Open innovation (OI) has great significance in innovation management. OI builds a bridge between firms and other organizations, which can help firms to quickly integrate into value chain innovation and discover the value stored in external resources, and thus can improve the performance of firms. The Chinese economy is accelerating its high-quality development. In this process, the importance of social capital is emphasized. However, less evidence is provided to discuss whether and how social capital from the resource perspective affects OI and firm performance. Therefore, we constructed a moderating model to deeply examine the mechanisms of the two models of the effects of inbound OI and outbound OI on firm performance and the impact of multidimensional social capital within it from the resource perspective. Our sample comprises 6899 observations of 1850 A-share listed manufacturing firms in China from 2016 to 2020. Considering the lag of resources into firm profitability, we decided to lag the firm performance by one year behind other indicators, so the sample data cover the period of 2016–2021. Then, we used Excel 2019 to complete the calculations of indicators and used multiple regression analysis of STATA17 to test the hypotheses. It is found that inbound and outbound OI have an inverted U-shaped relationship with firm performance. Institutional and technological social capital positively moderates the relationship between inbound and outbound OI and firm performance. Compared with the other two types of social capital, market social capital is the most widely owned among the sample firms, but its moderating effect is insignificant. The findings enrich and expand theoretical research on OI and firm performance and guide firms to implement OI, promoting their sustainable development.

Oasification and desertification are two essential processes of land use and cover (LULC) change in arid regions. Compared to desertification, which is widely regarded as the most severe global ecological issue, the importance of oasification has not received universal recognition. However, neglecting oasification can lead to detrimental outcomes to the effectiveness of ecological governance by affecting the comprehensiveness of environmental policies proposed only based on desertification. Therefore, this study incorporates oasification into the examination of desertification by analyzing land use data for five representative periods spanning from 1980 to 2020, as well as socioeconomic and environmental data from 2000 to 2010. The aim is to evaluate the spatial and temporal dynamics of oasification and desertification in the Manas River Basin and identify the underlying factors driving these processes. The findings indicated that (1) the general trend of oasification and desertification exhibited the expansion of oases and the retreat of deserts. Specifically, the oasification area showed a “decrease-increase-decrease” pattern over time, while the desertification area consistently decreased. (2) In terms of spatial distribution, oasification and desertification displayed a transition from scattered and disordered patterns to an overall more organized pattern, with the hotspot area of desertification shifting from Shawan County to Manas County over time. (3) Population density, average land GDP, soil type and annual precipitation significantly influenced the degree of oasification, with driving force q-values above 0.4, which were the key factors driving oasification. Population density and average land GDP significantly affected the degree of desertification, with driving force q-values above 0.35, which were the key factors driving desertification. The driving force of all factors increased significantly after the interaction, and socioeconomic factors influenced oasification and desertification more than other factors. The study’s findings aim to provide a scientific basis for land resource use, ecological governance and sustainable development in the Manas River basin.