Optimization of Land Use Structure Based on the Coupling of GMOP and PLUS Models: A Case Study of Lvliang City, China

1. Summary

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please find the detailed responses below and the corresponding revisions.

2. Point-by-point response to Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reviewer 3

Comments 1: Lines 11-12 “With the introduction of China's dual carbon strategy, there are increased demands for future land use patterns within regions”. This sentence doesn’t make sense Since your subject is not carbon. You can start your abstract with the following sentence “Effective (…..).

Response 1: Thank you for your comments! Revised. According to your opinions, the sentence of the dual carbon strategy has been deleted.

Comments 2: The same on lines 16-17 “Through this methodology, a novel index was created to assess the efficiency of land use transformation”. Which novel? You can delete this sentence.

Response 2: Thank you for your comments! Revised. In the light of your comments, this sentence has been deleted.

Comments 3: Line 20 “drawing on the land use patterns from 2020” to???

Response 3: Thank you for your comments! Revised. Because this sentence has been removed from the abstract due to the revision of the previous abstract.

Comments 4: The abstract section should be rewritten concisely and clearly.

Response 4: Thank you for your comments! Revised. Combined with the previous comments, I have revised and deleted the abstract more carefully, making the abstract more concise and concise, and highlighting the research methods and significance. The parts that focus on revisions are marked in yellow for your review

-Comments 5: In lines 36-44, Please add the reference supporting this assertion.

Response 5: Thanks for the suggestion! Revised. As you suggested, I've added references to this section, and the revisions are in lines 31-34

Comments 6: One of the main concepts of this paper, "Land use structure," has not been discussed well. The authors should discuss this concept further, considering the previous study and in the context of Lvliang City.

Response 6: Thank you for your comments! Revised. The concept of land use structure has been added to the paper, and literature has been cited to support this concept. Modify the position on lines 34-39.

Comments 7: As can I see in the abstract section, lines 16 to 17, it is encouraged to add the flowchart with text to explain the relationship between "economic priority," "ecological protection," "natural development," and "coordinated development." In other words, the author fails to introduce the paper with an overview of the links among its key concepts/concerns

Response 7: Thanks for the suggestion! Revised. The setting of these four scenarios is a common method in the field of land use structure optimization, and the four scenarios are in a comparative relationship with each other. As their names suggest, the natural development scenario is a scenario based on the existing trend of land use change, a development scenario without special restrictions, an economic development scenario is a scenario set for the purpose of maximizing the economic benefits of the study area, an ecological protection scenario is a scenario that maximizes the ecological benefits of the study area, and a coordinated development scenario is a scenario that comprehensively considers the economic and ecological benefits in the study area. These four scenarios correspond to four different land use patterns, and the best land use patterns are finally selected by analyzing and comparing some quantitative indicators (ESV, land use efficiency, etc.) of these four land use patterns. So they are a kind of comparative relationship, because the setting of these four scenarios is a common method, I read a lot of literature, and I did not find that there is a literature that focuses on describing the relationship between these four scenarios, so I did not repeat it in the text, I hereby explain to you, thank you for reading. However, I have reworked the technical roadmap to better rationalize the research ideas and methods of this article, and modified the position in lines 198-199, please check it out.

Comments 8-9: Between lines 55 to 96, you should kindly summarise this section and directly highlight the research gap. Comments 9: Section (lines 55 to 96) continues to be poorly backed up by existing literature. This section needs to be improved by highlighting: Why is this study essential? What is missing? What is needed?

Response 8-9: Agreed, Thanks for the suggestion! we have revised it. I have re-conducted a literature review of this part, summarized the content of the previous research, and analyzed the missing things of the previous research, and proposed that this paper is innovative and necessary compared with the previous research, and the modification position is in lines 58-131, and the important part of the revision has been marked in yellow, please refer to it.

Comments 10:  The research objective indicated between lines 101 to 102 is different from those indicated in the abstract section. Please check it.

Response 10: Agreed, we have revised it. Thank you for your suggestion, which has unified the purpose of the study. The purpose of the study in this paper is to simulate the land use patterns under four different development scenarios based on the GMOP and PLUS coupled model, and to finally prefer the best land use pattern in Lvliang City by analysing the landscape pattern index, ecosystem service value, land use benefit, and land use benefit transformation index.

Comments 11-13: Study Area and Data Sources. Concerning the study area, you should further explain the relationship between the sentences between lines 108 and 110 and your topic. In addition, add why you are choosing this study for your research.

Response 11-13: Agreed, we have revised it. Thank you for your suggestion, the reason and basis of Lvliang City as the study area have been added in the text, which also reflects the relationship with the research theme of this paper, because of the unique geographical conditions and natural resources conditions of Lvliang City, Lvliang City has a suitable climate, rich in mineral resources, and the local economic development relies on the activities of coal mining, agricultural cultivation, etc. The exploitation of mineral resources and other human activities will damage the ecological environment, in order to alleviate the conflict between the local economic In order to alleviate the contradiction between local economic development and ecological environment protection, Lvliang City was selected as the study area to optimise a land use pattern that can balance economic development and ecological protection. Amendments in lines 142-147 of the text.  

Comments 14: Your study includes DEM data, so it would be necessary for the audience when you add DEM in Figure 1 to show how the topography potentially links with your study.

Response 14: Revised. Thanks for the suggestion, the study area plot has been modified, DEM data has been added to the plot. Modify the position on lines 147-148.

Comments 15: Table 1, Road data can be integrated into social data. Double-check the table then explain what is the difference between Traffic Data >Road Data; Social data >Primary roads etc.

Response 15: Thank you for your suggestions, table 1 has been amended as requested. Amendments in lines 160-161 of the text.  

Comments 16: "Initially, the optimization of the land use quantitative structure is considered." This sentence is not clear. How?

Response 16: Thank you for your suggestion, the optimisation of land use quantity structure is a part of the optimisation of land use structure, because the land use structure has the attribute of spatial layout and the attribute of quantity structure, the quantity structure refers to the proportion of various types of land in a certain area, and the spatial layout structure refers to the distribution of various types of land in the area. Therefore, the proportion of each type of land in the region is determined first ---- which is the quantity structure of land use, and then the spatial layout simulation is carried out according to the quantity and area of each type of land. Amendments in lines 166-168 of the text.

Comments 17: "The economic priority scenario and the ecological protection scenario are single-objective planning problems". This sentence, also, is not clear.

Response 17: Thank you for your suggestion. We have revised it because the economic priority scenario only considers economic development as a single objective, hoping to maximise economic benefits, while the ecological protection scenario only considers ecological environmental protection as a single objective, hoping to maximise ecological benefits; so both scenarios only consider one objective, so it becomes a single-objective planning issue. Amendments in lines 173-175 of the text.  

Comments 18: Line 202, you indicate you have used "twelve factors." This factor does not appear in Table 1. Kindly check the number of variables in the table.

Response 18: Thank you for your suggestions. Table 1 has been modified to include one type of land use data and 12 types of driver data. In Table 1, except for land use data, there are 12 types of impact factor data. As in comments 15, Amendments in lines 160-161 of the text.

Comments 19: Line 223 "Vegetation net primary productivity (NPP)" How are you using this study? Explain the process in the data process.

Response 19: Thank you for your suggestion. Because the eco-efficiency coefficients of all types of land use in this paper are calculated based on the Xie Gaodi equivalent factor table, but due to the differences in the region, it is necessary to correct the Xie Gaodi equivalent factor table, and in previous studies, scholars have corrected the equivalent factor table based on the ratio of the level of netprimary production (NPP) of vegetation to the national average, and there is a specific correction table is used for the calculation, which the authors consider as a means of calculation, and this means of calculation, which is relatively well known in the field of land use, the authors do not carefully describe the calculation process in the paper. In order to facilitate your review and readers' understanding, I have inserted a literature here, the basis and method of using NPP to modify the equivalence factor table, please refer to it Amendments in lines 277-283 of the text.

Comments 20: Table 1, figure 2, and the section from lines 208 to 237 read as if the paper chooses its variables freely without referring to any existing framework that is relevant to this paper's research focus.

Response 20: Thank you for your suggestions. I've reworked Tables 1 and 2 and organized the contents of rows 208-237. I'll give you a detailed overview of how these things connect：Table 1 indicates some remote sensing data resources used in this study, Figure 2 shows the research idea of this paper, lines 208-237 is mainly the method to calculate the ecological benefit function and economic benefit function used in this study, these are also more common in the research within the land field, they have relevance, the data resources in Table 1 are to prepare for the land use layout simulation, and the lines 208-237 mentioned the is to calculate the land use quantity structure in 2035 with GMOP model, because two economic benefit functions and ecological benefit functions are needed, and the land use layout simulation is to be based on the land use quantity structure predicted by GMOP model, plus the remote sensing image data for the land use layout simulation. So they are connected, briefly, with the research line in Fig. 2 as a guide, the content of lines 208-237 is the method of land use quantity structure prediction, and after that the land use spatial layout simulation is carried out with the PLUS model according to the predicted quantity structure, together with the data resources in Table 1.

Comments 21: The method and data process should be rewritten concisely.

Response 21: Agreed, we have revised it and thank you for your suggestion. I have described my research ideas and methods more concisely through the point description. Amendments in lines 163-198 of the text.

Comments 22-23: Please, for more understanding of the audience, clarify and summarise the results, in particular from lines 262 to 293. As you explain “Amendments in yellow in lines 190-203 of the text”. This section is not in the results section. Kindly check it.

Response 22-23: Thank you for your suggestions. First of all, I'm sorry for the misplacement of my revisions. I have revised it and have added a summary explanation of each development scenario to the text, adding the reasons for each outcome. Amendments in yellow in lines 317-363 of the text. For your convenience, I've highlighted the changes in yellow

Comments 24: We think the "Verification of Simulation Accuracy" should be included in the data process, not in the results section.

Response 24: Thanks for the suggestion. Revised. The accuracy verification section has been added to the data processing section at your request. Amendments in yellow in lines 201-212 of the text.

Comments 25: Section 4.2.2. Spatial Layout Analysis, please go to explain directly the most important results.

Response 25: Thank you for your suggestions. I have streamlined the analyses in the text, highlighting the most important results. I have cut down some of the contents, and I have highlighted the important results as much as possible, and this part has been as concise as possible because it is necessary to analyze the changes in land use layout in each scenario, so I have simplified it as much as possible.

Comments 26: Line 314-316 "The indices specifically encompassed the Aggregation Index (AI), Largest Patch Index (LPI), Landscape Division Index (DIVISION), and Shannon's Diversity Index (SHDI)". These methods don't appear in the method section, and they are even less so in the data process section. What do the authors aim to study and analyze?

Response 26: Thanks for the suggestion, revised. The calculation methods of these indices and the questions I want to study with these indices have been added to the data processing and methods section as per your request. Amendments in yellow in lines 190-196 of the text.

Comments 27: Line 392-417, what do you look for? The methodology, data processing, and results sections are currently mixed and confusing; the author needs to revise and clarify them.

Response 27: Thanks for the suggestion! Lines 392-417 are about my layout simulation analysis of the landscape index, which seems to have nothing to do with your opinion, but referring to the first round of opinions, this opinion is the same as the first round of opinions, I guess what you are reviewing is the version I uploaded for the first time, and this part is about the land use efficiency conversion index that I constructed. As you mentioned, I have rewritten this section to concisely describe the significance of my construction of this index and what I want to study through this index, and I have also inserted a few pieces of literature to support my opinion, and the significance of my construction of this index has been described as clearly as possible, please refer to it. Amendments in yellow in lines 433-446 of the text.

Comments 28-31: Discussion: The results are not discussed well. 29.What does the section of "discussion" really want to discuss?  30.It's recommended to explore the results of previous studies and discuss what results they got and why you are getting better/different results. 31.Enhance this section by detailing the study's contributions and outlining future research prospects.

Response 28--31: Thanks for the suggestion, I rewrote my discussion. In this section, I will focus on the innovations and limitations of the research used in this paper, as well as the prospects for the future. The innovation is that most of the previous studies only analyzed the ESV and land use benefits under different development scenarios to determine the optimal land use pattern, and did not consider the transformation efficiency between ESV and land use benefits when the current land use pattern is transformed into different future scenarios, nor did it consider the impact of land use pattern transformation on the landscape pattern. Therefore, this paper constructs the land use benefit transformation index for the first time, uses it to characterize the transformation efficiency between ESV and land use benefit, and comprehensively analyzes the ecosystem service value, land use benefit, landscape pattern index and land use benefit transformation index under different development scenarios, and comprehensively analyzes the optimal land use pattern by judging the size of these indicators, which can provide a scientific theoretical basis for land use optimization and ecological protection in Luliang City, and can also provide scientific method examples for land use optimization in the study area. The limitation is that the land types in this study are divided into six categories according to the first-class land types, although it can reflect the changes of various land types in Lvliang City under different scenarios, but for a city like Lvliang City, which is rich in mining resources, the change of construction land area cannot fully explain the relationship between its economic development, ecological protection and mining development, and the construction land should be more refined into mining land and other types, and the relationship between it and economy and ecology should be explored. Although the ecosystem service value of this study is calculated according to the Xie Gaodi Equivalence Factor Table, although the equivalent factor has the advantages of simplicity, wide application range and low data requirements, it has certain limitations in terms of accuracy, dynamics, complexity and regional applicability, and needs to be analyzed in depth with other methods to improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the assessment. Based on the limitations of the research, it is necessary to design a more targeted land use classification system in future research, and deeply analyze the relationship between economic development, ecological protection and mining development in the optimization of land use structure in mineral resource-based cities. In addition, how to comprehensively and objectively assess the value of ecosystem services in the region, reduce the error caused by subjective factors, and improve the accuracy and objectivity of the assessment results needs to be discussed and analyzed in more depth in future research.  Amendments in yellow in lines 465-498 of the text.

Comments 32: In addition, in this section, you should attempt to clarify the hypothesis. In other words, you reject or validate these hypotheses.

Response 32: Thanks for the suggestion. In the discussion part, I have written it in more detail according to your request, mainly including the innovativeness, limitations, and future prospects of this paper, and the advantages of this research results compared with previous research results, but I did not understand what you mean by question 32.

Comments 33: Conclusion: The conclusion serves as a concise summary of key findings, research aims, and implications. It encapsulates significant findings, reaffirms research objectives, explores practical and theoretical implications, underscores contributions, and provides closure to the study. So, it would help if you summarised the conclusion concisely.

Response 33: Thanks for the suggestion, I have rewritten my conclusions to be more concise and to the point. Amendments in yellow in lines 500-523 of the text.

Comments 34-38: 35. What is the theoretical significance of this paper?36. What is the innovation of the study?37. Please add the potential limits of the study.38. English is not so smooth, and please improve it.

Response 34-38: The innovations, research implications, and limitations of this paper have been answered in the discussion section. And I polished the language of the whole text to make it more fluent.