Scale effect of coastal landscape pattern stability and driving forces:a case study of Guangdong Province,China

The long-term dynamic evolution and underlying mechanisms of coastal landscape pattern stability,driven by strong anthropogenic interference and consequently climate change,are topics of major interest in national and international scientific research.Guangdong Province,located in southeastern China,has been undergoing rapid urbanization over several decades.In this study,we quantitatively determined the scale threshold characteristics of coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province,from the dual perspective of spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation.An analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of the coastal landscape was conducted after the optical scale was determined.Then,we applied the geodetector statistical method to quantitatively explore the mechanisms underlying coastal landscape pattern stability.Based on the inflection point of landscape metrics and the maximum value of the MoranⅠindex,the optimal scale for analyzing coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province was 240 m×240 m.Within the past several decades,coastal landscape pattern stability increased slightly and then decreased,with a turning point around 2005.The most significant variations in coastal landscape pattern stability were observed in the transition zone of rural-urban expansion.A q-statistics analysis showed that the explanatory power of paired factors was greater than that of a single driving factor;the paired factors with the greatest impact on coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province were the change in gross industrial output and change in average annual precipitation from 2010 to 2015,based on a q value of 0.604.These results will contribute to future efforts to achieve sustainable coastal development and provide a scientific basis and technical support for the rational planning and utilization of resources in large estuarine areas,including marine disaster prevention and seawall ecological restoration.

Changes of Wetland Landscape Pattern in New Coastal District of Tianjin City

With the wetland landscape in New Coastal District of Tianjin City as the chief study objective and based on the remote sensing and non-remote sensing data of ETM/TM with 1999-2007 as the time scale and the new administrative region of New Coastal District as the space (scale) scope, this paper conducted the study on the landscape pattern change. The results showed that the natural wetland and agricultural land tended to decrease, while the saltern, maricultural areas and construction land increased apparently. The overall landscape shape tended to develop in simplification and regulation and with the development of population and social economy, human’s intervention to the landscape was getting improved.

Changes of Wetland Landscape Pattern Indexes in the Middle Reaches of the Huaihe Valley in China

Relief map of the middle reaches of the Huaihe Valley in 1950s, remote sensing images of 1980 and 2000 are utilized to abstract and interpret land use maps of the study area in different periods and also the distribution map of different wetland types on the basis of secondary classification of wetland. Landscape index analysis is applied to analyze and evaluate ecological changes of wetland landscapes in the middle reaches of the Huaihe Valley. The analysis results show that landscape pattern indexes change greatly from 1950s to 1980, but change slightly since 1980. Such a trend demonstrates that wetland landscapes in the study area change from "diversified and complicate" to "unitary and fragmented", wetland system has drastically-reducing components, a great number of transitional zones become extinct, connectivity and heterogeneity of wetland landscapes are largely reduced, integrity and balance of wetland system is broken, as a result, ecological service functions of wetland degrade or cannot be fully utilized.

Spatio-temporal evolution analysis of landscape pattern and habitat quality in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2022 based on InVEST model

Habitat quality is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of ecosystem.The Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin plays an important role in the ecological protection of the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin.To comprehensively analysis the alterations of habitat quality in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin,this study utilized the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST)model to calculate the habitat quality index and analyze the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of habitat quality in the study area from 2000 to 2022,and calculated seven landscape pattern indices(number of patches,patch density,largest patch index(LPI),landscape shape index(LSI),contagion index(CONTAG),Shannon diversity index,and Shannon evenness index)to research the variation of landscape pattern in the study area.The results showed that the number of patches,patch density,LPI,LSI,Shannon diversity index,and Shannon evenness index increased from 2000 to 2022,while the CONTAG decreased,indicating that the landscape pattern in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin changed in the direction of distribution fragmentation,shape complexity,and heterogeneity.The average value of the habitat quality index in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2022 was 0.90.Based on the value of habitat quality index,we divided the level of habitat quality into five categories:lower(0.00-0.20),low(0.20-0.40),moderate(0.40-0.60),high(0.60-0.80),and higher(0.80-1.00).Most areas were at the higher habitat quality level.The lower habitat quality patches were mainly distributed in Longyang Gorge and Yellow River-Huangshui River Valley.From 2000 to 2022,the habitat quality in most areas was stable;the increase areas were mainly distributed in Guinan County,while the decrease areas were mainly distributed in Xining City,Maqen County,Xinghai County,Qumarleb County,and Darlag County.To show the extent of habitat quality variation,we calculated Sen index.The results showed that the higher habitat quality area had a decrease trending,while other categories had an increasing tendency,and the decreasing was faster than increasing.The research results provide scientific guidance for promoting ecological protection and high-quality development in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin.

Program Development and Implementation of Landscape Pattern Indexes for Land Use Based on RS

Interpretation results of RS images were taken as the foundation, ETM RS images of July 15, 2009 as the data source, ENVI was applied for the preprocessing, Arc GIS used to finish the interpretation, master data obtained, and VB used to complete program development. 12 representative landscape pattern indexes were selected, Excel data used to create Access database, and VB used to complete the program development. Selection of landscape pattern indexes, program development process and program usage were summarized, through comparing its results with Excel calculation results, it was found that calculation results of this program were correct, the usage was convenient, so needs of most users could be satisfied.

Dynamic Changes in the Wetland Landscape Pattern of the Yellow River Delta from 1976 to 2016 Based on Satellite Data

The Yellow River Delta wetland is the youngest wetland ecosystem in China's warm temperate zone. To better understand how its landscape pattern has changed over time and the underlying factors responsible, this study analyzed the dynamic changes of wetlands using five Landsat series of images, namely MSS(Mulri Spectral Scanner), TM(Thematic Mapper), and OLI(Operational Land Imager) sensors in 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006, and 2016. Object-oriented classification and the combination of spatial and spectral features and both the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index(NDWI), as well as brightness characteristic indices, were used to classify the images in eCognition software. Landscape pattern changes in the Yellow River Delta over the past 40 years were then delineated using transition matrix and landscape index methods. Results show that: 1) from1976 to 2016, the total area of wetlands in the study area decreased from 2594.76 to 2491.79 km^2, while that of natural wetlands decreased by 954.03 km^2 whereas human-made wetlands increased by 851.06 km^2. 2) The transformation of natural wetlands was extensive: 31.34% of those covered by Suaeda heteropteras were transformed into reservoirs and ponds, and 24.71% with Phragmites australis coverage were transformed into dry farmland. Some human-made wetlands were transformed into non-wetlands types: 1.55% of reservoirs and ponds became construction land, and likewise 21.27% were transformed into dry farmland. 3) From 1976 to 2016, as the intensity of human activities increased, the number of landscape types in the study area continuously increased. Patches were scattered and more fragmented. The whole landscape became more complex. In short, over the past 40 years, the wetlands of the Yellow River Delta have been degraded, with the area of natural wetlands substantially reduced. Human activities were the dominant forces driving these changes in the Yellow River Delta.

Development of a New Index for Integrating Landscape Patterns with Ecological Processes at Watershed Scale

Understanding the relationship between landscape pattems and ecological processes has been a central yet challenging research theme in landscape ecology. Over the past decades, many landscape metrics have been proposed but few directly incorporated ecological processes. In this paper, we developed a landscape index, namely, location-weighted landscape index （LWLI） to highlight the role of landscape type in ecological processes, such as nutrient losses and soil erosion. Within the framework of the Lorenz curve theory, we develop this index by integrating land- scape pattern and point-based measurements at a watershed scale. The index can be used to characterize the contribution of landscape pattern to ecological processes （e.g. nutrient losses） with respect to a specific monitoring point in a watershed. Through a case study on nutrient losses in an agricultural area in northeastern China, we found that nutrient losses tended to be higher for a watershed with a higher LWLI value, and vice versa. It implied that LWLI can be used to evaluate the potential risk of nutrient losses or soil erosion by comparing their values across watersheds. In addition, this index can be extended to characterize ecological processes, such as the effect of landscape pattern on wildlife inhabitation and urban heat island effect. Finally, we discuss several problems that should be paid attention to when applying this index to a heterogeneous landscape site.

Dynamics of Wetland Landscape Pattern in Kaifeng City from 1987 to 2002

It is very significant for urban development and urban wetland protection and utilization to probe into the process and reasons of urban wetland landscape dynamics. Taking the information of remote sensing and detailed land survey data as the basic information sources, with the help of RS and GIS, according to the principles and methods of landscape ecology, this paper analyzed wetland landscape pattern dynamics and its reasons in Kaifeng City, Henan Province of China, from 1987 to 2002. The results show that the total wetland area in Kaifeng City firstly reduced by 20.1% from 1987 to 1990 and then increased from 1990 to 2002, with an average annual growth rate of 3.3%. At the same time, landscape fragment degree and landscape dominance degree increased, respectively from 0.64 to 0.72 and from 0.3754 to 0.5563, but mean patch area, maximum patch area, patch fractal dimension reduced. As far as single landscape element concerned, fi＇om 1987 to 2002, patch area, patch number, patch density, patch shape and patch location changed in varying degrees in all wetland types in Kaifeng City, among which rice field changed most and others relatively less. In the recent 20 years, rice fields, lake wetlands, puddles and ponds had a higher stability, but river and bottomland wetlands were mostly transformed to land use types. The change of wetland landscape pattern was the result of the combined action of the Huanghe （Yellow） River, urban expansion, wide cultivation of rice, and rapid development of fishery. Among them human activities were the main driving factors for wetland landscape changes.

Landscape Pattern Evolution Processes of Alpine Wetlands and Their Driving Factors in the Zoige Plateau of China

Zoige Plateau wetlands are located in the northeastern corner of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.The landscape pattern evolution processes in the Zoige Plateau and their driving factors were identified by analyzing the dynamic changes in landscape modification and conversion and their dynamic rates of alpine wetlands over the past four decades.The results showed that the landscape conversion between wetlands and non-wetlands mainly occurred during the period from 1966 to 1986.The marsh wetland area converted from lake and river wetlands was larger because of swamping compared to other wetland landscapes.Meanwhile,the larger area of marsh wetlands was also converted to lake wetlands more than other types of wetlands.The modification processes mainly occurred among natural wetland landscapes in the first three periods.Obvious conversions were observed between wetland and nonwetland landscapes(i.e.,forestland,grassland,and other landscapes) in the Zoige Plateau.These natural wetland landscapes such as river,lake and marsh wetlands showed a net loss over the past four decades,whereas artificial wetland landscapes(i.e.,paddy field and reservoir and pond wetlands) showed a net decrease.The annual dynamic rate of the whole wetland landscape was 0.72%,in which the annual dynamic rate of river wetlands was the highest,followed by lake wetlands,while marsh wetlands had the lowest dynamic rate.The integrated landscape dynamic rate showed a decreasing trend in the first three periods.The changes in wetland landscape patterns were comprehensively controlled by natural factors and human activities,especially human activities play an important role in changing wetland landscape patterns.

Spatial-temporal analysis of wetland landscape pattern under the influence of artificial dykes in the Yellow River delta

The influence of anthropogenic activities,especially artificial dykes,on the coastal wetland landscape is now considered as a serious problem to the coastal ecosystem.It is important and necessary to analyze changes of coastal landscape pattern under the influence of artificial dykes for the protection and management of coastal wetland.Our study aimed to reveal the quantitative characteristics of the coastal wetland landscape and its spatial-temporal dynamics under the influence of artificial dykes in the Yellow River delta(YRD).It was analyzed by the methods of the statistical analysis of landscape structure,five selected landscape indices and the changes of spatial centroids of three typical wetland types,including reed marshes,tidal fiats and aquaculture-salt fields.The results showed that:(1)Reduction of wetland area,especially the degradation of natural wetlands,had been the principal problem since the dykes were constructed in the YRD.The dykes created conditions for the development of artificial wetlands.However,the new born artificial wetlands were still less than the vanished natural wetlands.(2)Compared with the open area,the building of artificial dykes significantly speeded up the changes of landscape patterns and the aggravation of the landscape fragmentation in the closed area.(3)The changes of area-weighted centroids of three typical wetland landscapes were greatly affected by dykes,and the movement of the centroid of the aquaculture-salt field was very sensitive to the dykes constructed in the corresponding period.

Study on the Vegetation Landscape Pattern of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province

This study aimed to provide theoretical bases for optimized land use in minority settlements at high altitude. On the basis of forest form map and land use type map (1∶250 000) of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province in 2007, this study carried out further analysis and assessment on the landscape pattern and fragmentation degree of Ganzi from the perspective of overall landscape characteristics, area and perimeter of patches, quantity and fractal dimension of patches and so on with the support of geo-info systematical software ArcCIS and landscape structure analysis software Fragstats. The results showed that among all landscape elements alpine meadow and evergreen broad-leaved shrubs take up a larger part as temperate and cool temperate grassland and marsh are scattered with small areas; deciduous and broad-leaved as well as their mixed forest have higher landscape fragmentation degree, on the whole, the fragmentation degree of forest type is higher than that of meadow and shrub; fractal dimensions of landscape components are all small and tend to 1, which indicates that the folded degree of all landscape boundaries are small.

Analysis of Changing Landscape Pattern in Baiyangdian before and after Ecological Water Supplement Project Based on RS and GIS

By using TM remote sensing images of Baiyangdian Wetland in 1989,1999,2003 and 2004,taking the water area between Anxin County and Cangzhou where most of Baiyangdian Wetland water body lies for landscape classification,changes in landscape pattern of Baiyangdian before and after the water supplement were analyzed with landscape indexes calculated by Fragstats3.3. The results showed that after the water supplement,from the perspective of landscape cell index,fractal dimension of major ecosystems in Baiyangdian decreased to some extent;from the perspective of landscape diversity index,diversity index of the study region also decreased,which demonstrated that ecosystem diversity in this region reduced,land cover grew to simplification;and the decreasing evenness degree of the study region also showed the uneven development of its ecosystems. That is to say,water supplement has brought favorable ecological changes to the eco-environment of Baiyangdian,which has further optimized the health condition of ecosystems in this region.

Study on Landscape Pattern Index-based Connectivity Analysis of the Primary Farmland Protection Zones

Farmland and primary farmland protection are important contents of land management and land use planning of China. In the new round of land use planning and database construction, primary farmland protection zones are required to have high integrity and connectivity. Using landscape pattern indexes, the integrity and connectivity of primary farmland protection zones was studied in Licheng District of Jinan City. The results showed that, except patch area standard deviation, the other indexes including average patch area, patch area variation coefficient, patch edge density, largest patch index, and mean euclidean nearest-neighbor, all indicate high connectivity of primary farmland protection zones after layout adjustment. A simple and convenient method for identifying the integrity and connectivity of primary farmland protection zones was supplied.

Landscape pattern and diversity of natural secondary forests in the eastern mountainous region, northeast China:A case study of Mao'ershan region in Heilongjiang Province

Mao抏rshan region is a representative natural secondary forested region in the eastern mountainous region, north-east of China. Under the support of ARC/INFO, the landscape pattern and landscape diversity of Maoerhshan region were studied by combining the forest type map (1:10000), which was drawn from the aerial photographs (1999), field investigation and land utilization map (1:10000). The selected indices included patch number, patch size, patch density index, richness index, dominance index, evenness index and diversity index. The results showed that the landscape dominant forest type in Mao抏rshan region was softwood broad-leaved forest. In all landscape types, the average patch area of natural secondary for-ests was bigger than that of artificial forest. The patch density index of each landscape formed in artificial forest was higher than that of natural secondary forest. The landscape diversity index and landscape evenness index of natural forest were highest, the landscape heterogeneity was also, but the landscape dominance was lower. In natural forest, the control effects of landscape elements on landscape-structure, function and its change were weakened. The artificial forest was on the contrary.

Quantitative Analysis of Land Use Landscape Pattern in Shihezi Desert Oasis

Based on the land use status map of Shihezi City,the land use landscape map of Shihezi City was made with the support of GIS then many landscape indices were selected to quantitatively analyze the landscape pattern characteristics of Shihezi Oasis from three aspects of landscape diversity index,landscape space configuration index and plaque characteristics index. The results showed that the main plaque types of the landscape in Shihezi reclamation area are arable land and water areas,which totally account for 58% of the total area; farmland,gardens,woodland,urban sites,industrial and mining land use were embedded in this oasis landscape in the form of mosaics,and their fractal index was high due to the strong impact of human activities; arable land and mining land distribution was scattered,but marshes and other uncultivated land were relatively concentrated. The dominance degree of the landscape was low because there was no advantageous type in this landscape and all patches distributed equably which was easily to be disturbed so that the whole landscape was unstable. Comprehensively speaking,the landscape in Shihezi region was rather complicate,and its diversity index,fragmentation degree and heterogeneity were high.

Analysis of Dynamic Variation of Landscape Pattern in Shaoguan City

With the aid of remote sensing and geographical information system,and by selecting multiple landscape indices including NP,SHID,LSI,IJI and so on,the dynamic variation of landscape pattern of Shaoguan City in 1993 and 2004 was analyzed from the perspective of landscape type and level based on the value of 300 meters size. The result showed that forest landscape of Shaoguan City had been eroded and divided;water landscape was much more stable;farmland landscape enjoyed high import rate and export rate;the construction land was in the process of decentralized non-equilibrium,all of which indicated that the heterogeneity and fragmentation of the overall landscape had increased.

Gradient Analysis of Land Utilization and Landscape Pattern Based on the Buffer Zone in South Guangzhou City

Under the background of the 'Southwardly Development' of Guangzhou City,this paper chooses Panyu District as the research object and uses the 2005 land use data to quantitatively analyze the landscape layout and its change in the study area based on the support of GIS and Fragstats through combining landscape index and gradient analysis.The results show that it is feasible to show urbanization and the change of the spatial pattern of urban landscape through utilizing gradient analysis and landscape index.Over the course of 'Southwardly Development',the urbanization level of Panyu District has been enhanced unceasingly.And the landscape spatial patterns of different land uses and their variation characteristics are obviously different.

Spatio-temporal Evolution and Optimization of Landscape Ecological Risk in Karst Mountainous Areas

[Objective]The ecological vulnerability and landscape ecological risk of karst mountainous areas have increased as a result of enhanced disturbance of natural resources by human activities.This paper aimed to explore the characteristics of ecological risk evolution under different landscape patterns in the region,with a view to providing reference for land classification protection,sustainable use of resources and regional ecological risk optimization in karst mountainous areas.[Method]Taking Huangping County,a typical karst mountainous area,as an example,eight evaluation factors of natural and landscape patterns were selected to construct a landscape ecological risk evaluation model,to quantitatively explore the spatio-temporal evolution of landscape ecological risk and the trend of risk level transfer in the study area from^(2)010-2018,and to reveal the complex relationship between ecological risk and topography in karst mountainous areas.[Result]①From 2010 to 2018,land use types changed to different degrees,with the most amount of woodland transferred out(1627.37 hm^(2))and the most amount of construction land transferred in(1303.93 hm^(2));a total of 3552.31 hm^(2) of land was transferred,with a change ratio of 2.13%,and there was a significant conversion between construction land,arable land,and woodland.②From 2010 to 2018,the landscape ecological risk in the study area changed significantly,and the landscape ecological risk index decreased from 0.3441 to 0.1733,showing an upward and then downward trend;the landscape ecological risk of the whole region was dominated by low-risk and lower-risk zones,and the ecological risk level generally shifted from a high level to a low level,and the ecological environment was improved.③There was a negative correlation between ecological risk and topographic position,and high-risk zones were mainly distributed among low topographic zones;with the change of time,the advantage of risk level for the selection of topography was gradually weakened,and the influence of anthropogenic factors on the ecological risk of the landscape was becoming more and more prominent.[Conclusion]This paper can provide theoretical basis for land use optimization and ecological protection in karst mountainous areas.

Application of landscape ecology to the research on wetlands

This review describes the characteristics and hot spots of wetland research, including biodiversity protection of wetland, management and restoration of wetland, function and process of wetland, and the theories, methods and scales of landscape ecology. Moreover, some deficits of landscape ecology theory and method were discussed, and the application of landscape ecology to research on wetlands was reviewed specially, involving in the application of landscape structure principle, landscape pattern, and scale and hierarchy theory. In conclusion, landscape ecology plays an enlightening and guiding function on the comprehensive research of wetlands at multi-scales.

A Landscape Pattern Analysis Method Based on Boundaries and Nodes:A Case Study in Upper Minjiang River,China

Traditionally,patch-based analysis at the landscape scale fragmentation has been used in the study of landscape ecology while the study of boundary and node has not been considered as much detail until recently.This study investigated the possibility of applying boundary-and node-based methods in landscape pattern analysis to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River in the southwestern China.Boundary-based and node-based landscape indices were selected to be used in analyzing changes in landscape patterns,and the results were compared with analysis using traditional pattern indices.We compared the responses of patch-area-based,boundary-length-based and node-number-based indices,and concluded that boundary-based and node-based indices are more sensitive to disturbance than patch-based indices with various patterns,and node-based indices are even more sensitive than boundary-based ones.Thus,the results suggest that boundary-based and node-based pattern analysis methods provide helpful supplementary information to traditional patch-based pattern analysis methods.The results about pattern dynamics of landscapes in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River based on boundaries and nodes showed that with human disturbance,the dominance of forest landscape was weakened by other landscape types;thus the landscape pattern of the study area became more homogeneous and the boundary network became more complex.These changes further augmented disturbance interfaces in the landscape and increased the possibilities of further landscape fragmentation.