Urbanisation and ecosystem services in the Taiwan Strait west coast urban agglomeration, China, from the perspective of an interactive coercive relationship

• Published in: Ecological indicators 2023-02, Vol.146, p.109861, Article 109861
• Main Authors: Zhou, Ting, Chen, Wanxu, Wang, Qiang, Li, Yinan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coupling coordination degree; Decoupling relationship; Ecosystem services value; Interactive coercive relationship; Taiwan Strait; Urbanisation
• ISSN: 1470-160X; 1872-7034
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109861

•Coupled and decoupled interactions between Urbanisation level (UL) and ecosystem services (ESs) were investigated.•A coupled coordination degree and Tapio decoupling model were applied.•Coordinated development was rare in the studied region and showed significant regional differences during the study period.•The degree of weak decoupling gradually deepened, and UL and ESs gradually exhibited an interactive upward trend during the study period. Rapid urbanisation has triggered a series of 'urban diseases' that seriously interfere with the sustainability of ecosystem services (ESs). Scientific assessment of the interactions between urbanisation and ESs is important for improving the quality of urban development and optimising ESs. However, studies on the interactive stress relationship between urbanisation and ESs from the coupling and decoupling perspective are lacking, especially at the urban cluster scale. Considering 20 prefecture-level cities in the Taiwan Strait west coast urban agglomeration (TSWCUA), in this study we used land-use remote sensing monitoring data from 2005 to 2018 to assess the relationships between urbanisation and ESs within each coordinated development stage using a coupled coordination degree and the Tapio decoupling model. The results showed that, the urbanisation level (UL) of the TSWCUA had an overall upward trend, whereas ecosystem services value (ESV) showed a gradual decline. The coupled and coordinated relationship between UL and ESs was benign, despite long-term dysfunctional states. Overall, the number of cities with lagging ecosystem services increased. The decoupling state between urbanisation and ESV improved in a variable manner, and the weak decoupling gradually increased. The development trend in the study region was generally clear, although coordinated development was rare among the TSWCUA regions. Our study provides an empirical basis for improving the coordinated development of ULs and ESs in the TSWCUA.