Multi-Level Coupling Relationships of Biocultural Diversity in Rural Cultural Landscapes: A Case Study of the Fengyan Terraced Fields, Shaanxi, China

Biocultural diversity underpins the stability and adaptive capacity of rural cultural landscapes. Taking the Fengyan Terraced Fields in Hanyin County, Shaanxi Province, China, as a case study, this paper integrates landscape character identification, element coupling measurement, and the GeoDetector model to examine the multi-level coupling relationships of biocultural diversity from the perspectives of spatiotemporal differentiation and element interaction patterns. The results show that: (1) the Fengyan Terraced Fields comprise five landscape character zones with pronounced gradient differences, forming a nested spatial pattern characterized by “intensive adaptation at low elevations, balanced development at middle elevations, ecological conservation at high elevations, and clustered cultural features along elevational gradients”; (2) landscape evolution has undergone a staged process of “formation–stabilization–reorganization,” reflecting an adaptive transformation from a traditional farming system to a composite system integrating heritage conservation, ecological agriculture, and cultural display; and (3) ecological, production, and cultural elements generally exhibit synergistic rather than trade-off relationships, in which ecological and production factors are important structural correlates of system feedback intensity, while cultural factors, although not the sole dominant variables, show marked interaction enhancement effects with the ecological and production dimensions. The study concludes that the biocultural diversity of the Fengyan Terraced Fields is essentially a composite human–environment system formed through the long-term embedding of the natural environment, farming techniques, settlement organization, and cultural institutions. The findings inform the scientific conservation and sustainable use of mountainous rural cultural landscapes.