Rural Population Decline Research Articles

Analysis of land use changes and soil erosion using the EPM-IntErO model in the Sokobanja Basin, Serbia

Soil erosion, with the progressive loss of fertile topsoil and its negative impact on agricultural productivity, has become a critical global environmental problem. In the second half of the 20th century, many municipalities in Serbia experienced significant changes in land use, vegetation, and environmental conditions. The drive towards industrialization and urbanization aimed to improve the living standards of the population, but as a consequence, it led to substantial depopulation of rural areas and the adoption of inadequate agricultural practices, which, in turn, further intensified soil erosion. This study focuses on the Sokobanjska Moravica River basin (Eastern Serbia), extending to the Bovan Lake Dam and upstream, with a total area of 540.4 km². The basin is situated in a characteristic karst landscape. Changes in erosion intensity and runoff from this basin are analyzed using the Intensity of Erosion and Outflow (IntErO) model, which algorithmically integrates the widely used Erosion Potential Method (EPM) with innovative computational techniques to predict sediment production and runoff from the river basin accurately. This analysis utilizes GIS software and official statistical yearbook data, focusing on the period from the second half of the 20th century, including the analysis of the current state. According to our research, the most intensive changes in land use occurred between 1961 and 1971, marking the beginning of the period of a decline in rural population and, consequently, a decrease in erosion intensity. Key findings indicate that predominant changes in land use and vegetation led to a shift from crop farming to animal husbandry. After 1971, ongoing depopulation, particularly in rural areas, resulted in a gradual and steady decrease in erosion intensity. The primary aim of this study is to support policymakers in developing more effective soil and water conservation regulations. By making recommendations for the protection of vegetation, and thus the soil within this river basin, this research helps ensure their long-term preservation. Future research should focus on the long-term impacts of current land use practices and develop strategies to mitigate erosion in the context of changing climate conditions.

A Semantic Knowledge Graph of European Mountain Value Chains

The United Nations forecast a significant shift in global population distribution by 2050, with rural populations projected to decline. This decline will particularly challenge mountain areas’ cultural heritage, well-being, and economic sustainability. Understanding the economic, environmental, and societal effects of rural population decline is particularly important in Europe, where mountainous regions are vital for supplying goods. The present paper describes a geospatially explicit semantic knowledge graph containing information on 454 European mountain value chains. It is the first large-size, structured collection of information on mountain value chains. Our graph, structured through ontology-based semantic modelling, offers representations of the value chains in the form of narratives. The graph was constructed semi-automatically from unstructured data provided by mountain-area expert scholars. It is accessible through a public repository and explorable through interactive Story Maps and a semantic Web service. Through semantic queries, we demonstrate that the graph allows for exploring territorial complexities and discovering new knowledge on mountain areas’ environmental, societal, territory, and economic aspects that could help stem depopulation.

Visualizing a Sustainable Future in Rural Romania: Agrotourism and Vernacular Architecture

In Romania, rural communities grapple with decades of depopulation and economic decline, endangering the natural and cultural richness of their landscapes. The implementation of Romania’s 2030 sustainable development plan presents an opportunity to reverse these trends by merging economic and community development with cultural preservation. This paper examines the potential for creating new livelihood opportunities through a program that integrates sustainable agrotourism with culturally appropriate vernacular architecture in Romania’s distinct rural regions. Focusing on two such regions characterized by significant rural population decline yet endowed with ecological services capable of supporting a diverse rural economy, we collaborated with an architect and landscape engineer to devise three specific and detailed agritourist housing scenarios. These scenarios draw upon local architectural forms harmonious with the vernacular landscape, providing accommodations for agrotourism guests and facilitating craft workshops for visitors interested in rural crafts and traditions. We evaluated the cultural appropriateness of the architectural designs through a social survey and assessed the broader social utility of the development plan via an expansive cost–benefit analysis, treating the project’s sustainability features as quasi-public goods. Such interdisciplinary endeavours are essential for effectively bridging conceptually driven social analysis with pragmatic design and planning strategies, essential for achieving sustainable futures for rural communities and landscapes, as exemplified by rural Romania.

Hydroponic Multilayer Farming Automation with IOT

Abstract: This study introduces a novel high-tech, small-scale hydroponic system utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) technology for cultivating leafy vegetables. It employs low-cost materials and sensors for remote monitoring and process automation, addressing challenges like rural population decline and adverse climate changes. Experimental investigations focused on lettuce cultivation demonstrated the system's ability to maintain optimal environmental parameters, achieving 75% seed germination. Key benefits include easy management, remote monitoring, and suitability for small to medium-sized vegetable growers, enabling sustainable year-round farming of leafy greens indoors.

The impact on ecosystem services from rural revitalization activity in China Shandong Province, from a human well-being perspective of local residential

Rural decline is a global concern, and Ecosystem Services (ES) play a crucial role in both rural revitalization and the Human Well-being (HW) of residents. This study investigated 9 revitalization cases in Shandong province, China, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. It confirmed the effect on HW based on ES, using a comprehensive assessment framework covering local ecosystem services contribution and economic/social effect derived from the Millennium Ecosystem Service Assessment (MA) and Japan Biodiversity Outlook (JBO) and consolidated variations into four ES dimensions from a HW perspective. As a result, 4 common types of rural revitalization were identified: (A) Large-scale Agriculture, (B) Local Specialty/Brand Making, (C) Industry Integration, and (D) Urbanization Village, based on actors, core industries, and key revitalization activities. According to interviews with local residents, the residents express high levels of satisfaction with revitalization activities. Using TOPSIS analysis, we found that urbanization-led revitalization (D) excels in “economic/social” dimensions but falls short in “Interaction with nature and health" and “Life and culture with nature." In contrast, agriculture-based revitalization activities (A and B) offer a more balanced impact across various ES dimensions. The well-being of residents varies depending on how they utilize and connect with nature. These findings underscore the potential of large-scale agricultural development to address rural population decline and suggest that fostering a positive exchange of ES, HW and capital between rural and urban areas can enhance the resilience of the rural-urban system. These insights are especially relevant for addressing the urban-rural imbalances in developing countries experiencing urban expansion and rural decline.

METAMORPHOSIS: A DIGITAL APPROACH TO TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES THROUGH PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND METAVERSE

Abstract. This research employs a digital strategy to counter rural population decline and urban migration by integrating drone photogrammetry, metaverse, and blockchain technology. The focus is creating detailed 3D models of the settlements, which are subsequently optimized for metaverse platforms such as Voxels and Mona. Voxels facilitates participatory design, utilizing voxel parcels and Rhino- Grasshopper to involve all the stakeholders for renovation design work. Mona transforms parameterized projects into an immersive virtual experience, fuelled by blockchain technology, providing non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces and economic transitions. These virtual and real realms serve purposes such as decision-making, cultural preservation, economy generation, and virtual tourism, fostering rural revival, virtual economy, and digital representation of real-world environments.

창원시 지방소멸에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

This study aims to identify the factors that reduce the risk of rural depopulation in Changwon through the factors that affect the rural depopulation risk index in Changwon. The data used for the analysis of the study is a cross-sectional data for the distinguished areas of Changwon City in terms of geography, and a time series of 128 monthly data from January 2012 to August 2022. To conduct the empirical analysis, a balanced panel data combining cross-sectional and time series data was used to examine the factors affecting rural depopulation and population decline in Changwon City. The current rural depopulation risk index of Changwon City allowed us to identify the rural depopulation status of different districts of Changwon City, and it is expected to be used to provide direction for the establishment of real estate policies and future plans for each district. In the case of Changwon City, it was possible to identify that the population was rapidly declining as of 2016, and the population decline was caused by the decline of manufacturing, heavy industry, and shipbuilding, which are the core industries of Changwon City. Therefore, it is necessary for local governments to establish policies to attract the population of young people, the productive population, through deregulation and policy support centered on the Changwon National Industrial Complex, which is currently stagnating. It is judged that appropriate real estate development is necessary to attract consumers through the increase of apartment sales prices, and that supportive policies and deregulation policies for development can have a positive impact on the increase of the local extinction risk index in Changwon City. Based on these results, it is necessary for Changwon City to prepare policies in advance to ease the burden of renters due to population influx as a way to prevent population outflow to other areas, and to cope with sustainable population influx through housing stability support policies and relaxation of development regulations for housing supply.

Rural Shrinkage: Depopulation and Land Grabbing in Chilean Patagonia

One current global problem is the shrinkage of rural areas, which is expected to become an increasingly recurrent dynamic caused by the transformations in land uses and forms of habitation of the contemporary era. Patagonia is a suitable case study to understand the processes and challenges exposed by rural shrinkage, which not only addresses population loss but also the causes and consequences that transform rural territories. Its remote geographical location and climate conditions make it a complex place for human settlement. The objective is to describe the relationship between the agrarian structure and rural population decline in Chilean Patagonia. Taking a mixed methodological approach that combines the geohistorical review of settlement processes and the use of statistical procedures with census data, the presence of significant inequalities in the distribution of land and the accumulation of areas in large properties is discussed. The loss of rural population was identified, which may be driven by unequal access to land favoring concentration for extractive activities such as large-scale sheep farming, hydrocarbons and biofuels production. This prompts the exodus of young people to urban centers in search of work and education because land grabbing limits economic options, and rural depopulation reduces service coverage without timely responses from political institutions. This has caused the rural shrinkage in territories with demographic imbalances, with high aging and masculinization rates that hinder the repopulation of these areas, which have historically suffered from underpopulation. In conclusion, population strategies in these areas based on extractivism and a strict land ownership regime have not facilitated permanent human settlement but have instead complicated it more.

Medical and Demographic Processes in the Republic of Karelia in 2011–2021: Trends and Risks

Introduction: The Republic of Karelia is a part of the Northwestern Federal District and, being a sparsely populated constituent entity of the Russian Federation, is characterized by a difficult medical and demographic situation. Objective: To assess trends in medical and demographic processes in the Republic of Karelia in 2011–2021. Materials and methods: We analyzed official statistical data provided by the Territorial Body of the Federal State Statistics Service in the Republic of Karelia for the years 2011 to 2021. Both absolute and relative values and time series indicators were used to characterize the processes under study. Results: A long-term depopulation process has been taking place in the region: since 2011, the size of population has decreased by 39.5 thousand people, which was mainly attributed to the rural population decline and a shrinking number of women. In 2011–2021, the natural population growth rate was negative (–2.8 and –12.1 per 1,000 population in 2011 and 2021, respectively), began to worsen in 2015 due to a decrease in the birth rate, and even aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021 owing to increased mortality rates. Diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms were found to be the leading causes of death during the study period. In 2011–2020, the infant mortality rate ranged from 44.2 to 76.3 per 10 thousand births. We observed a regressive population age structure in the republic characterized by a decrease in the young-age to old-age population ratio from 0.70 in 2011 to 0.67 in 2021. The proportion of residents aged 60 years and older rose from 18.3 % in 2011 to 24.5 % in 2021. The share of working adults, on the opposite, decreased from 61.1 % in 2011 to 54.6 % in the year 2021. In 2020, a gradual increase in life expectancy traced in 2011–2019 turned into a decrease caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: The unfavorable medical and demographic situation in the Republic of Karelia requires special attention of the scientific community and governmental structures. Applying the principle of a systematic approach to solving the problem will help improve the current situation.

Social component as a factor and indicator of sustainable development of Ukrainian Polissia region

Official international organizations claim that existing notions about the relationship between a decrease in life expectancy and a reduction in population in affected regions are controversial and are a result of the impact of radioactive emissions from the Chornobyl explosion. However, despite the weak link between the level of radioactive contamination and population dynamics in the studied areas, the level of natural decline in rural population on radioactively contaminated land is significantly higher than in other territories. This indicates the need for further research in this direction. The aim of the study was to clarify the social basis for the implementation of balanced development in radioactively contaminated areas of Ukrainian Polissia. The article presents the results of a study on the role of the social component in the implementation of sustainable development in radioactively contaminated areas of Ukrainian Polissia, taking into account both long-term complex ecological, economic, and social challenges and the potential consequences of Russian military aggression. The methodology of the research is based on a systemic approach, which involves using both modern and classical scientific methods of research, including general scientific methods such as data analysis and synthesis; retrospective and comparative analysis for identifying causal relationships; analytical and synthetic methods for studying scientific and statistical data, archival materials, legislative and regulatory documents, among others; and mathematical methods for the mathematical processing of the obtained results. The research is based on the official statistical data provided by the main statistical departments in Volyn, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Rivne, and Chernihiv regions. Existing trends and results of studies on the interrelation between radioecological and social components have been analyzed. The study examines social indicators of the quality of life of the inhabitants of Ukrainian Polissia region (total income, level of wages, structure of population expenditures, etc.), demographic indicators (population, gender-age structure and population growth/decline), employment rate, morbidity, and consumer basket for rural and urban settlements in the studied regions. It has been established that indicators of the social sphere in the region of Ukrainian Polissіa can serve as additional criteria for assessing the current socio-economic situation and its dynamics. It has been determined that the social factor is an integral component and at the same time a criterion for sustainable development of radioactively contaminated territories. The need for a series of measures aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the state policy on employment of the population and the vocational education system has been proven, taking into account the forecasts of the regional enterprises’ demand for certain skilled personnel by professions and specialties, as well as the list of the most in-demand and promising professions and specialties. The list of such professions is individual for each region

Suitability of NASA’s Black Marble Daily Nighttime Lights for Population Studies at Varying Spatial and Temporal Scales

This paper investigates the potential link between changes in NASA’s Black Marble VIIRS/NPP Gap-Filled Lunar BRDF-Adjusted Nighttime Lights Daily L3 Global 500 m Linear Lat Lon Grid (VNP46A2) nighttime lights product (NTL) and human dynamics, particularly population counts and changes at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. We conducted analyses in four case studies at varying resolutions to explore the relationship of NTL data for population studies, including demographic research, disaster mitigation and adaptation planning, and infrastructure development. The analyses were conducted using different administrative geographies, including a refugee camp, a subnational region, and a country. We compared changes in population counts, density, migration, and displacement against changes in daily, weekly, monthly, and annual NTL values. Our case study results demonstrate that out-migration does not always lead to a decrease in NTL. We found that rural population decline did not correspond to a decrease in NTL. Despite significant out-migration in many rural areas NTL remained largely unchanged. NTL provided essential information on infrastructure damage in the short-term aftermath of this disaster; however, NTL alone was not correlated to the location of displaced individuals. Through news reports, we were able to corroborate the NTL changes to downtimes of the electrical systems. Monthly NTL averages were highly correlated to population counts, but a pixel-level analysis showed that the changes in NTL were primarily attributed to economic diversification. In summary, NTL is the product of several factors including demographic, environmental, economic, and political forces that shape electricity infrastructure, and we suggest that NTL data must first be parameterized with ancillary ground-level information in order to be effectively applied to population models.

Process decomposition of expanded rural housing at the rural–urban fringe: evidence from 27,034 buildings in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China

PurposeFaced with the challenges of rural population decline, combined with the widespread expansion of homesteads in rural areas, local Chinese governments hope to strictly control and minimize rural housing land. Accurately decomposing the process of rural housing expansion and revealing its driving factors will be helpful for land-use regulation by the government.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, an unusually rich dataset of rural housing registration from Pudong New Area in Shanghai is employed. The study aimed to decompose the fragmented accumulation process and its expansion determinants on rural housing assets. The dataset covers all samples of rural households and housing plots at 72 surveyed villages in six towns.FindingsHousing offers profitable capital and earning assets to villagers at the urban fringe, so they have a powerful incentive to build and expand more. The results of this analysis showed that the expansion of rural housing is largely due to the haphazard construction of auxiliary rooms by villagers, especially on plots of arable land that are adjacent to their houses that have been stealthily converted into auxiliary rooms and sheds. Low costs and weak penalties have led to an increase in rent-seeking expansions to rural houses. Houses with the smaller initial areas, families with more laborers and household heads, and the proximity of villages to downtown with convenient living services were the main driving factors for expanding houses. A concerted effort is needed to control the disorganized and unlicensed expansion of housing. This effort should include formulating areas for free use by villagers, high taxes on overused areas, serious penalties for unlicensed housing expansion and effective land-use planning.Research limitations/implicationsAn understanding of the expansion status and control measures related to rural houses in Shanghai provides an important reference that can help to guide the formulation of rural housing policies, and the sustainable development of cities worldwide. Of course, this study cannot generalize about housing distribution and expansion status worldwide based on the study area in China, because China's land tenure policies are unique. But land registry data exists that makes research like this feasible. There is a need to carefully examine the detailed housing distribution in each country before it can be decided on how best to address the disorderly increase in rural housing stock, and promote the reduction of rural residential expansion.Originality/valueFirst, the process of rural housing expansion by using an unique dataset which covers ten thousands of samples is revealed. Second, the results have policy implications for reducing the amount of idle and inefficiently rural homestead. The focus is on rural housing growth and its driving factors in Shanghai, and the villagers' motivations for housing expansion are explored.

Urbanization and the Paradox of Rural Population Decline: Racial and Regional Variation

The authors redress the commonplace narrative of rural decline. Data from the decennial censuses since 1980 reveal that rural growth is often counted as metro growth; that is, it is added to the expanding universe of metro counties. First, nonmetro counties (defined in 1980) grew from 55 million people in 1980 to roughly 70 million in 2020. Yet, because of nonmetro-to-metro reclassification, the 2020 census reports a nonmetro population of only 46 million. Second, nonmetro growth has been due almost entirely to endogenous growth of minority populations. Reclassification transferred disproportionate shares of America’s rural White population to the metro side of the demographic ledger, leaving behind rural minorities. Third, these racial differences in growth–both endogenous population growth and growth due to reclassification–are most apparent in the South, where most rural minorities live. Our goal is to provide both substantive and didactic lessons for studying population growth and decline.

Deagrarianization Problem and The Implications on Agricultural Policy in Indonesia

This paper discusses the existence of Indonesia as an agrarian country in Southeast Asia amid the threat of deagrarianization that is occuring worldwide. Deagrarianization is a terminology to explain the transition from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector which occurs widely in various rural areas of the world. This study uses the Grant approach by combining the results of statistical quantitative studies to provide a more complete and clear explanation of the symptoms of deagrarianization in macro perspective. The results showed that deagrarianization is ongoing in Indonesia. This can be seen from the six main indicators, namely: a decrease in GDP from the agricultural sector, a decrease of farming households, a decrease in the number of rurals, a decline in rural population, a decrease in labor participation in the agricultural sector, and a decrease in the extent of agricultural land. Those indicators show that agriculture is no longer a primary sector, but turned into a secondary sector instead. For agrarian countries, the transition of the agricultural sector to the non-agrarian sector becomes an important signal that agriculture is in a precarious condition. Deagrarianization is very potential to widening the disparity between the poor and the rich class in rural communities. If this situation gets worse, in macro’s perspective, it will give a greater impact on Indonesia's food security as an agrarian country.

What is the ‘problem’ of gender inequality represented to be in the Swedish forest sector?

Gender equality in natural resource management is a matter of sustainability and democracy for Sweden’s government, however the country’s forest remains a highly gender-segregated sector. We examine how gender inequality is problematized within Swedish forest and rural policy documents using the What’s the problem represented to be? (WPR) approach. We build on previous efforts to investigate gender inequality in the forest sector by expanding the critical analysis to rural development policy. We conduct interviews with forest experts, owners, and practitioners to shed light on where there are gaps within the policy representations and uncover alternative policy options that are presented. Our findings corroborate that gender inequality is represented to be a technical problem, with policy measures aiming to increase the number of women within a forest sector that continues to maintain rigid conceptions about forestry production values. While there are claims of success in the increase of women within the sector in aggregate, there is little change in the numbers of women in decision-making positions. Forest policy relies upon women to bring growth and sustainability to the forest industry, while rural policy expects women to halt rural population decline. Our findings suggest that merely trying to fit more women into a mold that has been shaped for and by inflexible forestry and masculine values is an impediment not only to gender equality but also to the inclusion of other social groups and ideas in the changing rural landscapes of Sweden.

A study on villages of the planning of water infrastructure planning: 25 villages in Shaanxi Province as an example

Abstract This thesis provides a water infrastructure planning strategy based on an analysis and evaluation of the present situation, which more effectively integrates the current scenario of rural development while adjusting to the trend of population development and resource allocation in rural China. In the north-central area of Shaanxi Province, 25 villages were chosen for field study in order to get a comprehensive grasp of the population and land-use conditions. The size and population of the area needing sewage and drainage infrastructure are estimated by the projection of rural population decline and the projection of rural building land scale and land-use adjustment. On this basis, sewage and drainage facilities are subsequently planned, including the contents of a three-compartment septic tank, sedimentation tank, sewage network, and ecological treatment tank. This type of water infrastructure design may not only enhance the living environment of the region but also efficiently address the issues of water collection and agricultural irrigation in the desert tablelands, enabling the efficient use of resources and sustainable growth of the community.

Empirical Examinations of Whether Rural Population Decline Improves the Rural Eco-Environmental Quality in a Chinese Context

Rural population has continually declined in response to the rapid urbanization process occurring in China, and the related negative socioeconomic impacts on rural development have attracted considerable attention from scholars. Currently, few studies have investigated the eco-environmental impact of rural population decline. By employing remote-sensing data, including land-use and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, this study proposed a method based on the eco-environmental quality index (EQI) to measure the changes in the rural eco-environmental quality (REQ) at the prefectural level from 2000 to 2020. Then, we examined the impacts of rural population decline on REQ variations. We found that (1) most of the research units experienced continuous rural population decline during the research period, with the rural population density declining more than 25% from 2010 to 2020 in approximately half of the research units; (2) the REQ improved in most of the units, especially in the western region, but there were still many units that experienced a decline in the REQ, which were primarily concentrated in the coastal and central regions; (3) rural population decline improved the REQ, but its impacts varied regionally; and (4) rural population density, natural factors, and eco-environmental protection programs had significant influences on REQ variations. These findings may provide a reference for sustainable-development policies in rural China and other developing countries.

Explaining the Decline of Rural Population in Spain (1900–2018)

Abstract The analysis of data at the municipality level from the Municipal Enumerator Books demonstrates that rural population in Spain has declined as a percentage of total population since 1900. A highly granular case study of Asturias, a region in northern Spain, reveals that internal infrastructure and the proximity of a medium-size town were crucial to maintaining population in the countryside. The income gap between rural and urban municipalities, however, also led to significant migration from rural areas.

School Closures and Rural Population Decline*

AbstractSince 1998, more than 6,000 public schools have closed in rural U.S. counties. Very little research considers how these school closures impact the future growth (or decline) of rural communities. Given rural schools' importance to parents, local labor markets, and civic life, closures could trigger or reinforce population loss. On the other hand, the configuration of schools may simply be a consequence of population loss and not a cause. This paper tests these hypotheses using records from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and U.S. Census. Employing an instrumental variable analysis that exploits exogenous variation in school district boundaries and a difference‐in‐difference design that groups counties by propensity scores, I find that school closures induce population loss in many—but not all—cases. Specifically, counties with the lowest propensities to close schools experience the largest negative effects on population. This finding suggests that policymakers often overlook potentially important unintended consequences of school consolidation in rural communities.

Rural Population Decline, Cultivated Land Expansion, and the Role of Land Transfers in the Farming-Pastoral Ecotone: A Case Study of Taibus, China

The decline and aging of the rural population in China has been an increasingly conspicuous problem in the past few decades and has been one of the fundamental drivers of cultivated land abandonment and loss. However, although they have endured similar rural demographic changes, some regions have experienced cultivated land expansion and the farming-pastoral ecotone is a typical one. Using Taibus as a case, this study aims to reveal the phenomenon of cultivated land expansion in the context of rural population decline and explore its underlying mechanism by addressing the role of cultivated land protection and land transfer policies. This study will also reveal the possible negative impacts and risks of cultivated land expansion. We found that 64.3% of the rural population in Taibus have migrated to other regions in 2020; however, cultivated land has increased by more than 10% in the past five years. Land transfer policies have helped to solve the agricultural labor shortage problem and increase household income, which encouraged the reclamation activities by rural households. However, under China’s land protection system, the central and the local governments have not enough incentives to prevent these reclamation activities. Cultivated land expansion in the farming-pastoral ecotone may lead to a series of negative impacts or risks, especially the overuse of groundwater resources and land desertification. Thus, we suggest that governments pay more attention to the phenomenon of cultivated land expansion and re-assess the cultivated land use policies in the farming-pastoral ecotone and other regions with similar contexts.