Dynamics of Soil Erosion in Xingguo County, China, Determined Using Remote Sensing and GIS

The spatial and temporal dynamics of soil erosion in Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, China were studied using multi-period remote sensing images and GIS. The results indicated that the soil erosion status of the region has been improving, particularly since the 1980s, with the erosion rate showing an evident decline over the past 30 years. The improvement showed not only in the decline of eroded soil area, but also with the reduction in the extent of erosion. The extent of erosion mainly changed by one level, and the change primarily occurred with the severely or moderately eroded soil types. However, in general, soil erosion was still an overriding problem in the region with some areas becoming more serious, especially those with large quantities of granite.

The spatial-temporal dynamic characteristics of the marsh in the Sanjiang Plain

Using the methods of combining landscape ecology with GIS spatial analysis, this paper analyses the dynamics of the marsh landscape structure of the Sanjiang Plain in the past 20 years, furthermore, taking Fujin County, located in the north of the plain, as an example, analyzes the conversion between marsh and other land use types. It is shown that the marsh in the Sanjiang Plain decreased greatly in the past 20 years, but the trend has begun to reverse. The marsh area decreased by 51.33% from 1980 to 1996, whereas it decreased by 4.19% from 1996 to 2000. The fragmentation of the marsh increased; the number of the patches increased by 326 from 1986 to 1996, whereas it only increased by 18 patches from 1996 to 2000. It is obvious that the speed of patches number diminished and the marsh fragmentation decreased, which shows that the reclamation of the marsh converted from the fragmentation to the brim in a large area of the marsh. The reclaimed marsh has mainly converted to paddy field and dry land. Large-scale reclamation in the Sanjiang Plain influences its natural environment directly: the climate of the region turns from cold and wet to warm and dry, which makes the marsh both in the low-temperature northern part and in the deeply stagnant eastern part suitable for further agricultural development.

Evaluating changes in ecological land and effect of protecting important ecological spaces in China

It is important to quantitatively analyze the effects of protection of important ecological spaces in China to ensure national ecological security.By considering changes in the ecological land,this study examines the effects of protecting three types of important natural ecological spaces in China from 1980 to 2018.Moreover,considering important ecological spaces and their surroundings yields differences in the effects of protection between internal and external spaces,where this can provide a scientific basis for the categorization and zoning of China’s land.The results show the following:(1)In 2018,the ratio of ecological land to important natural ecological spaces accounted for 92.64%.This land had a good ecological background that reflects the developmental orientation of important ecological spaces.(2)From 1980 to 2018,the area of ecological land in important ecological spaces shrank but the rate of reduction was lower than the national average,which shows the positive effect of regulating construction in natural ecological spaces.The restorative effects of ecological projects to convert farmland into forests and grasslands have been prominent.The expanded ecological land is mainly distributed in areas where such projects have been implemented,and the reduced area is concentrated in grain-producing areas of the Northeast China Plain and agricultural oases of Xinjiang.In the future,the government should focus on strengthening the management and control of these areas.(3)The area ratio of ecological land was the highest in national nature reserves.The rate of reduction in its area was the lowest and the trend of reduction was the smallest in national nature reserves,which reflects differences in the status of ecological protection among different spaces.(4)The ratio of ecological land to important ecological spaces was higher than that in the surrounding external space,and the rate of reduction in it was lower.Thus,the effects of internal and external protection had clear differences in terms of gradient.