Spatio-temporal evolution of land use and its eco-environmental effects in the Caohai National Nature Reserve of China

Abstract

With the rapid development of social economy, the ecological environment problems caused by the change of wetland land use have been widely concerned. This paper takes the Caohai National Nature Reserve (CNNR) of China as the research object on the basis of referring to previous research results. Firstly, the remote sensing data was employed to examine the spatio-temporal evolution process of the CNNR from three aspects: land use structure change, land use dynamic degree and land use space change. Then the change of ecological environment quality was studied from the greenness, the wetness, the dryness and the heat. Based on the spatiotemporal changes of land use types and ecological environment quality in the CNNR from 2000 to 2020, a comprehensive index, the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI), was constructed to analyze the ecological environmental effects of land use changes. The results indicate that the land use changes in the CNNR went through two major periods: first, a period of rapid decline in cultivated land, and second, a period of sharp increase in constructed land. During the period of rapid decline in cultivated land, the ecological environment quality in the study area showed an upward trend. However, during the period of increased constructed land, the ecological environment quality gradually stabilized. This study provides a basis for the coordinated development of the ecological environment and social economy in the CNNR area.