Agricultural space function transitions in rapidly urbanizing areas and their impacts on habitat quality: An urban–Rural gradient study

Abstract

Agricultural space functions in rapidly urbanizing areas experience rapid transition with urban–rural development process, leading to habitat fragmentation and degradation. Previous studies focused more on impacts of agricultural landscape patterns on habitat quality at the regional scale, ignoring transition processes of agricultural space functions and functional combinations under an urban–rural gradient perspective and their different impacts on habitat quality. This study constructed a holistic framework oriented by four main agricultural space functions, including production, living, ecological, and landscape culture functions, to map transition characteristics of agricultural space function combinations in the main urban area of Hangzhou, a typically rapidly urbanizing area in China, from 2000 to 2019 under the urban–rural gradient. Impacts of these transition processes on habitat quality were further investigated.The results showed that spatiotemporal differences in variations of various agricultural space functions leaded to urban–rural gradient changes in the transition of agricultural space function combinations. From the urban development area to the urban–rural transition area and rural development area, the dominant output type was the single function area, while the dominant input type was the comprehensive function area, composite function area, and single function area, respectively. Areas with decreased habitat quality were mostly concentrated around urban construction land, and they had the highest proportion in the urban development area. All transition types in the urban development area had a negative impact on habitat quality, while the transition process from a more complex function combination to a simpler one in the urban–rural transition area and rural development area had a greater positive impact, and areas transformed from the lagged development area to other functional combinations also produced a positive impact. These findings provide ideas for rational spatial decision-making about limited agricultural resources in rapidly urbanizing areas.