Developing a quantitative framework for watershed sustainable development: The ecology-water energy food (E-WEF) approach

IF 7 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Ecological Indicators Pub Date : 2025-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113291

Lin Zhang , Lingjian Kong , Xingyue Ji , Yanhui Ren , Can Lin , Zhaohua Lu

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Abstract

Water, energy, and food are essential for the sustainable development of human society, forming the basis of ecological security. However, achieving sustainability within the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus, while ensuring ecological security, remains a challenge. This study introduced an Ecology-WEF (E-WEF) framework integrated socio-economic development, ecological security and WEF. We assessed the comprehensive evaluation score (CES), coupled coordination degree (CCD) and driving factor of E-WEF system during 2000–2020 and predicted CES during 2021–2030 in Yellow River Basin (YRB). The results indicated: While the WEF system fluctuated, developing E system led to an upward trend in the E-WEF system, with predictions showing a steady rise from 2020 to 2030, outpacing the WEF system. In socio-economic, energy and food subsystems, CES showed the highest in downstream and the lowest in upstream, while in the eco-environmental and water subsystems, the converse was observed. The CCD was higher in downstream, with the system layer exceeding the subsystem layer. From 2000 to 2020, the major influencing factors shifted from agricultural production and energy consumption to environmental protection and resource utilization efficiency. Interaction factors had greater effects than individual factors, with the socio-economic and food subsystems showing a high contribution, respectively. The E-WEF framework provided new insights for achieving ecological security and sustainable development in the region.

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来源期刊

Ecological Indicators 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

11.80

自引率

8.70%

发文量

1163

审稿时长

78 days

期刊介绍： The ultimate aim of Ecological Indicators is to integrate the monitoring and assessment of ecological and environmental indicators with management practices. The journal provides a forum for the discussion of the applied scientific development and review of traditional indicator approaches as well as for theoretical, modelling and quantitative applications such as index development. Research into the following areas will be published. • All aspects of ecological and environmental indicators and indices. • New indicators, and new approaches and methods for indicator development, testing and use. • Development and modelling of indices, e.g. application of indicator suites across multiple scales and resources. • Analysis and research of resource, system- and scale-specific indicators. • Methods for integration of social and other valuation metrics for the production of scientifically rigorous and politically-relevant assessments using indicator-based monitoring and assessment programs. • How research indicators can be transformed into direct application for management purposes. • Broader assessment objectives and methods, e.g. biodiversity, biological integrity, and sustainability, through the use of indicators. • Resource-specific indicators such as landscape, agroecosystems, forests, wetlands, etc.