Dynamic assessment and zoning strategies for ecosystem health in Poyang lake urban agglomeration

Abstract

Abstract Assessing and appropriately managing the ecosystem health of urban agglomerations are significant for safeguarding regional ecological security and sustainable development. From a spatiotemporal dynamic perspective, with the Poyang Lake urban agglomeration as a case, this study established a ‘Vigour–Organisation–Resilience–Service’ framework to assess ecosystem health, analysed spatiotemporal characteristics, identified key driving factors and their interactions contributing to spatial differentiation and ultimately adopted a ‘level–type’ zoning control strategy. The results show that: (1) From 2005 to 2022, the natural ecosystem health index declined in 14.70% of the region, with a central concentration of low values in the Poyang Lake area. The ecosystem service index decreased in 11.10% of the region but remained high in the Poyang Lake area. Varying degrees of positive spatial spillover effects were observed for both indices. (2) The average regional comprehensive ecosystem health index was 0.2914, with an overall downward trend. In the urban agglomeration, the comprehensive ecosystem health index remained stable in 78.18% of the total area, indicating a notable ‘polarisation’ in health levels among different areas. (3) Socioeconomic factors significantly influence ecosystem health in the urban agglomeration. (4) The urban agglomeration displayed distinct spatial patterns in terms of the types of changes in ecosystem health. Considering both current status and trends, zoning control and differentiated management strategies were implemented for the urban agglomeration. The approaches of differentiated management and zoning control can promote the coordinated development of the Poyang Lake urban agglomeration, facilitating a dynamic balance between urbanisation and ecological protection.