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As a crucial component of the ecological security pattern, ecological source (ES) plays a vital role in providing ecosystem service value (ESV) and conserving biodiversity. Previous studies have mostly considered ES only from either landscape change pattern or ecological function perspectives, and have ignored their integration and spatio-temporal evolutionary modeling. In this study, we proposed a multi-perspective framework for the spatio-temporal characteristics of ES by ESV incorporating landscape aesthetics, carbon sink characteristics, ecological quality, and kernel NDVI (kNDVI). By integrating the revised ESV and the kernel normalized difference vegetation index as a foundation, we employed the spatial priority model to identify ES. This improvement aims to yield a more practical and specific ESV result. Applying this framework to the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR), a significant spatio-temporal change in ecological sources has been observed from 2000 to 2020. This performance provided a reference for ecological conservation in the TRHR. The results indicate that this ecological source identification framework has reliable accuracy and efficiency compared with the existing NRs in the TRHR. This method could reveal more precise spatio-temporal distributions of ES, enhancing ecosystem integrity and providing technical modeling support for developing cross-scale spatial planning and management strategies for nature reserve boundaries. The framework proposed in our research could serve as a reference for building ecological networks in other ecologically fragile areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization process has a negative or positive impact on vegetation growth. Net primary productivity (NPP) is an effective indicator to characterize vegetation growth status. Taking the core development area of the Central Plains urban agglomeration as the study area, we estimated the NPP and its change trend in the past four decades using the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model and statistical analysis based on meteorological and multi-source remote sensing data. Meanwhile, combined with the urbanization impact framework, we further analyzed urbanization's direct and indirect impact on NPP. The results showed that the urban area increased by 2688 km2 during a high-speed urbanization process from 1983 to 2019. As a result of the intense urbanization process, a continuous NPP decrease (direct impact) can be seen, which aggravated along with the acceleration of the urban expansion, and the mean value of direct impact was 130.84 g C·m−2·a−1. Meanwhile, urbanization also had a positive impact on NPP (indirect impact). The indirect impact showed an increasing trend during urbanization with a mean value of 10.91 g C·m−2·a−1. The indirect impact was mainly related to temperature in climatic factors. The indirect impact has a seasonal heterogeneity, and high-temperature environments of urban areas are more effective in promoting vegetation growth in autumn and winter than in summer. Among different cities, high-speed development cities have higher indirect impact values than medium's and low's because of better ecological construction. This study is of great significance for understanding the impact of urbanization on vegetation growth in the Central Plains urban agglomeration area, supporting urban greening plans, and building sustainable and resilient urban agglomerations. • The direct impact of urbanization has led to a decline in NPP. • The indirect impact of urbanization has improved the vegetation growth environment. • The indirect impact is mainly related to temperature and is greater in urban areas. • The indirect impact has increased regional carbon sinks. • The direct and indirect impacts are both greater in high-speed development cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]