Research on the influencing factors and multi-scale regulatory pathway of ecosystem health: A case study in the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River, China

It has become a hot issue in realizing regional sustainable development to discuss the influencing factors and regulatory pathway of ecosystem health. However, the lack of driving mechanisms and regulatory pathways for ecosystem health limit the development of effective environmental management policies and urban planning. In this study, taking the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River (MRYR) of China as the study area, we introduced spatial weight coefficient and modified coefficient of spatial proximity effect to improve the “Vigor–Organization-Resilience-Ecosystem services” (VORS) model, and adopted the improved VORS model to dynamically assess the ecosystem health level. Then, we provide an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms of climate and human activities affecting ecosystem health. Finally, the multi-scale regulation of ecosystem health was implemented. The results showed that topography, climate, population urbanization, economic urbanization, land urbanization, agricultural activities, environmental pollution, regional policies and other factors all have a significant impact on the ecosystem health, but the direction and extent of impact had obvious spatial heterogeneity. The negative impact of potential evapotranspiration on ecosystem health is significantly higher in urban agglomerations than in other regions. Regular and compact urban forms are conducive to the health of urban ecosystems, and appropriate urban size and strict urban development boundaries are conducive to maintaining high level of ecosystem health in riverine cities. The evolution of the spatial relationship between environmental pollution and ecosystem health in the MRYR (ecologically vulnerable areas in the western region and urban agglomerations in mid-east region) verifies the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The study area was divided into three eco-management zones at regional scale and ten eco-management zones at county scale by using the spatial superposition analysis method. Based on this, the multi-scale regulation strategies of ecosystem health was proposed. This study improved the assessment model of ecosystem health, expanded the theoretical research on driving mechanism and multi-scale regulation pathways of ecosystem health. The research results can provide scientific basis for environmental management and urban planning in ecologically fragile areas.