CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (12): 2232-2246.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.074

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Impact of urban expansion on habitat quality in the northern Tianshan Mountain economic zone

WANG Yanwen1(), YANG Huan2(), TU Peiyue2, DING Hao3, JING Ying4, HE Chao5,6   

  1. 1 School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China
    2 School of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, Hubei, China
    3 School of Business, Dianchi College, Kunming 651701, Yunnan, China
    4 Business School, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo 315100, Zhejiang, China
    5 National Science Library (Wuhan), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, Hubei, China
    6 Collaborative Innovation Center for Emissions Trading System Co-constructed by the Province and Ministry, Wuhan 430205, Hubei, China
  • Received:2025-02-16 Revised:2025-04-11 Online:2025-12-25 Published:2025-12-30
  • Contact: YANG Huan E-mail:wensomone@163.com;yanghuan_@whu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Rapid urbanization and the attendant spatial expansion of urban regions can alter the structure of ecosystems, degrade habitat quality, and thereby impact sustainable development. Investigating the effects of urban expansion on habitat quality is crucial for the rational allocation of land use and supporting the restoration and reconstruction of ecosystems. This study focuses on the northern Tianshan Mountain economic zone (NTMEZ) in Xinjiang, China, where future urban expansion scenarios from 2024 to 2050 under different socioeconomic pathways are predicted using the Land Use Scenario Dynamic-Urban (LUSD-urban) model. The spatiotemporal changes in habitat quality from 2000 to 2050 in the region are also assessed. The results show that: (1) Between 2000 and 2023, urban land in the NTMEZ rapidly expanded from 551.72 km2 to 1756.11 km2, with an annual expansion rate of 54.70 km2. From 2023 to 2050, under the fossil fuel pathway, urban land expansion is expected to be most significant, whereas under the regional competition pathway, expansion is expected to be least pronounced. The area of urban land is expected to further expand to between 3176.27 km2 and 3859.20 km2, with an annual expansion rate ranging from 244.03 km2 to 369.38 km2. (2) From 2000 to 2023, habitat quality in the NTMEZ declined from 0.551 to 0.520, representing a loss rate of 5.574%. From 2023 to 2050, habitat quality is expected to continue to decrease, with an anticipated loss of 0.57×10-2‒0.82×10-2, corresponding to a loss rate of 1.10%~1.58%. (3) The main driver of habitat quality loss is the encroachment of urban land on grasslands. In future urban planning and management, greater emphasis should be placed on the restoration of ecological land in the NTMEZ to ensure the region’s sustainable development.

Key words: ecosystem service, urban expansion, spatial and temporal evolution, habitat quality, the northern Tianshan Mountain economic zone