Between 2000 and 2020, the landscape of the Funiu Mountain area in China underwent a measurable reorganization of its Production-Ecological-Living Spaces (PELS), according to a research article published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. The study, led by Ming Zhu of Xinyang Normal University with colleagues from Xinyang Normal University and Zhengzhou Normal University, tracked how land classified as production, ecological, and living space changed across two decades and identified the natural and socio-economic factors driving those changes.
The research team combined digital elevation models with multi-source datasets covering natural, social, and economic variables, and applied the geographical detector method to quantify the strength of each driving factor. This framework allowed them to map not only where the three space categories expanded or contracted, but also how their relative influence varied across elevation zones within the mountainous terrain.
The headline finding is a clear divergence in direction among the three space types. Production space showed a shrinking trend over the study period, while both ecological space and living space expanded. Within these broad categories, the expansion was not uniform: grassland ecological space and urban living space grew significantly, standing out as the most dynamic sub-categories over the twenty-year window.
Elevation emerged as an important axis of differentiation. Production space decreased in area across different elevation zones, indicating that the contraction was not confined to a single altitudinal band. Ecological space increased slightly in low-altitude areas below 400 meters, while changes in medium- and high-altitude zones were relatively stable. Living space, by contrast, increased across all elevation zones, suggesting that the growth of settlements and associated built environments was a mountain-wide phenomenon rather than one restricted to valley floors.
The study also documented which types of change occurred most frequently. Urban living space and industrial production space underwent the most frequent changes among the classified space types, pointing to urbanization and industrial activity as prominent agents of landscape transformation in the area.
In terms of spatial transformation pathways, exchanges between ecological space and production space were dominant, followed by exchanges between living space and production space. Transformations between ecological space and living space were infrequent. This pattern suggests that in the Funiu Mountain area, land has tended to move between productive uses and ecological covers, or between productive uses and settlement, rather than converting directly between ecological and living categories.
Perhaps the most consequential result concerns the drivers behind these shifts. The evolution of PELS was primarily influenced by natural background conditions, but the driving effects of socio-economic factors became increasingly prominent over time. The researchers quantified this shift using the q statistic from the geographical detector analysis: the q value of economic density increased 26.4-fold, rising from 0.0064 to 0.1688, while the q value of population density increased 7.5-fold. These figures indicate that economic and demographic pressures played a progressively larger role in shaping the spatial pattern as the study period progressed.
The authors argue that their work differs from existing regional-scale investigations by identifying elevation-gradient differentiation in the driving mechanisms underlying PELS evolution in mountainous areas. In other words, rather than treating the mountain area as a single homogeneous region, the analysis reveals how the interplay of natural and human factors varies with altitude, a perspective the authors say supplements theoretical understanding of mountain PELS research.
The findings are presented as providing theoretical support and practical guidance for territorial spatial planning. According to the study, identifying where production, ecological, and living spaces have expanded or contracted, and which factors drove those changes, can inform territorial spatial optimization and support sustainable, coordinated regional development in the Funiu Mountain area. Because the analysis covers a single mountain area over a defined twenty-year period, the results speak specifically to that region and timeframe, and the authors frame their contribution as enriching the theoretical understanding of PELS dynamics in mountain regions rather than as a broadly generalizable forecast.
The research, received in September 2026 and accepted in October 2026, was conducted by Ming Zhu, Gaohan Xu, Yuhan Yan, Haozheng Wen, Mengen Jiu, and Zongmeng Li of Xinyang Normal University, together with Chenxin Shang and Jingjing Zhang of Zhengzhou Normal University.
Subject of Research: Spatio-temporal evolution and driving factors of Production-Ecological-Living Spaces in the Funiu Mountain area from 2000 to 2020
Article Title: Spatio-temporal dynamics and driving factors of the Production–Ecological–Living Spaces in the Funiu Mountain Area from 2000 to 2020
Article References: Zhu, M., Xu, G., Shang, C., Zhang, J., Yan, Y., Wen, H., Jiu, M., & Li, Z. (2026). Spatio-temporal dynamics and driving factors of the Production–Ecological–Living Spaces in the Funiu Mountain Area from 2000 to 2020. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 14, 1993181. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2026.1993181
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2026.1993181
Keywords: Production-Ecological-Living Spaces, Funiu Mountain area, land use change, spatio-temporal evolution, geographic detector, elevation gradient, territorial spatial planning, socio-economic drivers, digital elevation model, mountain regions, sustainable development, China
News Source: Drew Townsend. (October 28, 2026). Production, Ecological and Living Spaces Shifted Across a Chinese Mountain Area Over Two Decades. Scienmag.
