Abstract
The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is an important ecological security barrier for China. The spatial-temporal pattern of land use changes and changing characteristics of soil conservation function were analyzed based on the Major Function-Oriented Zones (MFOZs) from 2010 to 2015. Soil conservation was calculated by the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Results were as follows: in 2015, the area ratio of built-up land in the optimal development zones (ODZs), key development zones (KDZs), agricultural production zones (APZs) and key ecological function zones (KEFZs) was 25.25%, 6.55%, 3.70% and 0.40%, respectively, which reflected the gradient of territorial development based on their functions. The average annual soil retention was 18.76 billion t/year during the study period, and the per unit soil retention was 91.54 t/hm2/year. The soil conservation function capacity was weakened in the order of KEFZs, APZs, KDZs and ODZs. Soil conservation function of the YREB showed an overall improvement from 2010 to 2015. The implementation of the MOFZs strategy has contributed significantly to improving the ecological security capability of the YREB.
Highlights
Since the reform and opening-up policy, China’s economy and society have developed rapidly and urbanization and industrialization have accelerated, but this has led to unplanned development of national land spaces [1,2,3]
This paper focuses on the temporal and spatial variations of the soil conservation function across the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) after the implementation of the plan for Major Function-Oriented Zones (MFOZs)
This study focused on the quantitative characteristics of land use changes in the YREB
Summary
Since the reform and opening-up policy, China’s economy and society have developed rapidly and urbanization and industrialization have accelerated, but this has led to unplanned development of national land spaces [1,2,3]. To create a sustainable development pattern, China approved the implementation of the “National Plan for Major Function-Oriented Zones (MFOZs)” in 2010, which clarified the main objectives and strategic structure of future land development. The approach has important strategic significance for creating a land space development pattern that is coordinated with the population, economy and resource environment, accelerating the transformation of economic development and promoting long-term stable social and economic growth [6,7,8]. “Soil conservation” is an important ecosystem service [9,10] It provides a basis for human agricultural production and crop productivity, and provides protection by reducing flood risks, preventing ecological deterioration and mitigating global warming. There are good research foundations into the comprehensive assessment of soil conservation function for regional ecosystem management and decision-making [11,12,13]. The key scientific issues of soil conservation have focused on the close relationship between ecosystem structure, process and service [21,22], benefits evaluation of different farming practices [23,24,25], contribution rate of climate change and land use change [26,27,28], trade-offs and decision management of ecosystem service [12,13]
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