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Changes in land cover and land use (LULC) can impact water availability by altering the structure and functioning of land ecosystems. Accurately projecting the impacts of LULC on water yield (WY) is of utmost importance for regional landscape management. Taking the rapidly urbanizing Taihu Lake Basin (TLB) as an example, coupled with the PLUS-InVEST model, three scenarios of a natural development (ND) scenario, urban development (UD) scenario, and ecological protection (EP) scenario were set to simulate the response mechanisms of land use changes for WY and the influence of policy-making on the water conservation capacity of river basins. (1) During 2000 and 2020, the Taihu Lake Basin (TLB) experienced rapid urbanization, which was evident in the conversion of forest and cropland for urban development. (2) From 2000 to 2020, the TLB's WY first decreased and then increased, ranging from 201.52 × 108 m3 to 242.70 × 108 m3. Spatially, an uneven distribution pattern of WY depth emerged, with mountainous and hilly regions exhibiting higher WY compared to plain areas. Temporally, changes in total WY were primarily influenced by precipitation, while areas with increased WY showed a certain correlation with regions experiencing an expansion of construction land. (3) By 2030, the TLB will continue to expand construction land under the UD scenario, while the area of ecological land will expand under the EP scenario. WY is expected to vary across scenarios, with the highest yield observed under the UD scenario, followed by the ND scenario, while the EP scenario exhibits the lowest yield. These findings can offer scientifically informed insights and guidance for future WY changes, carrying substantial effects for maintaining ecological preservation and promoting high-quality development in the TLB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A proclaimed goal of landscape management is to improve the multifunctionality of ecosystem services (ESs) to sustain higher levels of human wellbeing (HWB). Although the enhancement of ES multifunctionality is often considered to lead to better HWB, empirical evidence directly supporting this claim remains scarce. This study investigates the relationship between ES multifunctionality and HWB in rapidly urbanizing regions, using the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in China as a case study. We quantified ES multifunctionality with the Gini‐Simpson Diversity Index and identified ES multifunctional types using the bundle approach. We also calculated both the HWB mean score and HWB evenness score with the improved radar chart method, examining their relationships with ES multifunctionality through Spearman correlation analysis and the Kruskal–Wallis rank‐sum test. Results showed that (1) ES multifunctionality exhibited varied relationships with HWB indicators, but overall showed significant negative associations with both HWB mean score and HWB evenness score. (2) Each HWB indicator significantly differed across the detected ES bundles, but none of the bundles exhibited the highest values of all HWB indicators. (3) HWB mean score and HWB evenness score were generally higher in the peri‐urban bundle while lower in the agriculture and forest bundles. Our findings suggest that peri‐urban landscapes can provide relatively higher and more balanced levels of HWB in urban agglomerations. This also implies that a "land‐sharing" urban development model, which balances natural and built environments, may be more beneficial for enhancing ES multifunctionality and HWB compared with a "land‐sparing" model, where natural and built areas are separated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteria in built environments are profoundly affected by indoor thermal conditions. In China, continuous and intermittent heating modes give rise to distinct thermal environments in winter. However, the quantitative relationships between bacterial concentration and thermal conditions in the context of heating modes remain unclear. To this end, we recorded the temperature and relative humidity (RH) in 15 intermittently and 15 continuously heated residences in 27 cities across China and obtained the bacterial concentrations via the quantitative polymerase chain reaction technology. For the intermittently heated residences whose temperatures were lower than 18°C, the bacterial concentration negatively correlated with RH while the correlation was positive for those with T > 18°C. For the continuously heated residences, a quadratic correlation was found between temperature and the bacterial concentration which was highest at 23°C. For lower bacterial risk, we suggest that (1) RH in the intermittent heating region should be in the range of 40%–60% and (2) temperature in the continuous heating region should not exceed 22°C. The bacteria-adjusted thermal zones for intermittent and continuous heating are 66% and 77% of the original thermal comfort zone, respectively. Our study provides insights into the set-points of indoor thermal environments based on the microbial perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]