiative in China to promote sustainable development. Promoting HQD in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is a major national strategy for China. The YRB is an important ecological barrier and economic zone in China, which comprises nine provinces, including Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the HQD of the nine provinces in the YRB. It clarifies the basic connotation of HQD and constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system for HQD according to the principles of comprehensiveness, distinctiveness, openness, refinement and feasibility. The comprehensive evaluation index system includes four dimensions: economic development, technology innovation, society and livelihood, and ecological security, which contain 28 secondary indicators. The combined method of coupling development and entropy weight termed the "technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS)" was selected to make a comprehensive evaluation of the HQD of the nine provinces in the YRB from the time dimension and the space dimension, respectively. It was found that there are still problems, such as the differentiation of HQD, the low comprehensive development degree (CDD), and the low development coupling degree (DCD) in some provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing total factor carbon productivity (TFCP) is crucial to mitigate global climate change and achieve carbon neutrality target. The Yellow River Basin is a critical energy area in China, but its TFCP is relatively low, which results in particularly prominent environmental problems. This paper investigates TFCP using MCPI, Global Moran's I and kernel density estimation based on panel data of the 9 provinces along this vast basin in 2007–2017. The results demonstrate that: the average value of TFCP fluctuates around 1 and overall TFCP evolution exhibits significant spatial aggregation effect, and technological progress is the dominant impetus for TFCP growth. At regional level, regional heterogeneities of TFCP change and its dynamics exactly exist, with Qinghai the lowest performance and Shandong the highest performance. Moreover, global Moran's I index reflects there is a significant positive spatial correlation between provincial TFCP, and cumulative TFCP takes on a certain degree of club convergence features. Furthermore, specific and targeted recommendations have drawn from this paper, in particular for the Yellow River Basin, to increase TFCP and achieve sustainable development in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the sustainability impacts in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in China after the Xiaolangdi Dam was constructed. Based on land use data interpreted from Landsat remote sensing images, covering the time period from 2000 to 2020 at 5-year intervals, this research uses a land dynamic attitude index and comprehensive index of land use degree to reveal the degree of land use type change in the study area and analyze the relationship between land use and social economy. The results show that urban and rural construction land is the land use type with the largest annual change rate, and the increase is most obvious from 2005 to 2010, growing by nearly 900 km2. The six types of land use in the research area changed sharply from 2000 to 2010, with grassland and unused land showing the most significant change. On the whole, the dynamic attitude of comprehensive land use tends to be stable. The comprehensive index analysis of land use degree indicates that the study area has developed in the direction of urban settlement. Population and GDP are the main driving factors affecting the constant change in land use types in this region, in which population growth and rapid economic development are the main factors leading to the decline of grassland area, and are also the main driving factors for the expansion of construction land. The research results provide a scientific basis for sustainable land use and development in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the gradual networking of inter-city relations and the increase in acute impact and chronic stress, the measurement of the resilience of urban network structures is particularly prominent. Based on the construction of the urban network by passenger train trips in the Yellow River Basin, this paper analyzes and assesses the characteristics of the structural resilience of the urban network, and probes into the network resilience and urban response under the circumstances of node failure and line failure in Zhengzhou. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The urban network in the Yellow River Basin was clearly hierarchical, with a significant spatial distribution of "low in the north and high in the south", and the overall characteristics of "robustness" in small areas and "fragility" in large areas. The network connection forms were diversified and open. The network transmission efficiency was high, and the edge cities depended on the core cities with prominent characteristics, and the risk load of regional core cities rose. (2) The network structure was "robust" as it maintained high operational efficiency and connectivity under random attacks. Under deliberate attacks, the city network operated efficiently with a small increase in connectivity before the 60% threshold, and after the threshold, the overall network started to split into many sub-networks, and the network fragmentation gradually increased until the network collapsed. (3) Zhengzhou node failure and line failure states in the Yellow River Basin urban network were resilient, in the sense that when suffering important nodes and lines going down it could still maintain good network operation efficiency, and the core nodes in the impact of natural disasters could adapt to the destructive nature of the network through the urban network structure self-regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clean utilization of traditional energy and renewable, clean energy utilization are the key points of the energy structure transition in the Yellow River Basin. This paper constructs an evolutionary game model, with the participation of local governments and energy companies, to analyze the dynamic evolution of each game subject. The results from the study highlight three important facts about the energy mix transformation in the Yellow River Basin: (1) the high ratio of traditional clean energy utilization and the low ratio of renewable, clean energy utilization align with the actual energy use in the Yellow River Basin, which can better promote the inclusive development of both types of energy; (2) increasing the capacity to utilize both energy sources can improve the energy system resilience gains of game players, for example, at the immature stage of renewable, clean energy utilization technologies, local government's willingness to subsidize renewable clean energy utilization is positively related to their energy system resilience gains; and (3) under the premise of ensuring the energy supply, the introduction of penalty parameters can ensure a reasonable share of both types of energy utilization, and an increase in the penalty parameters makes the game participants increase their willingness to implement energy structure transformation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research on high-quality development of the manufacturing industry (HQDMI) in the Yellow River Basin is in the exploratory stage, and little literature has systematically analyzed its influencing factors. Based on the grounded theory, this paper makes an exploratory analysis of the influencing factors of the HQDMI in the Yellow River Basin. This study finds that the influencing factors of the HQDMI mainly include six aspects: innovation capability, organization construction, industry resources, institutional environment, industry collaboration, and market demand. By using the HQDMI's endogenous and exogenous factors as the core, the realization mode of the HQDMI in the Yellow River basin is put forward, and the influencing factors and action model of the HQDMI in the Yellow River Basin are constructed. The findings have significant reference value for promoting the HQDMI in the Yellow River Basin and are helpful for improving the HQDMI research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: The Henan section of the Yellow River Basin plays an important role in the economic zone of the middle reaches of the Yellow River. However, ecological environmental geological problems such as soil erosion have seriously affected the lives of residents and economic development, resulting in increasingly prominent conflicts between humans and the environment. Therefore, this paper made use of remote sensing images and other reference data, integrated image classification, remote sensing inversion and statistical analysis methods to explore the ecological environmental geological problems and their causes in the Henan section of the Yellow River Basin. (2) Results: the main eco-environmental geological problems in the Sanmenxia–Zhengzhou section are serious soil erosion, degradation of water conservation function and being prone to geological disasters. The main eco-environmental geological problems in the Zhengzhou–Puyang section are poor water and soil conservation function, degradation of water conservation function and poor biodiversity maintenance function. In the last 19 years, the eco-environmental geological problems in the Henan section of the Yellow River Basin have shown a significant improvement trend as a whole. Along the main stream of the Yellow River in Sanmenxia, Luoyang, Jiyuan, Jiaozuo, Zhengzhou and other areas, the eco-environmental geological problems are still prominent; altitude, vegetation and rainfall are the key driving factors of eco-environmental geological problems in the Sanmenxia–Zhengzhou section and rainfall, vegetation and land-use type are the key driving factors in the Zhengzhou–Puyang section. (3) Conclusions: This study comprehensively considered the three aspects of ecology, environment and geology in a total of five research topics. The temporal and spatial distribution characteristics and driving factors of ecological environmental geological problems in the Yellow River Basin were analyzed, which could provide technical support for ecological environmental protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual water flows have a profound impact on the natural water system of a country or region, and they may help conserve local water resources or exacerbate water scarcity in some areas. However, current research has only focused on the measurement of virtual water flows, without analysis of the causes of virtual water flow patterns. This study first obtained virtual water flow patterns across provinces by constructing a multi-regional input–-output (MRIO) model of the Yellow River basin in 2012 and 2017, and then analyzed its driving factors by applying the extended STIRPAT model to provide directions for using virtual water trade to alleviate water shortages in water-scarce areas of the basin. We found the following: (1) The Yellow River basin as a whole had a net virtual water inflow in 2012 and 2017, and the net inflow has increased from 2.14 billion m3 to 33.67 billion m3. (2) Different provinces or regions assume different roles in the virtual water trade within the basin. (3) There is an obvious regional heterogeneity in the virtual water flows in different subsectors. (4) Per capita GDP, tertiary industry contribution rate, consumer price index, and water scarcity are the main positive drivers of virtual water inflow in the Yellow River Basin provinces, while primary industry contribution rate, per capita water resources, and water use per unit arable area promote virtual water outflow. The results of this paper present useful information for understanding the driving factors of virtual water flow, which could promote the optimal allocation of water resources in the Yellow River basin and achieve ecological protection and high-quality development in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realizing the decoupling development between the economic expansion and carbon dioxide emissions of the transport sector is of great importance if the Yellow River basin is to achieve green and low-carbon development. In this paper, we adopt the Tapio decoupling index to examine the decoupling relationship within the transport sector in the Yellow River basin, and then introduce the standard deviational ellipse to dynamically analyze the spatial heterogeneity of carbon emissions and economic growth at the provincial level. Furthermore, based on the decoupling method, we expand the traditional logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition (LMDI) model to decompose the decoupling index into eight sub-indices, and we identify the impact of each factor on the decoupling relationship. The results indicate that the carbon emissions of the transport sector in the Yellow River basin show the non-equilibrium characteristics of "upstream region < midstream region < downstream region". The decoupling state of the transport sector shows obvious spatial differences. The less-developed regions are more likely to present non-ideal decoupling states. The growth rate of carbon emissions in Sichuan, Qinghai, and Shandong provinces is relatively fast, and the azimuth of the transport sector's carbon emissions shows a clockwise trend. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of urbanization on decoupling in the Yellow River basin are much greater than the non-urbanization factors. In addition to the effect of urbanization, the transport structure has a major negative effect on decoupling development in the upstream and midstream regions, while energy intensity and energy structure are key to realizing a decoupled status in the downstream region. Finally, we propose some differentiated policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin plays an important role in economic and social development and ecological security; therefore, its ecological protection and high-quality development are vital. In order to understand the level of synergistic development between environment and industry in the Yellow River Basin, and to understand the change in synergy degree through spatial and temporal analysis, and finally to propose suggestions to provide a basis for the policy formulation of environmental protection and industrial development, informing the initiatives of the relevant parties—companies and residents, so as to ensure the high-quality development and sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin, this paper is based on the theory of synergetic and dissipative structure, and it expounds the synergetic mechanism by constructing the compound system of environment and industry in the Yellow River Basin and revealing their internal and external interactions. Based on the panel data of 57 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2010 to 2020, the synergy degree of environment and industry in the Yellow River Basin and its temporal and spatial characteristics are discussed by using the synergy model of compound systems. The results show that: (1) the overall degree of environmental and industrial synergism in the Basin develops from mildly non-synergistic to mildly synergistic, but the level is still low; there are significant temporal and regional differences in synergy degree in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Basin and among cities. (2) The number of cities in the basin that are in mild synergy is increasing; the synergy degree shows an overall positive global spatial autocorrelation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use/cover change is the main reason for the variation of ecosystem carbon storage. The study of the impact of land use on carbon storage has certain reference values for realizing high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. In this paper, the InVEST model was used to simulate the variation of carbon storage in the Yellow River Basin in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, and to predict the carbon storage in 2030 in combination with the CA-Markov model, as well as to discuss the impact of land use on carbon storage. The results showed that: (1) The variation trend of carbon storage for different land use types in the Yellow River Basin was different and was mainly manifested as a decrease of cultivated land and unused land, and an increase of forest land, grassland, water, and construction land. The carbon storage in the provincial key development prioritized zone, national development optimized zone, and provincial development optimized zone showed decreasing trends, while the national key development prioritized zone and national major grain producing zone presented a fluctuating downward trend. (2) The ecosystem carbon storage function weakened after 2000, and part of the carbon sink area transformed into a carbon source area. The area with low carbon storage was distributed in the west of the provincial key ecological function zone, and the area with high carbon storage was concentrated in the south and middle of national key ecological function zone and the east of the provincial key ecological function zone. (3) The carbon loss was largest in the urban expansion scenario (UES), followed by the natural development scenario (NDS) and ecological protection scenario (EPS). The carbon storage of different scenarios presented significant positive correlations with land use intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, nations and regions have pushed for "green development (GD)", a sustainable development strategy that considers the integrated growth of "economy–environment–society". As it is an area of China that provides an ecological function and is an important energy base, it is necessary to explore the current situation and factors influencing GD in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Therefore, first, this paper constructs a GD indicator system from a multi-dimensional perspective, measures the GD of 79 prefecture-level cities in the YRB from 2006 to 2019 by using the entropy method, and analyzes the evolution of time series according to the results. We found that the YRB's GD showed an overall increase during the study period, rising from 0.1261 to 0.2195, but the level was low. Second, we analyzed the spatial characteristics of the YRB's GD using a spatial analysis method and concluded that GD varied significantly across cities in the YRB. The YRB presented spatial distribution characteristics with obvious "quad-core pieces", and there was a high intensity of spatial correlation and agglomeration. The spatial center of gravity of GD moved toward the southeast year by year. Third, we examined the influencing factors of the GD of the YRB through the spatial Durbin model. The study found that the spatial spillover effect on GD in the YRB was obvious, and the reasons affecting the GD of the YRB were heterogeneous. Finally, according to the conclusions of this research, we propose differentiated policies that are suitable for GD in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the spatial distribution characteristics of and factors that influence intangible cultural heritage is an important way to improve the management and protection of the heritage. On the basis of the standard deviation ellipse, point pattern analysis, kernel density analysis, spatial autocorrelation, Geodetector, and other methods, 891 national intangible cultural heritage artifacts (divided into five batches and ten categories) in the Yellow River Basin were taken as the research objects, and their spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and causes were quantitatively analyzed. As per the results, (1) the intangible cultural heritage in the Yellow River Basin shows a spatial distribution pattern that is dense in the east and sparse in the west, and there is a strong spatial dependence; (2) the intangible cultural heritage in the Yellow River Basin shows a "west first and then east" trend in time, and the quantity and type have significant differences in different time sections; (3) according to the batch analysis, the aggregation of the second batch of the intangible cultural heritage is the strongest, and the NNI value continues to increase from the second to the fifth batch of the intangible cultural heritage, indicating that the development of intangible cultural heritage is increasingly related to areas with backward economies and ethnic minorities; and (4) policy orientation, economic development, and topography are the dominant factors affecting the spatial distribution pattern of the intangible cultural heritage in the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological well-being performance (EWP) is a key indicator of sustainable development and has garnered significant research attention. This study measures the overall and stage-by-stage efficiency of the urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin based on the ends–means framework of steady-state economics. This study then delves into the spatiotemporal transfer characteristics of EWP through Moran's I, and spatial Markov chains. Additionally, this research investigates the factors influencing EWP using a random forest model. The findings indicate a notable enhancement in EWP in the urban agglomerations in the YRB from 2006 to 2021, showing clear spatial agglomeration patterns. The shift in EWP types displays a "path dependence" effect, with distinct evolutionary paths influenced by spatial lag effects. Ecological input emerges as a key internal driver of EWP, while urbanization and technological advancements are highlighted as significant external factors. Industrial agglomeration and industrial structure also contribute to improving EWP. The findings of this study help to clarify the spatial and temporal characteristics of ecological welfare performance and its driving mechanisms in the urban agglomerations of the Yellow River Basin. This is conducive to the achievement of high-quality urban transformation and regional green development, and it provides a reference for the construction of an ecological civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the camping sites in the Yellow River Basin published by Amap, this study examines the spatial distribution pattern of camping sites using various indices, including the average nearest neighbor index, geographical concentration index, disequilibrium index, and kernel density estimation. The research findings are as follows: (1) Camping sites exhibit a highly significant agglomeration distribution, and the spatial scale presents a non-equilibrium characteristic of "east dense west sparse". The distribution density of camping sites shows clear hot and cold spots, forming a general pattern of "one belt, one mass, two points". The locations of these camping sites commonly follow the rule of "backing mountains, along roads, and accompanied by scenery". (2) The spatial distribution of camping sites is influenced by both natural factors, such as elevation and air quality, and social factors, such as highway mileage and the number of high-level scenic spots. The impact of social factors is found to be more substantial than that of natural environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the Ecological Conservation and High-Quality Development of the Yellow River Basin (YBCD) can provide the institutional context for economic outcomes of environmental regulations and influences on corporate financial asset allocation. The basic objective of this study is to examine the impact of the YBCD on corporate financialization, analyzing the influencing mechanisms and heterogeneity. Using the data of A-share listed companies spanning 2015 to 2022 in China, this study employs the differences-in-differences method to investigate the impact of the YBCD on corporate financialization. The findings reveal that (1) the YBCD could significantly inhibit corporate financialization and suppress financial asset allocation driven by arbitrage motivation. It will help corporate financial asset allocation shift towards physical businesses, emphasizing long-term development. (2) The YBCD could inhibit corporate financialization by reducing corporate agency costs and fostering environmental, social, and governance (ESG), leading to crowding-out effects on financial assets. (3) The heterogeneity analysis indicates that the YBCD could generate significant inhibitory effects on corporate financialization in non-state-owned enterprises, high-polluting companies, and companies located in regions with stronger environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the data of 59 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2011 to 2019, this paper uses the Slack Based Measure-Global Malmquist Luenberger (SBM-GML) model to measure green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the cities. Under the space–time concept of the Basin, heterogeneity analysis of the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin is conducted. On this basis, a panel Tobit model is constructed to analyze the impact of environmental regulation on GTFP in the whole basin, upstream region, middle region and downstream region. The results show that the intensity of environmental regulation in the Yellow River Basin increases gradually, which is the highest in the lower reaches, followed by the middle reaches; spatially, the intensity of environmental regulation shows a certain aggregation trend. The green economic growth is realized in the whole basin, and the green technology progress effect is the driving factor of GTFP. The GTFP distribution in the upstream region is relatively concentrated, showing a slow upward trend. The distribution of GTFP in the middle reaches is discrete, and the annual difference is large. In the downstream region, it shows a trend of decline first and then increase. Environmental regulation promotes GTFP in the whole basin, upper, middle and lower reaches, accompanied by certain spatial differences. The Yellow River Basin breaks through the cost effect brought by environmental regulation and triggers technological innovation, thereby enhancing GTFP; the "Porter hypothesis" has been verified in the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing influences of anthropogenic activities and climatic change, the problem concerning the vulnerability of the Water-Energy-Food-Carbon (WEFC) system in the Yellow River Basin is prominent. Using the VSD framework, the WEFC system vulnerability evaluation index system was constructed with 60 cities in the Yellow River Basin as the samples, and the WEFC system vulnerability of each city was measured from 2010 to 2019. Kernel density estimation, Theil index, and spatial correlation analysis were employed to investigate spatio-temporal evolution characteristics. Geodetector was utilized to analyze the driving factors of WEFC system vulnerability. The results demonstrate that: (1) The vulnerability of the WEFC system in the Yellow River Basin tends to decrease, with a spatial pattern of "low in the middle and high on both sides"; the vulnerability is largest in the upper and lower reaches, while smallest in the middle reaches. (2) The spatial difference in vulnerability narrows in the middle and lower reaches, while expanding in the upper reaches. The differences among the three major regions mainly originate from within the region, with the upper reaches having the largest difference and contribution; the vulnerability is featured with a significant spatial correlation, with the upper and lower reaches cities mostly displaying a "high-high" agglomeration and the middle reaches mainly showing a "low-low" one. (3) Factors, including the carbon and ecological carrying capacity coefficient, water resource development and utilization rate, and urbanization rate, mainly influence the WEFC system vulnerability; the spatial heterogeneity of core drivers at the regional scale is obvious, with the upper reaches regions being more strongly influenced by factors of the water resources system, while the middle and lower reaches regions are more sensitive to factors concerning industrial pollution of the energy subsystem. The explanatory power of carbon ecological carrying capacity reaches its peak in the middle reaches. The interaction of factors increases the strength of the impact on vulnerability. This study provides decision support and policy suggestions for achieving a balanced and coordinated development of water resource utilization, energy development, food production, and carbon cycle system in the Yellow River Basin. Investigating WEFC system vulnerability to support SDG 11 provided valuable insights and policy strategies for building cities that are inclusive, secure, resource-efficient, and resilient in the face of climate change and disaster risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) plays a very important role in China's economic and social development and ecological security, so studying the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of net primary productivity (NPP) and its influencing factors is of great significance for protecting the stable development of its ecological environment. This article takes the YRB as the research area, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, climate data, terrain data, land data, social data, and the gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) data. The spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of vegetation NPP in the YRB from 2000 to 2022 were explored using methods such as trend analysis, correlation analysis, and geographic detectors, and the correlation characteristics of NPP with meteorological factors, social factors, and total water storage (TWS) were evaluated. The results indicate that the NPP of vegetation in the YRB showed an increasing trend (4.989 gC·m−2·a−1) from 2000 to 2022, with the most significant changes occurring in the middle reaches of the YRB. The correlation coefficient indicates that temperature and accumulated temperature have a significant positive impact on the change of NPP, while TWS has a significant negative impact. In the study of the factors affecting vegetation NPP in the YRB, the most influential factors are soil type (0.48), precipitation (0.46), and temperature (0.32). The strong correlation between TWS and vegetation NPP in the YRB is about 39%, with a contribution rate of about 0.12, which is a factor that cannot be ignored in studying vegetation NPP changes in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting new-type urbanization with the concept of green development has become an inevitable requirement for high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. Grasping the development trend and influencing factors of green urbanization level in the Yellow River Basin is of great significance for implementing the international conventions on environmental protection and participating in global environmental governance. This paper selects the green urbanization level panel data of nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2018. Then, principal component analysis and factor analysis are applied to measure and evaluate the green urbanization level of each province. Furthermore, this paper constructs a dynamic panel estimation model and uses differential generalized method of moments (DIF-GMM) model and system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) model to explore the influencing factors. The results show that the overall level of green urbanization in the Yellow River Basin has steadily and rapidly increased, and there are significant spatial differences. The green urbanization level of eastern provinces is significantly higher than that of central and western provinces. In addition, the overall level of green urbanization shows a convergence trend. From the perspective of influencing factors, the factors that have significant positive effects on the level of green urbanization include economic development level, technological innovation level, and urban size. Industrial structure, foreign direct investment (FDI), and education level counteract the level of green urbanization. However, environmental regulation strength and opening degree fail to pass the significance test. Therefore, it is necessary to promote and upgrade industrial transformation, improve the quality of opening up, and strengthen cooperation in technological innovation and environmental governance. There are requirements that the government control the urban size and population scientifically and implement the environmental access system strictly in order to improve the level of green urbanization in the Yellow River Basin. It is more possible to achieve harmonious economic and ecological environment development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin is an essential ecological barrier in China, but it is relatively underdeveloped. The human–land relationship needs to be coordinated, and the ecological environment is fragile, which seriously restricts the sustainable development of the urban agglomeration in the Yellow River Basin. In this study, a "five-dimensional integrated" comprehensive carrying capacity evaluation model is constructed using the five dimensions of water, land, ecology, monitoring, and early warning to evaluate its resource carrying capacity quantitatively. It constructs an early warning system of the resource carrying capacity based on the quantitative evaluation results and monitors the state of the resource carrying capacity. The results show that (1) seven major urban agglomerations' populations, grain productions, and land are surplus, and 50.85% of prefecture-level cities have food surpluses regarding human–food relationships. (2) There are shortages in the urban agglomeration's water resources and a deficit in the water resource carrying capacity. (3) The average ecological carrying capacity index is 0.519, indicating a state of ecological affluence. (4) The comprehensive resource carrying capacity is defined as level-three heavy-load conditions, while 67%, 22%, and 14% of cities have level-one, -two, and -three heavy-load conditions, respectively. This study can aid in the monitoring of the resource carrying status of the Yellow River Basin. These results provide a scientific basis for effectively restraining the utilization and development of natural resources in the Yellow River Basin. It can also provide a research paradigm for the world's river basins, as well as the sustainable development of man and nature in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the spatial and temporal variations of water resource carrying capacity (WRCC) and its influencing factors in the significant Yellow River Basin in China. Combining the composite weighting TOPSIS method with geographic detector analysis, the water resource carrying capacity index for nine provinces within the Yellow River Basin was evaluated from 2005 to 2021. The results reveal a continuous upward trend in water resource carrying capacity in the Yellow River Basin, with significant improvements attributed to increased investment in scientific research, enhanced water use efficiency, proactive water resource management, and environmental protection measures. The study also identified differences in water resource carrying capacity among provinces, highlighting the significant impact of factors such as economic development, population density, industrial wastewater discharge, and precipitation. The findings underscore the importance of balancing economic growth with environmental protection. Specifically, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia provinces showed remarkable progress, while Qinghai and Sichuan provinces exhibited slower growth, primarily due to geographical location and industrial development status. Based on these findings, it is recommended that research investment be strengthened, economic structures be optimized, water resource management be improved, and environmental protection measures be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the scientific concept of city green competitiveness, an integrated evaluation indicator system was established to use the entropy method in order to measure the green competitiveness index of 78 cities surrounding the Yellow River (YR) from 2006 to 2020. Further, the spatio–temporal features and drivers of city green competitiveness were analyzed using various methods. The research found the following: (1) Although the green competitiveness of cities surrounding the YR has been growing steadily, the overall level is not high. (2) The green competitiveness of cities surrounding the YR can be spatially characterized as "downstream > midstream > upstream"; the absolute and relative differences between cities are both increasing, and overall differences stem mainly from the hypervariable density. (3) The positive spatial correlation between the green competitiveness of cities surrounding the YR is significant, with the "cold spot" in southeastern Gansu and the "hot spot" in the Shandong Peninsular city cluster. (4) The level of city infrastructure construction, the level of urbanization, and science and technology innovation are the main drivers of the green competitiveness of cities surrounding the YR. In addition, the interaction forces of each factor were found to be much stronger than the effects of individual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interconnection of water, energy, and food constitutes a complex and intricate relationship. A comprehensive index system for the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) in Henan Province was formulated utilizing entropy weighting and the analytic hierarchy process. This was carried out to quantify and assess the evolution of the WEF nexus from 2006 to 2020. GeoDetector was employed to ascertain how selected factors influenced the coupled, coordinated growth of the WEF nexus. Three principal findings were revealed in this study. (1) The value of the comprehensive evaluation index of the WEF nexus increased over the study period from 0.2752 to 0.7044, with the degree of coupling coordination expanding from 0.5232 to 0.8361, indicating an overall increasing trend. (2) Significant spatial disparities across the province were detected in the degree of coupling coordination of the WEF nexus. Cities such as Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, and Luoyang had greater degrees of WEF coupling coordination compared to other cities, while Jiyuan demonstrated the least degree of coordination. (3) GeoDetector exhibited that factors like education expenditure, arable land area, and population density individually exerted a strong influence on coupling coordination; the influence of two-factor combinations heightened this effect, and nonlinear relationships between factor pairs further increased the influence. This investigation offers a conceptual structure for planning and implementing high-quality development in the YRB in Henan Province, thus serving as an essential reference for local governmental decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is facing a critical period of high–speed development and a transition to high–quality development. The purpose of this study is to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of the coupling and coordination of high–quality development of urbanization and water resources in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Firstly, we propose the concept of "High–Quality Development of Urbanization–Water Resources Coupling" and construct a high–quality development of urbanization (HQDU) system consisting of five sub–systems: innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing, and a water resources system (WRS) consisting of four sub–systems: water resources background conditions, utilization capacity, management level, and pollution control. The improved coupling coordination degree model combined with the barrier degree model and clustering model is used to study the spatial and temporal distribution of the two systems in the YRB. The results show that the coupling coordination state of HQDU and WRS in the YRB improves to some extent, from "mild imbalance" to "barely coordination" in general; Henan and Ningxia are characterized by "low and fluctuating (levels) in early years and fast development in recent years"; Shanxi and Inner Mongolia develop steadily during the study period; Sichuan, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Qinghai are characterized by "low (levels) which lasted for a long time in the early stage and accelerated development in the later stage"; and Gansu Province is characterized by "high level in the early stage but insufficient momentum in later stage". The Coordination Index of Urbanization Economic Growth Speed and the Total Wastewater Discharge are the most important obstacle factors in HQDU and WRS. This study explores the level of coordination development of HQDU and WRS as well as finds the obstacle factors in the development process of the two systems, which is an important reference value for the high–quality development of urbanization under the constraint of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving synergistic development of efficient urban land use and the natural environment is crucial in promoting green urbanization. The assessment of land use eco-efficiency (LUEE) and its temporal–spatial changes provides an effective means of quantifying the relationship between the urban ecological environment and land use. Targeting 55 selected cities in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), in this study, we utilize the Super-EBM method to gauge the LUEE. We explore the temporal patterns and the spatial convergence of LUEE utilizing kernel density estimation and spatial econometric methods. Considering the resource and environmental costs of land use, we assumed the industrial pollutant emissions generated during urban land use as the undesired outputs and designed a framework for measuring the level of LUEE under double constraints, which theoretically revealed the formation process and spatial convergence mechanism of LUEE. The results show the following: (1) Throughout the sample period, the LUEE of the YRB urban agglomeration decreased from 0.158 in 2009 to 0.094 in 2020, indicating a decreasing spatial disparity in LUEE over time. Notably, the Lanxi urban cluster exhibited the largest gap in LUEE, whereas the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration displayed the smallest gap. The hyper-variable density exceeded the inter-group gap as the main factor leading to the difference in LUEE. (2) Although the LUEE of urban agglomerations has increased, there still exists a noticeable polarization phenomenon. (3) The LUEE of YRB demonstrates a pattern of conditional convergence and exerts a significant spatial spillover effect. Over time, the LUEE of YRB will tend towards an individual steady state. The findings have implications for strengthening linkage and synergy among cities in YRB, promoting factor integration across administrative regions, and formulating heterogeneous policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surveys show that rivers worldwide transport an annual sediment load of 15 billion tons into the sea, with the Yellow River Basin alone contributing 1.6 billion tons of sand. Therefore, understanding the wind and sand dynamics in the Yellow River Basin is crucial to ensuring the safe development of similar basins across China and the world. This study investigated the midstream wind and sand area of the Xiliugou tributary, a part of the upper Yellow River. Sand transport flux at 0–50 cm height on various underlying surfaces of the basin was measured using a stepped sand collector combined with an anemometer. Then, the amounts of wind and sand entering the Yellow River were estimated using a function model based on the measured factors. The particle size composition of wind-eroded sand was further analyzed to better understand the principles of wind and sand erosion and accumulation in the basin. The results show that the sand transport flux per unit area varies significantly across different underlying surfaces. The vertical change in sand transport rate on the basin's surface shows that the total sand transport rate is an exponential function of wind speed. Based on this relationship, the total annual average wind and sand entering the Yellow River basin via the Xiliugou tributary was estimated to be approximately 8.09 × 105 t. Controlled by the basin's unique geography, sand source, and human activities, the particle size composition of wind-eroded sand distinctly differs between the east and west sides of the river channel, exhibiting a "wind-blown mud and water-washed sand" pattern. The Yellow River basin still faces significant ecological security hazards. Understanding the coupling relationship between desert-basin-sand and wind is the foundation for effectively controlling wind and sand flow into the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) serves as a crucial ecological security barrier in China, and the scientific evaluation and understanding of the formation mechanisms of ecological environment quality (EEQ) in the YRB are of great importance for implementing dynamic regional ecosystem planning and protection. Therefore, this study aims to explore the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and formation mechanisms of the EEQ in the YRB from 2000 to 2020, based on land use remote sensing monitoring data, utilizing research methods such as the ecological environment quality index, centroid analysis, and the geographic detector. The results are as follows: From 2000 to 2020, the overall EEQ in the YRB showed a slight increasing trend, with a significant growth trend in the upstream and middle reaches, and a decreasing trend in the downstream. The spatial heterogeneity of the EEQ in the YRB was significant, with a south—high and north—low distribution pattern overall. During the study period, the spatial distribution pattern of the EEQ was relatively stable, with a notable increase in EEQ in the northwest of the YRB. The EEQ in the study area was jointly affected by natural and socio-economic factors, with precipitation, terrain fluctuation, and temperature being the dominant factors. The upstream EEQ was most affected by temperature, the EEQ of the middle reaches was most affected by precipitation, and the downstream EEQ was more vulnerable to the interference of slope and topographic relief. The influencing factors had a synergistic effect on the EEQ, and the explanatory power of socio-economic factors for a single-factor explanation of the EEQ was relatively low, but the explanatory power of the interaction between natural and socio-economic factors was significantly enhanced. These results can provide valuable insights for guiding and informing policy-making decisions related to ecological protection in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health is the basis of human survival and development. It is not only related to quality of life but also guarantees national security and social stability. Under the combined influence of various factors, large regional differences exist with regard to the health levels of residents in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Here, we took 73 prefecture-level cities (leagues and prefectures) in the YRB as our research object. We constructed an index system and a measurement model and applied geographical information system (GIS) technology and quantitative analysis methods to make comprehensive spatial and temporal measurements of the health index of residents in the YRB and further analyzed the influencing factors. Overall, the health index of residents in the YRB showed a steady upward trend. However, some differences exist across various regions with regard to residents' health index. The YRB resident health index displayed positive spatial autocorrelation; spatial clustering showed an initial decrease, followed by an increase, suggesting notable fluctuations. With the increase in per capita GDP, urbanization rate, and household size, the health index of residents in the YRB has improved. However, increased wastewater and waste gas discharge has led to a decrease in the health index of residents in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the perspective of green economy, we established an index system to evaluate industry, city and population, and obtained data from 78 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2011 to 2020. The entropy weight method, coupling model, kernel density analysis and exploratory data analysis methods were used to analyze the coupling coordination degree and spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics of industry, city and population in the Yellow River Basin. We constructed a Tobit model to analyze the influencing factors. The results show that from the perspective of green economy, the coupling coordination degree of industry, city and population in the Yellow River Basin has improved continuously. Among them, the coupling coordination degree of Shandong Peninsula and provincial capital cities is high, but the coupling coordination degree of some areas in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River is low due to human capital factors. The Yellow River Basin should strengthen environmental control, optimize government regulation, guide the inflow of foreign capital and develop green finance to promote the coupling development of industry, city and population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing agglomeration is an important manifestation for cities to enhance their competitiveness, and the resource and environmental effects caused by agglomeration have become a hot topic. Based on the relevant data of prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2019, this study used a Markov transition matrix to study the characteristics of carbon emission transfer and constructed an SDM model to analyze the effect of manufacturing agglomeration on carbon emissions and spatial spillover; the study drew the following conclusions: carbon emissions and the concentrations of manufacturing industries in the Yellow River Basin are on the rise, with carbon emissions showing a distribution pattern of "downstream > midstream > upstream". Manufacturing agglomeration has a significant positive influence on carbon emissions, reflecting the necessity for the green transformation of manufacturing agglomeration. Manufacturing agglomeration has a spatial spillover effect on carbon emissions. The direct effect is positive, and the indirect effect is negative. The polarization effect caused by agglomeration weakens the development degree of neighboring areas, which may reflect the technological spillover effect of manufacturing agglomeration on neighboring areas. Manufacturing agglomeration has regional heterogeneity in carbon emissions. Compared with the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin, the effect is more obvious in the upper reaches. The study proposes countermeasures in terms of optimizing the spatial pattern of the manufacturing industry and other aspects to provide references for promoting the transformation development of the manufacturing industry in the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific estimation and dynamic monitoring on the heterogeneity of carbon emission from energy consumption (CEEC) is the basis for formulating and implementing regional carbon reduction strategies to realize the goal of carbon neutrality and high-quality development. This study analyzes the temporal and spatial differences of CEEC and its driving factors in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) from 2000 to 2018 based on the Log-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) time decomposition method and the multi-regional (M-R) space decomposition method. The results indicate the following: The amount of CEEC of the YRB increased greatly from 2000 to 2012, and then expressed a convergence trend after 2012, with obvious spatial differences. The economic development is the leading factor that promotes the increase in CEEC in the YRB, energy intensity is the main force for the reduction in CEEC, and their influencing effectiveness varies significantly in different periods and provinces. Spatially, the larger economic development in Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan causes the higher level of CEEC, and the regulation of energy intensity in Shanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia is important for the reduction in their CEEC. The impact effectiveness of economic structure and energy structure on CEEC in the YRB is relatively weak, and they are potential factors for the reduction in CEEC. Therefore, the corresponding emission reduction measures in nine provinces of the YRB should focus on reducing energy intensity, building a green energy system, and strengthening "green" economic development to achieve high-quality development in the YRB. This study is designed to explore the spatiotemporal variations and influencing factors of carbon emissions in the nine provinces of the YRB, which is of great significance for achieving low-carbon development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon development of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an inherent requirement for implementing ecological protection and high-quality development strategies in the YRB and an important way to achieve China's carbon peak and neutrality goals. However, utilization of the newly emerging digital economy to reduce carbon emissions in the YRB remains a largely unexplored topic. Based on panel data obtained from 56 cities in the YRB from 2011 to 2019, the nonlinear and spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on carbon emissions were studied using spatial econometric and multiple threshold effect models. The results showed that: (1) The digital economy had an inverted U-shaped relationship with carbon emissions, initially increasing and subsequently decreasing, with a more prominent impact intensity in upstream cities; (2) The digital economy had distinct negative spatial spillover effects on carbon emissions, with more significant effects observed in the midstream and downstream; (3) The digital economy had a nonlinear threshold effect on carbon emissions. When the optimization level of the industrial structure was above a certain threshold, the digital economy reduced carbon emissions. Based on these results, we propose suggestions for accelerating the healthy growth of the digital economy while promoting carbon emission reductions across the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated promotion of industry–city integration and carbon emission reduction is of great significance to the construction of a green economic system and deep participation in global environmental governance. Based on the overall framework of the "production–life–ecology" system, the theoretical mechanism of the impact of industry–city integration on carbon emissions is systematically clarified. Taking the Yellow River basin as a sample, the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the effect of industry–city integration on carbon emissions is empirically tested by using the methods of the dispersion coefficient coordination function, standard deviation ellipse and STIRPAT model. The results show the following: (1) The coordinated integration of industry and city has significant carbon emission reduction effects, thus indicating that industry–city integration and carbon neutralization can achieve both, and that the conclusion is still valid after endogenous treatment and a series of robustness tests. (2) The development of an export-oriented economy and informatization can significantly promote carbon emission reduction. The process of economic development, infrastructure construction and population quality improvement may aggravate regional carbon emissions in the short term. (3) Further analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction effect of industry–city integration has significant spatial heterogeneity, especially in the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River and regions with moderate carbon emission intensity. Scientific and technological innovation and environmental regulation play a positive role in regulating the carbon emission reduction effect of industry–city integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposal of the high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River Basin is of great significance for accelerating industrial agglomeration. This study takes 49 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin as the research object. Based on the panel data from 2006 to 2018, we used the location quotient to calculate the manufacturing agglomeration, the producer service industry agglomeration and the synergistic agglomeration in the basin. The spatial Dubin model of the impact of the three types of agglomeration on the economic growth in the basin was constructed. The Yellow River basin was divided into upstream, midstream and downstream to explore the regional heterogeneity of the impact of the industrial agglomeration on the economic growth. The result showed that (1) the economic development of the Yellow River Basin has a spatial overflow. The economic improvement of the surrounding cities promotes local economic growth—the manufacturing agglomeration, producer service industry agglomeration and synergistic agglomeration all promote economic growth. The effect of the manufacturing agglomeration is more significant than the others. (2) The impact of the industrial agglomeration on the economic growth in the Yellow River Basin presents an evident regional heterogeneity, and the magnitude and direction of the action vary in the different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking 736 counties in the Yellow River Basin of China as the research area, the comprehensive urbanization development level and ecosystem service capacity from 2000 to 2020 were measured. Combined with spatial autocorrelation, the spatial pattern evolution characteristics of the two systems in the Yellow River Basin were revealed. The spatio–temporal geographically weighted regression (GTWR) model was used to analyze the spatio–temporal heterogeneity of the impact of various elements of the system on urbanization and ecosystem service capacity. The results showed that (1) the urbanization level and ecosystem service capacity of the Yellow River Basin were on the rise but the urbanization level and ecosystem service capacity were low, while the spatial and temporal heterogeneity was significant. (2) The two systems are positively correlated in space, and the agglomeration characteristics are significant. The evolution trend of urbanization from an L–L agglomeration area to an H–H agglomeration area is occurring gradually. The spatial change in the ecosystem service agglomeration area is small, and the stability is strong. (3) The impact of ecosystem services on comprehensive urbanization is enhanced by time, and the spatial 'center–periphery' diffusion characteristics are significant. (4) The influence of urbanization on the comprehensive ecosystem service capacity is enhanced and shows the law of east–west differentiation in space. There are obvious transition zones in the spatial heterogeneity interval of the interaction between the two systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the level of coupling coordination between the digital economy and low-carbon development is not only an inevitable choice for implementing the strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, but also a key path to achieve China's "Double Carbon" goal. The level of coupling coordination between the digital economy and low-carbon development in 78 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2011 to 2020 is measured by a coupling coordination model, and the spatial-temporal characteristics and driving factors are analysed using the Dagum Gini coefficient, spatial autocorrelation model and geographic detector. This study found the following: (1) Rapid growth of the digital economy, with the slow growth of low-carbon development. The degree of coupling coordination of the two systems steadily improved and moved from a stage of near-disorder to primary coordination. (2) The degree of coupling coordination is spatially characterised by lower reaches > middle reaches > upper reaches, and provincial capitals and some coastal cities have a higher level of coupling coordination. Spatial differences in coupling coordination tend to widen, with inter-regional differences being the main source of overall differences. (3) There was a significant positive spatial correlation in the degree of coupling coordination. Local spatial clustering characteristics were dominated by High-High (H-H) clustering areas in Shandong and Low-Low (L-L) clustering areas in south-eastern Gansu. (4) The degree of coupling coordination was driven by both internal and external factors of the two systems, with internet penetration and the size of the telecommunications industry within the digital economy system as the most important factors driving the coupling coordination, and the interactions between the different drivers were all enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the determinants of urban–rural construction land transition is necessary for improving regional human–land relationships. This study analysed the spatiotemporal pattern of urban–rural construction land transition at the grid scale in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) of China during 2000–2020 by bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis and further explored its determinants based on a machine learning method, the gradient boosted decision tree (GBDT) model. The results showed that both urban construction land (UCL) and rural residential land (RRL) increased, with an annual growth amount of UCL three times that of RRL, and the proportion of UCL (LUUR) remained stable after 2015. The determinants of UCL, RRL, and LUUR varied. The UCL mainly depended on socioeconomic factors, with their contribution exceeding 50%, while the RRL transition was mainly determined by physical geographic factors, with their contribution decreasing from 67.6% in 2000 to 59.7% in 2020. The LUUR was influenced by both socioeconomic and physical geographic factors, with the relative importance of socioeconomic factors increasing over the years. Meanwhile, the impacts of different determinants were nonlinear with a threshold effect. In the future, optimizing the distribution of urban–rural construction land and rationally adjusting its structure will be necessary for promoting urban–rural sustainability in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study creatively uses the Dagum Gini coefficient, Kernel density estimation, and Markov chain to measure the spatial difference and distribution dynamics of urban water-use efficiency in the Yellow River Basin from 2008 to 2018 accurately and also analyzes its formation mechanism by using the Spatial Durbin Model. The results show that the hypervariable density and the intraregional differences constitute the main source of regional differences in the whole basin; the dynamic evolution characteristics of the urban water-use efficiency distribution in different reaches are different. The spatial factors have a non-negligible impact; the urbanization process and population density spatial spillover effects are negative in the state of spatial interaction; the spillover effect of upgrading the industrial structure is positive; the direct and spillover effects of openness are both positive; and the direct effect of the water-use structure is positive. In order to improve the urban water-use efficiency in the Yellow River Basin, it is necessary to comprehensively promote new urbanization, upgrade industrial structures, promote energy conservation and emission reduction, construct business environments, and establish an inter-regional coordination mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism eco-efficiency is an essential indicator to measure the level of green and sustainable development of tourism. Based on the data of nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin, from 2011 to 2020, this article estimates the changes in tourism eco-efficiency in the Yellow River Basin and explores its internal drivers by establishing multiple input-output index systems using the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index method. Finally, a panel stochastic Tobit model was applied to identify the key external drivers of its eco-efficiency improvement. The analysis shows that with the continuous promotion of the Yellow River Basin's high-quality development strategy and ecological civilization construction, the tourism eco-efficiency of the Yellow River Basin provinces has been improved in the past decade. Due to the obvious ecological advantages in the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin and the high level of tourism promotion and economic development in the lower reaches, tourism ecological efficiency in the upstream and downstream areas is commonly higher than in the midstream areas. The improvement of efficiency is the internal core driver of regional tourism eco-efficiency, but the essence of eco-efficiency improvement lies in technological progress. In the analysis of the impact of external drivers on tourism eco-efficiency, tourism economy scale, tourism industry structure, technological innovation, and economic development are the crucial external factors to eco-efficiency enhancement. This work can serve as a guide for the high-level growth of regional tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the imminent need of regional environmental protection and sustainable economic development, the concept of virtual water is widely used to solve the problem of regional water shortage. In this paper, nine provinces, namely Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), are taken as the research objects. Through the analysis of input-output tables of 30 provinces in China in 2012, the characteristics of virtual water trade in this region are estimated by using a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model. The results show that: (1) The YRB had a net inflow of 17.387 billion m³ of virtual water in 2012. In interprovincial trade, other provinces outside the basin export 21.721 billion m³ of virtual water into the basin. In international trade, the basin exports 4334 million m³ of virtual water to the international market. (2) There are different virtual flow paths in the basin. Shanxi net inputs virtual water by interprovincial trade and international trade, while Gansu and Ningxia net output virtual water by interprovincial trade and international trade. The other six provinces all net output virtual water through international trade, and obtain the net input of virtual water from other provinces outside the basin. (3) From the industrial structure of the provinces in the basin, the provinces with a relatively developed economy, such as Shandong and Shanxi, mostly import virtual water in the agricultural sector, while relatively developing provinces, such as Gansu and Ningxia, mostly import virtual water in the industrial sector. In order to sustain the overall high-quality development of the YRB, we propose the virtual water trade method to quantify the net flow of virtual water in each province and suggest the compensation responsibility of the virtual water net inflow area, and the compensation need of the virtual water net outflow area, in order to achieve efficient water resources utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin is a typical arid and semi-arid area, which is very sensitive to climate change. In recent years, it has become the area with the greatest shortage of water resources in China. In this study, a new two-way coupling model of land surface and hydrology has been explored to analyze the impacts of climate change and human activities on the runoff. It is of great theoretical and practical significance for making better management countermeasures and strategies to cope with climate change in the Yellow River Basin. The results showed that: (1) the annual average precipitation in the basin was 470.1 mm, which was higher in the lower reaches than in the middle and upper reaches. The annual average temperature is 5.8 °C. The entire basin showed a remarkable warming speed. The annual average pan evaporation is 1067.3 mm showing a downward trend throughout the basin; (2) from 1987 to 2009, the contribution rate of climate change to runoff change has not fluctuated by more than 5%. Since 2010, the precipitation caused by climate factors has increased runoff by 12~15%. The impact of land use change on runoff has been increasing annually. The influence of projects on runoff change was the leading factor of runoff reduction in the Yellow River Basin, with the contribution rate around 50%; and (3) for every 10% decrease in precipitation, the runoff decreases by 13~15.7%. When the temperature rises by 1.0 °C, the runoff decreases by 2.1~4.2%. The runoff in the upper reaches of the Yellow River was most sensitive to precipitation and temperature changes. This showed that the runoff in the plateau and mountainous areas were highly sensitive to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrated development of new-type urbanization and tourism is of great significance for social development. Based on panel data of nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin from 2010 to 2019, models such as entropy TOPSIS, the super-SBM model, the coupling coordination degree model, the GM (1,1) model, Tobit regression, and other methods were used to explore the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between new-type urbanization and tourism resource conversion efficiency (TRCE) in the Yellow River Basin. The results show that, during the research period: (1) The development index of new-type urbanization in the Yellow River Basin showed a steady upwards trend and TRCE was generally stable. (2) The CCD between new-type urbanization and TRCE in the Yellow River Basin fluctuated and rose with an average annual CCD of 0.716, indicating an intermediate coordination stage, and showed an overall spatial distribution pattern of "midstream region > downstream region > upstream region". The center of gravity of the CCD shifted to the northwest and the type of CCD jumped rapidly to a better stage, especially in the midstream region. From the perspective of future trends, the coupling and coordination relationship between the two major systems will continue to be optimized from 2019 to 2025 and the midstream region will maintain a high growth level. (3) The industrial structure, cultural media investment, science and technology investment, and communication level are important factors that affect the CCD of new-type urbanization and TRCE in the Yellow River Basin. The CCD of new-type urbanization and TRCE in the Yellow River Basin tends to be better as a whole, but the regional differences are obvious. Therefore, in the process of policy implementation, special attention should be given to the understanding of regional differences to avoid policy failure. This is very important to the Yellow River Basin and equally important to other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frontier-based approaches to eco-efficiency measures have long been controversial because no normative definition is provided. Previous studies have used technical efficiency, environmental efficiency, and other variables as a proxy. To standardize its definition, we propose a formal eco-efficiency indicator, the ratio of actual gross domestic product (GDP) to environmental impact to potential GDP to environmental impact. To quantify it, we develop the biennial meta-frontier non-radial directional distance function (BMNDDF), which addresses the potential threats of technology heterogeneity, the slack variable, and linear programming infeasibility. Using this new indicator, we assess the city-level eco-efficiency in the Yellow River Basin from 2008 to 2017 to identify the harmonious relationship between ecological protection and economic development. The empirical results show a 5.73% increase in eco-efficiency per year, with the technology leadership effect as the main contributor. Because the central region is defined by heavy emissions and many underdeveloped cities, it suffers from more severe conflicts between outputs and emissions than other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important manifestation of high-quality regional development is the coordination of economic development and the ecological environment. We used night light data and the net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation to quantitatively analyze the economic development and ecological environment of nine provinces (regions) in the Yellow River Basin in 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, and explored the coupling coordination relationship between the two from temporal and spatial scales. The analysis results showed that: (1) The ecological value of the Yellow River Basin showed a declining–rising trend. In 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, the ecological value of the Yellow River Basin was 2290.67 billion yuan, 2140.11 billion yuan, 2304.49 billion yuan and 2387.55 billion yuan. (2) The light density was related to the economic development of the city, and the light density showed a steady increase. The light index increased from 0.0001–1.6534 in 2005 to 0.0029–5.055 in 2020. The hot spots of light density were concentrated in the capital cities of the provinces with relatively good economic development and were concentrated in the east; the cold spots were mainly concentrated in the relatively slow economic development areas in the west. (3) The degree of coordination between economy and ecology in the Yellow River Basin increased from 0.1757 in 2005 to 0.2529 in 2020. However, the coordination degree of the ecological economy in the basin has been in an unbalanced state for a long time, with huge development potential. (4) There was a huge gap in the degree of ecological coordination in the basin. In 2020, the most coordinated ecological economy was 0.519 in Chengdu, and the most unbalanced was 0.053 in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin" is one of the fundamental national strategies related to national food security and ecological security in China. Evaluating the impact of land use/cover change (LUCC) on soil erosion is valuable to improving regional ecological environments and sustainable development. This study focused on the Yellow River Basin and used remote sensing data, the soil wind erosion modulus (SWEM) calculated with the revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ), to analyze the impact of regional scale LUCC from 1990 to 2018 on soil wind erosion. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The total area of cultivated land, grass land, and unused land decreased, with a total reduction of 11,038.86 km²; total areas of forest land and built-up areas increased, increased by 2746.61 and 8356.77 km2, respectively, with differences within the region in these LUCC trends at different periods. From 1990 to 2000, the area of cultivated land increased by 1958.36 km2 and built-up land area increased by 1331.90 km2. The areas of forestland, grass land, water area, and unused land decreased. From 2000 to 2010, the area of cultivated land and grass land decreased by 4553.77 and 2351.39 km², respectively, whereas the areas of forestland and built-up land significantly increased. From 2010 to 2018, the area of cultivated land and grass land continued to decrease, and the area of built-up land continued to increase. (2) Since the 1990s, the SWEM has generally declined (Slope1990–2018 = −0.38 t/(ha·a)). Total amount of wind erosion in 2018 decreased by more than 50% compared with the amount in 1990. During this period, the intensity of wind erosion first increased and then decreased. In terms of the SWEM, 90.63% of the study area showed a decrease. (3) From 1990 to 2018, LUCC reduced the total amount of soil wind erosion by 15.57 million tons. From 1990 to 2000, the conversion of grass land/forest land to cultivated land and the expansion of desert resulted in a significant increase in soil wind erosion. From 2000 to 2018, the amount of soil wind erosion decreased at a rate of about 1.22 million tons/year, and the total amount of soil wind erosion decreased by 17.8921 million tons. During this period, the contribution rate of ecological programs (e.g., conversion of cultivated land to forest land and grass land, ecological engineering construction projects, etc.) to reduction of regional soil wind erosion was 59.13%, indicating that ecological programs have a positive role in reducing soil wind erosion intensity. The sustainable development of the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin should be continued through strengthening ecological restoration and protection, to further consolidate gains made in this fragile ecosystem. This study provides scientific and technological support and relevant policy recommendations for the sustainable development of the Yellow River ecosystem under global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing a method for characterizing spatiotemporal changes in the quality of the ecological environment in a timely and accurate manner is of great significance for the protection and sustainable development of the ecological environment in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). In this study, the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform was used as a basis for constructing the remote-sensing-based ecological index (RSEI), and the RSEI was used to evaluate the quality of the ecological environment in the YRB. The results indicated that the mean of the RSEI values showed two stages of rapid improvement and slow improvement during 1990–2020. From 1990 to 2000, the average growth trend was 0.005/a with a growth rate of 21.15%, with the main contributions of bad to poor (101,800 km2), poor to medium (56,900 km2), and medium to good (70,800 km2) ecological environmental quality levels. From 2000 to 2020, the average growth trend was 0.002/a with a growth rate of 2.13%, with main contributions of poor to bad (65,100 km2) and good to medium (35,200 km2) ecological environmental quality levels. From 1990 to 2020, there was a 76.38% improvement in the ecological environmental quality of the entire YRB, in which significant improvement accounted for 26.14%. The reductions in the ecological environmental quality accounted for 23.62%, of which significant reductions accounted for just 1.46%. The improvement in the ecological environmental quality of the YRB showed a trend of increasing sustainability, which is expected to continue. The distribution of the ecological environmental quality in the YRB showed obvious regional aggregation, whereby cold spots were concentrated in the northern and central regions of the YRB, which are the sandy and hilly ravine areas of the Loess Plateau. However, the areas corresponding to hot spot clusters decreased with time, and their significance also decreased. Thus, our study demonstrates that the GEE platform can be used to determine the spatiotemporal changes in the ecological environmental quality of the YRB in a timely and accurate manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation is an essential factor of ecosystem functions, including the biological geochemical carbon cycle, which is often impacted by climate change and human activities. It plays a significant role in comprehending the nature of carbon balance in an ecosystem and demonstrates the global and regional carbon cycle dynamics. The present study used an upgraded CASA model to calculate the NPP in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China. The model's simulation ability was improved by changing the model parameters. Further, the CASA model was validated by comparing with MODIS-NPP and in situ observed NPP, wherein the accuracy of the CASA model estimation was found satisfactory to estimate NPP changes in the study area. The simulated results of the improved CASA model showed that the mean annual NPP value of vegetation in the YRB was 283.4 gC m–2 a–1 from 2001 to 2020, with a declining trend in spatial distribution from south to north. In contrast, the NPP appeared as an increasing trend in the YRB temporally from 212 gC m–2 a–1 in 2001 to 342 gC m–2 a–1 in 2020, with a mean annual growth rate of 4.6 gC m–2 a–1. The total NPP in the YRB increased by 40,088.3 GgC between 2001 and 2020, from 226.06 TgC to 266.15 TgC. This rise can be attributed to the increase in forests. The average grassland area has reduced by 4651 km2 during the last two decades, significantly impacting the total NPP of grasslands. Although the increase in NPP in wetlands was minimal, accounting for 815.53 GgC, the highest change percentage of 79.78%, could be observed among the six vegetation types due to the anthropogenic influences and climate change. The conditions favorable for vegetation growth and a sustained environment were enhanced by the increased precipitation and temperature and the reinforced ecological protection by the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]