Review of Land Use/Cover Change Research in China— Visual Analysis based on Bibliometrics

Abstract

Since the mid-20th century, the global population has increased dramatically, and human activities have encroached on a large number of natural spaces, resulting in drastic land use/cover changes. A series of ecological security problems took place as a result, such as climate change, environmental pollution, and resource shortage, posing severe challenges to global sustainable development. As the largest and the most populous developing country in the world, China’s land use/cover change is more prominent compared to that of other countries. Therefore, the comprehensive analysis of land use/cover change in China is of great significance in dealing with global change, repairing ecological damage, and alleviating the contradiction between man and land. Based on the literature of land use/cover change in China from 2012 to 2022 in the Web of Science database, this paper analyzes the research status, characteristics, regional differences, and evolution law of land use/cover change in China by using Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny software packages. The results show that: (1) The annual number of papers published in the field of land use/cover change in China is steadily increasing. However, the average annual citation amount fluctuates but shows a general downward trend; (2) From 2012 to 2022, a total of 73, 157 authors published articles in the field of land use/cover change in China, among whom Zhang Yili, Liu Yansui, and Li Xiubin ranked the top three; (3) 153 countries or regions in the world have literature output in the field of land use/cover change in China, and the top three output countries are China, the United States and Germany. Among research, papers from China and the United States has played an important role in international cooperation in the field of land use/cover change in China; (4) The key words of land use/cover change research in China can be divided into three categories: the first category focuses on the research of driving factors/factors of land use/ cover change in China; The second category focuses on the models and technical methods of land use/cover change research in China; The third category emphasizes the role of policies and government management; (5) During the ten years from 2012 to 2022, the theme of land use/cover change in China changed little, mainly focusing on climate change and management.