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Assessment of the spatiotemporal coupling relationship between ecological environment quality and tourist spatial activities in Qianjiangyuan National Park

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Abstract

Balancing recreational services of national parks with the protection of ecological environment quality is essential for the sustainable use of natural resources. Taking Qianjiangyuan National Park as a case study, this study integrated remote sensing data, trajectories, and geotagged photos, and applied the remote sensing ecological index, a clustering algorithm, and the coupling coordination model to investigate the spatiotemporal coupling relationship between ecological environment quality and tourist spatial activities from 2017 to 2024. The results showed that: (1) The ecological environment quality of the study area remained generally high, with over 79.20% of the area classified as good and above. High-value areas were primarily located in the northwest and southern regions. In contrast, low-value areas were primarily located along the periphery, in residential zones, and adjacent to roads. (2) Tourist activities were primarily concentrated in forest ecosystem regions with high ecological and recreational value. The distribution of trajectories exhibited distinct seasonal patterns and a fluctuating trend from 2017 to 2024, characterized by an initial increase, a subsequent decline, and eventual recovery. The 18 areas of interest demonstrated a spatial distribution characterized by linear continuity and localized aggregation; (3) The ecological environment quality and tourist spatial activities generally exhibited strong coupling and basic coordination. High values were primarily observed in the northwest and southwest of the study area, while low values were concentrated in the northeast, central, and southern regions. These spatial patterns provide actionable insights for targeted management strategies to balance tourism utilization and ecological conservation in national parks.

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Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

The code is available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China for providing funding for this research.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant Number No. 32071835.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    Xiaodong Chen & Chengzhao Wu

Authors

  1. Xiaodong Chen
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  2. Chengzhao Wu
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Contributions

Conceptualization: X.C.; Methodology: X.C.; Formal analysis and Investigation: X.C.; Writing—original draft preparation: X.C.; Writing—review and editing: C.W.; Funding acquisition: C.W.; Resources: C.W.; Supervision: C.W.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to
Chengzhao Wu.

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Chen, X., Wu, C. Assessment of the spatiotemporal coupling relationship between ecological environment quality and tourist spatial activities in Qianjiangyuan National Park.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38914-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38914-9

Keywords

  • Ecological environment quality
  • Coupling coordination
  • Remote sensing ecological index
  • Geotagged photos
  • National parks

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