Spatio-Temporal Change of Land Use in a Coastal Reclamation Area: A Complex Network Approach

Bowei Li,Caiyao Xu,Lijie Pu,Fanbin Kong

doi:10.3390/su13168690

Abstract

Coastal ecological protection and restoration projects aimed to restore and recover the ecological environment of coastal wetland with high-intensity human reclamation activity, while the integrity of the coastal wetland system with human reclamation activity and the ability of individual land use types to control the overall system were not fully considered. In this study, a six-stage land use conversion network was constructed by using a complex network model to analyze coastal land use dynamic changes in the coastal reclamation area located in eastern China from 1977 to 2016. The results showed that land use types had gradually transformed from being dominated by natural types to artificial types, and the speed of transformation was accelerating. The proportion of un-reclaimed area decreased from 93% in 1977 to 46% in 2007, and finally fell to 8% in 2014 and 2016. Tidal flat and halophytic vegetation were the main output land use types, while cropland, woodland and aquaculture pond were the main input land use types. Cropland had the highest value of betweenness centrality, which played a key role in land use change from 1992 to 2014. The land use system of the coastal reclamation area was the most stable in 2002–2007, followed by 1984–1992, and the most unstable in 2007–2014. The Chinese and local government should carry out some measures to improve the land use in coastal wetland ecosystems, including the allocation and integration of land use for production space, living space, and ecological space, and develop multi-functionality of land use to realize the coastal high-quality development and coastal ecological protection and restoration.

Highlights

Land is an essential and increasingly scarce resource, both for the survival and prosperity of humanity, and for the maintenance of all terrestrial ecosystems [1,2]
The proportion of unreclaimed area decreased from 93% in 1977 to 46% in 2007, and fell to 8% in 2014 and 2016, of which the area ratio of halophytic vegetation was only about 0.8%
This study introduced the complex network method to identify the key land use types, land use processes, and system stability of land use systems from 1977 to 2016 in the Dongtai coastal reclamation area, Eastern China

Summary

Introduction

Land is an essential and increasingly scarce resource, both for the survival and prosperity of humanity, and for the maintenance of all terrestrial ecosystems [1,2]. Land use and land cover change can markedly impact the climate and the ecosystem at regional and global levels [6]. Resources and environmental issues become increasingly prominent, Land. Use and Cover Chang (LUCC) was launched in 1994 to address the problem of land use and land cover dynamics. Future Earth was launched in 2014 and continues to focus on the issues of sustainability science worldwide [7]. LUCC and its driving force have been hot topics of global change research and sustainability science [8]

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Conclusion