2.3.2. Selection of Indexes

The evolution of regional ecological environmental governance is determined by several factors. Natural conditions determine the basis of eco-environmental quality, but socio-economic factors are also important to change the regional eco-environmental quality [16,53]. To explore the driving forces and evolutionary mechanism of the ecoenvironmental quality in Qinghai Province, we selected 10 indicators on the basis of the natural conditions and socio-economic influences of the region (Table 3).

**Table 3.** The serial number and name of each factor.


GDP: gross domestic product.

#### **3. Results**

*3.1. Overall Characteristics of Changes in Territorial Spatial Pattern*

3.1.1. Horizontal Regional Differentiation of Territorial Spatial Pattern

Qinghai Province has obvious regional differentiation in territorial space level, portraying a strong agglomeration of the production and living spaces and the dominance of ecological spaces. In 2020, the proportion of production, living, and ecological spaces in the total area of Qinghai Province was 1.29, 0.13, and 98.57%, respectively. The production and living spaces are mainly concentrated in the eastern part of Qinghai (Xining City, Haidong City, south-eastern part of the Haibei Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, and south-eastern part of the Haixi Mongolian Tibetan autonomous prefecture) having the largest proportion of ecological spaces that are mainly distributed in central and western Qinghai.

From the perspective of the spatial distribution of second-class places, the urban living spaces (ULS) and rural living spaces (RLS) in Qinghai Province are small and concentrated, and their spatial distribution is similar to those of agricultural production space (APS) and industrial production space (IPS). Grassland ecology space (GES) and other ecology space (OES) were the most widely distributed spaces. Notably, the GES were mainly distributed in the Haidong region and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The OES were mainly distributed in the Qaidam basin. The forestland ecological space (FES) is mainly distributed in the eastern margin of the Qinghai and Kunlun Mountains. The water ecological space (WES) is distributed in the whole region, but more concentrated in the western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (upstream of the Three-River Headwaters region).

#### 3.1.2. Difference in Vertical Gradient of Territorial Spatial Pattern

The vertical gradient differentiation of territorial space in Qinghai Province was obvious (Figure 2). The widest and narrowest areas of the territorial space were located in areas having altitudes of 4500–5000 m and >5000 m, respectively. The area of the production and living spaces was inversely proportional to the altitude. There was no distribution of the production and living spaces above the altitude of 5000 m. The maximum area of the production and living spaces was at altitudes above 3000 m (5670.01 km2 and 689.23 km2, respectively). The ecological spaces fluctuated with the increase in the altitude; the maximum area of ecological spaces (205,502.94 km2) occurred at the altitude of 4500–5000 m above sea level.

**Figure 2.** Distribution of PLE space at different altitudes in Qinghai Province, China.

In terms of the spatial distribution of second-level land classes, the land areas of the APS, IPS, ULS, and RLS portrayed a decreasing trend with increasing altitude. Notably, the maximum numbers of APS, IPS, ULS, and RLS all appeared in the areas having altitude less than 3000 m. The areas of GES and OES portrayed a trend of initial decrease, followed by an increase. This was followed by a decrease with increasing elevation; notably, the maximum numbers of GES and OES appeared at altitudes of 4500–5000 m and <3000 m, respectively. The FES portrayed an initial increasing trend with increasing elevation, followed by a decreasing trend; the maximum number appeared at an elevation of 3500–4000 m above the sea level. The WES area portrayed a trend of fluctuation; the maximum number of WES occurred at an altitude of 4500–5000 m.

#### *3.2. Characteristics of Changes in Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Territorial Space*

From 1980 to 2020, the territorial space of Qinghai Province in the horizontal region portrayed the pattern characteristics of increasing production and living spaces and shrinking ecological spaces (Table 4). The area of production spaces increased from 8051.18 km2 in 1980 to 9262.22 km2 in 2020. The area of living spaces increased from 650.16 km<sup>2</sup> in 1980 to 948.06 km2 in 2020. However, the area of ecological land decreased from 687,965.40 km2 in 1980 to 686,457.57 km2 in 2020.


**Table 4.** Structural changes of production-living-ecological space types in Qinghai Province from 1980–2020

 (km2/%).

From the perspective of the change degree of the secondary spatial structure (Figure 3), the proportion of the secondary spatial area in Qinghai Province in 2020 (from large to small) was: GES > OES > WES > FES > APS > RLS > IPS > ULS. In addition to the decrease in the FES and OES ratio (the areas decreased by 178.27 and 24863.98 km2, respectively), the APS, IPS, ULS, RLS, GES, and WES increased significantly (754.83, 456.21, 156.02, 141.88, 18269.69, and 5264.73 km2, respectively). The ULS and RLS areas portrayed an increasing trend; the GES and WES portrayed an initially increasing trend followed by a decreasing trend. The APS area portrayed a trend of fluctuation, IPS and OES portrayed an initial increasing followed by a decreasing trend, and FES portrayed a trend of a small drop.

Based on the change rate of the secondary spatial structure in Qinghai Province, we could deduce that, during 1980–2020, the growth rates of the areas of the IPS, ULS, and RLS were 5.66, 3.67, and 0.65%, respectively, while those of the FES and OES portrayed a decreasing trend (−0.02 and −0.24%, respectively).

**Figure 3.** Territorial spatial pattern from the perspective of Production-Living-Ecological space for the years (**a**) 1980; (**b**) 1990; (**c**) 2000; (**d**) 2010; (**e**) 2015; (**f**) 2020.
