An Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover Changes, and Implications for Conservation in Mukumbura (Ward 2), Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe, 2002-2022

Understanding trends of land use land cover (LULC) changes is important for biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning, and identifying the areas affected by change and designing sustainable solutions to reduce the changes. The study aims to evaluate and quantify the historical changes in land use and land cover in Mukumbura (Ward 2), Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe, from 2002 to 2022. The objective of the study was to analyse the LULC changes in Ward 2 (Mukumbura), Mt Darwin, Northern Zimbabwe, for a period of 20 years using geospatial techniques. Landsat satellite images were processed using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm was employed to generate LULC maps between 2002 and 2022 with a five (5) year interval, investigating the following variables, forest cover, barren land, water cover and the fields. Findings revealed a substantial reduction in forest cover by 38.8%, water bodies (wetlands, ponds, and rivers) declined by 55.6%, whilst fields (crop/agricultural fields) increased by 93.3% and the barren land cover increased by 26.3% from 2002 to 2022. These findings point to substantial changes in LULC over the observed years. LULC changes have resulted in habitat fragmentation, reduced biodiversity, and the disruption of ecosystem functions. The study concludes that if these deforestation trends, cultivation, and settlement land expansion continue, the ward will have limited indigenous fruit trees. Therefore, the causes for LULC changes must be controlled, sustainable forest resources use practiced, hence the need to domesticate the indigenous fruit trees in arborloo toilets.

Enhancing wood efficiency through comprehensive wood flow analysis:Methodology and strategic insights

Wood,an essential natural resource in human civilization,remains widely used despite advances in technology and material substitution.The surge in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental concerns accentuates the need for optimizing wood utilization.Material flow analysis is a powerful tool for tracking material flows and stocks,aiding resource management and environmental decision-making.However,the full extent of its methodological dimensions,particularly within the context of the wood supply chain,remains relatively unexplored.In this study,we delve into the existing literature on wood flow analysis,discussing its primary objectives,materials involved,temporal and spatial scales,data sources,units,and conversion factors.Additionally,data uncertainty,data reconciliation and crucial assumptions in material flow analysis are highlighted in this paper.Key findings reveal the significance of wood cascading and substitution effects by replacing non-wood materials,where they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than the natural carbon sink of forests and wood products.The immediate impact of short-term wood cascading might not be as robust as the substitution effect,with energy substitution showcasing better results than material substitution.However,it's crucial to note that these conclusions could experience significant reversal from a long-term and global perspective.Strategies for improving wood efficiency involve maximizing material use,advancing construction technologies,extending product lifespans,promoting cascade use,and optimizing energy recovery processes.The study underscores the need for standardized approaches in wood flow analysis and emphasizes the potential of wood efficiency strategies in addressing environmental challenges.

Analysis of Land Use Change and Driving Factors in Mojiang County Based on PLUS Model

[Objectives]To explore the characteristics of land use change and its main influencing factors in Mojiang County from 2000 to 2020,and try to provide a scientific reference for alleviating the contradiction between man and land in Mojiang County and realizing the sustainable development of regional land resources.[Methods]Based on the land cover data and socio-economic data of Mojiang County from 2000 to 2020,the dynamic degree of land use,land use transfer matrix and center-of-gravity transfer model were calculated,and the temporal and spatial change characteristics and driving factors of various types of land use were calculated by PLUS model.[Results]From 2000 to 2020,the area and proportion of grassland,waters and construction land in Mojiang County showed an upward trend,while the area and proportion of cultivated land and forest land showed a downward trend.Among them,cultivated land was mainly converted into forest land and grassland,and some were converted into waters and construction land;forest land was mainly converted into cultivated land and grassland,and part of it was converted into waters and construction land.From 2000 to 2020,the center-of-gravity of cultivated land,forest land and construction land in Mojiang County moved to the southeast of the county,and the moving rates were 0.66,1.97 and 10.58 km/yr,respectively;the center-of-gravity of grassland and waters moved to the southwest of the county,and the moving rates were 1.30 and 20.20 km/yr,respectively.Distance from road,distance from government and distance from waters are the main driving forces affecting land use change in Mojiang County;the forecast shows that in 2040,the area of grassland and forest land in Mojiang County will continue to decrease,the area of cultivated land will turn to rise,and the area of waters and construction land will continue to rise.[Conclusions]Reasonable planning and optimizing the allocation of cultivated land and forest land structure and strict control of the expansion scale of construction land are necessary measures to ensure the coordinated development of regional land rational use and economic construction.

Risk Analysis of Sulfites Used as Food Additives in China

This study was to analyze the risk of sulfites in food consumed by the Chinese people and assess the health protection capability of maximum-permitted level （MPL） of sulfites in GB 2760-2011. Sulfites as food additives are overused or abused in many food categories. When the MPL in GB 2760-2011 was used as sulfites content in food, the intake of sulfites in most surveyed populations was lower than the acceptable daily intake （ADI）. Excess intake of sulfites was found in all the surveyed groups when a high percentile of sulfites in food was intaken. Moreover, children aged 1-6 years are at a high risk to intake excess sulfites. The primary cause for the excess intake of sulfites in Chinese people is the overuse and abuse of sulfites by the food industry. The current MPL of sulfites in GB 2760-2011 protects the health of most populations.

Combination Use of PFGE and Drug-resistant Analysis in the Epidemiological Investigation of Listeria Monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is the pathogen of listeriosis and it causes severe infections like septicemia, encephalitis, and meningitis, especially in immunocompromised individuals, newborns, and pregnant women. Its wide distribution in the environment and ability to survive or even grow under adverse conditions has made L. monocytogenes an important public health concern and in food industry.

Response of Ecosystem Service Value Based on Land Use Changes and Analysis of its Driving Factors in Typical Hilly Region with Red Soil

The contribution rate of ecosystem service value variation was used to analyze the effects of land use changes on the changes of ecosystem service value in Xingguo County during 1996-2005.Grey integrated correlation was employed to explore the contribution level of the indicators such as total population,urbanization level,proportion of primary industry and investment of social fixed assets on ecosystem service value,and the correlation analysis was also carried out.The results showed that the ecosystem service value in Xingguo County during 1996-2005 mainly was woodland,and the decrease of woodland area was the major reason for the sustained reduction of ecosystem service value.With the further increase of market demand and the incentives of local government,the garden area rapidly increased during 2001-2005,and the influence degree of garden towards the changes of ecosystem service value was only second to woodland,ranking No.2.Four socio-economic indicators had different correlation degree with ecosystem service value during the different research periods.Total population,urbanization level and proportion of primary industry had high correlation degree with ecosystem service value,whereas the influence degree of various socio-economic indicators on ecosystem service value was equal with each other day by day.Urbanization level,investment of social fixed assets and total population had significant negative correlation with ecosystem service value,while the proportion of primary industry had positive correlation with ecosystem service value.

Geo-information Tupu Analysis of Land Use Change in Haihe River Basin

[Objective] This study was to provide basis for the scientific management of land use in Haihe River Basin （HRB） through the quantitative exploration of the land use conversion, changes of intensity and spatial distribution in this region. [Method] With the support of remote sensing technology and geographic information technology, the land use maps of the study area in 40 years （1970-2010） were in- terpreted and plotted. Four kinds of tupu, namely, land use change tupu, process tupu, arising tupu and evolution mode tupu were built through the spatial overlay of the land use maps to analyze the change rules of land use patterns. [Result] The conversion of arable land to construction land was the main characteristics of land use changes in HRB for the 40 years; the area of non-stable region accounted for 35% of the total, indicating that the land use changed remarkably, thus, it was nec- essary to strengthen the scientific land management in HRB; the new conversions to all land use patterns were all the lowest in 1980-1990, indicating that land use changed slowly during this period. [Conclusion] The results indicate that, compared with conventional transfer matrix method, geo-information tupu has obvious advantage in analyzing land use changes that it can demonstrate the spatial distribution of interest region, display the multi-dimensional spatial information.

Sustainability Analysis of Cropland Use in Cropping-Pastoral Ecotone before and after the Grain-for-Green Policy:A Case Study from Yanchi County in Ningxia

[Objective] This study aimed to analyze the sustainability of cropland use in cropping-pastoral ecotone before and after the Grain-for-Green Policy. [Method] Using Yanchi County in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as a case study area, this investigation used the annual transfer rate of land use types, cropland suitability and emergy analysis to examine the major pressures affecting the sustainable use of cropland before and after the Grain-for-Green Policy. [Result] The expansion of con- struction land onto cropland was significant; the annual cropland area was still larger than the land area suitable for cropping after the policy; agrochemical inputs used for crop production gradually increased and unit crop outputs required more agro- chemical inputs. Cropland use sustainability showed a fluctuating downward trend. [Conclusion] The results imply that the protection of high quality cropland, further im- plementation of the policy and control of agrochemical inputs according to precipita- tion are the main measures needed for sustainable cropland use in cropping-pastoral ecotone.

Land use change in Bohai Rim: a spatial-temporal analysis

Based on RS and GIS methods, land use information for 1985 and 1995 was acquired from TM images and analyzed. Then on both spatial and temporal aspects, this paper analyzes land use change in three provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Liaoning and two municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin in the Bohai Rim covering the period of 1985 to 1995. The extent, rate, areal difference and trend of various types of land use changes in the region, as well as spatial changes of major types of land use, their distribution characteristics and regional orientation are revealed. The regional characteristics of land use are elaborated, so as to provide effective policy support for sustainable land use in the area around the Bohai Bay.

Impacts of Transportation Arteries on Land Use Patterns in Urbanrural Fringe: A Comparative Gradient Analysis of Qixia District, Nanjing City, China

Integrated transportation and land use studies are of major interest to planners because they consider the interaction between transportation development and land use change. Quantifying the impact of transport infrastructure on land use change is necessary for evaluating the role of transportation development in the process of land use and land cover change in the urban-rural fringe. Taking Qixia District of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China as a typical urban-rural fringe area, this paper analyzes the patterns and charac- teristics of land use change along three major transportation arteries using land use data from 2000 and 2008. We examine the spatial differentiation and gradient of land use pattern around railway, expressway, and highway corridors to investigate whether land use change in the urban-rural fringe is related to distance from transportation arteries and to clarify the varying impacts of different forms of transport infrastructure on land use patterns. We find that construction land generally tends to be located close to major transportation arteries, and that railways have the most obvious influence on land use change in the urban-rural fringe, while the impact of expressways was not significant. We conclude that there exists a causal relationship between the presence of transportation arteries and land use change in the urban-rural fringe, but this relationship varies across different types of linear transnort infrastrncnlre.

Research on spatial calculating analysis model of landuse change

The spatial calculating analysis model is based on GIS overlay. It will compartmentalize the land in research district into three spatial types: unchanged parts, converted parts and increased parts. By this method we can evaluate the numerical model and dynamic degree model for calculating land-use change rates. Furthermore, the paper raises the possibility of revising the calculating analysis model of spatial information in order to predicate more precisely the dynamic changing level of all types of land uses. In the most concrete terms, the model is used mainly to understand changed area and changed rates (increasing or decreasing) of different land types from microcosmic angle and establish spatial distribution and spatio-temporal principles of the changing urban lands. And we will try to find out why the situation can take place by combining social and economic situations. The result indicates the calculating analysis model of spatial information can derive more accurate procedure of spatial transference and increase of all kinds of land from microcosmic angle. By this model and technology we can conduct the research of land-use spatio-temporal structure evolution more systematically and more deeply, and can obtain a satisfactory result. The result will benefit the rational planning and management of urban land use of developed coastal areas in China in the future.

Statistical Analysis of Leaf Water Use Efficiency and Physiology Traits of Winter Wheat Under Drought Condition

Five statistical methods including simple correlation, multiple linear regression, stepwise regression, principal components, and path analysis were used to explore the relationship between leaf water use efficiency （WUE） and physiological traits （photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, etc.） of 29 wheat cultivars. The results showed that photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate were the most important leaf WUE parameters under drought condition. Based on the results of statistical analyses, principal component analysis could be the most suitable method to ascertain the relationship between leaf WUE and relative physiological traits. It is reasonable to assume that high leaf WUE wheat could be obtained by selecting breeding materials with high photosynthesis rate, low transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance under dry area.

The Quantitative Analysis of Land Use Structure Characteristics of County in Mountainous Areas in Sichuan Province of China——A Case Study of Rong County

Based on the data concerning detailed survey on land in the year 2009 and land change in the year 2010 in Rong County,a mountainous region of Sichuan Province,by using quantitative geographical model,we conduct quantitative analysis of the status quo of land use in Rong County in terms of land use diversification,land use centralization,land use combination type,land use geographic significance and comprehensive use degree of land use.The results show some characteristics as follows.Firstly,land use in study area displays prominent characteristic of diversification;there is a high degree of completeness land use type;there is a great similarity among towns.Secondly,there is limited combination number of land use type;mostly the combination number of the towns is 2-3;the holistic function of regional land is fragile;the proportion of farmland areas is big,reaching 40.09%;the land use type of 21 towns is farmland.Thirdly,the towns with prominent characteristic of diversification of land use in Rong County,have low degree of centralization of land use and relatively big combination number of land use type,and vice versa.Fourthly,the type and quantity of agricultural land resources with geographical significance are relatively complete with nothing missing;it abounds in untapped land,but the overall index values of land use are all smaller than 300,with low overall use degree of land.

Ecological Safety Evaluation of Land Use in Ji'an City Based on the Principal Component Analysis

According to the ecological safety evaluation index data of land-use change in Ji'an City from 1999 to 2008,positive treatment on selected reverse indices is conducted by Reciprocal Method.Meanwhile,Index Method is used to standardize the selected indices,and Principal Component Analysis is applied by using year as a unit.FB is obtained,which is related with the ecological safety of land-use change from 1999 to 2008.According to the scientific,integrative,hierarchical,practical and dynamic principles,ecological safety evaluation index system of land-use change in Ji'an City is established.Principal Component Analysis and evaluation model are used to calculate four parameters,including the natural resources safety index of land use,the socio-economic safety indicators of land use,the eco-environmental safety index of land use,and the ecological safety degree of land use in Ji'an City.Result indicates that the ecological safety degree of land use in Ji'an City shows a slow upward trend as a whole.At the same time,ecological safety degree of land-use change is relatively low in Ji'an City with the safety value of 0.645,which is at a weak safety zone and needs further monitoring and maintenance.

Land use change and effect analysis of tideland reclamation in Hangzhou Bay

Since the beginning of the 20th century, tideland reclamation as a huge project has continuously extended from inland to the sea for the socioeconomic development, like Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other coastal regions in China. The increase of land area alleviated the contradiction of supply and demand between human and land, which provided the guarantee for agricultural production and industrial development. However, marine ecological environment has been seriously damaged due to the increasing scale of tideland reclamation. This paper took the Hangzhou Bay in the Yangtze River Delta as a study area to explore the evolution law, socioeconomic effect and eco-environmental effect of reclaimed land from 1985 to 2015. The result showed that as follows:(1) The area of tideland reclamation was 460.67 km^2 with 16.57% cultivated land and 15.93% construction land, and its land use was inefficient;(2) Land use change has spatial and temporal difference, the speed of tideland reclamation had been increasing from 1985 to 2015 in time and the scale of reclaimed land in the southern(84.07%) of Hangzhou Bay was larger than the northern region(15.93%) in space;(3) The evolution law of land use was from tideland to swampland and coastal waters to agricultural facility land, to cultivated land to industrial-mining land to idle land, rural-urban construction land, and formed obviously hierarchical structure;(4) Effect analysis of land use change found that the socio-economic effect had increased but the eco-environmental effect had decreased from 1985 to 2015, it reflected socio-economic effect was acquired through sacrificing eco-environmental effect;(5) It pointed out the existing problems on land extensive inefficient, environmental degradation and economy excessive growth without scientific planning, and offered some suggestions in land comprehensive improvement project, industrial transformation and upgrading and scientific planning and legal safeguardto promote sustainable development in the Hangzhou Bay in the new period.

Watershed Prioritization of Palar Sub-watershed Based on the Morphometric and Land Use Analysis

Morphometric analysis is an indispensable tool for hydrological investigation that involves the development and management of drainage basin. This study characterizes the micro watersheds in the Palar sub-watershed using morphometric analysis and assesses its risk by land use and land cover features in a particular micro watershed. Palar sub-watershed is divided into 6 micro watersheds for prioritization based on morphometric and land use analysis. Several morphometric parameters （linear, shape and relief） are determined from the drainage map; ranks are assigned based on their capacity to induce erodability and degradation. Final ranking is based on the composite index calculated from the sum of the ranks of each morphometric parameter. Morphometric analysis reveals micro watersheds 5 and 6 as most susceptible and 2 and 3 as low susceptible. Land use is mapped using IRS ID LISS III satellite data. The risk in terms of watershed degradation involved to each micro watershed is based on the ranks of each land use feature, obtained from a similar composite index as that of morphometric analysis. Land use analysis shows that micro watersheds 2 and 4 fall under high priority category while 5 and 6 under low priority category. Integration of the morphometric and land use analysis shows that only microwatershed 1 falls under the same category in both analyses. Control measures are suggested to contain degradation depending on its specific land use pattern and morphometric features. This study ean be used to prepare a comprehensive watershed plan for the development or for planning resource conservation strategies, by integrating land use features with the drainage characteristics of the region, in particular for a hill ecosystem as the prioritization is at micro level.

Analysis to driving forces of land use change in Lu’an mining area

By selecting impact factors of driving force and formulating evaluation criteria of the impacts, the evaluation system of corresponding driving force impact of land use change was established. Taking Lu'an mining area as an example, the specific impact factors of coal mine were comprehensively evaluated and analyzed in order to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis for the driving force of mining-land use change. The principal component analysis shows that the social and economic development in mining area from 2000 to 2007 demonstrates continuous accelerate trends, and the impacts of its overall driving force to land use change are increased gradually. The socio-economic factors have more impacts to mining-land use change than those of the natural resources. The main driving force of mining-land use change also include population, technological progress and policy.

Land use suitability analysis for town development planning in Nanjing hilly areas: A case study of Tangshan new town, China

Land use suitability analysis plays an important role in sustainable land use and solving environmental problems caused by rapid urban development.A land use suitability mapping approach for town development planning in hilly areas was constructed based on two multi-criteria evaluation methods:Weighted Linear Combination(WLC)and Ordered Weighted Averaging(OWA),to comparatively evaluate and map land use suitability of Tangshan new town in Nanjing,China.Fourteen evaluation factors related to topographic,environmental,socio-economics and historical sites data were used as suitability criteria.The analytic hierarchy process(AHP)method and GIS techniques were integrated into the evaluation models to create the land use suitability map for town development planning.The results of WLC approach showed that 11.4%of the total area is highly suitable while the 48.6%is unsuitable.The results of WLC and OWA approach showed the distribution of degree of land use suitability is almost the same.The areas located at the southern and eastern flat regions are highly suitable for land use,whereas the areas close to the mountain forests,steep slopes,waters,and hot springs,have lower suitability for land use.Sensitivity analysis indicated that the suitability results of the two proposed methods are robust.Indirect validation was achieved by mutual comparison of suitability maps derived from the WLC and OWA methods.It demonstrated that the overall agreement is 90.81%and kappa coefficient is 0.81,indicating that both methods provide very similar spatial suitability distributions.By overlaying the resultant map with the previous master plan map of Tangshan new town,the overlay map once again indicated a satisfactory ecological fit between the two maps.At last,several recommendations are proposed aiming at improving the long-term town development plan for Tangshan new town.

Use of Intensity Analysis to Measure Land Use Changes from 1932 to 2005 in Zhenlai County, Northeast China

Analyzing spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover over time is widely recognized as important to better understand and provide solutions for social, economic, and environmental problems, especially in ecologically fragile region. In this paper, a case study was taken in Zhenlai County, which is a part of farming-pastoral ecotone of Northeast China. This study seeks to use multi-temporal satellite images and other data from various sources to analyze spatiotemporal changes from 1932 to 2005, and applied a quantitative methodology named intensity analysis in the time scale of decades at three levels: time interval, category, and transition. The findings of the case study are as follows: 1) the interval level of intensity analysis revealed that the annual rate of overall change was relatively fast in 1932–1954 and 1954–1976 time intervals. 2) The category level showed that arable land experienced less intensively gains and losses if the overall change was to have been distributed uniformly across the landscape while the gains and losses of forest land, grassland, water, settlement, wetland and other unused land were not consistent and stationary across the four time intervals. 3) The transition level illustrated that arable land expanded at the expense of grassland before 2000 while it gained intensively from wetland from 2000 to 2005. Settlement targets arable land and avoids grassland, water, wetland and other unused land. Besides, the loss of grassland was intensively targeted by arable land, forest land and wetland in the study period while the loss of wetland was targeted by water except for the time interval of 1976–2000. 4) During the early reclamation period, land use change of the study area was mainly affected by the policy, institutional and political factors, followed by the natural disasters.

GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Land Use Resource Planning

Natural resources management is indispensable in ensuring environmental sustainability and reducing the risk associated with climate change and increasing demand for ecological goods and services. Natural resources planners need to have at their disposal tools that can objectively help in prioritizing land use allocation. Traditional application of land use change model based on economic model, trend analysis, and or scenario analysis present some challenges of data availability and reliability necessary for implementation of the models. However, with the advent of information technology, GIS and remote sensing, biophysical data known for having influence on land use allocation can easily be accessed. The current study explores the application of GIS-Multi-criteria analysis in modeling future land use scenarios for resources planning and management using easy to construct biophysical parameters known for influencing future land use allocation. The decision problems in this study are to find the best spatial allocation of land to future agriculture and forest development, which are considered to present critical land use change in the study area. The afforestation scenarios are meant to offset the pressure on the native forest resources due to the increased demand for fuel and timber and also to contribute to the environmental protection and the agricultural land use scenarios are meant to increase productivity and ensure environmental protection. The land use scenarios did not consider “when” in the future the land use pattern may develop. The analyses of scenarios indicate that afforestation extent in the basin can be increased from 4.6% to 42.9% of the total basin area. However, the afforestation extent of 42.9% may be considered unrealistic, since in practice, it may not be possible to realize up to 42.9% afforestation, nevertheless, the spatial pattern of the afforestation may provide crucial insight into spatial afforestation policies and it future consequences. The agricultural land use can increase from 6.2% to 53.7% of the basin area. The agricultural land use expansion can be realised since the expansion of farm land is primarily the main option to achieve food production increase in the near future. The findings indicate potential use of the methodology in land use planning.