CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (12): 2183-2196.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.210

• Land Use and Carbon Cycle • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Carbon budget balance and carbon compensation zoning of land use in Xinjiang’s counties

SHI Xiujuan(), WANG Zhiqiang()   

  1. College of Public Administration, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2025-04-23 Revised:2025-06-25 Online:2025-12-25 Published:2025-12-30
  • Contact: WANG Zhiqiang E-mail:imxiujuan@163.com;wzqsdrz@foxmail.com

Abstract:

Xinjiang, a resource-rich region in China, faces interconnected challenges under the “Dual Carbon” strategy: Resource exploitation, ecological conservation, and carbon emission reduction. Analyzing land-use carbon budgets and their balancing mechanisms provides a theoretical basis for optimizing regional low-carbon land use. This study quantified county-level carbon budgets from 2000 to 2023, including carbon absorption, carbon emissions, the ecological support coefficient (ESC), and the economic contribution coefficient (ECC), across 96 counties in Xinjiang. Social network analysis was employed to characterize spatial correlations of carbon emissions, and a carbon-balance-oriented zoning framework was developed. Spatial overlay analysis integrated carbon balance zoning with major functional zoning to delineate carbon compensation zones. Key findings include: (1) A growing disparity between carbon emissions (surging from 60.28×106 t to 677.81×106 t) and absorption, forming a core-periphery spatial structure radiating from urban hubs; post-2020, carbon absorption declined significantly, displaying an inverse spatial pattern to emissions. (2) ESC exhibited persistent decline from 2000 to 2023, while ECC showed marked spatial heterogeneity. (3) The carbon emission network demonstrated high density (0.877) and polycentric dispersion, with core nodes dominating carbon flows. (4) Four functional zones were identified: Low-carbon optimization zones (12), high-carbon control zones (25), ecological conservation zones (22), and carbon sequestration core zones (37). Overlaying these with major functional zoning yielded 10 carbon compensation zones. To address socio-ecological conflicts in achieving carbon neutrality, Xinjiang requires spatially differentiated governance, regional collaborative emission reduction, and ecological compensation mechanisms.

Key words: Xinjiang counties, carbon budget balance, carbon compensation zoning, major function-oriented zones, social network analysis