Deeply integrated vulnerability and its evaluation framework provide a new perspective for the study of socio-ecological systems in metropolitan suburbs. A new vulnerability evaluation system of ‘exposure-sensitivity- adaptability’ based on the socio-ecological system and vulnerability theory was constructed. Meanwhile, drawing on the concept of ‘spatial trap’, the concept of ‘spatial vulnerability trap’ was tried to put forward. The spatial-temporal interaction characteristics were analyzed, the existence of spatial vulnerability trap was tested and the interaction mechanism of vulnerability dynamic evolution was revealed using spatial-temporal exploration analysis method and geographic detector for socio-ecological system vulnerability of 184 administrative villages in Qingpu District from the year 1998 to 2018. The results showed that: (1) During the study period, the socio-ecological systems vulnerability of Qingpu District increased from 0.518 to 0.621, and the vulnerability level increased from low grade to medium grade. The spatial-temporal pattern showed the dynamic characteristics of first increase and then decrease and high in the East and low in the west. (2) The relative length of the socio-ecological systems vulnerability temporal path movement in Qingpu District from 1998 to 2018 showed a trend of gradual decline from the central region to the surrounding area. The mobility curvature of the vulnerability time path was relatively small, showing the spatial pattern of low in the north and high in south, and the cohesion index of the spatial transition of vulnerability is 0.496. The spatial agglomeration structure had relatively high transfer activity and low path locking. (3) No ‘spatial vulnerability absolute trap’ was detected during the study period, yet the ‘spatial vulnerability relative trap’ highlighted in the 11 administrative villages mainly distributed around the administrative boundary in the north and south of the area. (4) Social capital factor, human capital factor, social factor, economic factor, ecological factor and financial capital factor are the main factors influencing the vulnerability change, but the influence of each factor showed fluctuation and type difference. The main interaction types of socio-ecological system vulnerability differentiation in urban suburbs are the cumulative type of internal and external coupling, the type of endogenous capacity constraint and the external environmental stress type. The results of the study are of great theoretical and practical significance to guide the suburban areas to prevent the vulnerability risk, promote regional coordination to reduce vulnerability and sustainable development.

The article uses a case study approach to investigate the mechanisms of ecological product value realization, and influencing factors. Specifically, we use a case analysis framework based on the “economy-society- natural ecology” perspective to analyze and compare the three batches of “Typical Cases of Ecological Product Value Realization” released by the Ministry of Natural Resources. We find: First, different modes of ecological product value realization exist. Different resource endowments, and institutional and environmental factors affect the selection of the value realization modes. Second, certain obstacles also exist for realizing ecological product value, which are mainly reflected in the fact that the articulation of the individual, society, and government is not yet sufficiently close. Third, to promote the development of regional eco-products’ mode and value conversion, the implementing party needs to guide the synergy between individual concepts, social participation, and governmental top-level design; rationally arrange the allocation of resource elements; mitigate elemental constraints; and propose effective technical means and optimization strategies according to the actual situation.

In this study, the relationship between environmental regulations and technological innovation efficiency is empirically examined via panel data from 33 iron and steel enterprises (ISs) in China between 2015 and 2021. The results show that the average “innovation compensation effect” of environmental regulations on the technological innovation efficiency of ISs exceeds the average “compliance cost effect”, thus resulting in a clearly positive net effect. Both the two-sided effects and the net effects vary across different years, geographical regions, and types of property rights. As the quantile of technological innovation efficiency increases, the positive influence of environmental regulations tends to increase. Furthermore, the strengthening of financing constraints and firm competitiveness enhances the positive impact of environmental regulations on the technological innovation efficiency of ISs. Additionally, a double-threshold effect of environmental regulations on the technological innovation efficiency of ISs is revealed in this study. The realisation of the Porter hypothesis occurs when financing constraints and firm competitiveness fall within specific threshold intervals. This research not only deepens our understanding of the relationship between environmental regulations and the technological innovation efficiency of ISs but also provides valuable policy insights for optimising environmental regulations to facilitate targeted improvements in the level of technological innovation efficiency.

Realizing comprehensive green transformation is the necessary path for high-quality and sustainable development in Qinghai Province. We constructed an indicator system for evaluating the green development in Qinghai from five dimensions: resource utilization, environmental protection, ecological protection, growth quality, and green life based on the national green development indicator system; and comprehensively used the entropy method, comprehensive index method, coupled coordination model, and obstacle degree model to evaluate the green development level of Qinghai from 1998 to 2022. The results showed four important points. (1) The green development comprehensive index of Qinghai increased gradually in the past 25 years, but there is still much room for improvement. (2) The focus of green development changed in the three evaluation stages. The focus in 1998-2004 and 2005-2011 was on improving the ecological environment, and in 2012-2022 the focus was on economic and industrial development and the improvement of residents’ living standards. (3) Since 2001, the coupling degree of the five dimensions of green development has maintained a high-level coupling stage, and the coordinated development degree entered a good coordination stage in 2021. (4) The key obstacles hindering the improvement of green development level shifted from growth quality to resource utilization and ecological protection. Therefore, improving the resource utilization level is the primary task for Qinghai to achieve high-quality green development. The study provides methodological support for green development evaluation, and suggestions for directing the formulation of green development policies in Qinghai Province.

Among cultural ecosystem services, aesthetic value is one of the most strongly related to humans. The scientific assessment of the aesthetic value of cultural ecosystem services plays a vital role in achieving the refined management of national park ecosystems. In the current study, Qianjiangyuan National Park in China was taken as an example, three typical types of aesthetic ecosystem services (AESs) were extracted, and an AES evaluation index system was constructed by combining the cultural attributes and landscape aesthetic value of national parks. Tourists’ value perception of AESs was analyzed based on 542 valid survey questionnaires, and the influences of various demographic characteristics were explored using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Based on this, the importance and overall level of various AESs in national parks were systematically evaluated using the entropy method and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The results reveal the following. (1) Tourists believe that national parks have natural, cultural, and social aesthetic service value. The value perception of physical and mental health services is the highest (2.44), while that of spiritual worship services is the lowest (1.86). (2) Different demographic characteristics have significant impacts on the value perception of aesthetic services. The greater the number of visits to the national park, the higher the tourists’ value perception of primitive wilderness, spiritual worship, folk culture, and human settlement services. Moreover, tourists visiting the national park for research purposes have the highest value perception of natural ASEs. (3) There are cognitive differences in the importance of various AESs: cultural aesthetic services (0.8473) > natural aesthetic services (0.7032) > social aesthetic services (0.5780). Moreover, tourists consider spiritual worship services to be the most important (0.3695). (4) The value perception evaluation of the AESs of the national park is generally high, with a comprehensive evaluation score of 4.11, among which the value of physical and mental health services is the highest (4.44) and that of folk culture aesthetic services is the lowest (3.79). The results of this study are helpful for further improving the management level of national park ecosystems.

This study takes the agricultural resource utilization efficiency of Gansu Province and its cities (prefectures) during 2008-2017 as the research object, evaluates the efficiency by using data envelopment analysis (DEA), mathematical statistics and literature research methods, selects 10 input indicators and 3 output indicators of agricultural production, and then calculates the comprehensive efficiency, technical efficiency and scale efficiency of agricultural resources utilization in Gansu from 2008 to 2017, the redundancy of the input was analyzed by combining with the redundancy value, and projection analysis was applied to improve the input and allocation of agricultural resources. For the temporal characteristics of agricultural resource utilization efficiency in Gansu, the results show that the utilization efficiency is relatively low and fluctuates over time while gradually stabilizing, the comprehensive efficiency increased from 0.857 to 1, with values that were not 1 in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, showing a relatively ineffective utilization state, and the utilization efficiency had a hysteresis effect on the implementation of policies. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution characteristics indicate large regional differences in utilization efficiency among the cities and prefectures, all of the cities can be divided into four categories according to their different comprehensive efficiency levels: the best (1.00), the second best (0.98-1.00), the lower (0.90-0.98) and the lowest (<0.90), and the corresponding characteristic agricultural development regions were divided based on their actual situations; the redundancy of agricultural input factors still exists, especially in ecological factors such as climatic resources, agricultural fertilizer usage and agriculture practitioners; while the technical efficiency had obvious restrictions on the comprehensive efficiency. In summary, the input-output efficiency of agricultural resources in Gansu is relatively low overall, the unbalanced regional development of utilization efficiency is obvious, and agricultural development is greatly constrained by ecological and technical factors. Therefore, the key to improving this situation lies in the integration of agricultural support funds to develop agricultural facility construction, adjust the agricultural input and industrial structure, actively promote the application of science and technology, vigorously develop regional characteristic agriculture, and create ecological and civilization agriculture.

Clarifying the pattern of regional carbon balance and determining the carbon compensation standards of stakeholders are the keys to building a regional carbon compensation mechanism and promoting regional carbon neutrality. The land use area of the Xinjiang Tianshan World Natural Heritage Site in 1980, 2000, 2010, and 2020 was interpreted using remote sensing technology (RS) and geographic information system (GIS), and the net ecosystem productivity model was used to calculate the carbon sink of the forest, grassland, water area, and cultivated land ecosystem in the heritage site. The IPCC carbon emission factor method and carbon footprint method were used to calculate the tourism and animal husbandry carbon emissions, and the carbon sink evolution characteristics, carbon emission structure characteristics, and carbon budget pattern of the heritage sites were analyzed. Further, the carbon compensation for tourists in the heritage site was calculated using the carbon compensation coefficient correction model and the tourists’ willingness to pay method. The results demonstrated that (1) the carbon sinks of the heritage sites decreased from 1980 to 2020, with those of grassland, cultivated land, forest land, and wetland exhibiting different degrees of decline. (2) The whole heritage site had a carbon deficit of 8.67×10⁶ tCO₂. Tourism carbon emission was the main carbon source, accounting for more than 95%, whereas livestock carbon emissions accounted for only 4.12%. The carbon emission intensity of regional human activities exceeded its ecological carbon sink carrying capacity, and tourists were the main carbon compensators in heritage sites. (3) The theoretical compensation of tourists in the heritage site was 25.23 yuan p^-1 yr^-1, and the willingness to compensate was 14.78 yuan p^-1 yr^-1 (nonparametric estimation) and 5.93 yuan p^-1 yr^-1 (parametric estimation). Further, the standards for carbon compensation by tourists calculated using the two methods differed. Therefore, when formulating the carbon compensation standards for stakeholders, the responsibility weight of the compensation subject should be clarified, and the regional carbon balance and the willingness to pay of the compensation subject should be comprehensively considered. By adopting scientific and reasonable carbon compensation standards, carbon compensation mechanisms in the region can be effectively implemented.