Coupled assessment and spatio-temporal evolution analysis of ecosystem health in Fujian Province

This study aims to explore the origin of the excellent ecology in Fujian Province in the past 15 years. First, a land use intensity system with a five-year time interval was constructed using the 2005—2020 MODIS images and land use data of Fujian as data sources. Then, the coupling relationship between the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) and land use intensity was analyzed based on a coupled coordination model. Finally, the spatio-temporal evolution analysis was conducted for the ecological health of Fujian from 2005 to 2020. The results show that: ① The ecological environment of Fujian manifested an improvement-degradation-degradation trend, with an average RSEI value of 0.704 8 in 2020, suggesting a sound ecological environment; ② The land use intensity of Fujian displayed an increasing trend, with a growth rate of 26.00%. Most especially, Sanming City demonstrated a maximum increase of 160.91% in land use intensity; ③ The coupled coordination degree of Fujian increased by 0.729 0, suggesting high coordination. All cities in Fujian exhibited increased coupled coordination degrees, except for Xiamen City, where the coupled coordination degree decreased by 0.131 0, implying a slight imbalance. This study fills the gap in the research on the interactions between ecosystem health and land use intensity. It also provides a new perspective for ecological civilization construction and ecosystem health assessment in Fujian and even China.