Study on the abandonment of sloping farmland in Fengjie County, Three Gorges Reservoir Area, a mountainous area in China

Abstract

The farmland abandonment phenomenon in mountainous areas is a recent change in relationships between man and land that emerged in China's land-use transition. Revealing spatial distribution characteristics and influence factors of sloping farmland (SF) and abandoned farmland (AF) in mountainous areas is conducive to rational allocation and optimization on local land resources. This paper investigated regional distribution features of SF and AF in the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) using high-resolution remote sensing images, ArcGIS spatial analysis, and statistical methods. The results found that the spatial distribution of SF and AF has an approximate characteristic under different topography, location, or accessibility backgrounds. However, within different spatial coupling relationships between SF and AF, influencing mechanisms of farmland abandonment are significantly different. The diversity of geographical locations reflecting natural and social contexts is an essential reason for this differentiation. Moreover, dominant influencing factors of farmland abandonment in the study area are natural factors such as slope and farmland quality. Socioeconomic factors, including distance to road, peasant income, and labor force proportion, guide the distribution and trend of farmland abandonment to varying degrees. Finally, four modes of farmland abandonment in TGRA have proposed and suggested that the corresponding plans for SF consolidation should be proposed based on fine classification, which is of great significance for farmland utilization and rural revitalization in underdeveloped mountainous areas.