Distribution Pattern Of Land Use Research Articles

Simulation and Zoning Research on the Ecosystem Service in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region Based on SSP–RCP Scenarios

Understanding future trends and identifying characteristic differences in regional ecosystem services (ESs), in addition to ecological zoning, is vital for promoting the adjustment of ecological policy and the construction of sustainable ecosystems. Based on shared socioeconomic pathways and representative concentration pathways (SSP–RCP), the spatial distribution pattern of land use in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region (BTH) in 2030 was simulated by using a patch-generating land use simulation model (PLUS) in this study. Water yield, carbon storage, habitat quality, and food product were simulated through the comprehensive evaluation model combining ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST). The comprehensive supply capacity of ESs was assessed. The ecological risk level was calculated by comparing the changes in the integrated supply capacity of ESs in 2020 and under each SSP–RCP scenario in 2030, and ecological zoning was established using a two-dimensional discriminant matrix. The results are as follows: (1) The degradation of grassland and cropland accompanied by an increase in construction land and forest to varying degrees will be the common characteristics of the three SSP–RCP scenarios in BTH. (2) Water yield and carbon storage services will exhibit an upward tendency only under SSP1-2.6, while habitat quality and food product services will exhibit a downward trend under three SSP–RCP scenarios. Obvious geographical heterogeneity exists in the comprehensive supply capacity of ESs. (3) Zones with low ecological risks will mainly be distributed in some counties of Zhangjiakou city, while zones with high ecological risks will account for a large proportion of the whole. There will be great ecological risks in the BTH overall. (4) The BTH was split into four types of ecological zones based on supply and risk. These zones comprise the ecological enhancement zone, ecological restoration zone, ecological sensitive zone, and ecological conservation zone. Corresponding control measures were also proposed. The findings of this study can be used to inform the formulation and improvement of environmental conservation policies.

Variation in soil infiltration properties under different land use/cover in the black soil region of Northeast China

Soil infiltration properties (SIPs) of infiltration rate and saturated hydraulic conductivity significantly affect hydrological and erosion processes, thus, knowledge of SIPs under different land use/cover are vital for land use management to control soil erosion for realizing the sustainable development of the small agricultural watershed. Nevertheless, few studies have been carried out to investigate the differences in SIPs and their dominant influencing factors between different land use/cover in the black soil region of Northeast China. Therefore, eight typical land use/cover were selected to clarify the variations in SIPs between different land use/cover and further identify their dominant influencing factors. SIPs of initial infiltration rate (IIR), steady infiltration rate (SIR), and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) were determined under eight typical land use/cover (forestland, shrub land, grassland, longitudinal shelterbelt, transverse shelterbelt, agricultural road, and cropland of Zea mays L. and Glycine max (Linn.) Merr) using a tension disc infiltrometer with three pressure heads of −3, −1.5, and 0 cm. The results of one-way ANOVA analysis showed that SIPs varied greatly between different land use/cover. Shelterbelt plant with Populus L. had the maximum IIR, SIR, and Ks, and then followed by shrub land, agricultural road, cropland, grassland, and forestland. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that SIPs were significantly correlated with soil and vegetation properties. Redundancy analysis revealed that differences in SIPs between different land use/cover were dominantly attributed to the differences in soil texture, field capacity, and plant root mass density, which explained 79.36% of the total variation in SIPs. Among these dominant influencing factors, the results of structural equation model indicated that the indirect effects of plant root and soil texture played the most important role in variations of SIPs via affecting soil texture and pore characteristics. These results have significant implications for the precise prediction of watershed hydrological and erosion processes, also provide a scientific basis for guiding the distribution pattern of land use in the cultivated watershed.

Multi-Scenario Simulation of Land Use Change and Ecosystem Service Value in the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration

The evolution of regional land use is a complex process under the combined effect of multiple factors, and it is important to understand this evolution process, as well as its characteristics and future trends, through land use change models in order to achieve scientific use of land space and optimize the regional development pattern. In this study, the PLUS model is used to simulate the land use in 2035 for the natural development scenario, the urban expansion scenario and the ecological protection scenario using the middle reaches of Yangtze River urban agglomeration (MRYRUA) as the study area, and then to calculate the ecosystem service values (ESV) and analyze the contribution of each driver to each land type and the spatial autocorrelation of the ESV at the grid scale. The results show that (1) the land use changes in the study area from 2015 to 2020 are mainly: the rapid expansion of construction land with an increase of 200,221 hm2 and an increase in arable land, specifically 85,982 hm2, and a decrease in all other land types. (2) The ESV of the study area was CNY 3,837,282 million and CNY 3,774,162 million from 2015 to 2020, respectively, with an general decreasing trend. (3) Three scenarios are simulated for the study area in 2035, and the ESVs under the natural development scenario, urban expansion scenario and ecological conservation scenario are CNY 3,618,062 million, CNY 3,609,707 million and CNY 3,625,662 million, respectively, which are all lower than those in 2020. (4) The global autocorrelation indices for 2020 and the three scenarios are 0.7126, 0.7104, 0.7144 and 0.7104, respectively, which are significantly positive. The simulation of MRYRUA land use and the comparative analysis of ESV provide some help in the strategic optimization of the spatial distribution pattern of land use in large regional urban agglomerations.

Dynamic Evolution and Future Prediction of Land Use Patterns in the Arid Desert Region of Northwest China from 1990 to 2020

Based on temporal and spatial dynamic data on land use in the arid desert region of Northwest China from 1990 to 2020, this study quantitatively analyzed and predicted future scenarios of the dynamic distribution pattern of land use using remote sensing technology. Unused land was the dominant landscape in the arid desert region of Northwest China over the past 30 years. The largest patch index of cultivated and construction land is continuously increasing, exhibiting a spatial aggregation trend. Grassland is the main vegetation type in the arid desert region of Northwest China, with the proportion of patches fluctuating between 27 and 28% during the 30-year study period. The proportion of patches in forests decreased yearly, whereas the proportion of patches in water areas relatively changed little. Meanwhile, the area of construction land is continuously increasing, accounting for 80% of the total increased area. According to the prediction made by the model, unused land and grassland will account for the majority of land use in 2040. Environmental construction in the arid desert region of Northwest China is expected to improve the robustness of the rational development and utilization of unused land and boost the protection and construction of forests and grasslands.

陕北煤炭基地榆神矿区生态系统弹性力时空演变分析

陕北榆神矿区是我国重要的煤炭生产基地，生态环境脆弱，分析煤炭开采对该区域生态系统稳定性的影响对矿区生态修复具有重要意义。以榆神矿区所在流域为研究对象，基于近10年土地利用确定了工矿活动直接和间接影响区的时空演变特征，通过建立生态弹性力指标体系，结合空间主成分分析法综合评估了工矿活动对矿区生态系统弹性力的影响。结果表明：（1）近10年研究区生态环境明显改善，林地草地面积明显增加，但是煤炭开发用地也大幅增加，从8.4 km²增加至14.2 km²；（2）榆神矿区生态系统弹性力主要受植被覆盖度和地下径流量的影响，2009-2015年，煤炭开发直接影响区和间接影响区生态弹性力呈下降趋势，相比之下，2018年煤炭开发不同影响区生态弹性力明显增加；（3）煤炭开采活动引发的地质环境问题致使矿区生态环境退化，导致煤炭开发直接影响区生态弹性力低于间接影响区，平均低9.23%，因此及时采取修复治理措施降低煤炭开发引起的地质环境问题对改善矿区生态环境至关重要。研究结果可为榆神矿区的生态保护管理与健康可持续发展提供决策参考。;The Yushen mining area in northern Shaanxi is an important coal production base in China with a fragile ecological environment. It is of great significance to analyze the influence of coal mining on the stability of the regional ecosystem for the ecological restoration of the mining area. This study takes the watershed where Yushen mining area is located as the study area. Based on the distribution pattern of land use in the past 10 years, the direct and indirect influenced areas of industrial and mining activities have been determined, and the evolution characteristics of different impact areas of coal mining activities have been analyzed. By selecting the key indicators of the ecological environment in the study area, establishing an ecological elasticity index system, combined with the spatial principal component analysis method, comprehensively evaluates the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of the ecological system elasticity in the study area, and analyzes the impact of industrial and mining activities on the ecological system elasticity in the study area. The results show that (1) the spatial pattern of land use in the study area has undergone great changes in the past 10 years, the ecological environment has improved significantly, and the city has undergone further expansion. Among them, the area of forestland and grassland has increased significantly, and the industrial and mining land has increased from 8.4 km² to 14.2 km². (2) The resilience of the ecosystem in the study area showed an increasing trend as a whole, but the local fluctuations were large, mainly affected by the two indicators of vegetation coverage and groundwater runoff. From 2009 to 2015, the ecological resilience of the areas directly and indirectly affected by coal development showed a decreasing trend. In comparison, the ecological resilience of different areas affected by coal development increased significantly in 2018. (3) The geological environmental problems caused by coal mining activities have degraded the ecological environment of the mining area, resulting in the ecological resilience of the areas directly influenced by coal development being lower than that of the indirect influenced areas, with an average of 9.23% lower. Therefore, timely restoration and control measures to reduce the geological environmental problems caused by coal development are of vital importance to improve the ecological environment of the mining area. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis for optimizing the ecological pattern of the mining area, as well as the ecological protection management and healthy and sustainable development of the mining area.

Land Use Pattern and Vegetation Cover Dynamics in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) Intervening Basin

The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) intervening basin is one of the most important, ecologically fragile and sensitive areas in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Since the completion and operation of the TGR, the change of the ecological environment in this region—with vegetation as an indicator—has been a consistent focus of attention. Based on the six phases of land use data and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), temperature and precipitation data from 1998 to 2017, the change and trend of land use and vegetation cover in the TGR intervening basin were analyzed quantitatively by using a transition matrix, linear regression and partial correlation analysis. The area of unchanged land use type is 56,565 km2, accounting for 97.27% of the total area of the basin. The vegetation coverage with NDVI as the indicator showed a significant upward trend, with a growth rate of 7.5%/10a. The impact of temperature on vegetation was greater than that of precipitation on vegetation. The non-linear fitting curve of NDVI to temperature and precipitation rose with the time course of TGR impoundment, although the mechanism remains to be studied further. In general, climate change, ecological restoration measures, urbanization and reservoir impoundment did not significantly change the spatial distribution pattern of land use and the climate driving mechanism of vegetation growth in the TGR intervening basin.

Impacts of the grain for Green Program on the spatial pattern of land uses and ecosystem services in mountainous settlements in southwest China

The Grain for Green Program which is an important part of the strategy of Western development was initiated to protect the ecological environment and mitigate disasters. The upper reaches of the Min River basin is one of the key pilot regions for Grain for Green Program implementation in the mountainous areas of Sichuan Province, southwestern China. Therefore, monitoring the effect of the Grain for Green Program on the ecosystem services (ESs) in the montainous areas is important. Especially, several authors have emphasized the need to quantify spatial characteristics and evaluate ES values of land uses in mountainous areas from spatial and temporal perspectives. In this study, we firstly analyzed the spatial pattern of land uses in mountainous settlements before and after implementation of Grain for Green Program in the upper reaches of Min River, Sichuan Province of China. Based on lacunarity analysis, we explored the spatial characteristics of land uses including spatial heterogeneityand cluster. The results suggested that the spatial characteristics of land uses occurred at different scales, and there is strong relationship between spatial characteristic scales and the different distribution pattern of land use. We then quantified the relationships between geometrical features for land use pacthes and vegetation habitat suitability by multilevel Bayesian model. We found that the vegetation habitat suitability significantly affected on spatial location, size, and complexity of different land use patches in mountainous settlements. Based on assignment method of ES value per unit area, we finally quantitatively analyzed and compared the changes in ES values of land uses in mountainous settlements caused by Grain for Green Program from spatial and temporal scales. It is an important indicator for defining ecological potential by quantifying the change in ES value. After implementation of Grain for Green Program, the total ES value dramatically increased because of increase in forest and pasture areas. It suggests that the Grain for Green Program could bring effectively ecological benefit on protecting ecosystem functions in some degree. Application of spatial characteristics analysis of land uses and ES valuation in mountainous settlements to study the spatial structure of land use and service supplies should provide a better understanding of service provision and enable evaluation of the ecological integrity of land uses in mountainous areas.

Spatial-temporal Features of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Losses of Jingui River Watershed in the upstream of Lijiang River

To find out the nitrogen and phosphorus concentration and load emission regularity and its effect during the rainy season + irrigation period and dry season + non-irrigation period in the small watershed, five spatial scales (3.35 ∼27.25 km2) nested in the Jingui river watershed are selected and regularly monitored from October 2017 to September 2018. The results showed that the nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the rainy season + irrigation period and dry season + non-irrigation period increased with the increase of the scale. The total nitrogen and total phosphorus load per unit area in the rainy season + irrigation period decreased with the increase of the scale; the dry season + non-irrigation period increased slightly. The same nitrogen and phosphorus index concentration was significantly different at different spatial scales. The main reason for the scale effect was the distribution pattern of land-use. Affected by this, scale D, the critical scale of nitrogen and phosphorus load in Jingui river watershed, its average load of total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, total phosphorus and total dissolved phosphate reached the highest value of the watershed. The contribution rate of nitrogen and phosphorus load in rainy season + irrigation period and dry season + non-irrigation period of research areas with different area depends on precipitation and the distribution pattern of land-use. Therefore, the nitrogen and phosphorus emission control and pollutant reduction in the rice irrigation districts of Lijiang river basin should consider the spatial-temporal features and effects of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutant transport.

Spatial Distribution Pattern of Land Use Surrounding Cropland and Biodiversity Conservation of Rural Landscape

Spatial Distribution Pattern of Land Use Surrounding Cropland and Biodiversity Conservation of Rural Landscape

Scenario simulation of land exploitation and risk assessment of soil erosion in the low-slope hilly area of the Erhai basin

Risk assessment of soil erosion is an important prerequisite to develop the low-slope hilly in basin-scale. Using Dynamics of Land System model (DLS), we design the scenario simulation of land exploitation of Dali city which is located in the Erhai basin and typical as low-slope hilly area. Then we bring in Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to assess the risks of soil erosion under different scenarios. In two simulating scenarios, baseline scenario and planning scenario respectively, the spatial distribution pattern of land use of the study area in 2020 shows an overall consistency and a partial difference. The cultivated resources of Dali has been protected since the cultivated land located in dam area has not changed, while construction land has expanded more or less on the basis of existing built-up areas. Specifically, the expansion of construction land in planning scenario is concentrated on Haidong town and Fengyi town where there are rich in low-slope hilly resources. In two scenarios mentioned above, both the value-at-risk of soil erosion and its risk level have no significant rise or drop from 2008 to 2020. As the risk index of soil erosion in baseline scenario is 0.003 taller than in planning scenario, one conclusion can be drawn that the planning scenario will lower the overall risk of soil erosion and should be used to develop gentle hillside area in Erhai basin. The risk evaluation of soil erosion under different scenarios is valuable for land management decisions because the results provide fundamental information for optimal utilization of land use and prevention of ecological risks in the low-slope hilly regions.

Urban Land use Characteristics and Trip Generation Patterns in a Developing Economy: A Case Study of Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria

There have been many studies on intra city movement in Nigeria but they have not examined the distribution pattern of land use which is central to urban mobility in any country of the world. It is against this background that the study is designed to describe land use characteristics and examine their correlations with household trip flow in a medium sized city of Ilesa, Nigeria. Primary and secondary sources of data were used for this research. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that urban land use in Ilesa does not comply with the planning regulations. Further analyses reveal that the distribution patterns of urban land use correlate with household travel patterns in the city. The study concludes that there is need to re- design the master plan of Ilesa and ensure strict compliance with the planning regulations in the city and many other cities in Nigeria as a whole. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n4p311

Dynamic evaluation on ecosystem service values of urban rivers and lakes: A case study of Nanchang City, China

Urban rivers and lakes play a significant role in providing ecosystem services, such as water supply, purification, nutrient retention, recreation, aesthetics, and more. However, there is no widely-accepted methodology for how to dynamically evaluate the ecosystem service values of urban rivers and lakes. Using data from survey and remote sensing of Nanchang City, China, this article constructs a conceptual framework based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment to propose an integrated approach to evaluate the ecosystem service values of urban rivers and lakes. Furthermore, the article employs a GIS-based Markov chain model to predict the future probable distribution pattern of land use in Nanchang City, while it uses an artificial neural network model to simulate the potential changing of ecosystem service values. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment-based dynamic evaluation shows that in the first period of 1989–1999, provisioning services are dominant, followed by regulating services, supporting services and cultural services, while during the second period of 1999–2008, regulating services rank firstly in the total change of ecosystem service values, followed by supporting services, cultural services and provisioning services. The artificial neural network-based simulation indicates that the total will slightly increase in line with a small undulation in regulating service values, whilst the most changes brought by the provisioning services will be stable. This study is intended to serve as a tool to be used in decision making for proper and informed urban aquatic ecosystem management.