Analysis of land use change and its driving force in the Longitudinal Range-Gorge Region

Abstract

The research on land use degree, land use change rate as well as regional difference of various land use types in the southwest Longitudinal Range-Gorge Region (LRGR) has been carried out on the regional and county scales. From the view of social economy, we have also analyzed the driving mechanism of land use change and the corresponding spatial scopes of various driving forces in the research area. The research result indicates that, on the regional scale, farmland, forest and grassland compose the main body of land use in the LRGR, and the structural change of land use shows that grassland declines sharply, farmland increases and forest keeps stable. On the county scale, the land use is characterized by that land use level is relatively low, and the land use degree, the comprehensive variation rate and the relative variation rate among different land use types still exist. By analysis, the land use changes in the LRGR are mainly driven by investment intensity of manpower and physical resources, the social economic output level, the intensity of natural disasters disturbance and educational level of workers. However, the regionalism exists in the influence scope of different driving force types.