Abstract
With the stable development of new countryside construction, the changing of the landscape pattern in the Chinese countryside attracts more attention, especially in the ethnic townships which are hardly accessible. To explore the development of ethnic areas, it is crucial to understand the spatial and temporal variation of the landscape pattern. In this study, the landscape pattern change was analyzed at both patch type level and landscape level. The land use data (format: vector) got from Aerla Town (a typical Daur ethnic township in Inner Mongolia) for the duration from 2008 to 2013 was analyzed by ArcGIS platform and Fragstats. For the patch level, the grassland, farmland, and forestland turned into construction land gradually. Regarding the landscape level, the landscape diversity index and landscape connectivity index were relatively low, the heterogeneity index and the landscape fragmentation were relatively high, and the landscape fragmentation index was increasing. Then with considering the social and economic development in Aerla Town, the Pearson correlation analysis and grey correlation method are used to get the main driving force of landscape change. The results indicated that population changes and GDP growth were the main driving forces of landscape pattern change. Finally, the driving forces which resulted in the variation of landscape pattern incorporating the economic, cultural, policy, and natural effects were discussed. The research could provide basic information and a theoretical foundation for the development of minority areas in Northeast China.
Highlights
In the process of urbanization, China’s urbanization rate increased rapidly from 19.4% in 1980 to 52.6% in 2012, and it has been demonstrated that the urbanization process has been far ahead of its economic development (Yang, 2013)
The results indicated that population changes and GDP growth were the main driving forces of landscape pattern change
It has been demonstrated that the urbanization process will lead to a decline in the diversity of ecological patterns (Grimm et al, 2008; Mckinney et al, 2006), but whether the landscape heterogeneity of the towns that dominated by ethnic minority populations showed a declined tends, and what is the main driving force for the changing of the landscape pattern in ethnic minority areas still to be resolved
Summary
In the process of urbanization, China’s urbanization rate increased rapidly from 19.4% in 1980 to 52.6% in 2012, and it has been demonstrated that the urbanization process has been far ahead of its economic development (Yang, 2013). The temporal and spatial changes of the landscape pattern are the basis for studying the driving forces and the impact of urbanization on the socio-economic environment. Analyzing spatiotemporal characteristics of land-use change is essential for understanding and assessing the ecological consequence of urbanization. Such analysis can provide basic information for appropriate decision-making. Dadashpoor et al (2019) analyzed land-use change, urbanization and their impact on the change in landscape pattern in Tabriz metropolitan area (TMA) during the period from 1996 to 2016 to provide support sustainable regional planning.
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