Given the increasingly severe imbalance between the supply and demand of soil and water resources, and the insufficient understanding of the relationship between water quantity, water quality, and the water-use efficiency across different land-use types, this study constructs a framework for the joint optimal allocation of regional soil and water resources incorporating the theory of water quality-specific supply. The model holistically considers the dynamic feedback mechanisms among soil-water resources, ecology, the economy, and society. A dual-layer nested algorithm  coupling the Non-Linear Multi-Objective Programming approach with the Successive Approximation Method was employed to solve the model. A case study was conducted on the joint allocation of soil and water resources in Luoyang City, Henan Province, within the Yellow River Basin. The results demonstrate that, compared to scenarios without considering water quality-specific supply:  the total water demand in Luoyang decreased by 12.81 million m³;  the supply of high-quality water increased by 1.2 million m³;  the supply of low-quality water decreased by 14.32 million m³, thereby optimizing the water supply structure and ensuring water quality safety. Furthermore, the joint optimization led to a stable increase in Luoyang’s GDP, the water quality-induced  water scarcity raet decreased to 0.02%, and controlled the concentration of major pollutants COD within 19.2 mg/L, meeting the Class Ⅲ water quality standard.

Agricultural wastes including mushroom stalk ash and corn straw ash (MCA) and furnace slag (FS) were utilized to prepare an alkali-activated biomass ash-slag composite (AABS). The effects of different activators (quicklime, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate) on the mechanical properties and pore structure of AABS were investigated through single-factor experiments and orthogonal analysis. Microstructural characteristics and phase composition were characterized using NMR, XRD, and SEM-EDS. Results indicated that the composite activator significantly enhanced the properties of the paste specimens. The optimal AABS formulation achieved a 28-day compressive strength of 47.4 MPa. Microstructural analysis revealed a distinct linear negative correlation between compressive strength and porosity. Micropores smaller than 0.4 μm predominated within the specimens. Furthermore, extensive formation of dense calcium (alumino) silicate hydrate (C-(A)-S-H) gel was observed, demonstrating effective alkali activation.

To provide a theoretical basis for the layout of soil and water conservation (SWC) ecological construction in Gansu Province and the achievement of phased SWC rate targets, this study calculated the SWC rates for Gansu Province and its prefectures (cities) for the years 2011, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The calculations were based on soil erosion data from the First National Water Resources Census, dynamic monitoring results, and the Gansu Provincial Soil and Water Conservation Bulletin. These rates were used to reflect historical trends in conservation. Furthermore, the study employed the “soil erosion area reduction ratio” defined as the proportion of reduced erosion area relative to the total ecological construction area within a specific period-to evaluate the effectiveness of SWC initiatives. By comparatively analyzing the changes in SWC rates across different stages and exploring the dynamics of eroded area reduction, ecological construction area, and their relationship with the SWC rate, the results indicate the following: a)From 2011 to 2022, the SWC rate in Gansu Province exhibited an overall upward trend, with an average annual increase of 0.20 percentage points specifically from 2020 to 2022. Significant regional disparities were observed in the growth rates among different prefectures (cities). Specifically, prefectures in the Longzhong and Longdong regions demonstrated relatively larger increases, whereas those in the Hexi region exhibited relatively smaller increments. b)To achieve the 2025 phased target for the SWC rate, the province’s annual growth rate must reach 0.37 percentage points from 2022 to 2025. With the exception of Linxia Prefecture-which is projected to largely meet the target by maintaining its 2020-2022 average annual erosion reduction pace-all other prefectures will face considerable challenges in achieving their goals. It is therefore imperative to further intensify SWC ecological construction efforts, expand governance areas, and accelerate the reduction of soil erosion. c)The soil erosion reduction ratios at both provincial and prefectural levels remain low. In 2021 and 2022, the provincial ratios were only 10.86% and 14.99%, respectively. Even in Lanzhou, Qingyang, and Baiyin, the three cities with the highest ratios in 2022, the figures stood at a mere 33.30%, 23.73%, and 22.22%, respectively. Consequently, it is imperative that each prefecture adopts targeted governance strategies and optimized technical configurations based on local erosion types, socio-economic development needs, and phased conservation targets, thereby ensuring the realization of the established SWC rate objectives.

Hydraulic hoists are critical equipment for sluice gates in water conservancy projects. Accurate fault prediction and intelligent operation and maintenance of such equipment are imperative requirements for the high-quality development of water conservancy in the new era.To address the core challenges in fault prediction, including the difficulty of acquiring model training data and low prediction accuracy, this study first analyzed the working principle of hydraulic hoists. Through literature review, field investigation and expert consultation, the main faults of hydraulic hoists were classified into four categories: hydraulic cylinder leakage, hydraulic pump leakage, hydraulic oil contamination, and electromagnetic directional valve failure. Subsequently, AMESim simulation software was adopted to model and simulate the hydraulic hoist under three working conditions, namely opening, holding, and closing. Combined with the boundary conditions of each working condition, simulation results of various faults and characteristic data of the core components of the hydraulic hoist were obtained. This effectively addressed the challenge of difficult acquisition of model training data in real engineering scenarios. On this basis, a hydraulic hoist fault prediction model (BO-RF) was constructed, which optimizes the Random Forest (RF) algorithm via Bayesian Optimization (BO) for hyperparameter tuning, effectively improving the fault prediction accuracy of hydraulic hoists.Case study results demonstrate that the BO-RF model improves the accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score of the original RF model from 92.50%, 95.00%, 90.48% and 0.93 to 97.20%, 97.19%, 96.08% and 0.97, respectively. This verifies the high efficiency and accuracy of the proposed BO-RF model for hydraulic hoist fault prediction.

To fully leverage the supportive and leading role of standards in ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, and to promote coordinated development among the nine provinces in the basin, a systematic review of the local standards for ecological protection in these nine provinces was conducted. Through meeting discussions, demand research, opinion analysis, and thematic studies, a collaborative local standard system for ecological protection in the Yellow River Basin was established, consisting of three dimensions: binding force, nature, and field. The system framework encompasses areas such as “five water” governance collaboration, ecological environment governance collaboration, disaster prevention and mitigation collaboration, and ecological supervision collaboration. Recommendations for collaborative standardization efforts among the nine provinces are put forward: strengthening standard linkage within the standard system, coordinate and improve the standardization work of each province, and enhancing the implementation support capability of the standard system.

To investigate the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the shallow subsurface hydraulic conductivity (K) and its response to changes in the depositional environment, the Yellow River Delta was selected as the study area. In July 2024, a total of 96 soil samples were collected from the surface and depths of 10 cm, 30 cm, and 50 cm below ground level in the Yellow River Delta. Particle size analysis was conducted, and empirical formulas were applied to calculate the average hydraulic conductivity at each depth as well as the equivalent shallow subsurface hydraulic conductivity. The calculated results were validated through in-situ standpipe tests. The study found that the shallow subsurface sediments in the delta primarily consist of clay and sand. The mean particle sizes at the surface, 10 cm, 30 cm, and 50 cm depths were 28.8 μm, 26.1 μm, 29.9 μm, and 29.1 μm, respectively. Compared with sampling results from 2015, the standard deviations of particle sizes d10, d50, and d90 decreased by 26.2%, 47.8%, and 30.4%, respectively. The K values ranged from 0.02-3.10 m/d in 2015 to 0.10-1.54 m/d in the current study, indicating improved sediment sorting. Although the mean K value showed little change, spatial variability decreased significantly. In the Diaokou River protected area, the spatial variability of K was relatively low. In the general protected zones of the Yellow River Delta wetlands, K values were generally higher than those in the core protected areas. The horizontal equivalent hydraulic conductivity of shallow subsurface sediments in the protected areas ranged from 0.07 to 1.78 m/d, while the vertical equivalent hydraulic conductivity ranged from 0.03 to 1.51 m/d. The ratio of horizontal to vertical K was 1.18, indicating significant isotropy. These changes reflect the comprehensive influence of factors since 2015, including variations in water and sediment discharge from the Yellow River, wetland water replenishment operations, and conservation measures.

To enhance the adaptability of the “Water-Energy-Food” （WEF） symbiotic system in the Yellow River Basin, promote the synergy of water, energy and food resources, and facilitate ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, this study took the nine provinces (regions) in the Yellow River Basin as the research area. Based on symbiosis theory, an evaluation index system for the adaptability of the WEF system was constructed. The TOPSIS method was used to calculate the adaptability degree, and an obstacle degree model was applied to discover key constraints to improve the adaptability degree in each province (region). The development and changes in the adaptability of the WEF symbiotic system in the Yellow River Basin from 2012 to 2020 were analyzed. The results show that: a) The adaptability of Ningxia’s WEF symbiotic system shows a slight fluctuating upward trend; The adaptability of Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu shows a fluctuating downward trend, but has begun to rebound in recent years; The adaptability of five provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong, fluctuates within certain ranges. b) According to the standard deviation grading method, Qinghai is a high adaptability zone; Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi are comparatively high adaptability zones; Shanxi, Gansu, Henan and Shandong are medium adaptability zones, while Ningxia is a low adaptability zone. c) Per capita water resources and water resources utilization ratio are the main constraints to the adaptability of the WEF symbiotic system across nine provinces (regions) in the Yellow River Basin. Finally, corresponding suggestions are put forward according to the main obstacle factors for each province (region).

Concrete and sand materials exhibit significant nonlinear mechanical behavior during loading, where the non-stationary dynamic characteristics of stress-strain make it challenging for traditional prediction methods to achieve accuracy. To address this issue, this paper proposes a deep learning prediction model combining a Multi-head Attention-enhanced Gated Recurrent Unit (MUA-GRU) with a Non-Stationary Transformer. The model leverages self-attention mechanisms to capture the dynamic responses of materials during elastic, plastic, and failure stages, while integrating the KAN module to achieve efficient mapping of complex feature. Four sets of stress-strain data were generated using the PFC2D software based on the discrete element method(DEM), and the proposed model was validated through comparisons with Support Vector Regression (SVR), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Informer, and CNN-BiLSTM-MA models. The Results show that the proposed model achieved a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.987-0.996 for short- and long-sequence predictions, with the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) as low as 0.65%, and a 20%-47% reduction in Mean Absolute Error (MAE) compared to the second-best model. The study indicates that the synergistic design of multi-scale feature extraction and non-stationary attention mechanisms significantly enhances the prediction accuracy of material mechanical properties,  providing a more reliable solution for predicting the mechanical behavior of complex materials and supporting related engineering applications.

With the acceleration of global climate change and urbanization, flood disasters occur frequently. Traditional flood control measures are insufficient to meet cities’ flood response needs, making it urgent to enhance urban flood resilience to improve disaster resistance and post-disaster recovery capabilities. Thirteen prefecture-level cities in the lower Yellow River basin were selected as the study area. Based on an improved Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework, a four-dimensional resilience assessment system (Hazard-Exposure-Vulnerability-Adaptive Capacity, H-E-V-A) was constructed. The entropy weight-CRITIC combination weighting method was used to calculate indicator weights, and the Geodetector model was applied to analyze the driving factors of resilience spatial differentiation. The study found that from 2013 to 2023, the flood resilience index of the study area showed an overall fluctuating upward trend with a significant increase of 22.2%, indicating a marked improvement in resilience level. Spatially, resilience spread outward with Zhengzhou and Jinan as high-value centers; over time, the range of high-resilience cities expanded while the number of low-resilience cities decreased. Driving factor analysis indicated that total regional economic output, fiscal budget expenditure, medical and health service level, and information dissemination capacity were the main drivers, and the synergistic effect among these factors played a particularly significant role in enhancing resilience. Although the flood resilience of the study area has improved significantly over the past decade, regional differences persist. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen regional coordination and optimize urban layout to further enhance cities’ flood resistance capacity.

To investigate the relationship between new quality productive forces and carbon emission efficiency in the Yellow River Basin, and to provide theoretical support for achieving the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and high-quality regional development, this study constructs evaluation index systems for both variables based on panel data from nine provinces (regions) in the Yellow River Basin from 2012 to 2023. A two-way fixed effects model and a mediation effect model are employed to measure and examine the relationship between new quality productive forces and carbon emission efficiency. The results show that: a) New quality productive forces exert a significantly positive effect on improving carbon emission efficiency in the Yellow River Basin, and this finding remains robust after multiple robustness tests.b) The development of new quality productive forces effectively enhances carbon emission efficiency through industrial structure upgrading and green technological innovation. c) The promoting effect of new quality productive forces on carbon emission efficiency is more pronounced in regions with lower economic levels, and is stronger in non-resource-based regions than in resource-based regions.Based on these findings, several policy recommendations are proposed, including continuously fostering new quality productive forces in the Yellow River Basin, optimizing the mechanisms of green technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading, and formulating differentiated development strategies tailored to local conditions.

To enhance the refinement, informatization, and modernization of reservoir operation and management, and to provide practical references for the construction of the digital twin water conservancy system, this paper takes Guxian Reservoir as a case study to explore key technologies and applications for digital twin platform construction. Relying on integrated space-air-ground-water-engineering sensing technology, a data foundation driven by multi-source data fusion has been established. Based on a one-dimensional-two-dimensional coupled hydrodynamic mechanism model characterized by time-varying parameters, and combined with the self-developed “Zhihe Shijie” twin engine, a multi-scale coupled model is constructed. This model covers impoundment inundation, disaster assessment, and visual simulation. The Guxian Reservoir Digital Twin Platform has played a critical role in flood control operations. It supports the “Four Pre” functions of reservoir management, realizing the dynamic simulation and visualization of flood regulation, evolution, and disaster assessment. This effectively improves decision-making capabilities for flood control. Furthermore, it provides a pilot paradigm for the construction of the Digital Twin Yellow River. Its development experience serves as a reference for other water conservancy projects, while its core technologies and multi-scenario application modules support the interconnection, collaborative development, and sharing of the “2+N” business system of the Digital Twin Yellow River.

In response to the local flow field changes caused by the layout of bottom-mounted continuous underwater structures, the RNG k-ε turbulence model is used to analyze the sediment erosion and deposition patterns caused by bottom-mounted continuous structures. The results show that when the structure can cross the water longitudinally, a peach-shaped vortex will be formed behind the backflow side, and a scouring pit will be formed at the side heading point, and the depth of the scouring pit is negatively correlated with the length of the structure. Due to the water-blocking effect of the structure, eddies will be formed on the frontal and backcurrent sides of the structure, and when the structure is wide, eddies will be formed on the upper side and siltation, and the amount of sedimentation is positively correlated with the width of the structure. Because the structure and the water flow direction are at a certain angle, the flow velocity difference is formed in the same longitudinal section, and the water flow flows from the obtuse angle on the back flow side to the acute angle, and forms an arc-shaped vortex at the acute angle, and the vortex direction is towards the lower side of the structure, which has a certain threat to the stability of the lower side of the structure.

The implementation of gully consolidation and highland protection projects in the Loess Plateau Gully Region plays a significant role in safeguarding national land security, food security, ecological security, and livelihood security. This study aims to deepen and expand the theoretical research on such projects and provide references for their practice. Based on field surveys of 71 projects in Gansu and reviews of their engineering design documents, we conducted statistics, induction, and analysis on investment, construction content, protection targets, configuration modes, and functions of the measures. The results indicated the following: a) The measures could be categorized into 10 types: gully head landfill, drainage diversion into channels, detention ponds, gully head protection, land consolidation, slope masonry protection, willow check dams, forest and grass restoration, temporary measures, and other measures. b) The average investment per project was 1.215 5 million yuan, with projects under 2.5 million yuan accounting for 94%. The investment for the 10 types of measures ranged from 0.008 1 to 1.131 3 million yuan per project. c) Comprehensive analysis of investment proportion, adoption rate, and function revealed that among the 10 types, gully head landfill and drainage diversion into channels were the core measures, while detention ponds, gully head protection, and forest and grass restoration were important measures. d) The key protection targets of the completed projects were roads at various levels on the tableland, urban residential areas, villages, and prime farmland. The comprehensive “Interception-Storage-Drainage-Consolidation” treatment system, centered on controlling tableland runoff and constructed jointly by various measures, has yielded significant ecological, economic, and social benefits. e) The task of gully consolidation and highland protection remains arduous, and the construction scale of such projects should be further expanded.

The implementation of the major national strategy for ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin urgently necessitates the synergistic advancement of environmental protection and industrial growth. Practical experiences from representative river basins both domestically and internationally can provide valuable insights for promoting such coordination in the Yellow River Basin. Through a comparative multi-case analysis approach, this study selects the Mississippi River, Rhine River, Amazon River, Nile River, Yangtze River, and Pearl River as reference cases to examine the commonalities and differences between the Yellow River Basin and these basins in terms of harmonizing environmental protection with industrial development. Building on the diversified development experiences of these reference basins, as well as considering the unique characteristics and challenges of the Yellow River Basin, strategies are proposed to further advance the synergistic development of environmental protection and industry. The comparative analysis reveals that while all reference basins emphasize the importance of policy and regulatory guidance, scientific and technological innovation, and the establishment of digital-intelligent monitoring systems, the Yellow River Basin exhibits significant deficiencies in these areas. Moreover, it faces distinct challenges such as severe water scarcity, a single industrial system, and a high proportion of water-intensive industries. To further promote the synergistic development of environmental protection and industry in the Yellow River Basin, the following strategies are recommended: improving vertical and horizontal coordination and compensation mechanisms for ecological conservation; adhering to ecological priority and technological innovation to drive green development; leveraging big data resources to lead the digital-intelligent transformation of industrial development in the basin; and promoting the efficient growth of green industries to establish a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system.

When we using two-dimensional hydrodynamic models for the simulation of flood evolution caused by dam-break, there exists no systematic investigation into the causes of computational deviations arising from differences in grid resolution. The author clarified the reasons why the grid size affects the model results, identified the conditions that require consideration of the grid size, and indicated the necessity of considering the grid size in the simulation of dam-break floods. By establishing numerical models of plain reservoir breach floods with different flood levels and grid sizes, two main processes of how grid size affects the model calculation results are proposed, and corresponding recommended optimization methods for simulating dam breach flood grid sizes are proposed.

Vegetation concrete is widely used in high and steep slope protection, rocky slope protection, and riparian hydraulic engineering protection due to its dual advantages of structural strength and vegetation performance. In practical applications, it is crucial to synergistically optimize its mechanical strength, pore structure, alkalinity environment for plant growth, and durability. To deepen the integration of pore structures and ecological functions of vegetation concrete, and to provide references for improving its application, this paper systematically reviews the research achievements regarding its performance and engineering applications. On this basis, an application workflow for vegetation concrete is proposed, and the main challenges and corresponding solutions for its performance optimization are identified as follows: a) The contradiction between strength and porosity: Increasing porosity benefits plant growth but significantly reduces structural strength. The solutions include optimizing aggregate gradation and binder proportions, adding fibers to improve pore-forming quality and strength, and developing intelligent regulation technologies for pore structures. b) The short duration and high cost of existing alkali-reduction technologies: The proposed solutions involve developing pH-sensitive materials, regulators, and low-alkali paste materials; utilizing microbial mineralization for alkali fixation; strengthening post-maintenance and monitoring; and implementing dynamic alkali reduction. c) Inherent deficiency in durability: Vegetation concrete is vulnerable to damage under freeze-thaw cycles and chemical erosion, resulting in a short service life, especially in alpine and cold regions. The solutions focus on new material development and pore structure optimization, such as applying geopolymers and composite microorganisms, developing anti-freeze-thaw additives and slow-release nutritional mineral admixtures, and constructing pore structures that prevent freeze-thaw damage while facilitating plant root growth.

Soil erodibility factor (K) has become a crucial parameter for dynamic monitoring of soil erosion, estimation of soil loss, and evaluation of soil and water conservation effectiveness in China. Localizing the calculation method of K values is beneficial to improving the accuracy of dynamic soil erosion monitoring. Taking Xifeng District of Qingyang City, located in the core area of the Dongzhi Tableland, as the study area, this research calculated the K values in the loess tableland and gully region based on in-situ measured data from 35 sampling points, combined with the EPIC model and Zhang Keli’s modified formula. The Optimal Parameter-based Geographical Detector (OPGD) was adopted to analyze the main influencing factors of soil erodibility. The results show that: a) The K values in the loess tableland and gully region range from 0.015 2 to 0.017 8 t·hm²·h/(MJ·mm·hm²). Spatially, the high-K zones (K≥0.016 8) in the study area are concentrated in gully areas and residual tablelands surrounded by gully heads, showing an irregular strip-like distribution, while the low-K zones (K<0.016 8) are clustered in regions with large and flat tableland surfaces. b) Soil erodibility in the loess tableland and gully region is affected by multiple factors, and the interactive effects among these factors are significantly stronger than the individual effects of single factors. Among various influencing factors, soil physicochemical properties, especially sand content and organic carbon content, are the dominant factors affecting soil erodibility.

Abstract: As global temperatures continue to rise and extreme weather events occur with increasing frequency, climate change has become an urgent global challenge. Against the backdrop of the shift of global climate governance toward an “implementation-oriented” phase, this study explores synergistic mechanisms between energy transition pathways and watershed ecological governance, drawing on thematic presentations from the China Pavilion side event at the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) and practical experience in watershed ecological management. The findings indicate that climate change has intensified the dual challenges of global energy security and watershed ecosystem sustainability, making the coordinated advancement of energy transition and ecological governance a core pathway for achieving green and low-carbon development and ensuring ecological security. Reducing energy consumption represents the most economically viable option for energy transition, while multi-energy complementarity provides an innovative direction for watershed-level energy transformation. As a mature renewable energy source, hydropower plays a significant role in peak regulation and in maintaining the stability of power supply. This role is particularly prominent in the Yellow River Basin, characterized by “low water and high sediment,” where existing and planned hydraulic projects exert substantial influence on basin-wide water-sediment regulation. Under current conditions of reduced sediment inflow, hydropower generation, ecological protection, and optimized water resources allocation can deliver even greater benefits. Using turbulence research as an example, a velocity distribution formula derived from the turbulent eddy model demonstrates cross-disciplinary applicability in fields such as hydraulic engineering, aeolian sand control, and energy efficiency optimization in aero-engines, underscoring the critical role of fundamental scientific breakthroughs in supporting applied research and technological implementation. The objectives of energy transition and watershed ecological governance are inherently aligned, and the eco-economy emerging from their integration can leverage capital mechanisms to achieve a win-win outcome between ecological protection and economic development. Finally, the study emphasizes that successful energy transition requires the establishment of a full-chain collaborative system spanning from fundamental research to integrated governance, strengthening innovation at the source, activating energy efficiency markets, and ensuring policy support to drive a broader transformation of the development paradigm.

To broaden the research horizon of how the digital economy empowers low-carbon development and to inform decision-making for ecological protection and high-quality growth in the Yellow River Basin, this study constructs an indicator system and quantifies the digital-economy development level by using panel data of the nine basin provinces from 2012 to 2022. On this basis, we specify a benchmark econometric model in which carbon-lock-in intensity is the explained variable and digital-economy development the core explanatory variable, treat industrial-structure upgrading as the mediating variable and urbanisation as the moderating variable, and further build mediation and moderation-effect models to empirically identify the carbon-unlocking effect of the digital economy and its underlying mechanisms.The findings indicate: a) The development of the digital economy in the Yellow River Basin exhibits a robust carbon-unlocking effect; the effect is markedly stronger in the middle-lower reaches, in areas hosting innovation-oriented industrial clusters, and in regions where resource-intensive industries account for a smaller share of output. b) The digital-economy development delivers its carbon-unlocking impact by propelling industrial-structure upgrading, which significantly and positively mediates the Basin-wide effect. c) during the sample period, urbanization negatively moderates the carbon-unlocking effect of the digital economy in the Yellow River Basin.Policy implications: a) Accelerate digital-economy expansion to reinforce its carbon-unlocking capacity. b) Implement region-specific strategies that coordinate digital-economy growth with green low-carbon industries across the Yellow River Basin. c) Further optimize the industrial structure to promote green low-carbon sectors. d) Pursue green urbanization to create low-carbon living spaces.

To explore the coupling and coordination status and mutual response relationship between digital economy and green development in the Yellow River Basin, and to provide references for ecological protection and green high-quality development in the basin, based on the analysis of the coupling mechanism between digital economy and green development, this paper uses panel data of 64 prefecture-level cities (prefectures) in the Yellow River Basin from 2013 to 2022. The entropy weight method is adopted to measure the development level of digital economy, the Super-efficiency-SBM model is used to measure the efficiency of green development, and the coupling coordination degree model is employed to measure the coupling and coordination status between digital economy and green development. The PVAR model is used to empirically analyze the mutual response relationship between digital economy and green development. The research shows that: a)The development level of digital economy in the Yellow River Basin has steadily increased, but it is still at a relatively low level at the end of the study period. Spatially, it shows the highest level in the downstream region, followed by the middle reaches, and the lowest in the upper reaches, with a circular structure centered on relatively high provincial capital cities. b)The efficiency of green development in the Yellow River Basin has also steadily increased during the study period, but the imbalance in green development among prefecture-level cities is prominent. c) The coupling and coordination level between digital economy and green development in the Yellow River Basin has been increasing year by year, rising from a barely coordinated level at the beginning of the study period to a primary coordinated level at the end. Spatially, the downstream region has the highest level, followed by the upper reaches. d)Both digital economy and green development have strong self-dependency, and a two-way high-quality interaction relationship has not yet been formed between them. The promoting effect of digital economy on green development is relatively strong, but the promoting effect of green development on digital economy is relatively weak. Suggestions: Accelerate the construction of new digital infrastructure in the Yellow River Basin to further improve the development level of digital economy; formulate plans and strengthen cross-regional cooperation to quickly narrow the regional gap in green development; promote the further improvement of the coupling and coordination level between digital economy and green development through reasonable industrial layout and technological innovation.

The Yellow River Basin is the region in China that suffers from the most severe soil and water loss and has the most fragile ecological environment. The water and soil conservation measures in the Yellow River basin have significant ecological, economic and social effects. To provide theoretical support for effectively enhancing the functional value of soil and water conservation, realizing its exchange value, and amplifying its financial value, and to offer references for accelerating the formation of a pattern for realizing the value of ecological products in soil and water conservation in the Yellow River Basin and promoting the high-quality development of soil and water conservation in the Yellow River Basin, this study, from the perspective of sustainable development, reveals three value forms of soil and water conservation effects, namely: ecological products that embody functional value, ecological commodities that embody exchange value, and ecological financial products that embody financial value. Furthermore, it clarifies the value conversion process of soil and water conservation effects through four stages: valorization, productization, commercialization, and financialization. It also expounds on five mechanisms of value transformation, including clarification of property rights, value accounting, value pricing, market absorption, and financial innovation. Finally, it puts forward countermeasures to improve the value transformation mechanism, such as establishing the common ownership of water resources in the basin, optimizing the value accounting model and methods for soil and water conservation, and implementing a differentiated value pricing mechanism.