Evolution and Coordination of Cultivated Land Multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper examines the cultivated land multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone, founding a natural resource model and calculating the spatial-temporal pattern of multifunctionally cultivated land among the sub-functions in different periods. I think this work is suitable for publication in special issue “Ecological Protection and Sustainable Development”. In general, this paper is well organized, with a clear explanation about the research question and objective. It contains new and significant information. I think it should be published after minor revision as below.

 

1. Please discuss the results in a broader context of your research question, such as scarcity of natural resources around the world.

2. In Table 1, the references of index should be added in the last new column.

3. The definition of administrative division boundaries in maps should be improved. Figures and Schemes should be provided with sufficiently high resolution (minimum 1000 pixels width/height, or a resolution of 300 dpi or higher). Authors should check if their figures are matching these requirements.

4. Furthermore, the authors should add a graphical abstract.

Author Response

We are grateful to the editor and reviewers for their positive and constructive comments and criticisms concerning our manuscript, “Evolution and Coordination of Cultivated Land Multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone” (ID: sustainability-2226832). These comments and criticisms are very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have made necessary corrections and changes in response to them. We hope that you will find our revised manuscript is acceptable for publication. Of course, we will make additionally changes if there remain unaddressed or inadequately addressed comments.

 

Reviewer #1:

1. Please discuss the results in a broader context of your research question, such as scarcity of natural resources around the world.

Thanks for your observation and suggestion. We have changed under the background of natural resources scarcity around the world.

2. In Table 1, the references of index should be added in the last new column.

Thank you for pointing this out. In Table 1, the references of index have been added in the last new column.

Table 1. Evaluation index system for cultivated land multifunctionality.

Cultivated land function	Index	Meaning	Character	References
Economic	Grain crop yield per unit area	Grain yield / grain crop sown area	+	Wang et al., 2023; Gao et al., 2022; Peng et al., 2016
	Cultivated land output value per mu	Agriculture production value / cultivated land area	+
	Cash crop yield per unit area	Total cash crop yield / cash crop sown area	+
	Contribution of agriculture to GDP	Added value of agriculture / GDP	+
Social	Cultivated land pressure index	(self-sufficiency grain rate × per capita grain demand) / (multiple crop index × [grain crop yield per unit area / crop sown area] × grain output per unit area sown × per capita actual cultivated land area)	-	Li et al., 2022; Huang et al., 2015; Song et al., 2012
	Grain qualitative safety guarantee	Safety standards for fertilizer application / (chemical fertilizer consumption / cultivated land area)	+
	Employment absorption level	Cultivated land area / agricultural employed population	+
Ecological	Cultivated land ecosystem diversity index	-	+	Xu, 2018; Zhu et al., 2018
	Per capita ecological carrying capacity of cultivated land	Per capita cultivated land area × cultivated land yield factor × cultivated land equivalence factor	+
	Chemical load of cultivated land	([chemical fertilizer consumption / cultivated land area] + [chemical pesticide consumption / cultivated land area]) / 2	-
	Landscape aesthetic function index	Comprehensive characterization of demand and dominance degrees of cultivated land landscape	+

3. The definition of administrative division boundaries in maps should be improved. Figures and Schemes should be provided with sufficiently high resolution (minimum 1000 pixels width/height, or a resolution of 300 dpi or higher). Authors should check if their figures are matching these requirements.

We appreciate these valuable comments. The quality of maps have improved.

4. Furthermore, the authors should add a graphical abstract.

Thanks for your observation and suggestion. We have made graphical abstract.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This manuscript introduces cultivated land multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone, China and finds some key cultivated land multifunctionality and explores their evolution and coordination. The topic is interesting and this study may provide meaningful results to policy maker and English-speaking readers. This manuscript applies a mechanical model-based evaluation index system to analyze the cultivated land multifunctionality, which is innovative in similar research.

Some details comments are as follows:

1. Abstract: It is better to List the functions of cultivated land. And it is better to Explain the meaning behind (3).

2. In the Introduction Section, I would suggest the authors add some background information about cultivated land in Jiangxi and China.

3. Line 63-64: Please add a simple explanation for the coordination of cultivated land multifunctionality.

4. Line 79-82: I would suggest the authors undertake a more thorough literature review on the mechanical model-based evaluation index system.

 5. Figure 1: It would be better to show the approximate location of the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone or Jiangxi on the map of China. Also, please add more details to the title of Figure 1.

 6. Line 133-140: It would be better to move this paragraph to a point earlier the section 3.1.1.

 7. Line 155-158: Please introduce “the primary moderately prosperous” and “comprehensive moderately prosperous”.

 8. Line 306-307: What is the meaning of “Withdrawal of the city and establishment of this district”?

9. Line 357: What does it mean “the coordination degree decreased”

10. Finally, the last sentence of the study/conclusion shall provide policy recommendations based on this study.

Author Response

We are grateful to the editor and reviewers for their positive and constructive comments and criticisms concerning our manuscript, “Evolution and Coordination of Cultivated Land Multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone” (ID: sustainability-2226832). These comments and criticisms are very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have made necessary corrections and changes in response to them. We hope that you will find our revised manuscript is acceptable for publication. Of course, we will make additionally changes if there remain unaddressed or inadequately addressed comments.

 

Reviewer #2:

1. Abstract: It is better to List the functions of cultivated land. And it is better to Explain the meaning behind (3). In the Introduction Section, I would suggest the authors add some background information about cultivated land in Jiangxi and China.

Thanks for your observation and suggestion. In abstract, the functions of cultivated land has listed behind (3). And the background information about cultivated land in Jiangxi and China has added.

2. Figure 1: It would be better to show the approximate location of the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone or Jiangxi on the map of China. Also, please add more details to the title of Figure 1.

Thank you for pointing this out. We have changed Figure 1.

Figure 1. The study area.

Note: The Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone comprises 38 counties. The areas of cultivated land, forestland, grassland, water bodies, and construction land were 19432 square kilometer, 20650 square kilometer, 1867 square kilometer, 5631 square kilometer, 2506 square kilometer, and 527 square kilometer, respectively.

3. The last sentence of the study/conclusion shall provide policy recommendations based on this study

We appreciate these valuable comments. We have added the policy implications in the last sentence. And “the primary moderately prosperous”, “comprehensive moderately prosperous”, “withdrawal of the city and establishment of this district”, etc. have explained in the manuscript.

At present, deficiency of natural resources has been becoming more apparent. It was urgent to further explore the resource endowment to support the sustainable development of human beings and protection of natural resources. The cultivated land multifunctionality could manifest their economic-social-ecological functions so that to support regional high-quality development. Therefore, the paper obtained the following policy implications.

• The resource endowment of cultivated land should be further explored to support the transformation of regional development mode.The ecological economic function of cultivated land should be highlighted so that to reduce the disturbance of households to wildlife habitat in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone. It aimed to realize the transformation of regional economic development mode, while to support the harmony of "society-ecological" system.
• The explorationof cultivated land multifunctionality could drive the transformation of resources into assets so that to energize regional economy, society and ecology.
• The multifunctional excavation of cultivated land drives the transformation of resources into assets and empowers regional economy, society and ecology.Stakeholders needed to dig deep into limited resources to identify more endowments, which could help to revitalize dormant assets. These actions could alleviate resource scarcity conflicts, while to support sustainable development strategies.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

This research has established an index system based on a mechanical model to assess the multifunctionality of cultivated land, the spatial and temporal pattern of this multifunctionality, and the interplay between its various sub-functions over different time periods. Interesting and abundant data were used in this article to achieve the author's research objectives with precision. Further, this study has several tables and figures which are good enough and explained the results very well. The research and formatting are within the scope of the journal. However, I have a few comments：

 

1. The objectives of the study in the abstract are not clear and can be simplified. The abstract lists three objectives of the study, but these do not succinctly summarize the intended purpose of the article. Moreover, the objectives do not achieve the aim of being understandable to the majority of people.

 

2. Avoid using technical terms or jargon that may not be familiar to all readers. For example, the abstract refers to "Quadrants I, II, and VI" without explaining what these mean.

3. The fourth conclusion is not a suitable research conclusion.

4. Simplify the language. The article contains several complex and technical terms, such as "ecological function area," "economic development highland," and "multifunctionally cultivated land," which may be difficult for non-experts to understand. Simplifying the language and using more accessible terms would make the abstract more reader-friendly.

 

5. Overall, the article only conducted a simple measurement and did not provide meaningful suggestions or clear policy implications through sufficient analysis of the results.

Author Response

We are grateful to the editor and reviewers for their positive and constructive comments and criticisms concerning our manuscript, “Evolution and Coordination of Cultivated Land Multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone” (ID: sustainability-2226832). These comments and criticisms are very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have made necessary corrections and changes in response to them. We hope that you will find our revised manuscript is acceptable for publication. Of course, we will make additionally changes if there remain unaddressed or inadequately addressed comments.

 

Reviewer #3:

1. Avoid using technical terms or jargon that may not be familiar to all readers.

Thanks for your observation and suggestion. Quadrant Ⅰ represented positive ecological function and negative social function. Quadrant II represented positive economic function and negative social function. Quadrant VI represented positive ecological function and negative economic function. Ecological function area aims to undertake the important ecological functions, such as soil and water conservation, wind prevention and sand fixation, biodiversity protection.

2. Avoid provide meaningful suggestions or clear policy implications

We appreciate these valuable comments. We have added the policy implications in the last sentence.

At present, deficiency of natural resources has been becoming more apparent. It was urgent to further explore the resource endowment to support the sustainable development of human beings and protection of natural resources. The cultivated land multifunctionality could manifest their economic-social-ecological functions so that to support regional high-quality development. Therefore, the paper obtained the following policy implications.

• The resource endowment of cultivated land should be further explored to support the transformation of regional development mode.The ecological economic function of cultivated land should be highlighted so that to reduce the disturbance of households to wildlife habitat in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone. It aimed to realize the transformation of regional economic development mode, while to support the harmony of "society-ecological" system.
• The explorationof cultivated land multifunctionality could drive the transformation of resources into assets so that to energize regional economy, society and ecology.
• The multifunctional excavation of cultivated land drives the transformation of resources into assets and empowers regional economy, society and ecology.Stakeholders needed to dig deep into limited resources to identify more endowments, which could help to revitalize dormant assets. These actions could alleviate resource scarcity conflicts, while to support sustainable development strategies.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

The paper quality will improve if it is revised before publication in the journal. While revising the paper, the author(s) should give attention to few comments and suggestions given below.

(1)   With many words, the title of the paper is becoming very long. So, try to make it shorter and precise. One alternative title is to remove the sub-title “A Mechanical Model Study”.

(2)   Similarly, abstract is also becoming little long and please improve the quality of abstract content. Some sentences require re-arrangement/re-writing, mainly for items in “Its results were as follows:…….” and “Its conclusions were as follows:……”  (lines from 24 to 34).

(3)   What is the theoretical justification of present study? Since social-economic-ecological variables are inter-dependent to each other, the endogeneity problem can not ignored fully in any system or economy. How is this problem taken care in this analysis of “Multifunctionality”. A brief explanation may be given as a footnote.

(4)   The last section (5. Conclusions) is basically a summary of main findings of the study. Please try to write some on policy implications of these findings to China. Authors may also give information on how findings of this study will be useful to other regions of other countries (other than China).

(5)   Empirical analysis given in section 4 is interesting but more space is taken by Tables and Figures. Overall data analysis and discussions are not strong in its present form. Analysis and discussions are in  the form of “as it is” and it should focus more on “why it is”.   Therefore, please provide more discussions on results in each sub-section (4.1.1 to 4.1.4, 4.2, 4.3) with respect to study objectives.

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Author Response

We are grateful to the editor and reviewers for their positive and constructive comments and criticisms concerning our manuscript, “Evolution and Coordination of Cultivated Land Multifunctionality in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone” (ID: sustainability-2226832). These comments and criticisms are very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have made necessary corrections and changes in response to them. We hope that you will find our revised manuscript is acceptable for publication. Of course, we will make additionally changes if there remain unaddressed or inadequately addressed comments.

 

Reviewer #4:

1. With many words, the title of the paper is becoming very long. So, try to make it shorter and precise.

Thanks for your observation and suggestion. We have removed the sub-title “A Mechanical Model Study”.

2. What is the theoretical justification of present study?

We appreciate these valuable comments. this study based on Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem.

 42.Ma, S.; Wang, R. Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem. Acta Ecologica Sinica 1984, 4, 1-9.

The variable system in this paper came from previous literature studies, which could avoid the endogeneity problem to the greatest extent.

3. Suggest to modify the last section.

Thank you for pointing this out. We have changed the last section.

This study focused on the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone and cultivated land multifunctionality and coordination. The spatiotemporal pattern of cultivated land multifunctionality and coordination among sub-functions was examined through a mechanical model in different periods. The following conclusions can be drawn from its empirical research:

• From 2016 to 2020, cultivated land multifunctionality development was effective, and the ecological economy around Poyang Lake had significant advantages. During this period, cultivated land multifunctionality values in these areas showed an overall increasing trend. The temporal and spatial distribution was consistent with a highland around a lake The cultivated land’s economic-social-ecological functions were increasing in most counties, and their fluctuations tended to be stable.
• The system’s effectiveness was excellent, and the coordination of the cultivated land’s economic-social-ecological functions significantly improved from 2016 to 2020. The coordination of cultivated land functions was generally higher in 2020 than in 2016. The coordination showed a generally benign development trend and moderate-to-high Moreover, coordination degree fluctuation tended to be stable and reasonable.
• The ecological significance of the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone was excellent, with a flourishing ecological economy. The cultivated land functions’ deviation directions were focused in Quadrants Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and VI, showing that the ecological function occupied absolute advantage. From 2016 to 2020, poverty alleviation has created a series of industries with ecological capital, including several secondary and tertiary industries developed around ecological advantages. During this period, the ecological economy played a leading role in Jiangxi’s agricultural development.

At present, deficiency of natural resources has been becoming more apparent. It was urgent to further explore the resource endowment to support the sustainable development of human beings and protection of natural resources. The cultivated land multifunctionality could manifest their economic-social-ecological functions so that to support regional high-quality development. Therefore, the paper obtained the following policy implications.

• The resource endowment of cultivated land should be further explored to support the transformation of regional development mode.The ecological economic function of cultivated land should be highlighted so that to reduce the disturbance of households to wildlife habitat in Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone. It aimed to realize the transformation of regional economic development mode, while to support the harmony of "society-ecological" system.
• The explorationof cultivated land multifunctionality could drive the transformation of resources into assets so that to energize regional economy, society and ecology.
• The multifunctional excavation of cultivated land drives the transformation of resources into assets and empowers regional economy, society and ecology.Stakeholders needed to dig deep into limited resources to identify more endowments, which could help to revitalize dormant assets. These actions could alleviate resource scarcity conflicts, while to support sustainable development strategies.

4. please provide more discussions on results in each sub-section (4.1.1 to 4.1.4, 4.2, 4.3) with respect to study objectives.

Thanks for your observation and suggestion. We have added more discussions on results, such as in 4.1.1, “The main causes of these changes were effected by system. In recent years, Chinese government and international organizations focused on the protection of Poyang Lake ecosystem, while a series co-ordinate policies of man-land relationship have promoted the formation of a highland around a lake ecological pattern.”

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf