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The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative, is of great significance for the promotion of sustainable development in the region through the study of land use change and the simulation of future multi-scenarios. Based on the multi-period land use data of the CPEC, this study firstly analyzed the spatial and temporal land use changes in the CPEC from 2000 to 2020 by using GIS technology, and, secondly, simulated the land use patterns of the CPEC under four scenarios, namely, natural development, investment priority, ecological protection, and harmonious development, in 2040 by using the Markov-FLUS model with comprehensive consideration of natural, socio-economic, and other driving factors. The results show the following: (1) The urban land, forest land, and grassland in the CPEC from 2000 to 2020 show an increasing trend, while the farmland, unutilized land, and water area categories show a decreasing trend. In terms of land use transfer changes, the most frequently transferred out is the conversion of unutilized land to grassland. (2) The FLUS model has high accuracy in simulating the land use pattern of the CPEC, and its applicability in the CPEC area is strong and can be used to simulate the future land use pattern of the CPEC. (3) Among the four different land use scenarios, the harmonious development scenario strikes a better balance between infrastructure construction, economic development, and ecological protection, and can provide a scientific basis for future land management in the CPEC, in order to highlight the importance of promoting economic growth and ecological protection and ultimately realize sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National Key Ecological Functional Areas (NKEFAs) play an important role in forestry restoration, water source conservation, soil and water conservation, windbreak and sand fixation, and biodiversity maintenance. They are the strategic core of ecosystem protection and restoration projects, not only directly related to ecological environment construction, but also profoundly affecting the sustainable development capacity of regional economy. This article selects 1256 ecologically and economically representative counties in China with complete data as research objects. Based on the data of the selected counties from 2007 to 2021, the entropy weight TOPSIS method is used to construct an economic resilience index, and a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model is adopted to explore the specific impact of the establishment of national key ecological functional areas on China's economic resilience. Research has shown that national key ecological functional areas can enhance the resilience of county-level economies by promoting economic agglomeration and factor agglomeration, increasing fiscal expenditure and investment levels, and promoting sustainable development of county-level economies. The establishment of national key ecological functional areas in economically underdeveloped areas has had a positive effect on economic resilience, and the establishment of water source conservation, soil and water conservation, and biodiversity maintenance ecological functional areas has a significant impact on economic resilience. Therefore, national key ecological functional areas have generally promoted the improvement of China's economic resilience, but in the process of policy implementation, the establishment of national key ecological functional areas should be promoted according to local conditions. This article not only provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of China's national key ecological function areas policies, but also provides methodological inspiration for formulating more precise and scientific ecological protection policies, which has reference significance for the implementation of similar policies in other regions around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the critical period of strengthening the construction of ecological civilization, the construction of forest cities has become an important measure to promote urban ecosystem restoration and achieve sustainable development. Based on the mechanism of forest city promoting green development, the construction of a national forest city is regarded as a "quasi-natural experiment". Using China's urban panel data from 2005 to 2019, the impact of national forest city construction on urban green total factor productivity was evaluated using Multistage asymptotic double difference. The results show that National Forest Cities with environmental regulation can significantly promote regional green total factor productivity, which is still valid after a series of Robustness tests. Mechanism analysis shows that forest city construction not only affects territorial spatial planning but also forms a linkage with green technology innovation, mutual promotion and mutual promotion to jointly promote the sustainable development goals. This paper argues that building a national forest city is an important measure to achieve China's sustainable development goals in the new era, but in the process of policy implementation, it is necessary to implement the national forest city selection system according to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) is the largest ecological restoration program (ERP) in the world. Since its full implementation in China in 2002, it has achieved remarkable eco-effects worldwide. However, few researchers have paid attention to the efficiency behind the ecological achievements. Understanding the eco-efficiency of the Sloping Land Conversion Program (EEoSLCP) and its spatial and temporal evolution is necessary for the design and implementation of other ERPs. Therefore, we took the counties reflecting the basic implementation units of the SLCP as the research samples, and evaluated and analyzed the EEoSLCP on the Loess Plateau (LP) and its spatial and temporal evolution based on remote sensing data and county statistics. Our results reveal that: (1) The SLCP in LP has achieved good eco-effects, but the eco-efficiency is generally low. (2) The EEoSLCP of the LP is increasing year by year in time and the spatial distribution pattern is "high in the southeast and low in the northwest" with a gradual decrease in efficiency from southeast to northwest. (3) The EEoSLCP in each county of the LP has a positive spatial autocorrelation and this correlation increases with the passage of time. (4) The EEoSLCP in each county of the LP shows relatively stable geographical spatial agglomeration characteristics of "H-H" and "L-L" in local spatial autocorrelation, and there are spatial neighboring companion effects and spatial neighboring spillover effects in the EEoSLCP in each county of the LP. (5) Natural conditions and redundancy of input and output are important reasons that affect the level of EEoSLCP. Our study will not only provide a general approach and methodological framework for evaluating the eco-efficiency of ERPs and their spatial and temporal evolution, but also provide better guidance and inspiration for the implementation of large-scale ERPs in the background of "The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration" and the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biodegradation of high concentration isopropanol (2-propanol, IPA) at 16 g/L was investigated by a solvent-tolerant strain of bacteria identified asParacoccus denitrificansfor the first time by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. The strainP. denitrificansGH3 was able to utilize the high concentration of IPA as the sole carbon source within a minimal salts medium with a cell density of 1.5 × 108cells/mL. The optimal conditions were found as follows: initial pH 7.0, incubation temperature 30°C, with IPA concentration 8 g/L. Under the optimal conditions, strain GH3 utilized 90.3% of IPA in 7 days. Acetone, the major intermediate of aerobic IPA biodegradation, was also monitored as an indicator of microbial IPA utilization. Both IPA and acetone were completely removed from the medium following 216 hr and 240 hr, respectively. The growth of strain GH3 on IPA as a sole carbon and energy source was well described by the Andrews model with a maximum growth rate (μmax) = 0.0277/hr, a saturation constant (KS) = 0.7333 g/L, and an inhibition concentration (Ki) = 8.9887 g/L.Paracoccus denitrificansGH3 is considered to be well used in degrading IPA in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]