Integrating Ecosystem Health and Human Footprint in ecological function zoning: a framework for sustainable landscape management in Sanchuan River Watershed, China

Understanding the interaction between human–natural systems, particularly how ecosystems respond and adapt to external pressures, has been recognized as central to advancing watershed Landscape Sustainability (LS). However, most existing studies assess human–natural systems at isolated time points, which has limited their effectiveness in informing long-term landscape design. The aim was to construct a framework that characterizes the dynamic coupling of human–natural systems in sustainable landscapes to support regional sustainable development and place it in the context of Landscape Ecology (LE) and Landscape Sustainability Science (LSS) to provide a theoretical basis and action guidance for related practices. An innovative framework was developed for the Sanchuan River Watershed (SRW) case study, integrating EHI–HFI assessment, spatial coupling analysis, function zoning for developing tailored governance strategies, and the examination of its relevance within the contexts of LE and LSS. (1) An upward trend was observed in both the EHI and HFI from 2000 to 2020; (2) Specific regions in the central and southwestern parts of SRW exhibited strong spatial association strength between the EHI and HFI, and their coupling coordination degree was enhanced during this period; (3) Five ecological function zones were delineated, and corresponding governance strategies were formulated. The proposed framework enhances the adaptability of landscape design to complex human–natural system dynamics and directly focuses on core issues in LSS, thereby providing more effective guidance for sustainable landscape development.