Green Transition of Cultivated Land Use in the Yellow River Basin: A Perspective of Green Utilization Efficiency Evaluation

Research on the characteristics and influencing factors of the spatial correlation network of cultivated land utilization ecological efficiency in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Researching the structural characteristics of the spatial correlation network of cultivated land utilization ecological efficiency is of great significance to China's food security and agricultural green and low-carbon development. Taking 47 cities (autonomous prefectures) in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River as the research object, the ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization from 2010 to 2020 was measured based on the unexpected output model (Super SBM), and the spatial correlation matrix was constructed using the revised gravity model. The structural characteristics of the spatial correlation network were analyzed using the social network model (SNA), and finally, the factors affecting the spatial correlation network of cultivated land utilization ecological efficiency in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were analyzed through the quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) model. The results show that: (1) the ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has been increasing year by year, but the overall level is low, and there is a large gap among provinces. Sichuan Province has the highest average value of 0.605, and Yunnan Province has the lowest average value of 0.359. (2) The ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has broken through the provincial boundaries and has formed an obvious spatial correlation network, but the overall density is low, and the network is still relatively loose, needing further development and improvement. Chengdu, Yibin, Luzhou, and other cities are located in the center of the network and have formed four cohesive subgroups. (3)The differences in the level of agricultural economic development, the rural per capita disposable income, the differences in agricultural mechanization intensity, the regional population differences, and spatial adjacency have an impact on the spatial network of ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The difference in the level of agricultural economic development, the rural per capita disposable income, and the differences in agricultural mechanization intensity are negatively correlated, while the regional population differences are positively correlated with spatial adjacency.

A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework of Water-Energy-Food System Coupling Coordination in the Yellow River Basin, China

For mankind's survival and development, water, energy, and food (WEF) are essential material guarantees. In China, however, the spatial distribution of WEF is seriously unbalanced and mismatched. Here, a collaborative governance mechanism that aims at nexus security needs to be urgently established. In this paper, the Yellow River Basin in China with a representative WEF system, was selected as a case. Firstly, a comprehensive framework for WEF coupling coordination was constructed, and the relationship and mechanism between them were analyzed theoretically. Then, we investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) with a composite evaluation method, coupling coordination degree model, spatial statistical analysis, and multiscale geographic weighted regression. Finally, policy implications were discussed to promote the coordinated development of the WEF system. The results showed that: 1) WEF subsystems showed a significant imbalance of spatial pattern and diversity in temporal changes; 2) the CCD for the WEF system varied little and remained at moderate coordination. Areas with moderate coordination have increased, while areas with superior coordination and mild disorder have decreased. In addition, the spatial clustering phenomenon of the CCD was significant and showed obvious characteristics of polarization; and 3) the action of each factor is self-differentiated and regionally variable. For different factors, GDP per capita was of particular importance, which contributed most to the regional development's coupling coordination. For different regions, GDP per capita, average yearly precipitation, population density, and urbanization rate exhibited differences in geographical gradients in an east-west direction. The conclusion can provide references for regional resource allocation and sustainable development by enhancing WEF system utilization efficiency.

Coupling Evaluation and Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Land Ecosystem Services and Economic-Social Development in a City Group: The Case Study of the Chengdu-Chongqing City Group

The Chengdu-Chongqing city group (CCCG) is one of the regions with acute human-land conflicts in China at present. The current rapid development of CCCG has caused a large negative impact on regional land ecosystem services. Land ecosystem is the basis of economic development. Reasonable economic development is also the inherent requirement of land ecosystem and an important support for land ecosystem protection. Promoting the coordinated development of the economy and land ecosystems is a prerequisite for this city group to achieve ecological protection and high-quality development. Taking CCCG as an example, this paper constructs a coupling evaluation model of economic-social development and land ecosystem service by using the entropy weight method, coupling coordination degree model, gravity center model, and standard deviation ellipse model, and explores the coupling coordination degree and spatial-temporal evolution rule of the above two systems. The study found that, from 2005 to 2020, the overall economic-social development of the CCCG showed an upward trend with a regular pattern of a 'High in the east and west, low in the central', and the 'dual-core' spatial structure with Chengdu and Chongqing as the core ; the overall performance of land ecosystem services had a gentle slope downward trend with a 'U'-shaped spatial pattern of "high around and low in the middle". The results also show that the coupling coordination degree of economic-social development and land ecosystem services in CCCG continues to rise steadily. Overall, the level of coupling coordination is low, and the type of coupling coordination has gradually evolved from severe and moderate imbalance to moderate coordination and mild imbalance. Therefore, the CCCG should make full use of the advantages of the "dual-core" cities to improve the level of peripheral economic linkage, increase investment in science and technology to enhance the endogenous power of economic development, establish cooperation mechanisms to narrow the urban gap, and integrate ecological resources to promote ecological industrialization to better realize the synergistic promotion of land ecological protection and high-quality economic development.

Spatial transformation of changes in global cultivated land

The spatial transformation of cultivated land is an important element in the study of land use transformation. Analyzing the characteristics and direction of the global spatial transformation of cultivated land is of great significance in clarifying the spatial extent and quality of global cultivated land and ensuring global food security. In this context, this paper uses the global spatial data of cultivated land from 1992 to 2015 to analyze the characteristics of global cultivated land spatial transformation from the perspectives of cultivated land quantity, cultivated land landscape pattern, and cultivated land management pattern, applying the Mann-Kendall trend tests, trend analysis, landscape pattern index measures, and global rural per capita cultivated indicators. The global cultivated land area increased, followed by a decrease, during the study period; there were three distinct phases of change, with the years 1995 and 2005 as turning points. During the first phase, the global cultivated land area increased at an average annual rate of 0.19 %, in the second phase, the increase rate was 0.30 %, and in the third phase, the increase rate was -0.003 %. Based on the trend of cultivated land change during the study period, the areas with a dramatic change in cultivated land area were classified into six typical hotspot areas, involving the increase and decrease of area change in 10 different countries. The two countries with the largest increases in cultivated land area are Sweden and Brazil (24.82 % and 24.43 %, respectively), whereas Ukraine's cultivated land area decreased throughout the study period.

Water-Land-Food Nexus for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Main Grain-Producing Areas of North China Plain

Stable and sustainable food production is an important guarantee for national security and social stability. The uneven distribution of cultivated land and water resources will threaten national food security. In this study, we adopt the Gini coefficient and water-land matching coefficient for exploring the water-land nexus in the main grain-producing areas of North China Plain (NCP) from 2000 to 2020. The water-land-food nexus considering grain crop production structure is further explored from spatial and temporal multi-scales. The results show the following: (1) The Gini coefficient presents an increasing trend in the NCP, indicating an increasing imbalance in the water-land matching degree among inter-regions. (2) There are significant differences in the WL nexus and WLF nexus among regions, showing a spatial pattern of "worse in the north and better in the south". (3) The cities which belonged to the low WL-low WLF and high WL-low WLF should be considered as key targets when formulating policies. (4) Adjusting the wheat-maize biannual system, optimizing the grain cultivation structure, promoting semi-dryland farming, and developing low water-consuming and high-yielding crop varieties are essential measures for these regions. The research results provide significant reference for the optimal management and sustainable agricultural development of agricultural land and water resources in NCP.

Process and Eco-Environment Impact of Land Use Function Transition under the Perspective of "Production-Living-Ecological" Spaces-Case of Haikou City, China

Land use function transition can change the eco-environment. To achieve an "Intensive and efficient production space, moderately livable living space, and beautiful ecological space", the ecological effects of land use function transition in the context of ecologically fragile areas and rapidly developing areas of socio-economic importance need to be studied. In this study, from the perspective of "production-living-ecological" spaces, we calculated the index of regional eco-environment quality, positive and negative effects of eco-environment impact, and the ecological contribution rate and analyzed the driving factors. We found the following: (1) The production space was greatly compressed, living space was expanded, and ecological space was significantly squeezed. Haikou underwent a rapid transformation from an agriculture-dependent city to an industrial city. Land supply for urban and rural living was guaranteed by the Chinese land management department. However, Haikou prioritized economic development over environmental protection. (2) The regional eco-environment quality index decreased from 2009 to 2018. The expansion of pasture-based ecological spaces is important for improving the quality of the eco-environment, and the reduction of forest ecological space strongly influences the deterioration of the eco-environment. (3) Resource base, historical level of utilization, suitability of land, the ecological value potentiality, and regional policies greatly affected land use function transition and its eco-environment. (4) Refining the planning of territorial space, comprehensively improving land and resources, and reforming the rural land system greatly influenced policy guidance and technical regulation for coordinating "production-living-ecological" spaces and improving the regional eco-environment. In this study, we tested the effect of regional policy regulation on land use function transition and provided a reference for coordinating "production-living-ecological" spaces.

The Impact Mechanism and Spillover Effect of Digital Rural Construction on the Efficiency of Green Transformation for Cultivated Land Use in China

Under the context of digital economy, agricultural production will be promoted by implementing the strategy of digital rural construction and giving full play to the role of digital factor productivity. This study systematically explains the mechanism of how digital rural construction affects the efficiency of green transformation for cultivated land use. The panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 are analyzed through two-way fixed effect, spatial Dubin model and other methods, so as to better understand the impact of digital rural construction on the efficiency of green transformation for cultivated land use and its spillover effect. It is discovered in the study that digital rural construction is effective in enhancing the efficiency of green transformation for regional cultivated land use, and that this promoting effect stands multiple robustness tests. According to the heterogeneity analysis, the promoting effect of digital rural construction is more significant in the eastern region and among the samples with high green transformation efficiency of cultivated land use. In addition to improving the efficiency of green transformation for cultivated land use in the region, digital rural construction can also produce a positive spatial spillover effect to a significant extent. On this basis, the targeted policy recommendations are made in this paper. The first one is to improve the efficiency of green transformation for cultivated land use by accelerating the process of digital rural construction. The second one is to pay close attention to the differences in the process of digital rural construction. The third one is to better understand the "welfare sharing" characteristics of digital rural construction. The last one is to establish a mechanism of regional cooperation.

Cultivated Land Transfer, Management Scale, and Cultivated Land Green Utilization Efficiency in China: Based on Intermediary and Threshold Models

Cultivated land utilization around the world is accompanied by the cultivated land fragmentation, which is a significant agricultural feature of countries with economies in transition. Thereby, governments of the PRC have successively promulgated a series of relevant policies to promote the cultivated land transfer (CLT) and stimulate the transformation of cultivated land utilization to be both green and efficient. In the context of large-scale CLT and the implementation of a rural revitalization strategy for China, it is of great significance to explore the effect of CLT on cultivated land green utilization efficiency (CLGUE). In this work, 30 provinces of China were selected as the objects of investigation; the super-efficiency SBM model was used to evaluate CLGUE; the mediation effect model and threshold regression model were used to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the CLT's influence on CLGUE. According to the results of this study, the following conclusions were drawn. First of all, the CLGUE in China as a whole showed an upward trend improvement from 2005 to 2019. Due to the different natural and economic conditions, the CLGUE trends showed significant spatial disparities at both the grain functional areas level and provincial level. Secondly, the CLT could promote CLGUE directly, and the mediation regression results demonstrated that CLT was able to enhance CLGUE indirectly through the mediator of cultivated land management scale. Thirdly, the threshold effect test confirmed the existence of a single threshold, indicating that when the level of CLT gradually crossed the threshold, the promotion effects of CLT on CLGUE would slow down. Lastly, the heterogeneity analysis indicated that the promotion effects of CLT on CLGUE in different geographical location areas and grain functional areas were positive, and that there were significant differences in regression coefficients.

The Spatial and Temporal Evolution of the Coordination Degree in Regard to Farmland Transfer and Cultivated Land Green Utilization Efficiency in China

In many parts of the world, the shortage of cultivated land and the food crisis are worsening on a continued basis. Hence, the central and local governments of the PRC have successively issued various related policies to encourage the practice of farmland transfer, promote the eco-friendly utilization of cultivated land, and ameliorate the efficiency of cultivated land utilization. Under the context of large-scale farmland transfer and rural revitalization strategy in China, it is significant to ensure agricultural sustainability through the coordination of farmland transfer and the amelioration of cultivated land green utilization efficiency (CLGUE). In the present study, 30 Chinese provinces were taken as the research object, with the super-efficient SBM model, the coupling coordination degree model and the spatial analysis model applied in combination. Based on the measurement of CLGUE, a thorough analysis was conducted to explore the evolution of coordination degree in regard to farmland transfer and CLGUE in China from both spatial and temporal perspectives. The conclusions drawn from this study are as follows. Firstly, the overall CLGUE exhibited an upward tendency in the PRC, from 0.440 in 2005 to 0.913 in 2019, with a yearly growth rate of 5.47% on average. However, there were significant spatial disparities in CLGUE between different regions and provinces. Secondly, there was a steady increasing trend shown by the level of coordination degree regarding farmland transfer and CLGUE across China. Further, due to the variation in natural and economic conditions, there were significant spatial-temporal disparities in the coordination degree among these 30 provinces. Lastly, there were obvious spatial aggregation patterns at the provincial level regarding the coordination degree in farmland transfer and CLGUE across China. However, there was a declining trend in the level of spatial aggregation patterns for coordination degree.

Has China's Low-Carbon City Construction Enhanced the Green Utilization Efficiency of Urban Land?

China has implemented the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy in the hopes of efficiently limiting carbon emission intensity to combat global warming and promote green economic growth. Urban land utilization, the second-largest source of carbon emissions, is key to the LCCP policy being able to have the desired effect, which has attracted widespread attention. Based on the panel data from prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019, this study used the propensity score matching difference-in-differences method (PSM-DID) to examine the impacts of LCCP policy on green utilization efficiency of urban land (GUEUL). The results reveal that LCCP policy has a beneficial impact on GUEUL and can effectively boost the future possibilities of green and low-carbon city development. Due to variances in regional economic and resource endowment level, the impacts of LCCP are different. The pilot has pushed GUEUL in the eastern region, western region, and growing resource-based cities, but has failed to improve GUEUL in other regions. Policymakers should adhere to the long-term sustainability of the LCCP policy and adopt differentiated action strategies to promote GUEUL when implementing it in different regions.

Identifying the impact factors of sustainable development efficiency: integrating environmental degradation, population density, industrial structure, GDP per capita, urbanization, and technology

To accomplish the high-quality development target in Yellow River Basin, the current study investigates the impact factors of the rural sustainable development efficiency in Yellow River Basin from the period of 1997 to 2017, by using Super efficiency Slack-based Measure, improved STIRPAT, and the OLS regression. The findings illustrate that rural sustainable development efficiency in Yellow River Basin is maintaining a fluctuating upward trend during the investigation. The impact factor analysis reveals that at the entire basin level, the population density and industrial structure have the greatest impact on rural sustainable development efficiency, while the technology level has the least impact. The industrial structure and GDP per capita negatively impacted rural sustainable development efficiency in the upper and middle basin, while they have non-significant positive impact in the lower basin. Besides, urbanization level inhibited rural sustainable development efficiency in upper basin (except middle basin and lower basin), and technology level has promotional effect in rural sustainable development efficiency at the entire basin as well as at the 3 sub-basins, while the influence effect is not significant in the lower basin. Therefore, these empirical results indicate that the impact effect of these factors exist spatial heterogeneity. Thus, decision-makers should consider this reality fully and make differential measures when they construct the development long-term strategies for rural sustainable development efficiency in yellow river basin.

What Is the Operation Logic of Cultivated Land Protection Policies in China? A Grounded Theory Analysis

Cultivated land protection policies (CLPP) are essential for maintaining social stability, guaranteeing food security, and ensuring sustainable development. However, a mismatch exists between policy performance and the objectives that influence the implementation of CLPP, and the system mechanisms of CLPP must be revealed and explored. Based on the literature review, this paper summarizes the current dilemmas of China’s cultivated land protection at the theoretical level, and preliminarily depicts the external foundation of CLPP in view of China’s topography and spatial distribution of cultivated land. This paper uses CLPP texts as research samples based on grounded theory to construct an analytical framework. The results show that the operation logic of the CLPP is founded on situation–structure–motivation–action–space–outcome. Accordingly, systematic analysis and in-depth understanding of the operation logic of CLPP will help to re-examine the profound relationship between policy text and implementation effect from such perspectives as transnational, trans-regional, and multi-scale. It also helps to reveal the hidden scientific value of spatiotemporal pattern for cultivated land protection, and serve the formulation and implementation of relevant policies in the future. Under the background of the new era of ecological civilization, it is urgent to enhance the operational effectiveness of the CLPP, identifying the focus of policy implementation, and scientifically formulating the CLPP is of great significance to its success.

Assessment and dynamic mechanisms of the land-use dominant morphology transition: a case study of Hainan Province, China

This paper was aimed at providing a perspective on the assessment of land-use dominant transition. Based on the transfer matrix of land-use type, the dynamic degree of dominant morphology transition was measured, and an active degree index was proposed. The spatiotemporal differentiation characteristics were assessed and analyzed by land use change characteristics in different phases. Our assessment resulted in three types of spatiotemporal differentiation of Hainan Province in China. The whole island can be divided into three regions with two parallel lines at 45° based on spatiotemporal differentiation characteristics. The "slow-type" was distributed in four eastern counties (cities), "steady-type" was distributed in 13 central and western counties (cities), and the "active-type" was distributed in four central counties (cities). Over three phases, namely 2010-2011, 2012-2015, and 2015-2018, four levels of spatiotemporal differentiation of the 21 counties (cities) were assessed, and they were relatively stable, leaping, declining, and unstable. Areas of new construction and fixed assets investments consumed by increased construction land were the positive factors of land-use dominant transition, while output values of secondary industries and area of industrial-mining per capita were the negative factors. Based on these results, a more informative examination of LULC was proposed, and all resulting land management policies will be more targeted and effective.

Carbon emission efficiency measurement and influencing factor analysis of nine provinces in the Yellow River basin: based on SBM-DDF model and Tobit-CCD model

The Yellow River basin (YRB) is China's most critical energy consumption and coal production area. The improvement of carbon emission reduction efficiency in this area is the key for the Chinese government to achieve the 2030 carbon peak and 2060 carbon neutral ("30.60"). Given this, this study first calculates the carbon emission efficiency of YRB from 2005 to 2019 based on the slack-based measured directional distance function (SBM-DDF) model and combined with Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index and decomposes the carbon emission efficiency of each province. Then, a panel Tobit model with random effect is constructed to measure the influencing factors and their influence degree of carbon emission efficiency of YRB. Finally, the main influencing factors are selected, and policy suggestions on how to improve the carbon emission efficiency of each province are put forward with the help of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model. The results show that first, the carbon emission efficiency of each province is significantly different, but it shows a fluctuating upward trend on the whole. Second, the reasons for the rise or decline of the ML index in different provinces are different. Therefore, the development strategies of different provinces should be formulated from the perspective of accelerating technological progress and improving technical efficiency. Finally, the calculation results of influencing factors and coupling coordination degrees show that provinces with high coupling coordination degrees should focus on developing per capita power consumption and controlling per capita power consumption to consolidate the actual urbanization process and industrial structure adjustment. Provinces with low coupling coordination degrees should focus on maintaining the urbanization process and increasing the development of the tertiary industry. Therefore, to fundamentally reduce carbon emissions in YRB areas, we need to consider implementing differentiated emission reduction schemes based on national strategic objectives and in combination with the development characteristics of various provinces.

Optimizing the Compensation Standard of Cultivated Land Protection Based on Ecosystem Services in the Hangzhou Bay Area, China

The significant positive externality of cultivated land ecosystem services leads to the low comparative benefit of cultivated land utilization and then causes practical problems such as the abandonment and non-agriculturalization of the cultivated land, which poses a threat to China’s food security. The existing protection system only focuses on the quantity requirement and food production service of cultivated land and ignores the multi-function of cultivated land as an ecosystem, resulting in insufficient incentives and poor effect. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the protection’s economic compensation standard by adding the cultivated land’s ecosystem service value in order to comprehensively assess cultivated land resources and correct for externalities. Taking the area around Hangzhou Bay, where the contradiction between cultivated land protection and economic development is prominent, as an example, the values of six typical cultivated land ecosystem services in 2016 was constructed and calculated, including food production, carbon sequestration and oxygen production, water conservation, soil conservation, biodiversity maintenance, and cultural leisure. Combined with ecosystem services’ values and the quality index, we finally determined the new county-level compensation standard of cultivated land protection in the Hangzhou Bay area. The results show that the value of cultivated land ecosystem services present obvious regional disparities, meaning that there exist significant differences in the sustainable use capacity of cultivated land and the necessity of establishing grading compensation standards in the region. Finally, we analyze the rationality and innovation of the new compensation standard model as well as its role in the protection of cultivated land and look forward to promoting the sustainable use of cultivated land through these new incentives.

Spatio-Temporal Pattern and Influence Mechanism of Cultivated Land System Resilience: Case from China

The study of cultivated land systems from the perspective of resilience is of great significance for the innovation of the research paradigm of cultivated land use and the rational utilization and protection of cultivated land. This study aims to explain the theoretical connotations of cultivated land system resilience (CLSR), construct an evaluation system and zoning rules for CLSR, and take 30 provinces of China as case study areas to explore the influencing factors of CLSR, so as to provide a reliable governance plan for the sustainable development of cultivated land. The results show that: (1) CLSR refers to a sustainable development ability that CLS—by adjusting the structure and scale of internal elements—absorbs and adapts to internal and external disturbances and shocks to the maximum possible extent, abandons the original inapplicable state, creates a new recovery path, achieves a new balance, and avoids system recession. (2) The overall CLSR of the 30 provinces showed an upward trend, and the degree of polarization of the distribution pattern was gradually intensified and experienced a transition process from “leading by resource and ecological resilience—equilibrium of each resilience—leading by production and scale structural resilience”. (3) In the north, east, and south coastal areas of China, CLSR mainly consists of the major evolution areas and the stable development areas; the potential excitation areas of CLSR are mainly concentrated in the central and western regions of China; the CLSR-sensitive lag areas and degraded vulnerable areas are mainly distributed in the northwest and southwest of China. (4) Water resource endowment has a strong influence on CLSR, while social economy mainly influences CLSR through ‘economic foundation-superstructures’ and ‘economic development-factor agglomeration’. (5) According to the different CLSR zones, CLSR was strengthened mainly from the aspects of driving factor agglomeration, building factor free-flow systems, and multi-means support.

Land Use Transitions under Rapid Urbanization: A Perspective from Developing China

Land use transition is a manifestation of land use and land cover change (LUCC) and is also a major research focus of the Global Land Project (GLP), as well as land system science (LSS) [...]

Tracking sustainable development efficiency with human-environmental system relationship: An application of DPSIR and super efficiency SBM model

Sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin, China, has gained comprehensive realistic and academic attention as a significant part of high-quality development. Current study used the 30 years (1997-2017) panel data of 9 provinces and constructed Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact and Response analysis framework and super efficiency Slack-Based Measure (DPSIR-SBM) model to evaluate rural sustainable development efficiency (RSDE). For the reason, the convergence, divergence and their influencing factors are discussed from three aspects, which are σ convergence, absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence. The research findings revealed that the RSDE in yellow river basin display a fluctuating downward pattern per an average decrease rate of 0.03%, while regional differences exist in three sub-basins. The upper and lower basins display a fluctuating upward pattern, whereas the middle basin present a fluctuating downward pattern. Moreover, regional differences were also observed from the average RSDE, followed by the spatial pattern of "upper basin > lower basin > middle basin". σ convergence exist in the whole basin as well as in its upper basin, while absolute β convergence exists in the whole basin and in the lower basin, and there exists conditional β convergence in the whole as well as in all the three sub-basins. Initial RSDE, planting structure, financial autonomy rate and mechanization level inhibit the improvement of RSDE, while urbanization level and rural GDP per capita have negative and non-significant impact on RSDE of the whole basin.

How to Evaluate the Green Utilization Efficiency of Cultivated Land in a Farming Household? A Case Study of Shandong Province, China

The behavior of farming households is the most direct factor involved in the transition of cultivated land utilization from high-input/high-output to green and sustainable utilization mode. Improving farming households’ green utilization efficiency of cultivated land (GUECL) is of great significance in facilitating agricultural green development in China. However, there are few studies on GUECL based on the micro-perspective of farming households that cover the comprehensive benefits to the economy, ecology, and society. This paper builds a theoretical analysis framework of farming households’ green utilization of cultivated land and uses the super-efficiency EBM model and a questionnaire to conduct an empirical analysis of 952 farming households in Shandong Province to evaluate the green utilization efficiency of cultivated land. The results show that the GUECL of the farming households is generally not high, with an average value of 0.67, and can be further improved. The higher the GUECL, the lower the input and undesired output per unit yield and per unit output value. Tobit regression results show that a farming household’s per capita income is significantly positively correlated with the GUECL, while agricultural insurance, agricultural subsidies, cultivated land scale, cultivated land fragmentation, and regional economic level are significantly negatively correlated with the GUECL. In addition, recommendations can be made on promoting and innovating agricultural green development technology, popularizing and publicizing farming households’ thoughts on the green utilization of cultivated land, and ensuring and improving rural green life so as to provide a reference for promoting green transition of cultivated land utilization with diversified coordination and multiple measures.

Scale Transition and Structure–Function Synergy Differentiation of Rural Residential Land: A Dimensionality Reduction Transmission Process from Macro to Micro Scale

In order to enhance the scientific understanding of the transition law of rural residential areas and enrich the theory and method system of land use transition research, this article takes Shandong Province as an example and constructs a comprehensive research framework of rural residential land scale, structure, and function from the perspective of the combination of the macro and micro scales based on differences between the rural residential areas in the region and the village scale forms. Using model quantitative analysis and horizontal comparative analysis methods, this paper explores the process characteristics of rural residential land use scale transition and the corresponding stage differentiation law of spatial structure and system function. Research has shown that the stage characteristics of the scale transition of rural residential land use in Shandong Province in the past 10 years are significant. The five transition stages—from the primary stage, low stage, intermediate stage, advanced stage, to the stable stage—show obvious spatial agglomeration and spatial autocorrelation, which are mainly driven by the positive and negative interactions of economic development, the policy environment, natural conditions, and population. With the gradual upgrading of the land use scale transition in rural residential areas, the spatial pattern of rural residential areas has been continuously optimized, the land use structure has tended to be balanced and complicated, and the living-production-ecological function as a whole has been strengthened. The essence of this type of differentiation is the differential performance of rural residential areas adapting their own conditions to the external environment. The transition of the rural residential area from the macro to the micro scale is also the process of realizing rural reconstruction and rural revitalization. In the future, under the framework of the “element–structure–function” system of rural residential areas, the rural transition and development should be continuously promoted through the support, organization, guidance, and promotion mechanisms of internal and external factors.

Quantifying the Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Yellow River Basin while Accounting for Data Errors Based on GlobeLand30 Maps

Land use and land cover (LULC) change influences many issues such as the climate, ecological environment, and economy. In this study, the LULC transitions in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) were analyzed based on the GlobeLand30 land use data in 2000, 2010, and 2020. The intensity analysis method with hypothetical errors calculation was used, which could explain the deviations from uniform land changes. The strength of the evidence for the deviation was revealed even though the confusion matrixes of the LULC data at each time point for the YRB were unavailable. The results showed that at the interval scale, the land transition rate increased from the first to the second period for all of the upper, middle, and lower reaches. The exchange component was larger than the quantity and shift component, and the gross change was 4.1 times larger than the net change. The size of cultivated land decreased during both intervals. The artificial surfaces gains were active for all three reaches and had strong evidence. A hypothetical error in 93% of the 2000 data and 58% of the 2010 data can explain deviations from uniform transition given woodland gain during 2000–2010 and 2010–2020. Ecological restoration projects such as Grain for Green implemented in 2000 in the upper reaches resulted in the woodland increase.