Metacoupling

Publications

• ISCIENCE - Agriculture land-use change is driven by socioeconomic flows across local to global scales

  Published on March 2, 2026
  We addressed the knowledge gap by evaluating the metacoupled flows of crops, capital investments, and migration, and assess how thees flows impacted land used for crop production in India and Argentina.

• Nature Communications - 在元耦合的人类世中促进全球可持续发展

  Published on February 19, 2026
  原文： Promoting sustainable development worldwide in the metacoupled anthropocene. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68653-4

• 

  NATURE COMMUNICATIONS - Promoting sustainable development worldwide in the metacoupled Anthropocene

  Published on February 2, 2026
  We propose six interrelated steps to operationalize the framework for SDGs’ interaction analysis, progress assessment, and pathway modeling, contributing to the integration of knowledge for the 2030 Agenda and emphasizing “Leave No One Behind”.

• FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS - A metacoupled approach to analyzing multiple shocks affecting multiple systems

  Published on November 24, 2025
  We evaluated the cascading impacts of two global shocks (the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war) on the agri-food supply chains in Ukraine and beyond.

• SUSTAINABILITY - Applying the Metacoupling Framework to Multi-Scalar Conservation Planning: An Analysis for the Endangered Indiana Bat

  Published on November 19, 2025
  Using a literature-based analysis and the metacoupling framework with focusing on the Indiana bat, we find how local, regional, and global factors contribute to the shrinking population.

• ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH - Chapter Four - A metacoupling lens on the co-production of nature’s contributions to people: Insights for sustainability

  Published on March 24, 2025
  We illustrate the application of the metacoupling framework on NCP co-production in Germany, natural pest control in German meadows provided by migratory birds, and non-material NCP from giant panda tourism in China.

• ONE EARTH - Reducing sand mining’s growing toll on marine biodiversity

  Published on February 21, 2025
  Global demand for marine sand is on the rise, expanding dredging impacts on biodiversity. Systems approaches like the metacoupling framework help uncover overlooked impacts and balance resource extraction with biodiversity conservation.

• Metacoupling Flow Of Embodied Carbon In Resource-based Cities: A Case Study Of Hohhot-baotou-ordos-yulin Urban Agglomeration In China

  Published on January 29, 2025
  Quantifying embodied carbon flow is essential for resource-based cities (RBCs) to achieve carbon neutrality and sustainable development goals. However, previous studies have limited understanding of the differences in embodied carbon flows over varyi...

• Assessing And Implementing The Concept Of Blue Economy In Laurentian Great Lakes Fisheries: Lessons From Coupled Human And Natural Systems

  Published on January 3, 2025
  Inland fisheries often receive little to no attention in global discussions about sustainable development. The consequences of overlooking inland fisheries in sustainability dialogues are increasingly problematic Elevating the global profile of inlan...

• Unveiling Interprovincial Geographic Patterns Of 5a-level Tourism Cultural Ecosystem Service Flows And Tourist Preferences In China's ' S Metacoupled Systems

  Published on October 23, 2024
  In the metacoupling Anthropocene, tourism-based culture ecosystem services flows (CESF) can establish nonmaterial bridges from the natural to the human system, even across vast geographic distances. However, there remains a knowledge gap regarding in...

• APPLIED GEOGRAPHY - Unveiling interprovincial geographic patterns of 5A-level tourism cultural ecosystem service flows and tourist preferences in China's metacoupled systems

  Published on October 15, 2024
  We analyzed the intracoupling (within-province), pericoupling (adjacent-province), and telecoupling (distant-provincial) flow patterns using a sample of 143,681 5A attractions travel comments with Internet Protocol (IP) location data.

• Optimizing The Ecosystem Service Flow Of Grain Provision Across Metacoupling Systems Will Improve Transmission Efficiency

  Published on October 5, 2024
  Ecosystem service (ES) flow can address mismatches between the supply and demand of ESs. Nevertheless, how to improve ES flow considering spatial flow information and interactions among different flow systems is a research gap. Taking the Beijing-Tia...

• Workable Solutions For Sustainably Feeding The Chinese Population

  Published on May 4, 2024
  We assessed agricultural practices in China to identify workable solutions for sustainably feeding the Chinese population. We calculated the environmental costs of producing domestic rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, and imported soybeans. The environment...

• Pathways For Achieving Conservation Targets Under Metacoupled Anthropogenic Disturbances

  Published on March 21, 2024
  Enhancing connectivity between protected areas stands as a paramount objective in advancing global conservation goals, particularly in coastal regions grappling with escalating human disruptions. However, little attention has been given to quantitati...

• JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT - Pathways for achieving conservation targets under metacoupled anthropogenic disturbances

  Published on February 27, 2024
  We endeavored to model the connectivity between protected areas in rapidly urbanizing regions in China, drawing on insights from the framework of metacoupling based on connected corridors at short and long distances.

• Socio-hydrology Pathway Of Grain Virtual Water Flow In China

  Published on February 9, 2024
  As the world's largest grain producer, China's activities in virtual water trade for grain are particularly noteworthy. The imbalance of grain production and consumption among regions poses challenges to agricultural development and the sustainable u...

• NATURE COMMUNICATIONS - Global transboundary synergies and trade-offs among Sustainable Development Goals from an integrated sustainability perspective

  Published on January 13, 2024
  This study quantified the transboundary interactions between 768 pairs of SDG indicators. The results showed that high income countries comprised 14.18% of the global population, but contributed to total SDG interactions worldwide (60.60%).

• JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION - Building smallholder-adapted climate-resilient systems: Evidence from China's apple farms

  Published on January 5, 2024
  We developed a smallholder-adapted climate-resilient system (SA-CRS) conceptual framework and applied this in an empirical assessment of the adaptation of smallholder apple farmers (SAFs) to the risk of low temperature during flowering (LTF) in China

• NATURE SUSTAINABILITY - Translating Earth system boundaries for cities and businesses

  Published on January 4, 2024
  We identify commonly used sharing approaches, illustrate ten principles of translation and present a protocol involving key building blocks and control steps in translation.

• Transboundary Flows In The Metacoupled Anthropocene: Typology, Methods, And Governance For Global Sustainability

  Published on October 12, 2023
  The world has become increasingly metacoupled through flows of materials, energy, people, capital, and information within and across systems. Transboundary flows, connecting adjacent and distant systems, are deemed the most critical indicators for me...