Do more efficient transport facilities improve habitat quality? Evidence from China

Enhancing the efficiency of transport facilities is a key objective for developing countries, which significantly drives environmental changes. However, the relationship between transport facilities input efficiency (TFIE) and habitat quality (HQ) lacks understanding, hence ignoring the potentially adverse impacts of TFIE enhancement and developing targeted policies. This study estimated the TFIE for 30 provinces in China from 2001 to 2019 using the slack -based model with the Malmquist index and assessed HQ through the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offs model combined with landscape heterogeneity indices. The relationship between them was quantified from both the national and local perspectives. Results show that TFIE declined in most provinces, with high-efficiency and low-efficiency areas forming clusters. HQ improved in low-grade areas, but the degradation of high HQ regions to lower grades was evident. TFIE has an overall negative effect on HQ. Locally, the effect gradually shifts from positive to negative as it moves inland from the coast, with the greatest adverse effect in western areas. Improvements in TFIE and HQ can be achieved simultaneously through differentiated policies and coordinated interregional action. These findings can inform the formulation of environmental risk control policies related to transport facilities development to support sustainable development.