Assessing the impact of land use change on habitat quality in Zhongwei through multiscenario simulation using the PLUS and InVEST models.

Land use change is a key factor affecting habitat quality. To reveal the impacts of urban land use changes on habitat quality, this paper uses the city of Zhongwei, China, as a case study. Based on the land use data from 1980, 2000 and 2020, the PLUS-InVEST coupled model was used to predict and assess the land use and habitat quality of Zhongwei. The results revealed that from 1980 to 2020, the areas of construction land and woodland increased by 312.78 and 127.36 km, respectively, whereas the areas of watershed, grassland, and unused land decreased by 89.86, 666.36, and 21.49 km, respectively. The areas with high and low habitat quality values increased by 25.42% and 9.70%, respectively, whereas the areas with relatively high and medium habitat quality values decreased by 14.81% and 7.13%, respectively. The main factors influencing land expansion were precipitation, temperature, population and distance from government facilities. Other areas remained largely unchanged. The predicted habitat quality of the study area in 2040 was compared under different development scenarios. A comparison of the results revealed the highest habitat quality value and the lowest degree of habitat degradation were possible under the ecological protection scenario. Although the afforestation and desertification control projects in Zhongwei have proven successful in increasing the area of woodland and improving habitat quality, their ecological restoration measures have not yet completely counteracted the adverse effects of ongoing urbanization and industrialization on habitat quality, resulting in a persistent decline in overall habitat quality.