Impacts of multi-scenario land use change on ecosystem services and ecological security pattern: A case study of the Yellow River Delta

The Yellow River Delta(YRD), a critical economic zone along China's eastern coast, also functions as a vital ecological reserve in the lower Yellow River. Amidst rapid industrialization and urbanization, the region has witnessed significant land use/cover changes(LUCC), impacting ecosystem services(ES) and ecological security patterns(ESP). Investigating LUCC's effects on ES and ESP in the YRD is crucial for ecological security and sustainable development. This study utilized the PLUS model to simulate 2030 land use scenarios, including natural development(NDS), economic development(EDS), and ecological protection scenarios(EPS). Subsequently, the InVEST model and circuit theory were applied to assess ES and ESP under varying LUCC scenarios from 2010 to 2030. Findings indicate:(1) Notable LUCC from 2010 to 2030, marked by decreasing cropland and increasing construction land and water bodies.(2) From 2010 to 2020, improvements were observed in carbon storage,water yield, soil retention, and habitat quality, whereas 2020–2030 saw increases in water yield and soil retention but declines in habitat quality and carbon storage. Among the scenarios, EPS showed superior performance in all four ES.(3) Between 2010 and 2030, ecological sources, corridors, and pinchpoints expanded, displaying significant spatial heterogeneity. The EPS scenario yielded the most substantial increases in ecological sources,corridors, and pinchpoints, totaling 582.89 km^(2), 645.03 km^(2),and 64.43 km^(2), respectively. This study highlights the importance of EPS, offering insightful scientific guidance for the YRD's sustainable development.

Spatial patterns and driving forces of land use change in China during the early 21st century

Land use and land cover change as the core of coupled human-environment systems has become a potential field of land change science （LCS） in the study of global environmental change. Based on remotely sensed data of land use change with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km on national scale among every 5 years, this paper designed a new dynamic regionalization according to the comprehensive characteristics of land use change including regional differentiation, physical, economic, and macro-policy factors as well. Spatial pattern of land use change and its driving forces were investigated in China in the early 21 st century. To sum up, land use change pattern of this period was characterized by rapid changes in the whole country. Over the agricultural zones, e.g., Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the southeast coastal areas and Sichuan Basin, a great proportion of fine arable land were engrossed owing to considerable expansion of the built-up and residential areas, resulting in decrease of paddy land area in southern China. The development of oasis agriculture in Northwest China and the reclamation in Northeast China led to a slight increase in arable land area in northern China. Due to the ＂Grain for Green＂ policy, forest area was significantly increased in the middle and western developing regions, where the vegetation coverage was substantially enlarged, likewise. This paper argued the main driving forces as the implementation of the strategy on land use and regional development, such as policies of ＂Western Development＂, ＂Revitalization of Northeast＂, coupled with rapidly economic development during this period.

Examining the Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Determinants of Land Urbanization in Prefecture-level Cities,China

Examining the spatiotemporal dynamics and determinants of land urbanization is critical for promoting healthy urban development and the rational use of land resources.Based on the dataset consisting of land use change data and selected factors in 2010 and2020,this study used visual analysis to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of land urbanization across prefecture-level cities in China.Meanwhile,the driving forces underlying land urbanization were examined by using geographical detector technique.Following are the findings:1)we find that there exist notable spatial variances in land urbanization across prefecture-level cities.Currently,the differentiation in land urbanization between the northern and southern cities is more pronounced than that between the coastal and inland cities,or between the eastern and western cities.Prefecture-level cities located in central and western China have experienced the most rapid growth in land urbanization.Conversely,the growth rate in northeastern China is the lowest,while the velocity in eastern China remains relatively stable.By using spatial autocorrelation analysis,this study reveals that the land urbanization level in prefecture-level cities has significant spatial agglomeration.2)We further find that land urbanization in China is influenced by factors related to urban land supply and demand,and urban population growth,economic growth,land financial and political incentive have greater impact on land urbanization than other factors.3)We also find that the impacts of determinants on China’s land urbanization vary over time,the explanatory power of economic development increased,while the explanatory power of state forces declined.We argue that integrating the supply and demand factors of land urbanization can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the driving mechanisms underlying land urbanization in China and other transitional countries,and help decision-makers in these countries formulate more detailed and specific land urbanization policies.

Multifractal characteristics and spatial variability of soil particle-size distribution in different land use patterns in a small catchment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region,China

Characterizing soil particle-size distribution is a key measure towards soil property.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the multifractal characteristics of soil particle-size distribution among different land-use from a purple soil catchment and to generalize the spatial variation trend of multifractal parameters across the catchment.A total of 84 soil samples were collected from four kinds of land use patterns(dry land,orchard,paddy,and forest)in an agricultural catchment in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region,China.The multifractal analysis method was applied to quantitatively characterize the soil particle size distribution.Six soil particle size distribution(PSD)multifractal parameters(D(0),D(1),D(2),(35)a(q),(35)f[a(q)],α(0))were computed.Additionally,a geostatistical analysis was employed to reveal the spatial differentiation and map the spatial distribution of these parameters.Evident multifractal characteristics were found.The trend of generalized dimension spectrum of four land use patterns was basically consistent with the range of 0.8 to 2.0.However,orchard showed the largest monotonic decline,while the forest demonstrated the smallest decrease.D(0)of the four land use patterns were ranked as:dry land<orchard<forest<paddy,the order of D(1)was:dry land<paddy<orchard<forest,D(2)presented a rand-size relationship as dry land<forest<paddy<orchard.Furthermore,all land-use patterns presented asΔf[α(q)]<0.The rand-size relationship ofα(0)was same as D(0).The best-fitting model for D(0),D(1),D(2)andΔf[α(q)]was spherical model,forΔα(q)was gaussian model,and forα(0)was exponential model with structure variance ratio was 1.03%,49.83%,0.84%,1.48%,22.20%and 10.60%,respectively.The results showed that soil particles of each land use pattern were distributed unevenly.The multifractal parameters under different land use have significant differences,except forΔα(q).Differences in the composition of soil particles lead to differences in the multifractal properties even though they belong to the same soil texture.Farming behavior may refine particles and enhance the heterogeneity of soil particle distribution.Our results provide an effective reference for quantifying the impact of human activities on soil system in the Three Gorges Reservoir region.

STUDY ON THE SPATIAL PATTERNS OF LAND-USE CHANGE AND ANALYSES OF DRIVING FORCES IN NORTHEASTERN CHINA DURING 1990-2000

Land-use change is an important aspect of global environment change.It i s,in a sense,the direct result of human activities influencing our physical environment.Supported by the dynamic serving system of nation al resources,including both the environment data base and GIS technology,this paper a nalyzed the land-use change in north eastern Chi-na in the past ten years(1990-2000).It divides northeastern China into five land-use zones based on the dynamic de-gree(DD)of land-use:woodland /grassland -a rable land conversion zone,dry land-paddy field conversion zone,ur-ban expansion zone,interlocked zon e of farming and pasturing,and recla mation and abandoned zone.In the past ten years,land-use change of northeastern China can be generalized as follo ws:increase of cropland area was obvious,pad-dy field and dry land increased by 74.9and 276.0thousand ha respectively;urban area expanded rapidly,area o f town and rural residence increased by 76.8thousand ha;area of forest and grassland decreased sharply with the amo unt of1399.0and 1521.3thousand ha respec tively;area of water body and unused land increased by 148.4and 513.9thou-sand ha respectively.Besides a comp rehensive analysis of the spatial patterns of land use,this paper also di scusses the driving forces in each land-use dynamic zones.The study shows that some k ey biophysical factors affect consp icuously the conversion of different land-use ty pes.In this paper,the relationship s between land-use conversion and DEM,accumulat-ed temperature(≥10℃)and precipitation were analysed and represented.We conclude that the la nd-use changes in north-east China resulted from the change o f macro social and economic factors a nd local physical elements.Rapid population growth and management changes,in so me sense,can explain the shaping of woodland /grassland -cropland conve rsion zone.The conversion from dry land to paddy field in the dry land -paddy fie ld conversion zone,apart from the ph ysical elements change promoting the expan sion of paddy field,results from two reasons:one is that the implementation of mar-ket-economy in China has given farme rs the right to decide what they plant and how they plant their crops,the other fac-tor is originated partially from the change of dietary habit with the social and economic development.The con version from paddy field to dry land is caused prim arily by the shortfall of irrigation water,which in turn is caused by poor water alloca-tion managed by local governments.T he shaping of the reclamation and abandoned zone is partially due to the la ck of environ-ment protection consciousness amon g pioneer settlers.The reason for th e conversion fromgrassland to cropl and is the relative-ly higher profits of farming than that of pasturing in the interlocked zon e of farming and pasturing.In northeastern China,the rapid expansion of built-up areas results from two factors:the first is its small number of towns;the second comes from the huge potential for expansio n of existing towns and cities.It is n oticeable that urban expansion in th e northeastern China is characterized by gentle top ographic relief and low population d ensity.Physiognomy,transportati on and economy exert great influences on the urban e xpansion.

Using autologistic spatial models to simulate the distribution of land-use patterns in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province

Nowadays, spatial simulation on land use patterns is one of the key contents of LUCC. Modeling is an important tool for simulating land use patterns due to its ability to integrate measurements of changes in land cover and the associated drivers. The conventional regression model can only analyze the correlation between land use types and driving factors but cannot depict the spatial autocorrelation characteristics. Land uses in Yongding County, which is located in the typical karst mountain areas in northwestern Hunan province, were investigated by means of modeling the spatial autocorrelation of land use types with the purpose of deriving better spatial land use patterns on the basis of terrain characteristics and infrastructural conditions. Through incorporating components describing the spatial autocorrelation into a conventional logistic model, we constructed a regression model （Autologistic model）, and used this model to simulate and analyze the spatial land use patterns in Yongding County. According to the comparison with the conventional logistic model without considering the spatial autocorrelation, this model showed better goodness and higher accuracy of fitting. The distribution of arable land, wood land, built-up land and unused land yielded areas under the ROC curves （AUC） was improved to 0.893, 0.940, 0.907 and 0.863 respectively with the autologistic model. It is argued that the improved model based on autologistic method was reasonable to a certain extent. Meanwhile, these analysis results could provide valuable information for modeling future land use change scenarios with actual conditions of local and regional land use, and the probability maps of land use types obtained from this study could also support government decision-making on land use management for Yongding County and other similar areas.

Spatio-temporal Pattern and Spatial Heterogeneity of Ecotones Based oh Land Use Types of Southeastern Da Hinggan Mountains in China

Ecotones have received great attention due to its critical function in energy flux, species harbor, global carbon sequestration, and land-atmosphere interaction. This study investigated land use pattern and spatial heterogeneity of the ecotones among agricultural land, forest land, and grassland of the southeastern Da Hinggan Mountains in the northeastern China. The change of these delineated ecotones under different slopes and aridity conditions was analyzed by two landscape indices, edge density(ED) and core area percentage of landscape(CPL), to explore the inter-linkage between spatial structure of ecotones and socioeconomic development and land management. Specifically, the ecotones such as agriculture-forest(AF) ecotone, forest-grassland(FG) ecotone, and agriculture-forestgrassland(AFG) ecotone moved from the arid southeast to the humid northwest. The flat area with small slope is more edge-fragmented than the steep area since the ED decreases as the slope increases. The AF ecotone mostly found in the humid region is moving to more humid areas while the agriculture-grassland(AG) ecotone mostly found in the dry region is moving towards the drier region.

Fractal Analysis on the Spatial Structure of Land Use Patterns in a Non-Point Source Polluted Area in Southern China

Based on the TM remote sensing interpretation of land use data of a non-point source polluted area in southern China in 2015, supported by ArcGIS and the fractal theory, this paper established the perimeter-area fractal equation of the spatial structure of land use types, quantitatively calculated the fractal dimension and stability index of various land use types in this non-point source polluted area in 2015, and analyzed the spatial structure characteristics of land use types. The results showed that the fractal dimension values of the different land use types in the research area ranged 1.141–1.657, and the whole fractal dimension of the research area was 1.206. To be specific, the fractal dimension values of unused land, grass land and rural residential land were high, and the fractal dimension values of dry land, paddy filed and waters were low, and the fractal dimension values of urban land, industrial traffic construction land and forest land were moderate. The area of the land use types whose stability index values were 0.2–0.4 accounted for 89.5% of total area, suggesting that the stability of the spatial structure of land use types of Beibei District in 2015 was not high generally. The rural residential land and urban land of the research area should be planned and managed more properly from now on.

Spatial patterns of urban land use growth in Beijing

By using digitized land use maps of Beijing in 1982, 1992 and 1997 and employing GIS spatial analysis techniques, this paper conducts an empirical study on the spatial differentiation and spatial patterns of urban land use growth in Beijing in the period of 1982–1997. It is observed that urban land use growth in Beijing went beyond the control of urban planning, in terms of the extraordinary high growth rate and undesired spatial pattern. The rate of urban expansion after 1982, which was predominated by growth of industrial land, was extraordinary high compared to its historical period. While its growth centers have been actively shifting toward the northern part, rather than toward the southern and eastern parts as designated by the latest General Plan (1991–2010) of Beijing, its spatial pattern of urban land use growth in general was in distinct concentric sprawl, which seriously violated the General Plan of Beijing.

The influence of land use change on the spatial–temporal variability of habitat quality between 1990 and 2010 in Northeast China

Land use changes are a direct consequence of interactions between humans and nature.Analysing the spatial and temporal changes in habitat quality brought about by land use change can provide a scientific basis for ecological protection and land planning.Based on the analysis of land use change from 1990 to 2010 in Northeast China,we used the InVEST(integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs)module to evaluate habitat quality based on watershed subdivision.The results show that:(1)the main land use changes from 1990 to 2010 were the transition from grasslands and forest lands to agricultural lands,which led to a decrease in connectivity of landscape and an increase in fragmentation;(2)areas of high habitat quality were distributed north of the Greater Khingan Mountains,the region of the Lesser Khingan Mountains and east of the Changbai Mountains,while the central plain had low habitat quality;(3)agricultural lands had the largest effect on habitat degradation among all habitat threats.During these 2 decades,the contribution of agricultural lands to habitat degradation were 43.4%in 1990,44.6%in 2000 and 43.9%in 2010;and,(4)at a landscape scale,patch density and splitting index present noticeable negative correlations with habitat quality index.Habitat quality was significantly affected by landscape fragmentation and decreased connectivity.

Fractal features of soil profiles under different land use patterns on the Loess Plateau, China

Fractal theory is becoming an increasingly useful tool to describe soil structure dynamics for a better understanding of the performance of soil systems. Changes in land use patterns significantly affect soil physical, chemical and biological properties. However, limited information is available on the fractal characteristics of deep soil layers under different land use patterns. In this study, the fractal dimensions of particle size distribution（PSD） and micro-aggregates in the 0–500 cm soil profile and soil anti-erodibility in the 0–10 cm soil profile for 10 typical land use patterns were investigated in the Zhifanggou Watershed on the Loess Plateau, China. The 10 typical land use patterns were： slope cropland, two terraced croplands, check-dam cropland, woodland, two shrublands, orchard, artificial and natural grasslands. The results showed that the fractal dimensions of PSD and micro-aggregates were all significantly influenced by soil depths, land use patterns and their interaction. The plantations of shrubland, woodland and natural grassland increased the amount of larger micro-aggregates, and decreased the fractal dimensions of micro-aggregates in the 0–40 cm soil profile. And they also improved the aggregate state and aggregate degree and decreased dispersion rate in the 0–10 cm soil profile. The results indicated that fractal theory can be used to characterize soil structure under different land use patterns and fractal dimensions of micro-aggregates were more effective in this regard. The natural grassland may be the best choice for improving soil structure in the study area.

The effects of land use and its patterns on soil properties in a small catchment of the Loess Plateau

Due to relatively strong human activities in the hilly area of Loess Plateau, the natural vegetation has been destroyed, and landscape pattern based on agricultural land matrix was land use mosaic composing of shrub land, grassland, woodland and orchard. This pattern has an important effect on soil moisture and soil nutrients. The Danangou catchment, a typical small catchment, was selected to study the effects of land use and its patterns on soil moisture and nutrients in this paper. The results are as follows: The comparisons of soil moisture among seven land uses for wet year and dry year were performed: (1) the average of soil moisture content for whole catchment was 12.11% in wet year, while it was 9.37% in dry year; (2) soil moisture among seven land uses was significantly different in dry year, but not in wet year; (3) from wet year to dry year, the profile type of soil moisture changed from decreasing type to fluctuation-type and from fluctuant type to increasing type; (4) the increasing trend in soil moisture from the top to foot of hillslope occurred in simple land use along slope, while complicated distribution of soil moisture was observed in multiple land uses along slope. The relationships between soil nutrients and land uses and landscape positions were analysed: (1) five nutrient contents of soil organic matter (SOM), total N (TN), available N (AN), total P (TP) and available P (AP) in hilly area were lower than that in other areas. SOM content was less than 1%, TN content less than 0.07%, and TP content between 0.05% and 0.06%; (2) SOM and TN contents in woodland, shrub land and grassland were significantly higher than that in fallow land and cropland, and higher level in soil fertility was found in crop-fruit intercropping land among croplands; (3) soil nutrient distribution and responses to landscape positions were variable depending on slope and the location of land use types.

Land Use of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and the Effect on Its Landscape Pattern in the Recent 50 Years

The paper makes detailed analysis on the changing processes of the main types of land use in Three Gorges Reservoir Area through the techniques of RS （Remote Sense） and GIS （Geography Information System）. Based on the theory of landscape ecology, many types of landscape pattern indexes are calculated and made correlation analysis. The results indicate that： in 1995 the ecological environment of Three Gorges Reservoir Area was the most vulnerable in the recent 50 years, but resumed in 2002; the landscape pattern diversity index, fractal dimension index and fragmentation index has close correlation with the area of land use/cover change （LUCC）. The research also releases that the increase of the cultivated land, grassland and construction land deteriorates the landscape ecological pattern, while the increase of forest land area will help restore the landscape ecological pattern to its original state. The rapid change of grassland is an important index of the change of landscape pattern, because it has the most effect on change of landscape pattern index.

Impacts of land use change on landscape patterns in mountain human settlement:The case study of Hantai District(Shaanxi,China)

Mountain area is an important geographical unit of land,and its ecology is sensitive and fragile.Over the past few decades,human activities have caused dramatic changes in land use in mountainous areas,which caused changes in landscape patterns and impacts on the ecological environment.It is unknown how the mechanism of land use affects the landscape pattern at different scales.The Hantai District,a typical human settlement in the mountain area in Shaanxi,China,was chosen as the study area.Based on the remote sensing images,the mathematical models and landscape indexes were adopted to evaluate the impact of land use change from 1998 to 2017 on the landscape pattern at different scales,and its main driving forces were analyzed.The results showed that the urbanized land expanded largest from 15.39%to 24.30%,and cultivated land experienced the largest decline from 43.54%to 35.35%.Changes in land use have made the patch morphology of most land types developed from a natural random to a sawtooth shape,and its spatial pattern evolved from a ruleset to a fragmented expansion.This reflects the continuous strengthening of human intervention in the process of regional development.Under the jurisdiction of Hantai District,the biggest change in landscape pattern is in Hanzhong City and Qili Town.The improved economy and increasing population and urbanization rate were the main factors that cause these changes.This research could provide necessary information for understanding the evolution mechanism of land resources in mountainous human settlements for mountainous areas with significant geomorphic differentiation.

Study on the Change of Land Use and Landscape Pattern in Anhui Province

Based on the statistical data concerning land use in Anhui Province from 1995 to 2005, this paper conduct comprehensive analysis on change of land use structure, change of land use degree, and landscape pattern change of land use in Anhui Province from 1995 to 2005 using statistical analysis and mathematical model. The results show that the land use structure has changed significantly; the rate of land use change is quick; the land use degree is not high; the spatial pattern of land use tends to be reasonable and gradually develops toward the equilibrium state.

The Spatial and Temporal Variation Characteristics of CH₄and CO₂Emission Flux under Different Land Use Types in the Yellow River Delta Wetland

The Yellow River Delta Wetland is one of the youngest wetlands, and also the most complete, extensive wetlands in China. The wetland in this delta is ecologically important due to their hydrologic attributes and their roles as ecotones between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In the study, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of CH4 and CO2 emission flux under five kinds of land use types in the wetland were investigated. The results indicated that the greenhouse gas emission flux, especially the CO2 and CH4, showed distinctly spatial and temporal variation under different land use types in the wetland. In the spring, the emission flux of CO2 was higher than that of CO2 in the autumn, and appeared negative in HW3 and HW4 in the autumn. CH4 emission flux of HW4 and HW5 was negative in the spring and autumn, which indicated that the CH4 emission process was net absorption. Among the five kinds of land use types, the CO2 emission flux of HW4 discharged the largest emission flux reaching 29.3 mg.m-2.h-1, but the CH4 emission flux of HW2 discharged the largest emission flux reaching 0.15 mg.m-2.h-1. From the estuary to the inland, the emission flux of CO2 was decreased at first and then appeared increasing trend, but the emission flux of CH4 was contrary to CO2.

Spatial Pattern Change Simulation of Land Use in Yongchuan District of Chongqing City

In order to study the county scale land use structure during the rapid urbanization and more accurately grasp the dynamic process of land use and cover change,we combine GIS technology with CLUE-S model to research the spatial pattern change of land use in Yongchuan District of Chongqing City. The results show that the forest and farmland were main land use types going through changes in Yongchuan District during 2000-2010,accounting for more than 90% of the total area in each year; during 2000- 2010,the urban area was significantly increased,an increase of 16. 11%,and the urban area during 2005- 2010 was changed more dramatically than during 2000- 2005; forest area was slightly increased and farmland area was reduced by 1660 ha in 10 years. We set three scenarios on land use change in Yongchuan District for simulation and compare the predicted results. It can be concluded that driven by rapid urbanization,the change in land use landscape pattern in Yongchuan District is mainly focused on forest and farmland,the urban area is substantially increased,and the forest area also shows an increasing trend while the farmland area is reduced accordingly. Under ecological protection scenarios,the land use type having a protective effect on the ecological environment achieves better control effect.

Spatial Allocation of Land Use in Luodeli Village,Luquan County,Yunnan Province from the Perspective of Rural Complex

Conceptually,rural complex is actually a comprehensive sustainable development model for new agricultural and rural areas across industries and functions.From the perspective of rural complex,combined with the actual case of Idyllic Orient in Yangshan,Wuxi,the first rural complex in China,this paper analyzes the current benefits of relevant projects.Considering the basic situation of Luodeli Village in Luquan County,Yunnan Province,the direction,development model and spatial allocation of land use are initially determined.Finally,the overall development path is proposed for Luodeli Village in Luquan County,in order to provide some ideas for its next development.

Dynamic Land Use /Cover Change and Analysis of Landscape Pattern in the Hilly and Gully Region of Loess Plateau: A Case Study of Pengyang County in Southern Ningxia

The quantitative evaluation on land use /cover change as well as its influence on landscape pattern under the background of returning grain plots to forestry is significant to the sustainable utilization of land resources and ecological environment reconstruction in the southern Ningxia.Based on multi-temporal remote sensing data from four periods of Landsat TM /ETM,and combination of ecological quantity analytical method with GIS,the change of land use /cover and landscape pattern in Pengyang County of Ningxia Province were analyzed.The conclusions showed that the amount of each land use type was changed with different degrees,the area of forest /grass land increased,while farmland and unused land decreased.The change of landscape pattern was characterized as that the degree of landscape fragmentation,mixed distribution of patches,diversity index and evenness index increased gradually and then decreased,the connectivity between patches decreased gradually and then increased,and landscape shape presented irregular.