Amount of information and the willingness of consumers to pay for food traceability in China

This study aimed to assess the heavy metal concentrations in soils and fruits and their possible human health risk in apple orchards of Liaodong Peninsula—a well-known fruit-producing area of China. The soil pollution index (PI) and health risk assessment methods (daily intake of metals (DIM) and health risk index (HRI)) were employed to explore the soil pollution levels and the potential health hazards of heavy metals in fruits. The results showed that all orchard soils were with low PI values (PI ≤1) for Cd and Zn, while 2.78 and 5.56 % of the soil samples exceeded the allowable levels of Cr and Cu for orchard soil, respectively. The Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations for the apple flesh samples were all lower than the national maximum permissible concentrations. While 6.34 % of apple peel samples for Cd, 76.5 % of apple peel samples and 65.6 % of apple flesh samples for Cr, and 28.1 % of apple peel samples for Zn exceeded the national maximum permissible levels, respectively. Furthermore, both the DIM and the HRI values for all the apple flesh samples were within the safe limits, indicating that no health risk was found for heavy metals in the fruits of the study area. In order to protect the consumers from fruits that might cause health risks, results from this study suggested that the regular survey of heavy metal pollution levels should be conducted for the orchards of Liaodong Peninsula.

Heavy metals in apple orchard soils and fruits and their health risks in Liaodong Peninsula, Northeast China.

Migration of heavy metals in the soil-grape system and potential health risk assessment.

Migration of heavy metals in the soil-grape system and potential health risk assessment

Concentrations of five heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg, and Pb) in orchard soils and kiwifruit tissues (root, twig, leave, fruit) collected from Shaanxi province in China were measured, and the potential health risk for human through the fruit consumption was assessed. The orchard soils were in no pollution for Cr, Cu, Hg, and Pb, with their pollution index (PI) ≤1, while 10.0 % of the soil samples were under Cd contamination. Furthermore, kiwifruit tended to have a higher Cd and Hg accumulation (as indicated by Biological Accumulation Coefficient) from soil and have a higher Cu and Hg translocation (as reflected by Biological Transfer Coefficient) to aboveground parts. From the human health point of view, the DIM and HRI values for all the fruit samples were within the safe limits, while for Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg, and Pb, about 22.5, 12.5, 52.5, 15.0, and 47.5 % of the fruit samples exceeded the national maximum permissible levels, respectively. These results showed that, although there was no possible health risk to consumers due to intake of studied kiwifruit fruits under the current consumption rate, the regular survey of heavy metal pollution levels should be performed for the kiwifruit in Shaanxi province and a strict management program should be established to reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in fruit production in order to prevent the potential health risk.

Heavy metal levels in kiwifruit orchard soils and trees and its potential health risk assessment in Shaanxi, China

High content of five heavy metals in four fruits: Evidence from a case study of Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province, China

China' Loess Plateau, which was once dominated by sloping fields with poor farming conditions and serious soil erosion, has experienced a series of ecological programs. This article sought to explore the impacts of ecological programs on land use and ecosystem services in a typical catchment of China's Loess Plateau from 1984 to 2017, and thus understand what needs to be improved for future ecological programs. The findings showed that: (a) Due to the implementation of various ecological programs, the land use structure was optimized, and vegetation coverage was significantly increased, especially with the implement of the Grain for Green (GFG) Program. (b) The change of the total ecosystem service value (ESV) presented a U‐shaped curve. The total ESV decreased under the Comprehensive Management of Small Catchments Program, and increased significantly since the implementation of the GFG. The rapid increase stage can be traced to the effects of the Gully Land Consolidation Program, reflecting the time lag effect of ecological programs on the improvement of ecosystem services. (c) The various ecosystem services were improved significantly, except for the food provisioning value (FPV). The abandonment of croplands without consolidation determined the decline of the FPV, implying the necessity for a land‐use efficiency boost. Our research proposed to build up an actor network to integrate local governments, rural cadres, villagers, enterprises, and natural resources, especially land resources, into ecological programs to ensure ecological restoration and activate the factors of production, thus securing the sustainable development of China' Loess Plateau.

Impacts of ecological programs on land use and ecosystem services since the 1980s: A case‐study of a typical catchment on the Loess Plateau, China

The dislocated development of population, land, and economy will disturb the urban system, cause ecological risk problems, and ultimately affect regional habitat and quality development. Based on social statistics and nighttime lighting data from 2000 to 2018, we used mathematical statistics and spatial analysis methods to analyze the change process of urbanization’s coupling coordination degree and ecological risk response pattern in the Yangtze River Delta. Results show that: ① From 2000 to 2018, the coupling coordination degree of urbanization in the Yangtze River Delta increased, with high values in Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou regions. ② The ecological risk in the Yangtze River Delta weakened, and the vulnerability and disturbance of landscape components together constitute the spatial differentiation pattern of regional ecological risk, which presented homogeneous aggregation and heterogeneous isolation. ③ The overall ecological stress of urbanization in the Yangtze River Delta decreased. ④ The population aggregation degree, socio-economic development level and built-up area expansion trend contributed to the spatiotemporal differentiation of urbanization’s ecological risks through the synergistic effects of factor concentration and diffusion, population quality cultivation and improvement, technological progress and dispersion, industrial structure adjustment and upgrading. This study can provide a reference for regional urbanization to deal with ecological risks reasonably and achieve high-quality development.

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Multi-Dimensional Urbanization Coordinated Evolution Process and Ecological Risk Response in the Yangtze River Delta

The relationship between urbanization and ecology environment is a current research hotspot. Most literature to date focuses on the interaction between urbanization and a single component of the ecosystem (e.g., water, forests, and ecosystem services), while little attention has been given to the relationship between urbanization quality and ecosystem health. Accordingly, this paper used the entropy method and vigor—organization–resilience model to measure the urbanization quality and ecosystem health in Jiangsu Province. Based on the results, this paper analyzed the spatial-temporal pattern and evolution characteristics of the coordination degree between urbanization quality and ecosystem health in Jiangsu Province in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2017 and then used the geographic detector and Tobit regression model to explore its internal driving forces and external influencing factors. The results show the following: 1. The changing trend of urbanization quality and ecosystem health in the Jiangsu Province share some traits; it first descends and then ascends; 2. The cities in Jiangsu Province are all between primary coordination and high-quality coordination. Central Jiangsu has the best coupling coordination degree, and Northern Jiangsu has the worst coupling coordination degree, but the overall coordination degree is on the rise; 3. The internal and external factors that drive the coordinated development of urbanization and ecosystem health differ based on periodic and regional characteristics. We need to tailor policies to ensure the sustainable development of the region.

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Is China’s Urbanization Quality and Ecosystem Health Developing Harmoniously? An Empirical Analysis from Jiangsu, China

Based on the concept of high-quality development, this paper constructs an urban ecological welfare evaluation framework, measures the urban ecological welfare performance in Jiangsu Province from 2005 to 2019 using a stochastic frontier production function model, and conducts a spatial and temporal divergence feature analysis, combining a spatial panel econometric model and a threshold panel regression model to explore the spatial effects and mechanisms of urban ecological welfare performance. The results show that: (1) The urban ecological welfare performance in Jiangsu province has been increasing every year, and the spatial divergence between north and south is significant, with the overall trend of southern Jiangsu > central Jiangsu > northern Jiangsu. (2) The differences in urban ecological welfare performance among the three regions are gradually decreasing, with the high values expanding and the low values decreasing, and the urban ecological welfare performance in northern Jiangsu Province is gradually approaching that in southern Jiangsu Province, and the urban ecological welfare performance level tends to be balanced. (3) There are significant negative spillover effects of industrial structure, city scale, and economic development level on urban ecological welfare performance, as well as significant threshold effects of innovation level, industrial structure, foreign trade dependence, and economic development, and significant differences in the degree of influence of urbanization on urban ecological welfare performance under different threshold variables. (4) The urbanization and economic development levels are the fundamental factors driving urban ecological welfare performance improvement. Industrial structure optimization, city scale, technological innovation, and foreign trade dependence positively contribute to urban welfare performance, and government financial pressure constrains the performance level improvement. In the future, a long-term mechanism for high-quality green development should be constructed, spatial spillover channels should be continuously improved, welfare thresholds should be effectively circumvented, and urban ecological welfare performance should be promoted in a concerted manner.

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Temporal and Spatial Evolution and Driving Mechanism of Urban Ecological Welfare Performance from the Perspective of High-Quality Development: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province, China

Bin Fang

Papers

High content of five heavy metals in four fruits: Evidence from a case study of Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province, China

Impacts of ecological programs on land use and ecosystem services since the 1980s: A case‐study of a typical catchment on the Loess Plateau, China

Multi-Dimensional Urbanization Coordinated Evolution Process and Ecological Risk Response in the Yangtze River Delta

Is China’s Urbanization Quality and Ecosystem Health Developing Harmoniously? An Empirical Analysis from Jiangsu, China

Temporal and Spatial Evolution and Driving Mechanism of Urban Ecological Welfare Performance from the Perspective of High-Quality Development: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province, China