Characteristics and Influencing Factors of the Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Coupled Water–Energy–Food Nexus in the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Review of sustainability-2574744

 

1. Please check the MDPI template for the style of referencing. References must be written with square brackets.

-->  Line 33, 36, 44, 56, 58, 58 again, 60, 65, 67, 70, 72, 77, 82, 86, 113, 119, 133 (three references), 142 (three references), 145, 156 (three references), 158 (two references), 175 (two references), 343, 364, 464, 469, 476 (three references), 477, 478.

2. Where is the location of reference 30 in the text?

 

3. For the interval of the value, I know that the authors want to write mathematically correct interval of (0, 1], that is started with open parentheses, ended with square bracket of 0 < x ≤ 1.

However, I feel that it creates confusion, where writing an interval of (0, 1) is still acceptable, especially when the numbers in Table 4 do not exceed 0.9958, which is still <1. Please revise those in the line 181, 184, all in Table 2, all in Table 3, and line 349.

 

4. In Table 4, there are the results of C, D, and T, where the relationship between those three variables is described in Equation 6, where D= (CT)^1/2 (square root of C × T). It is therefore would be more straightforward to see the equation to be reconstructed as T (comprehensive evaluation index) = D²/C.

 

5. In Table 4, the sequence shown in C, D, then T. But the equations to obtain them, Equation 4, 5, and 6, show the sequence of C, T, and then D, respectively. This makes an impression of D is the final variable to obtain (C and T must be calculated first).

On the other hand, based on its name, in my opinion it should be T (comprehensive evaluation index) that acts as the final variable (variables C and D must be obtained first). Please write them in consistent sequences, C, D,and T for both the equations and the Table 4.

 

6. In Table 4, it can be seen that C values are almost approaching 1, except for year 2010 (C= 0.8817). Therefore, T will be roughly dominated by D². Please explain why C is mostly almost 1 (approach unity)? What would be the implications of it to the WEF nexus in this study?

 

7. Please write references completely, do not shorten references with “et al” --> Revise references 1, 5, 8, 11, 12, 18, 23, 25, 26, 28, 34, 36, 37, 39.
8. Delete “[J]” in the references --> Revise references 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38.
9. Reference 3: Delete the double slashes //.
10. Reference 7: Delete “(Pt. 2)”. Delete also “Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36208755”
11. Write journal names not with all uppercase letters. --> Revise references 14, 19, 21, 29, 31.
12. Do not add a letter next to the publication year, unless the same surname has more than two publications at the same year! Moreover, the references are written not in the alphabetical order, but in the numbered style that eliminates the use of addition of a letter next to the publication year --> Revise references 19, 26, 27, 28, 36, 39.

Author Response

Dear reviewer

On behalf of my co-authors, we thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to revise our manuscript, we appreciate you very much for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions on our manuscript (ID: sustainability-2574744 ).

We have studied your comments carefully and have made revision which marked in red in the paper. We have tried our best to revise our manuscript according to the comments. The following is a reply to your comments. Attached please find the revised version, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Aili Wang

North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, P.R. China

• mail: [email protected]

 

 

 

1.Please check the MDPI template for the style of referencing. References must be written with square brackets.

-->  Line 33, 36, 44, 56, 58, 58 again, 60, 65, 67, 70, 72, 77, 82, 86, 113, 119, 133 (three references), 142 (three references), 145, 156 (three references), 158 (two references), 175 (two references), 343, 364, 464, 469, 476 (three references), 477, 478.

1、Reply：Thank you for your careful review, the cited literature has been formatted.

 

2. Where is the location of reference 30 in the text?

2、Reply：Thank you for your careful review of line 201 in the article, which has now been updated to literature 32.

 

3. For the interval of the value, I know that the authors want to write mathematically correct interval of (0, 1], that is started with open parentheses, ended with square bracket of 0 < x ≤ 1.

However, I feel that it creates confusion, where writing an interval of (0, 1) is still acceptable, especially when the numbers in Table 4 do not exceed 0.9958, which is still <1. Please revise those in the line 181, 184, all in Table 2, all in Table 3, and line 349.

   3、Reply：Thank you for your careful review and suggestions. The values of C and D are found to be (0, 1] by most scholars after reviewing the related literature, and although the value of C and D in this paper does not reach 1, the value of "1" can be taken in the ideal state. Therefore, the range is still (0, 1].349 The value of q of the geodetector in this study does not reach 1, but its value is limited to [0.1] according to the relevant references 33 (Wang, J.; Xu, C. Geodetector; Principle and prospective).

 

 

4. In Table 4, there are the results of C, D, and T, where the relationship between those three variables is described in Equation 6, where D= (CT)1/2 (square root of C × T). It is therefore would be more straightforward to see the equation to be reconstructed as T (comprehensive evaluation index) = D2/C.

4、Reply：Thank you for your careful review, D in the text is derived from , but it needs to be written first to get the result of T, which can only   be obtained by calculating W(w), E(e) and F(f): 

 

5. In Table 4, the sequence shown in C, D, then T. But the equations to obtain them, Equation 4, 5, and 6, show the sequence of C, T, and then D, respectively. This makes an impression of D is the final variable to obtain (C and T must be calculated first).

On the other hand, based on its name, in my opinion it should be T (comprehensive evaluation index) that acts as the final variable (variables C and D must be obtained first). Please write them in consistent sequences, C, D,and T for both the equations and the Table 4.

   5、Reply：Thank you for your valuable comments and attentive review, the correct order of calculations is C, T, D.   D is the last variable obtained, I apologize for my carelessness and have corrected the order of the table.

 

 

 

6. In Table 4, it can be seen that C values are almost approaching 1, except for year 2010 (C= 0.8817). Therefore, T will be roughly dominated by D2. Please explain why C is mostly almost 1 (approach unity)? What would be the implications of it to the WEF nexus in this study?

   6、Reply：The larger C indicates that the degree of interaction between subsystems is stronger, the stronger the correlation; conversely, the smaller C the weaker the degree of interaction, the smaller the correlation, and T is dominated by the comprehensive evaluation index of subsystems W (w), E (e), F (f), the level of WEF bond coupling is judged by the value of D, , as shown in Equation , the value of C to a certain extent, will affect the size of D.

 

 

 

7. Please write references completely, do not shorten references with “et al” --> Revise references 1, 5, 8, 11, 12, 18, 23, 25, 26, 28, 34, 36, 37, 39.

7、Reply：Thank you for your careful review, the "et al" has been replaced with the full reference.

 

 

 

 

8. Delete “[J]” in the references --> Revise references 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38.

8、Reply： Thank you for your careful review and have removed the relevant reference to [J].

 

 

9. Reference 3: Delete the double slashes //.

9、ReplyThank you for your careful review and have revised the relevant reference format .

 

10. Reference 7: Delete “(Pt. 2)”. Delete also “Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36208755”

10、Reply：Thank you for your careful review and have revised the relevant reference format .

 

 

11. Write journal names not with all uppercase letters. --> Revise references 14, 19, 21, 29, 31.

11、Reply：Thank you for your careful review and have revised the relevant reference format .

 

 

12. Do not add a letter next to the publication year, unless the same surname has more than two publications at the same year! Moreover, the references are written not in the alphabetical order, but in the numbered style that eliminates the use of addition of a letter next to the publication year --> Revise references 19, 26, 27, 28, 36, 39.

    12、Reply：Thank you for your careful review and have revised the relevant reference format .

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This manuscript (sustainability-2574744) assessed the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus development in Henan's Yellow River Basin from 2006-2020. It reveals increasing coupling coordination and significant spatial differences. Factors such as educational expenditure, arable land, and population density influence this development. This research supports local government planning and decision-making.

The introduction is inadequate. It is not described correctly and is a mishmash of scattered information. Furthermore, there are no citations in this section or the others. The'materials and methods' section is flawed; it is impossible to reproduce this work or even determine where the information was collected, processed, or sampled. The results section is another jumble of information that does not align with the experiment's reality. Numerous scientific notations and abbreviations throughout the text are incorrect and must be reviewed and standardised. The discussion and conclusions are poor and lack a scientific foundation. This manuscript is not suitable for publication. The authors should consult state-of-the-art science and consider rewriting the manuscript. Below are some comments to assist the authors in restructuring:

The English needs to be verified by a native speaker.

Keywords in alphabetical order:

This might be a stylistic choice, but why have the authors chosen to subdivide the introduction section into topics? The text is fragmented. Consider making the introduction cohesive by interconnecting paragraphs; this might be a better strategy for the reader. There's no evident reference in the introduction section.

Section 2 is unclear. Is it'materials and methods'? There are no citations in this section either. Is this unit correct? “m³/person”.... change to m³ person−1.

L245-248: I do not understand the significance of including this data as it has not been addressed in the manuscript. What sources were they based on? "Previous year"? Which one?

Figure 3 is of low quality. It is impossible to identify what's written in the legends. Moreover, the figure is incorrect. For instance, where are the map coordinates? What are the scales and distances? What's the altitude? Where is the north indicated?

Are they states, cities, provinces, municipalities? The figure caption is not appropriate. Upon reading, I cannot understand it.

L289: What unit is “mm/y”?

Figure 4: What does this figure refer to? What is the y-axis about? What comparison should be made? Is there any associated statistic? What were the comparisons, besides possibly cities?

L321-322: What does this sentence "The other cities showed primary coordination." mean in the context of this result? Any citations?

I do not understand section 4. Is it a conclusion, discussion, or a new topic? Why is not it a subtopic within'results and discussion'?

Table 5: What is “Interaction classification”?

What are these subtopics in section 4.2? How were these p values calculated?

 

Figure 5: What does it refer to? I cannot see the numbers on the axes or read the labels/variables. What do these scales refer to?

The figure needs a complete overhaul as it does not indicate 2006. This information should be in the figure caption when the authors are discussing it.

Is section 5 a discussion?

The conclusions are unsuitable. I'm unsure if it is an introduction or something else. I recommend that the authors rewrite them. Conclusions should not be in the form of topics and subtopics.

No references listed in the section are presented in the text. Moreover, many are outdated.

Many sentences are incomprehensible and poorly written. They require correction by a native speaker.

Author Response

Dear reviewer

On behalf of my co-authors, we thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to revise our manuscript, we appreciate you very much for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions on our manuscript (ID: sustainability-2574744 ).

We have studied your comments carefully and have made revision which marked in red in the paper. We have tried our best to revise our manuscript according to the comments. The following is a reply to your comments. Attached please find the revised version, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Aili Wang

North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, P.R. China

• mail: [email protected]

 

 

1、This might be a stylistic choice, but why have the authors chosen to subdivide the introduction section into topics? The text is fragmented. Consider making the introduction cohesive by interconnecting paragraphs; this might be a better strategy for the reader. There's no evident reference in the introduction section

Reply:Thank you for your careful review and suggestions, the introduction has been revised, the introduction part of the cited literature is mostly in the 53-83 lines, has been marked in red.

2、Section 2 is unclear. Is it'materials and methods'? There are no citations in this section either. Is this unit correct? “m³/person”.... change to m³ person−1.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review and suggestions, the name of the second section has been changed and the references in the second section are mainly in 2.3 Research Methods (lines 126, 134, 138, 142, 145, 157, 158, 176, 200, 201 lines), the unit of Per capita water consumption has been modified.201 lines), the unit of Per capita water consumption has been modified.), the unit of Per capita water consumption has been changed.

3、L245-248: I do not understand the significance of including this data as it has not been addressed in the manuscript. What sources were they based on? "Previous year"? Which one?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review. The comprehensive evaluation index is calculated by Equation 5 (line 178  ) in 2.3.4, and the rest of the data are the proportion of increase or decrease of the base data, which is obtained from China Statistical Yearbook, Henan Provincial Statistical Yearbook, and "Previous year" is 2019, and the language in the article has been modified.

4、Figure 3 is of low quality. It is impossible to identify what's written in the legends. Moreover, the figure is incorrect. For instance, where are the map coordinates? What are the scales and distances? What's the altitude? Where is the north indicated?

Are they states, cities, provinces, municipalities? The figure caption is not appropriate. Upon reading, I cannot understand it.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review of Figure 3, which shows nine cities in Henan Province through which the Yellow River Basin flows. Changes have been made to Figure 3.

 

 

5、L289: What unit is “mm/y”?

Repiy:Thank you for your careful review. mm/year refers to rainfall reaching x millimeters per year, and the units in the text have been corrected. The 527.53mm/year in the text is the average value for 2006-2020,the formula is as follows.  

((sum of rainfall per year 2006-2020)/15 )

 

 

6、Figure 4: What does this figure refer to? What is the y-axis about? What comparison should be made? Is there any associated statistic? What were the comparisons, besides possibly cities?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review. Figure 4 refers to the mean values of coupling degree and coupling coordination degree of nine cities in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province from 2006 to 2020, which has been modified, and the y-axis has been added with relevant labels. The left side is the mean value of coupling degree C, and the right side is the mean value of coupling coordination degree D. The calculation formula and the range of values are shown in 2.3.4(line179-187).

 

7、L321-322: What does this sentence "The other cities showed primary coordination." mean in the context of this result? Any citations?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, according to the coupled coordination degree classification (see Table 3. line 204), it can be seen that the rest of the cities have a D-value between 0.60 and 0.69, and the type of coordination belongs to the primary coordinated development.

 

 

8、I do not understand section 4. Is it a conclusion, discussion, or a new topic? Why is not it a subtopic within'results and discussion'?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, Section 4 is a new topic that focuses on what are the factors that influence the level of WEF nexus coupling coordination.

 

 

9、Table 5: What is “Interaction classification”?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, was referring to what types of two factor interactions there are, have changed the table name to make it clearer.

 

10、What are these subtopics in section 4.2? How were these p values calculated?

 Reply:Thank you for your careful review. subtopics in section 4.2 are selected influences that may affect the level of system coupling coordination and an explanatory note as to why they were selected. p-values do not appear in section 4.2, for the calculation of q-values see equation 5 in section 4.1(line 343-351).

 

 

11、Figure 5: What does it refer to? I cannot see the numbers on the axes or read the labels/variables. What do these scales refer to?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, sorry for the trouble caused by you, Figure 5 has been replaced with a clearer picture, the figure for the interaction detector components of GeoDetector detection results, X1-X7 corresponds to the seven factors in Table 6, x-axis and y-axis are X1-X7, which means that the effect of a certain factor on the level of coupling coordination when acting together with other factors, the right label is the range of its q value (q definition see section 4.1,line 343-351), which also means that the darker the color means the greater the degree of influence.

 

 

12、The figure needs a complete overhaul as it does not indicate 2006. This information should be in the figure caption when the authors are discussing it.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, the years 2006, 2013, and 2020 were selected as representative years for discussion in the impact factor study in Chapter 4 of this paper. Figure 5 shows the results of the interaction detector for the years 2006, 2013, and 2020, not for the year 2006.

 

 

13、Is section 5 a discussion?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, section 5 is indeed a discussion section.

 

 

14、The conclusions are unsuitable. I'm unsure if it is an introduction or something else. I recommend that the authors rewrite them. Conclusions should not be in the form of topics and subtopics.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, changes have been made to the conclusion section.

 

15、No references listed in the section are presented in the text. Moreover, many are outdated.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review and suggestions, the Conclusions and Recommendations section does not cite literature, and I have updated the literature for those that are outdated.

31 Li, B.; Yan, J.; Research on the Dynamic Coupling Coordinative Degree Among Water.Energy-Environment System in the Yellow River Basin. Yellow River, 2022,44(07):59-63.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Coupled Water–energy–food Nexus in the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province by Shunsheng Wang et al. is referred. 

After careful reading the manuscripts I can comments below:

1. Please add more literature review to support the finding. Do Table comparison on its.

2. Add more statistical goodness-fit measurements. Current version lack of it.

3. Add more discussion on the reliability of the model.

4. Add more on the discussion of the relationship WEF with sustainability especially on the UN SDGs.

5. How does the current WEF compared with previous one? 

6. Why WEF is very important on the Province? What is the current situation?

7. Validation of the model are required. 

English can be further improved. 

Author Response

Dear reviewer

On behalf of my co-authors, we thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to revise our manuscript, we appreciate you very much for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions on our manuscript (ID: sustainability-2574744 ).

We have studied your comments carefully and have made revision which marked in red in the paper. We have tried our best to revise our manuscript according to the comments. The following is a reply to your comments. Attached please find the revised version, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Aili Wang

North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, P.R. China

• mail: [email protected]

 

 

1. Please add more literature review to support the finding. Do Table comparison on its.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, relevant references have been added.For the comparison of impact factors, the comparison will not be made in this paper because few similar watersheds have been explored for impact factors.

Research Literature	Degree of coupling coordination	degree of coupling
this research	Dysfunctional-just barely coordinated stage in 2006-2009, primary coordination stage in 2010-2014, intermediate-good coordination stage between 2015-2020；mean value of the degree of coupling coordination to be 0.6613 in Henan Province in 2008–2018，	,the mean value of the degree of coupling to be 0.9708 in Henan Province in 2008–2018
Peng, J. Coupling Relationship and Spatial-Temporal Differentiation of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Yellow River Basin. Regional Economic Review, 2022(02):51-59.	2006-2015 primary coordination, 2006-2009 intermediate-advanced coordination stage	/
Xu, H.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Gao, Y.; Zhang, D. Coupling mechanism of water-energy-food and spatiotemporal evolution of coordinated development in the Yellow River Basin. Resources Science, 2021. 43(12): 2526-2537.	mean value of the degree of coupling coordination to be 0.6900 in Henan Province in 2008–2018	the mean value of the degree of coupling to be 0.9750 in Henan Province in 2008–2018

 

2. Add more statistical goodness-fit measurements. Current version lack of it.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review of this paper, the current methodology is more appropriate for the study of this paper based on data availability and the applicability of the data analysis methods to the data in this paper.

 

3. Add more discussion on the reliability of the model.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, have added relevant references for model reliability.(line 345)

[34]Xu, Q.; Dong, Y.; Wang, Y.; Yang, R.; Xu, C. Determinants and identification of the northern boundary of China’s tropical zone. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2018,28(01):31-45.

[35]Wang, H.; Gao, J.; Hou, W. Quantitative attribution analysis of soil erosion in different geomorphological types in karst areas: Based on the geodetector method. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019,29(02):271-286.

[36]Li R.; Huang, X.; Liu, Y. Spatio-temporal differentiation and influencing factors of China's urbanization from 2010 to 2020. Acta Geographica Sinica. 2023,78(04):777-791.

[37]Li, J.; Li, S.; Zhang, Y.; Pang, J. Spatio-temporal variation of biodiversity maintenance function and its driving factors in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2020. China Environmental Science.2023, 1-11.

[38]Li, K.; Wang, X.; Yao, L. Spatial-temporal Evolution of Ecosystem Health and Its Influencing Factors in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. Environmental Science. 2023, 1-17

[39]Wang, G.; Zhang, F. Spatial and Temporal Evolution and Impact Factors Analysis of Ecosystem Service Value in the Liaohe River Delta over the Past 30 Years. Environmental Science. 2023, 1-16

 

 

4. Add more on the discussion of the relationship WEF with sustainability especially on the UN SDGs.

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, and the relevant discussion has been added to the discussion section.(line 478-491)。

 

 

5. How does the current WEF compared with previous one? 

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, this paper studies the WEF ties in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, the research area of this paper has not been explored before, and this paper is the first time to explore and analyze the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province as the research scale.

 

6. Why WEF is very important on the Province? What is the current situation?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review. Henan Province is the most populous province in China, and is also a major agricultural province in China, with a steady grain output at the forefront. With a large population and the rapid development of agriculture, industry, and some new industries, the demand for water, energy, and food in Henan Province is undoubtedly huge, so it is necessary to harmonize the relationship between the three, i.e., the study of the WEF is very necessary for the sustainable development of resources in the province.

7. Validation of the model are required. 

Reply:Thank you for your careful review and refer to the following relevant literature, this model will not be validated.

• Fang, S.; Teng, R.; Huang, X.; Yang, Q.; Wang, T.; Ou, K.; Han, L. Study on the Coupling and Coordination Relationship Between Tourism Industry and Ecological Environment in Guangxi and Its Influencing Factors, Ecological Economy, 1-15[2023-08-23].
• Guo, F.; Tong, L.; Qiu, F.; Li, Y. Spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics and influencing factors of green development in the eco-economic corridor of the Yellow River Basin, Acta Geographica Sinica. 2021,76(03):726-739.
• Qi, Y.;Hu, Spatial-temporal variation and driving force analysis of water yield in Harbin City.Bulletin of Soil and Water Conservation,2023,43(6)
• Hu,M.; Zhang, Hui.; Qiao, Y.; Liu, K.; Wang, Z.; Xu, W. Spatio-temporal Change and Driving Forces of Soil Wind Erosion Amount in Hulnbuir Forest-steppe Ecotone [J]. Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment, 2023 ,39 (8) :999-1007.
• Zhang,Yan.; Shi, F.; Zhang, Y.; Li, M.; Cui, G.; Liu, Z. Temporal and Spatial Changes and Driving Factors of Soil Erosion in the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River[]]. Research of Soil and Water Conservation, 2023,30(5) :1-12.
• Sun, Y.; Liu, W.; Sheng, Y. Spatiotemporal differences and influencing factors of economic and ecological resilience of water resources in Xinjiang based on the PSR model,Arid Land Geography:1-15[2023-08-23]
• Huang, L.; Qin, X.; Hu, B.; Huang, S.; Wei, W.; Chen, S. Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Changes in Ecosystem Healthand Its Drivers in Southwestern Guangxi in The Last 20 Years, Journal of Guangxi Academy of Sciences:1-12[2023-08-23].
• Wang, B.; Wang, L.; Chen, J.; Qi, Q.; He, S.; Yang, Z.; Li, Z.; Li, K. Identification of ecological functional zoning and its influencing factors the SihuLake Basin,China. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology:1-13[2023-08-23].
• Xu, Z.; Ci F.; Zhang, J. Analysis on Spatial-temporal Coupling of Digital Economy.Green Innovation and New Urbanization[J].Statistics & Decision,2023,39(15):94-99.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Coupled Water–Energy–Food Nexus in the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province" suggests a comprehensive and in-depth study focused on the intricate interactions between water, energy, and food resources within the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province. Here are some comments on the study:

1. Comprehensive Scope: The title indicates that the research will cover multiple dimensions, including spatial and temporal variability, and the coupling of water, energy, and food resources. This holistic approach is crucial for understanding the complex interplay between these critical resources?

2. Geographical Focus: The inclusion of "Yellow River Basin in Henan Province" clearly defines the study's geographical scope. This specificity helps readers understand the context and relevance of the research area?

3. Integrated Nexus Approach: The term "coupled water–energy–food nexus" suggests an interdisciplinary and integrated perspective, acknowledging the interdependencies and synergies among these three fundamental resources. This approach is essential for sustainable resource management?

4. Variability Emphasis: The focus on "spatial and temporal variability" implies that the study will examine how the relationships between water, energy, and food resources change over both space and time? This dynamic analysis is valuable for identifying patterns, trends, and potential vulnerabilities?

5. Research Depth: The use of terms like "characteristics" and "influencing factors" suggests an in-depth investigation into not only the state of the nexus but also the underlying drivers and determinants of its variability? This kind of analysis can provide valuable insights for policy-making and resource management strategies?

6. Holistic Perspective: The title captures the essence of studying the nexus of water, energy, and food resources as a whole, rather than in isolation. This approach aligns with the growing recognition that addressing sustainability challenges requires considering the interconnectedness of these resources?

7. Specific Basin and Province: By focusing on the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province, the research might offer insights that are particularly relevant to this region. However, it's important to acknowledge potential limitations in generalizing findings to other areas due to unique local conditions?

8. Potential Contributions: The title hints at the possibility of uncovering novel findings regarding the interactions between water, energy, and food resources. Such insights could contribute to advancing the understanding of nexus dynamics and informing more effective resource management practices?

Author Response

Dear reviewer

On behalf of my co-authors, we thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to revise our manuscript, we appreciate you very much for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions on our manuscript (ID: sustainability-2574744 ).

We have studied your comments carefully and have made revision which marked in red in the paper. We have tried our best to revise our manuscript according to the comments. The following is a reply to your comments. Attached please find the revised version, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Aili Wang

North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, P.R. China

• mail: [email protected]

 

1.  

1、Comprehensive Scope: The title indicates that the research will cover multiple dimensions, including spatial and temporal variability, and the coupling of water, energy, and food resources. This holistic approach is crucial for understanding the complex interplay between these critical resources?

Reply：Thank you for your careful review. The concept of "system coupling" was proposed by Harken in the 1970s, which suggests that a large number of systems with different attributes exist in nature, and that although their composition is not the same, the systems may be closely related to each other. Water-energy-food are mutually reinforcing, and an increase or decrease in any one of these resources will have an impact on the other two, so it is necessary to look at them as a whole.

 

2、Geographical Focus: The inclusion of "Yellow River Basin in Henan Province" clearly defines the study's geographical scope. This specificity helps readers understand the context and relevance of the research area?

Reply：Thank you for your careful review, the Yellow River Basin is an important ecological barrier and an important economic zone in China, and Henan Province is a large population and food province in China, this paper will be the watershed flows through the province of nine cities as the object of study, the specific city can help readers better understand the background of the article.

3、Integrated Nexus Approach: The term "coupled water–energy–food nexus" suggests an interdisciplinary and integrated perspective, acknowledging the interdependencies and synergies among these three fundamental resources. This approach is essential for sustainable resource management?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review of the interdependence and constraints of water, energy, and food, and for looking at all three as a whole, and analyzing resource use and development in a holistic manner as indeed necessary and indispensable for sustainable resource management.

 

4、Variability Emphasis: The focus on "spatial and temporal variability" implies that the study will examine how the relationships between water, energy, and food resources change over both space and time? This dynamic analysis is valuable for identifying patterns, trends, and potential vulnerabilities?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, this kind of spatio-temporal dynamic analysis is necessary, only by considering time and space at the same time, we can address how spatially coherent entities change over time, through the analysis of spatio-temporal can be more intuitive to see the development trend of the water-energy-food system, and more accurately explore which years and which cities affect the level of coupling, and then by the specific year and the city in-depth probe into the reasons, to find out the potential loopholes.

 

5、Research Depth: The use of terms like "characteristics" and "influencing factors" suggests an in-depth investigation into not only the state of the nexus but also the underlying drivers and determinants of its variability? This kind of analysis can provide valuable insights for policy-making and resource management strategies?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, "characteristics" and "influencing factors" indicate that we need to explore the underlying drivers and determinants of change, and in doing so, we have analyzed and found that certain reasons for the impact on the level of coordination of the WEF bond coupling cannot be ignored, (e.g., the influencing factor of "cultivated area" can be considered in the formulation of policies to enrich and expand the incentive tools for contractors and operators, and increase financial support, etc.).These factors can be taken into account when subsequent local governments make decisions or formulate relevant policies, leading to a more rational allocation and utilization of resources.

 

6、Holistic Perspective: The title captures the essence of studying the nexus of water, energy, and food resources as a whole, rather than in isolation. This approach aligns with the growing recognition that addressing sustainability challenges requires considering the interconnectedness of these resources?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, and you are correct in your understanding that addressing sustainability challenges requires consideration of the interconnectedness of these resources.

7、Specific Basin and Province: By focusing on the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province, the research might offer insights that are particularly relevant to this region. However, it's important to acknowledge potential limitations in generalizing findings to other areas due to unique local conditions?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review, the research area of this paper is the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, due to the geographical location of the results of the research for other areas may have certain limitations, but this paper may provide research ideas and research direction for other areas, and at the same time can be used to provide results for reference in other areas of the province.

 

 

8、Potential Contributions: The title hints at the possibility of uncovering novel findings regarding the interactions between water, energy, and food resources. Such insights could contribute to advancing the understanding of nexus dynamics and informing more effective resource management practices?

Reply:Thank you for your careful review and endorsement of this paper's list of metrics to help promote an understanding of the dynamics of WEF ties that can inform more effective resource management practices.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 5 Report

The study presented an in-depth investigation of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, focusing on the comprehensive evaluation of coupling and coordination. The establishment of a comprehensive index system using entropy weighting and the analytic hierarchy process provided a robust framework for quantifying and assessing the development of the WEF nexus. The use of GeoDetector to analyze the influencing factors and their interactions added depth to the study.

Overall, this study demonstrates a comprehensive and systematic approach to analyzing the WEF nexus and its development in a specific geographic context. The research is well-structured, and the findings are insightful, contributing to both academic knowledge and practical decision-making. The methodological rigor, data analysis, and interpretation presented in the study are commendable. However, I recommend a careful proofreading of the text to address any minor grammatical or language-related errors.

General Comments:

1. Could you provide more details on the role of entropy weighting and the analytic hierarchy process in establishing the comprehensive index system mentioned in the study? Because this is essential for aiding readers in understanding the foundation of the article.

 

2. The use of GeoDetector to analyze factors influencing water-energy-food (WEF) nexus coordination is interesting. Could you elaborate on the application and specific outcomes of GeoDetector in your research?

 

3. The study indicates an increasing trend in both the comprehensive evaluation index and the degree of coupling coordination over the research period. Could you delve deeper into the reasons or explanations behind this trend?

 

4. The study's implications for "high-quality development" in the Yellow River Basin are intriguing. Could you discuss the practical impact and value of these implications for local government decision-making?

 

5. Given the significant spatial differences in coupling coordination among different cities, what factors do you believe might be associated with these variations?

 

6. The discussion mentions interactions and nonlinear relationships among factors. In your opinion, how might these interactions practically influence the coordinated development of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus?

 

 

7. Based on your expertise, do you think the methods and conclusions proposed in the study have some level of universality and could offer insights or guidance for similar research or decision-making?

 

Miner Comments:

1. The labels on the y-axis in Figure 2 seem to exceed the range of the y-axis. I suggest enlarging the size of the figure to address this issue.

 

2. The legend in Figure 3 appears to be too blurry, making it difficult to read. It is recommended to enhance the clarity of the legend for better visibility.

 

3. The text and color bar labels in Figure 5 are quite blurry, and I recommend that the authors provide higher-quality images for improved clarity.

 

4. The formatting of the references varies significantly, with some having "[J]" markers after the article titles, some with DOI markers, and others without. I suggest that the authors make consistent revisions to ensure uniformity in the formatting of references.

The quality of the language needs to be improved for grammatical style and word use.

 

Author Response

Dear reviewer

On behalf of my co-authors, we thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to revise our manuscript, we appreciate you very much for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions on our manuscript (ID: sustainability-2574744 ).

We have studied your comments carefully and have made revision which marked in red in the paper. We have tried our best to revise our manuscript according to the comments. The following is a reply to your comments. Attached please find the revised version, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Aili Wang

North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, P.R. China

• mail: [email protected]

 

1. Could you provide more details on the role of entropy weighting and the analytic hierarchy process in establishing the comprehensive index system mentioned in the study? Because this is essential for aiding readers in understanding the foundation of the article.

 Reply:Thank you for your careful review and suggestions, an explanatory note has been added to section 2.3.2.(line134-141)

(The entropy weight method [18] serves as an objective assignment procedure that calculates the weight value of each indicator by assessing the degree of internal difference in the observed value of each indicator. Employing the entropy weight method to determine weight primarily utilizes the utility value of each indicator to ascertain the weight magnitude. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) [19], a subjective empowerment assessment method, systematically and simplistically decomposes decision-making-related elements into various levels, such as objectives, guidelines, and programs. Upon this foundation, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are conducted.)

 

 

2. The use of GeoDetector to analyze factors influencing water-energy-food (WEF) nexus coordination is interesting. Could you elaborate on the application and specific outcomes of GeoDetector in your research?

  Reply:Thank you for your careful review, GeoDetector is a spatial analysis method to detect spatial dissimilarity and reveal the driving force behind it, and its role in this paper is to explore the influence factors of the coupling coordination level of the WEF system, we firstly select the influence factors, and then input the data into the model of the selected study years (the factor detector and interaction detector are used in this paper) to get the q-value (the larger the q-value is, the greater the influence on the coupling coordination level is) to visualize which influence factors have a greater influence on the coupling coordination level within the study years. (the closer the q value is to 1, the greater the impact on the level of coupling coordination) can be visualized to see which influencing factors have a greater impact on the level of coupling coordination in the study years. At the same time through the interaction detector two-factor q value to determine the effect of the two factors together on the level of WEF coupling coordination.

 

 

 

3. The study indicates an increasing trend in both the comprehensive evaluation index and the degree of coupling coordination over the research period. Could you delve deeper into the reasons or explanations behind this trend?

 Reply:Thank you for your careful review. From Equation 4-6 in Section 2.3.4(line177-179), it is clear that the values of C and T are both calculated from W(w), E(e), F(f)

are calculated. And W(w), E(e), F(f) are calculated from the data of the selected indicators within the annual period. The two change curves show an overall fluctuating upward trend, which is mainly due to the fact that China has experienced three Five-Year Plans (11th Five-Year Plan - 13th Five-Year Plan) within the study period, with rapid economic growth, obvious effects of energy conservation and emission reduction, and the interaction among water, energy and food has gradually developed in a benign and orderly manner, with positive indicators such as energy conservation and protection expenditures, per capita food production, etc. becoming increasingly better, and negative indicators such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption per unit of GDP, etc. gradually increasing. emissions, energy consumption per unit of GDP, etc. are decreasing year by year.

 

 

 

4. The study's implications for "high-quality development" in the Yellow River Basin are intriguing. Could you discuss the practical impact and value of these implications for local government decision-making?

 Reply:Thank you for your careful review, the conclusions of this paper for Henan Province as a whole, the government can in terms of water resources, can improve the relevant policies, optimize the structure of water use, the implementation of strict water conservation measures; in terms of energy should focus on improving the overall regional energy use efficiency, reduce coal consumption, energy saving and emission reduction. In terms of food, accelerate the development of smart agriculture and technological reforms to reduce labor costs.

For individual cities, such as Jiyuan, adjustments should be made on the energy front, and local governments can promote structural upgrades in the energy industry as well as increase the promotion of clean energy use.

 

5. Given the significant spatial differences in coupling coordination among different cities, what factors do you believe might be associated with these variations?

 Reply:Thank you for your careful review, and with reference to other scholars' studies, I believe that the spatial differences in the level of coupling coordination in different cities are also related to local resource conditions, industrial structure, scientific and technological development, and other factors.

 

6. The discussion mentions interactions and nonlinear relationships among factors. In your opinion, how might these interactions practically influence the coordinated development of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus?

  Reply:Thank you for your careful review, the interaction between the two factors such as GDP per capita (X3) and cultivated land area (X6) in the study years of q value is higher, the interaction of GDP per capita and cultivated land area of the two indicators rise will promote the level of coordination of the WEF linkage coupling.

 

 

7. Based on your expertise, do you think the methods and conclusions proposed in the study have some level of universality and could offer insights or guidance for similar research or decision-making?

  Reply:Thank you for your careful review, I think the methods in the study such as the combined assignment method are now widely used, and the newer geo-detector models have become more and more common in relevant papers in recent years. And the conclusion of this paper about the coupling level of WEF Nexus is similar to that of some scholars' studies, which has been marked in red in the discussion part. As there are few articles discussing the influence factors of the coupling coordination level in the Yellow River Basin, but in other regions for the exploration of the influence factors of the WEF coupling coordination level, such as the references:40 Wang, Z.; Tian, Y. Water-energy-food nexus and its influencing factors in China.The study It was found that the number of employed population, the amount of investment in fixed assets, the per capita GDP, the total population, the percentage of illiterate population, the industrial pollution emission, and the urbanization have a greater influence on the WEF coupling coordination level.41 Li, C.; Zhnag, S. Chinese provincial water-energy-food coupling coordination degree and influencing factors research, the study found that the level of economic development, economic agglomeration, technological progress, education, population and agriculture and forestry expenditures have a greater impact on the level of WEF coupling; there are similarities with the results of this paper.

 

Miner Comments:

1. The labels on the y-axis in Figure 2 seem to exceed the range of the y-axis. I suggest enlarging the size of the figure to address this issue.

 Reply: Thank you for your careful review, the scale of Figure 2 has been adjusted.

2. The legend in Figure 3 appears to be too blurry, making it difficult to read. It is recommended to enhance the clarity of the legend for better visibility.

  Reply:Thank you for your careful review, figure 3 has been replaced with a clearer image.

3. The text and color bar labels in Figure 5 are quite blurry, and I recommend that the authors provide higher-quality images for improved clarity.

  Reply: Thank you for your careful review, figure 5 has been replaced with a clearer image.

4. The formatting of the references varies significantly, with some having "[J]" markers after the article titles, some with DOI markers, and others without. I suggest that the authors make consistent revisions to ensure uniformity in the formatting of references.

 Reply:Thank you for your careful review and the relevant references have been revised.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have revised the manuscript well. It can be accepted now.

Author Response

Thanks for all your hard work.

Reviewer 2 Report

Accept in present form.

Check moderate editing of English language required

Author Response

Thank you very much for all your hard work.

Reviewer 3 Report

Revise again based on previous comments. 

Okay

Author Response

Thank you for your advice and hard work, I will improve the article further.

Reviewer 5 Report

The authors provide clear answers to each of my questions, and I am satisfied with their responses.

Besides, I recommend further refining the choice of words in the English text.

I recommend further refining the choice of words in the English text.

Author Response

Thank you for your advice and hard work, I will improve the article further.

Round 3

Reviewer 3 Report

Please attach evidence that the improvements have been prepared accordingly. Please do the revision carefully. 

okay

Author Response

Dear reviewer

On behalf of my co-authors, we thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to revise our manuscript, we appreciate you very much for your positive and constructive comments and suggestions on our manuscript (ID: sustainability-2574744 ).

We have studied your comments carefully and have made revision which marked in red in the paper. We have tried our best to revise our manuscript according to the comments. The following is a reply to your comments. Attached please find the revised version, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

We would like to express our great appreciation to you for comments on our paper. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

SHI Shang

Jiangxi Water Resources Institute, Nanchang, 330013, China

• mail: [email protected]

 

 

1. Please add more literature review to support the finding. Do Table comparison on its.

Response: Thank you for your careful review, because this study is for the study of water-energy-grain nexus in Henan Province, after reviewing the relevant literature, found that there is no exactly the same area of discussion, so for the conclusions, the search for some similar areas of the conclusions are listed below. Similarly for the impact factor of the study in the Yellow River Basin to discuss less, so listed for the study of other basins (regions), the impact factor has similar conclusions.

Research Literature	Degree of coupling coordination	degree of coupling
this research	Dysfunctional-just barely coordinated stage in 2006-2009, primary coordination stage in 2010-2014, intermediate-good coordination stage between 2015-2020；mean value of the degree of coupling coordination to be 0.6613 in Henan Province in 2008–2018，	the mean value of the degree of coupling to be 0.9708 in Henan Province in 2008–2018
Peng, J. Coupling Relationship and Spatial-Temporal Differentiation of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Yellow River Basin. Regional Economic Review, 2022(02):51-59.	2006-2015 primary coordination, 2006-2009 intermediate-advanced coordination stage	/
Xu, H.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Gao, Y.; Zhang, D. Coupling mechanism of water-energy-food and spatiotemporal evolution of coordinated development in the Yellow River Basin. Resources Science, 2021. 43(12): 2526-2537.	mean value of the degree of coupling coordination to be 0.6900 in Henan Province in 2008–2018	the mean value of the degree of coupling to be 0.9750 in Henan Province in 2008–2018

 

As there are few articles discussing the influence factors of the coupling coordination level in the Yellow River Basin, but in other regions for the exploration of the influence factors of the WEF coupling coordination level, such as the references:40 Wang, Z.; Tian, Y. Water-energy-food nexus and its influencing factors in China. The study It was found that the number of employed population, the amount of investment in fixed assets, the per capita GDP, the total population, the percentage of illiterate population, the industrial pollution emission, and the urbanization have a greater influence on the WEF coupling coordination level. 41 Li, C.; Zhang, S. Chinese provincial water-energy-food coupling coordination degree and influencing factors research, the study found that the level of economic development, economic agglomeration, technological progress, education, population and agriculture and forestry expenditures have a greater impact on the level of WEF coupling; there are similarities with the results of this paper.

 

 

 

2. Add more statistical goodness-fit measurements. Current version lack of it.

Response: Thank you for your careful review, the goodness-of-fit test is more for the prediction of the class of research, this paper did not predict the coupling coordination degree when carrying out the exploration, and this paper is similar to the article such as: Pan Hongrui et al[1]. used a coupled coordination evaluation model to analyze the characteristics of changes in the coupled and coordinated development of water-energy-food systems in Shandong Province from 2000 to 2020. Taking Jilin Province as the study area, Deng et al[2]. established an evaluation index system for the integrated development of water-energy-food (W-E-F) system, and utilized the coupling coordination degree model to quantitatively evaluate the status of the coupling and coordination of the W-E-F system in 2003-2020. The above article was not tested for goodness-of-fit.

For related have prediction and goodness-of-fit test articles such as:

Wang Shunsheng et al[3]. established a model for evaluating the coupled coordination of water resources, economy and ecosystem in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, and used the ARIMA-GM combined model to predict the development trend of the coupled coordination in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province in 2021-2025. The ARIMA-GM combined model was used to predict the development trend of the coupled coordination in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province from 2021 to 2025. Zhao Liangshi et al[4]. took the water-energy-food security system of the Yellow River Basin as the core, constructed a comprehensive index of the basin's water-energy-food security system, and used the principal component analysis method to calculate the weights of each index.

• Pan, H.; Jiang, X.; Zhang, B.; Li, P.; Wang, H.; Song, M. Study on the Coupling Coordination Relationship of the Water-Energy-Food System in Shandong Province. Yellow River.2023,45(06):64-68+72.
• Deng, J.; Liu, W. Evaluation of water-energy-food system coupling coordination Degree in Jilin Province. Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering:1-14[2023-09-04].
• Wang, S.; Yang, J.; Wang, A.; Chen, C.; Liu, T. Evaluation and forecast of coupling coordination of water resources, economy and ecosystem in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, Lake Sci., 2022, 34(3).
• Zhao, L.; Liu S.; Sun, C. Study on coupling and coordinated development of water-energy-food security system in the Yellow River Basin. Water Resources Protection 2021,37(01):69-78.

 

3.Add more discussion on the reliability of the model.

Response: Thank you for your careful review, the references about the reliability of the model have been supplemented, in the past two years GeoDetector have been increasingly used in various fields, and their scientific validity and reliability have been verified, this paper lists some of them as follows:(line 344-358)

 

4. Add more on the discussion of the relationship WEF with sustainability especially on the UN SDGs.

Response: Thank you for your careful review, and the relevant discussion has been added to the discussion section. (line 478-491)。

 

 

5. How does the current WEF compared with previous one? 

Response: Thank you for your careful review, this paper studies the WEF ties in the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, the research area of this paper has not been explored before, and this paper is the first to explore and analyze the Yellow River Basin in Henan Province as a research scale, so it cannot be compared with previous studies.

 

6. Why WEF is very important on the Province? What is the current situation?

Response: Thank you for your careful review. Henan Province is the most populous province in China, and is also a major agricultural province in China, with a steady grain output at the forefront. With a large population and the rapid development of agriculture, industry, and some new industries, the demand for water, energy, and food in Henan Province is undoubtedly huge, so it is necessary to harmonize the relationship between the three, i.e., the study of the WEF is very necessary for the sustainable development of resources in the province.

Due to the limited access to information, this paper understands the general situation as of the end of 2021, the total water resources in Henan Province reached 68.918 billion cubic meters, the province's precipitation 1127.7mm, both compared with 2020 are rising; the end of 2021 in Henan Province, 65.442 million tons of grain production, sowing area of 14,705.13 kilo-hectares; the end of 2021, Henan Province, the total amount of energy consumption 235.01 million tons of standard coal, electricity consumption of 194.446 billion kilowatt hours. In order to know the specific development level of WEF, it is necessary to collect many kinds of data and make precise calculations, so it is not possible to accurately assess the latest development status of WEF level, but the trend of the past years and the data available at the moment indicate that it should be at the stage of intermediate-good coordination or good-quality coordination.

 

7. Validation of the model are required. 

Response: Thank you for your careful review. Fang Shiqiao et al[1]. take 2010-2019 as the time span, use entropy value method, coupling coordination degree model, Geodetector and other mathematical models to empirically analyze the coupling and coordination relationship between tourism industry and ecological environment and its influencing factors in Guangxi. West tourism industry and ecological environment coupling and coordination relationship and its influencing factors for empirical analysis;

Guo Fuyou et al[2]. based on the scientific connotation of green development, comprehensively constructed the evaluation index system of green development in the Yellow River Basin, and used the entropy value method Spatial autocorrelation analysis, Geodetector and other measurement methods to study the spatial and temporal characteristics and driving factors of green development in the ecological and economic corridor of the Yellow River Basin from 2005 to 2017;

Qi Yuxin et al[3]. explored the spatial and temporal characteristics of water production services in Harbin City from 2000 to 2020, and based on the water production module of the InVEST model, the spatial and temporal characteristics of water production services in Harbin City from 2000, 2010 and 2020 were analyzed. Based on the water production module of the InVEST model, they analyzed the spatial and temporal characteristics of water production in 2000, 2010 and 2020, and revealed the driving factors of the spatial and temporal evolution of water production in Harbin City by using the parameter-optimal Geodetector. The driving role of climate change and human activities on the amount of soil wind erosion changes;

Hu Mengtian et al[4]. quantitatively analyzed the spatial and temporal characteristics of soil wind erosion in the Hulunbeier forest-grassland ecological intertwining zone in 2000, 2010 and 2018, and investigated the driving roles of climate change and human activities on the amount of soil wind erosion changes through the Geodetector.

Zhang Yan et al[5]. based on the rainfall data from 77 meteorological stations in the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the information of four-phase land use types, vegetation cover, digital elevation model, and soil texture in the watershed, carried out a study on the temporal and spatial changes and drivers of soil erosion in the middle reaches of the Yellow River by extracting the basin's factors of precipitation, topography, climate, soil, and land use, and by adopting RUSEL modeling and geo-detector methods. Soil erosion spatial and temporal changes and driving factors;

Sun Yu et al[6]. take 14 prefectures in the arid zone of Xinjiang as an example, construct an evaluation index system based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model, calculate the weights of the indexes by using the entropy weight method, analyze the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the Pressure-State-Response toughness of the 14 prefectures by adopting the comprehensive evaluation method and the kernel density, and conduct a study on the main factors influencing and factor interactions on the toughness of water resources, economic and ecological resources of Xinjiang by means of the Geodetector.

Wang Yubin et al[7]. took the four lakes basin of Jianghan Plain as an example, used the InVEST and RUSLE models and the recreational scoring method to assess six kinds of ecosystem services, adopted the K-means clustering method to identify clusters of ecosystem services, and combined them with ecological sensitivity to delineate ecological functional zones, and finally analyzed the dominant driving factors of different ecological functional zones by using the geo-detector.

Based on the comprehensive evaluation index system of digital economy, green innovation and new urbanization, Xu Zhenhua et al[8]. use the coupling coordination degree model to measure the coupling coordination level of the three systems in China's 31 provinces from 2011 to 2021, and analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics and driving factors of the coupling coordination degree through Dagum Gini coefficient, spatial autocorrelation model, and geographic detector.

The above research process for the Geodetector to explore the influencing factors is more or less the same as in this paper, so the reliability of the model is high and the model will not be validated.

 

• Fang, S.; Teng, R.; Huang, X.; Yang, Q.; Wang, T.; Ou, K.; Han, L. Study on the Coupling and Coordination Relationship Between Tourism Industry and Ecological Environment in Guangxi and Its Influencing Factors, Ecological Economy, 1-15[2023-08-23].
• Guo, F.; Tong, L.; Qiu, F.; Li, Y. Spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics and influencing factors of green development in the eco-economic corridor of the Yellow River Basin, Acta Geographica Sinica. 2021,76(03):726-739.
• Qi, Y.; Hu, Y. Spatial-temporal variation and driving force analysis of water yield in Harbin City.Bulletin of Soil and Water Conservation,2023,43(6)
• Hu, M.; Zhang, Hui.; Qiao, Y.; Liu, K.; Wang, Z.; Xu, W. Spatio-temporal Change and Driving Forces of Soil Wind Erosion Amount in Hulnbuir Forest-steppe Ecotone [J]. Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment, 2023 ,39 (8) :999-1007.
• Zhang, Y.; Shi, F.; Zhang, Y.; Li, M.; Cui, G.; Liu, Z. Temporal and Spatial Changes and Driving Factors of Soil Erosion in the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River[]]. Research of Soil and Water Conservation, 2023,30(5) :1-12.
• Sun, Y.; Liu, W.; Sheng, Y. Spatiotemporal differences and influencing factors of economic and ecological resilience of water resources in Xinjiang based on the PSR model,Arid Land Geography:1-15[2023-08-23]
• Wang, B.; Wang, L.; Chen, J.; Qi, Q.; He, S.; Yang, Z.; Li, Z.; Li, K. Identification of ecological functional zoning and its influencing factors the SihuLake Basin,China. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology:1-13[2023-08-23].
• Xu, Z.; Ci F.; Zhang, J. Analysis on Spatial-temporal Coupling of Digital Economy.Green Innovation and New Urbanization[J].Statistics & Decision,2023,39(15):94-99.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf