Conflicts between agricultural and ecological functions and their driving mechanisms in agroforestry ecotone areas from the perspective of land use functions

Abstract In the context of ecological civilization and food security, identifying and easing conflicts between agricultural and ecological functions are crucial for managing and optimizing territorial space patterns. However, exploring driving mechanisms for conflict changes is relatively rare, and the attention for conflicts between agricultural and ecological functions in the agroforestry ecotone area is limited. Taking Hangzhou, a typical agroforestry ecotone area as an example, this study included resident behavior factors to construct a multi-criteria evaluation system for assessing agricultural and ecological functions during 2000–2019, and probed their conflicts by using an empirical model. Geographic detector model was applied to explore driving factors associated with conflict changes and effects of their interactions on conflict changes. The results showed that agricultural function was strong in the northeastern plain areas and weak in the southwestern mountains areas, and ecological function was opposite to it. Conflict between agricultural and ecological functions became strengthened during 2000–2019. The stronger conflict area had high contiguous degree in the southwestern mountains areas in 2000–2010, and it was mainly distributed in the northern hilly areas and northeastern plain areas in 2010–2019. Among twelve driving factors, ecological protection red line had the greatest impact on conflict changes in 2000 and 2010, and rural settlement density was strongest in 2019. Interaction relationships of all driving factors were bivariate enhanced or nonlinear enhanced. The interaction effect of ecological protection red line and basic farmland protection red line in 2000 was greatest, while that of ecological protection red line and rural settlement density in 2010 and 2019 was the greatest one. This study provides a reference for mitigating conflicts between agricultural and ecological functions in the agroforestry ecotone area and similar areas, and further promotes the coordinated development of territorial space.