The role of land use landscape patterns in the carbon emission reduction: Empirical evidence from China

The regulation of land use landscape patterns to achieve carbon reduction in pursuit of carbon neutrality has not received sufficient attention. Existing studies have largely focused on specific land use types, such as urban built-up areas. As a result, such studies lack comprehensive regional research, hindering the formulation of integrated carbon reduction policies and sustainable land use planning. Taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt as the study object, this study constructs a quantitative analysis framework that conducts regional land use carbon emission evaluation, landscape pattern analysis, dynamic correlation examination, and measures their respective mechanisms. The results indicate that cropland in the Yangtze River Economic Belt has progressively decreased over the last 20 years (−3.32 %), whilst wetland areas have experienced slow growth (1.81 %) and built-up land has expanded significantly (90.14 %) over the same period. Except for the Interspersion and juxtaposition index (IJI) and Modified Simpson’s evenness index (MEISI), other indices exhibit a decreasing trend with distinct temporal characteristics. By designing and deploying an annual panel regression model, this study quantifies the impact of land use and landscape pattern changes on carbon emissions from a regional perspective. The results reveal that lower levels of landscape heterogeneity and fragmentation and a lower concentration of urban built-up land are conducive to carbon reduction; contrastingly, a decrease in landscape complexity and connectivity increases carbon emissions. Finally, recommendations are put forward regarding land use landscape patterns under the framework of carbon neutrality.