Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China
Agricultural systems have significant negative impacts on the global environment. Current research across ecology, geography, and environmental science often suffers from overlapping or contradictory concepts, complicating comprehensive assessment. Moreover, there is insufficient analysis of the fun...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2500007X |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832576475223556096 |
|---|---|
| author | Zhongxue Zhou Fangze Zhao Bingjie Song |
| author_facet | Zhongxue Zhou Fangze Zhao Bingjie Song |
| author_sort | Zhongxue Zhou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Agricultural systems have significant negative impacts on the global environment. Current research across ecology, geography, and environmental science often suffers from overlapping or contradictory concepts, complicating comprehensive assessment. Moreover, there is insufficient analysis of the fundamental properties of agroecosystems, and a gap exists in the comprehensive analysis of the overall ecological effects of agricultural systems. This study redefines agricultural ecological functions from a multidisciplinary perspective and proposes a framework for assessing the comprehensive ecological effects of agriculture on local ecosystems. The framework integrates research on ecosystem services, biodiversity, carbon emissions, pollution, and ecological stability. Using the Xi’an metropolitan zone as a case study, this research evaluates the ecological utility of different agricultural types and examines changes during agricultural transformation. Key findings include: (1) The comprehensive ecological effects of agriculture decline when transitioning from grain planting to urban agriculture, as modern agricultural practices in urbanizing areas are ecologically detrimental compared with natural ecosystems. (2) The shift from grain to urban agriculture, excluding vegetables, generally enhances ecosystem services, complexity, and stability, due to changes in the natural properties of crop types (e.g., trees, vines, or herbs), plant density, biodiversity, and leaf area index. (3) The negative environmental impacts of urban agriculture primarily reduce the comprehensive ecological effects due to unsuitable agricultural practices. Improving these practices can alleviate the environmental burden in urbanizing area. (4) The proposed framework provides a comprehensive and scientifically valid approach for assessing agricultural ecological effects and identifying their sources, with broad applicability. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-641ad81efa344c5a9884345f84bcb086 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-641ad81efa344c5a9884345f84bcb0862025-01-31T05:10:47ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-01-01170113078Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, ChinaZhongxue Zhou0Fangze Zhao1Bingjie Song2School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China; Corresponding author.School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, ChinaAppleton Institute, CQUniversity, Adelaide, SA 5034, AustraliaAgricultural systems have significant negative impacts on the global environment. Current research across ecology, geography, and environmental science often suffers from overlapping or contradictory concepts, complicating comprehensive assessment. Moreover, there is insufficient analysis of the fundamental properties of agroecosystems, and a gap exists in the comprehensive analysis of the overall ecological effects of agricultural systems. This study redefines agricultural ecological functions from a multidisciplinary perspective and proposes a framework for assessing the comprehensive ecological effects of agriculture on local ecosystems. The framework integrates research on ecosystem services, biodiversity, carbon emissions, pollution, and ecological stability. Using the Xi’an metropolitan zone as a case study, this research evaluates the ecological utility of different agricultural types and examines changes during agricultural transformation. Key findings include: (1) The comprehensive ecological effects of agriculture decline when transitioning from grain planting to urban agriculture, as modern agricultural practices in urbanizing areas are ecologically detrimental compared with natural ecosystems. (2) The shift from grain to urban agriculture, excluding vegetables, generally enhances ecosystem services, complexity, and stability, due to changes in the natural properties of crop types (e.g., trees, vines, or herbs), plant density, biodiversity, and leaf area index. (3) The negative environmental impacts of urban agriculture primarily reduce the comprehensive ecological effects due to unsuitable agricultural practices. Improving these practices can alleviate the environmental burden in urbanizing area. (4) The proposed framework provides a comprehensive and scientifically valid approach for assessing agricultural ecological effects and identifying their sources, with broad applicability.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2500007XUrban agricultureComprehensive ecological effectsAgricultural systemXi’an metropolitan zone |
| spellingShingle | Zhongxue Zhou Fangze Zhao Bingjie Song Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China Ecological Indicators Urban agriculture Comprehensive ecological effects Agricultural system Xi’an metropolitan zone |
| title | Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China |
| title_full | Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China |
| title_short | Evaluation and Changes in the Comprehensive Ecological Effects of Agriculture in Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study of the Xi'an Metropolitan Zone, China |
| title_sort | evaluation and changes in the comprehensive ecological effects of agriculture in urbanizing areas a case study of the xi an metropolitan zone china |
| topic | Urban agriculture Comprehensive ecological effects Agricultural system Xi’an metropolitan zone |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2500007X |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhongxuezhou evaluationandchangesinthecomprehensiveecologicaleffectsofagricultureinurbanizingareasacasestudyofthexianmetropolitanzonechina AT fangzezhao evaluationandchangesinthecomprehensiveecologicaleffectsofagricultureinurbanizingareasacasestudyofthexianmetropolitanzonechina AT bingjiesong evaluationandchangesinthecomprehensiveecologicaleffectsofagricultureinurbanizingareasacasestudyofthexianmetropolitanzonechina |