Challenges Towards Ecological Sustainability in China: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

344 Pages·2019·13.669 MB·English

by  Xiaojun Yang, Shijun Jiang

Xiaojun Yang · Shijun Jiang Editors
Challenges
Towards Ecological
Sustainability in
China
An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Challenges Towards Ecological Sustainability
in China
Xiaojun Yang Shijun Jiang
(cid:129)
Editors
Challenges Towards
Ecological Sustainability
in China
An Interdisciplinary Perspective
123
Editors
XiaojunYang Shijun Jiang
Department ofGeography Institute of Groundwater
Florida State University andEarthSciences
Tallahassee, FL,USA Jinan University
Guangzhou, China
and
Institute of Groundwater
andEarthSciences
Jinan University
Guangzhou, China
ISBN978-3-030-03483-2 ISBN978-3-030-03484-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03484-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018960729
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Foreword
The complex interplay between human population growth, nonrenewable natural
resourcedepletion,andenvironmentaldegradationhasbeenchallengingthehuman
societysincethemid-twentiethcentury.Whilehumanfertilityisgenerallydeclining
across the world, the global population will continue to grow for many years to
come,increasingpressureontheenvironment.Whilepopulationnumbersaloneare
oftenconsideredtobethemaindriverofenvironmentaldegradation,moreevidence
suggests that economic development and poor industrial and agricultural practices
carryanincreasingshareoftheblameinsomeregions.Thisisparticularlytruefor
Chinawherefourdecadesofrapidindustrialandeconomicdevelopmenthavebeen
accompanied by a dramatic change in consumption patterns, demanding more
energy and escalating environmental stress. Fortunately, the Chinese society has
come into consensus that unsustainable development must be changed, and eco-
nomic and social progress must be adjusted to minimize the impacts upon the
Earth’slifesupportsystems.TheChinesegovernmenthasrecentlydraftedmassive
plans to promote sustainable development, strengthen eco-environmental protec-
tion, and battle against all forms of pollution. There has been an urgent need to
conduct intensive research on sustainability that can help implement these ambi-
tious plans. Encouragingly, China’s Natural Science Foundation has recently fun-
dedanincreasingnumberofprojectstosupportsustainabilityresearch.Despitethe
fast Chinese society’s transition, the incomparable demand for sustainability, and
theextensiveresearchconductedbyChinesescholarsonthesubject,thereareonly
few English books focusing on the experience from China, the world’s largest
developing country. Most published books have targeted the case studies drawn
from developed countries in Europe and North America.
XiaojunYangandShijunJiang’sChallengesTowardsEcologicalSustainability
inChinafillsthegapidentifiedaboveandprovidesatimelyandwelcomeaddition
to the field. The book is appealing due to a number of reasons. First, it brings
together active scholars from several fields including geography, ecology, envi-
ronmental science, and economics, providing an interdisciplinary perspective on
ecological sustainability in China, particularly in the Great Pearl River Delta. This
regioniswellknownasthebirthplaceofChina’seconomicreformsince1978and
v
vi Foreword
the home of the world’s largest urban area in both size and population. Second, it
coversaselectionofimportantissueschallengingthetransition towardsecological
sustainability in China, such as urban growth and landscape changes, surface and
groundwater pollution, water resources management, flood hazards and risk, eco-
logical security, and green development. Third, it includes a strong methodology
componentfocusingonthespatiallyexplicitapproachthathasitsrootinthefieldof
geography but has been increasingly adopted in sustainability science. Last, it
incorporatesapolicydimensionthatiscriticaltohelplinkknowledgewithactionin
pursuit of a transition towards sustainability.
Both editors are native Chinese, but received their postgraduate training and
earned their terminal degree (Ph.D.) from the United States. They have demon-
stratedoutstandingscholarshiprecordsinthefieldofEarthSciences.Ihaveknown
Dr.XiaojunYang,LeadEditorofthisvolume,formorethanonedecadeduringthe
time we worked together for the “Ecosystem Processes and Services” project
fundedthroughtheInternationalPartnershipProgramforCreativeResearchTeams
Initiative by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2009–2014). He has published in
numerous academic journals and edited several books with John Wiley, Taylor
Francis, and Springer. His Urban Remote Sensing was translated into Chinese and
wonaBestImportedBookAwardin2016.Dr.Yangisoneoffewscholarswhois
capableofleadinganinterdisciplinaryefforttoputtogetheravolumeonecological
sustainability issues in China because of not only his educational background in
both natural and social sciences but also his passions in pursuit of research on the
subject.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the successful
completionofthisbookproject.Designedforawidevarietyofendusers,thisbook
will appeal tostudents, researchers, and professionals in thefields of sustainability
science, geography, ecology, and environmental science and policy. Although this
book is mostly authored by Chinese scholars with case studies predominately
drawnfromChina,theknowledgegainedfromthiscountrywiththeworld’sfastest
growing economy can be applied to other areas in the world. I highly recommend
this book!
Beijing, China Bojie Fu, Ph.D.
July 2018 Professor and Academician
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Preface
As the world’s largest developing country, China has witnessed significant eco-
nomic growth since 1978 when it initiated the reform and open door policy.
However, the country has been facing grave challenges because of diminishing
natural resources, continued environmental degradation, and increasing social and
economicmarginalization.Whilethesocietyhasbeenundergoingatransitionfrom
seeking strong economic growth into pursuing environmental sustainability, the
Chinese central government has recently drafted massive plans to reinforce
eco-environmentalprotectionandbattleagainstpollution.Therehasbeenanurgent
need to conduct basic and applied research on sustainability that can help imple-
ment these ambitious plans. Despite the undergoing Chinese society transition, the
increaseddemandforsustainability,andtheextensiveresearchonthesubject,there
areonlyfewbookstargetingtheexperiencesinChina.Mostofthepublishedbooks
areconcentratedonthecasestudiesfromdevelopedcountriesinEuropeandNorth
America.
Withintheabovecontext,abookonecologicalsustainabilityinChinaistimely.
Designed for academic and business sectors, this book brings together leading
scholars in geography, ecology, environmental science, and economics, providing
an interdisciplinary perspective on various issues challenging ecological sustain-
abilityinChina,especiallyintheSouthernChina,whererapidurbanizationoverthe
past four decades has caused economic and ecological strains on land and people.
While the range of issues is constantly increasing, this book covers some major
ones,suchaslanduseandlandcoverchange,urbangrowthandlandscapechanges,
urbanization impacts upon the thermal environment, surface and groundwater
pollution,landuseandnon-pointpollutionincoastalwatersheds,urbanandcoastal
flood hazards and risk, water resources utilization and management, ecological
security, green development for resource-based regions, and sustainable landscape
design. Additionally, the book incorporates a strong component of methodology
targetingthespatiallyexplicitapproachthatissupportedbygeospatialtechnologies
such as remote sensing and geographic information systems. Finally, this book
includes a policy dimension that is critical for linking knowledge with action to
pursue a transition towards ecological sustainability in the world’s largest
vii
viii Preface
developing country. Although this book is mostly authored by Chinese scholars
withcasestudiespredominatelydrawnfromChina,theknowledgegainedfromthis
country with the world’s fastest growing economy should be applicable to other
areas globally.
This book is the outcome of intensive research conducted by multidisciplinary
scholars and is intended for students, academics, and professionals in the fields of
sustainability science, geography, ecology, and environmental science and policy.
We are very grateful to all authors who contributed their work and revised their
manuscriptsmultipletimesaccordingtoourrequests.SpecialthanksareduetoDrs.
TingLiuandJinxinYangfortheirhelpinthemanuscriptreviewandproofreading
and to Ms. Hong Su for her administrative support to the Jinan Forum on
Geography and Ecological Sustainability held during February 7–9, 2017,
Guangzhou,China. TheLeadEditorisveryappreciativeofthesupportfromJinan
University during his several recent visits to China. Last, we would like to extend
oursinceregratitudetoPetravanSteenbergenforherhelpandassistanceleadingto
the completion of this book project.
Guangzhou, China Xiaojun Yang
July 2018 Shijun Jiang
Contents
Part I Conceptual and Technical Issues
Challenges Towards Ecological Sustainability in China:
An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Xiaojun Yang and Shijun Jiang
Regional Eco-security: Concept, Principles and Pattern Design . . . . . . . 19
Liding Chen, Ranhao Sun and Lei Yang
How to Design an Urban Ecological Landscape: Sustainability,
Efficiency, and Harmony? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Ranhao Sun and Liding Chen
Monitoring Urban Growth and Land Changes in Beijing, China’s
Capital City by Remote Sensing: Progress and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . 55
Ting Liu and Xiaojun Yang
Diatoms as an Evaluation Tool for the Ecological and
Environmental Conditions of Rivers and Streams in China:
A Retrospective Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Yuanda Lei, Yasu Wang, Richard William Jordan and Shijun Jiang
Part II Challenges Towards Ecological Sustainability in the Great
Pearl River Delta
Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Vegetation Health at the Baiyun
Mountain National Forest Park, China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Shuisen Chen, Weiqi Chen and Jia Liu
Comparison of Urbanization and Its Eco-environmental Effects
in Three Large Pearl River Delta Metropolises, China . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Rongbo Xiao, Changguang Wu and Zhishan Li
ix
x Contents
Nutrient and Trace Metal Issues in the Pearl River Delta, China . . . . . 149
Lichun Xie, Lei Gao and Jianyao Chen
Flooding Hazards and Risk Analysis in the Pearl River
Delta, China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Xianwei Wang
Part III Challenges Towards Ecological Sustainability
in Other Areas of China
Potential Impacts of Urban Sprawl on the Thermal Environment
in the Nanjing Metropolitan Area Based on the SLEUTH and WRF
Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Fanhua Kong, Haiwei Yin, Fei Jiang and Jiayu Chen
Linking Land Use with Water Pollution in Coastal Watersheds
of China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Jinliang Huang, Ayu Ervinia and Yaling Huang
Water and Ecological Security at the Heart of China’s Silk Road
Economic Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Yaning Chen, Zhi Li, Gonghuan Fang and Wei Bian
The Spatial Network of Beibu Gulf Urban Agglomeration
and Its Challenges for Coordinated Integral Development. . . . . . . . . . . 307
Junneng Wang, Jianquan Cheng, Nianxiu Qin and Qingyi Chen
Strategies to Promote Green Development in Coal Resource-Based
Regions with China’s Shanxi Province as an Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Jianhui Cong, Jun Yang, Qin Zhang and Zhou Zhou
Index .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 337