The Spatio-Temporal Changes of Cultivated Land and Their Driving Factors in Shandong Province

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the spatio-temporal changes of cultivated land and driving factors in Shandong Province. The temporal change was based on the economical statistic data from 1952 to 1993. Economical statistic data included gross cultivated land, population, foodstuff output per capita, Gross National Product, national income, total value of agriculture and industry product. The spatial change was based on Shangdong provincial land use maps of 1985 and 1998. The methods used in our study are known as clustering, principal component analysis, GIS spatial analysis. The result showed that the driving factors of the changes of cultivated land in Shandong Province are different in different periods. The changes of cultivated land in Shandong Province were consistent with the biggest economic benefit. On the other hand, it is limited by the complex terrain and the land utilizing. These achievements are profound for the research of relation between economic development and cultivated land variance.