Evolutionary characteristics of sloping cultivated land under functional diversification in mountain areas: A case of Fengjie County, China

Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, the rural functions in China's mountainous regions have tended to diversify, and the use of sloping cultivated land has also evolved. Exploring the coupling relationship between rural functional diversification and the evolution of sloping cultivated land is of great significance to the protection of cultivated land in mountainous areas and the sustainable development of villages. We constructed a theoretical framework to analyze the interaction between rural functional diversification and the evolution of sloping cultivated land and then verified it with Fengjie County, China. Our research results show that: the overall agricultural production function, industrial production function, leisure and tourism function, social security function, and ecological conservation function of Fengjie County continue to develop, and the diversification level of rural functions has been enhanced. The high density value areas of sloping cultivated land were more dispersed, and the area of sloping cultivated land showed a decreasing trend. The coupling coordination degree between rural functional diversification and the evolution of gentle sloping cultivated land showed a downward trend, and the ecological economic level of gentle sloping cultivated land decreased. The coupling coordination value with steep sloping cultivated land and sharp steep sloping cultivated land showed a firstly decreasing and then increasing trend, and the ecological economic level of the two kinds of cultivated land increased. The study area can be summarized into four coupling modes and different development strategies should be adopted for different coupling modes. These research methods and findings can provide a reference value for the optimal utilization of sloping cultivated land resources in other mountainous areas.