Dynamic Degree Model Research Articles

Monitoring the Landscape Pattern Dynamics and Driving Forces in Dongting Lake Wetland in China Based on Landsat Images

Dongting Lake wetland is a typical lake wetland in the Middle and Lower Yangtze River Plain in China. Due to the influence of natural and human activities, the landscape pattern has changed significantly. This study used 12 Landsat images from 1991 to 2022 and applied three common classification methods (support vector machine, maximum likelihood, and CART decision tree) to extract and classify the landscape information, with the latter having a superior annual accuracy of over 90%. Based on the CART decision tree classification results, the dynamic characteristics of wetland spatial patterns were analyzed through the landscape pattern index, dynamic degree model, and transition matrix model. Redundancy and grey correlation analysis were employed to investigate the driving factors. The results showed increased landscape fragmentation, reduced heterogeneity, and increased complexity from 1991 to 2022. The water and mudflat areas exhibited three distinct stages: gradual decline until 2001 (−3.06 km2/a); sharp decrease until 2014 (−19.44 km2/a); and steady increase (22.93 km2/a). Vegetation conversion, particularly between sedge and reed, dominated the change in landscape pattern. Reed area initially increased (18.88 km2/a), then decreased (−35.89 km2/a), while sedge showed the opposite trend. Woodland area fluctuated, peaking in 2016 and declined by 2022. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam significantly altered landscape dynamics through water level changes, reflected by a 4.03% comprehensive dynamic degree during 2001–2004. Potential evaporation also emerged as a significant natural factor, exhibiting a negative correlation with the landscape index. During 1991–2001 and 2004–2022, the comprehensive explanatory rates of temperature, precipitation, potential evaporation, and water level on landscape pattern dynamics were 88.56% and 52.44%, respectively. Other factors like policies and socio-economic factors played a crucial role in wetland change. These findings offer valuable insights into the dynamic evolution and driving mechanisms of Dongting Lake wetland.

The Main Drivers of Wetland Evolution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Plain

Analysis of the driving mechanism of wetland change can help identify the spatial differences in the mechanisms of different elements in order to better scientifically prevent and utilize wetlands. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Plain (BTHP) was selected as the study area, and the dynamic degree model and change intensity index were utilized to examine the spatial and temporal changes of wetlands based on four periods of land use data. After establishing a wetland change evaluation system that included topography, geology, meteorological, and human activities, we utilized a random forest model to study the driving mechanism of wetland change from 1990–2020. Based on the developed zoning map, we then offered specific protection policies. We have four major findings: (1) the wetlands reduced significantly in the BTHP and underwent a change process from decreasing to increasing, and reservoirs and rivers, particularly along the Bohai Rim, were the primary determinants of wetland changes; (2) the impact of topographic factors such as elevation showed a significant gradient effect, the impact of geological factors such as hydrogeological division was low and indirect, the impact of meteorological factors was nonlinear, and the impact of anthropic factors was most significant and showed clear spatial directivity; (3) the urban expansion and agricultural reclamation had significant dominant effects, coupled with the topographical effects of elevation and slope, the geological environmental effects of surface subsidence and hydrogeological division, and the cumulative effects of temperature and precipitation, which resulted in the spatial change of wetlands; and (4) protecting wetland integrity, dynamic monitoring, restricting human activities, and establishing wetland buffer zones should be applied to the general area, natural factors area, anthropic factors area, and significant comprehensive area, respectively.

Impact of Chinese-Style Fiscal Decentralization on Urban–Rural Integration: Based on Factor Allocation

The urban–rural relationship has been a critical issue in studies on urban and rural geography. Urban–rural integration development (URI), as an integral part of the urban–rural relationship, needs to be understood under an integrated theoretical framework. Based on the conceptual analysis from productivism to post-productivism, this study constructs a multidimensional framework to understand urban–rural integration, restructuring from five layers that integrate population, space, economic, social, and environmental concerns, and the revised dynamic coordination coupling degree (CCD) model is used to measure the level of URI. Many studies have focused on the connection between URI and factor allocation. However, it is yet to be determined how both fiscal decentralization and factor allocation are linked with URI. This study focuses on this unexplored topic, and the impact mechanism among URI, factor allocation, and Chinese-style fiscal decentralization is investigated by adopting spatial econometric models, for achieving the high-quality development of China’s urban–rural relations. Empirical analysis of China’s three major urban agglomerations reveals that there are promising signs in China’s urban–rural integration development, with an orderly and coordinated structure shaping over the period 2003–2017. The rationality of factor allocation depends heavily on the power comparison between the helping hand and the grabbing hand of local governments under Chinese-style fiscal decentralization. Moderate fiscal decentralization, with a perfect market and social security system, leads to the free flow of factors and promotes urban–rural integration. By contrast, excessive fiscal decentralization causes resource misallocation and hinders urban–rural integration development. In light of our empirical evidence, the coordinated development of small- and medium-sized cities and subcities in urban agglomerations is suggested, it is highly necessary to establish a perfect social and employment security system. In addition, a reasonable space planning system for land use needs to be constructed by China’s governments at all levels. Chinese local governments should pay more attention to rural development in their jurisdiction by stimulating their information advantages under Chinese-style fiscal decentralization.

Multi-Scale Dynamic Analysis of the Russian–Ukrainian Conflict from the Perspective of Night-Time Lights

Under the influence of various forces, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is violent and changeable. The obtaining of battlefield data by conventional means is difficult but necessary in order to ensure security, reliability, and comprehensiveness. The use of remote sensing technology can make up for the deficiencies of conventional methods. By using night-time light data, the total number of night-time lights in the built-up areas of Ukrainian cities within 36 days of the outbreak of the Russian–Ukrainian conflict is compiled in this paper. Furthermore, the dynamic changes in night-time light at the national, regional, and urban scales are analyzed by using the night-time light ratio index and the dynamic degree model combined with the time-series night-time light data. The results show that (1) after the outbreak of the war, more than 60% of the night-time lights in Ukrainian cities were lost. In terms of the night-time light recovery speed, the night-time lights in the pro-Russian areas recovered significantly faster, followed by Russian-controlled areas, and the recovery speed in areas of conflict was the lowest. (2) Decision-making by belligerents affects non-combatant activities and thus corresponds to light at night. The loss of night-time light will be reduced if military operations are reduced and mitigated if humanitarian operations are increased. (3) The changes in night-time light reflect the changes in the conflict situation well. When the conflict between Russia and Ukraine intensifies, the overall change of night-time light shows a downward trend. In this context, night-time light data can be used as an effective source to deduce and predict battlefield situations.

Spatial-temporal variation characteristics of cultivated land and controlling factors in the Yangtze River Delta region of China

Comprehending the change characteristics and controlling factors of regional cultivated land resources is one of the important preconditions for their healthy development. The main objective of this study is to analyze the spatial–temporal variation characteristics of cultivated land and controlling factors in the Yangtze River Delta region. Thus, the mathematical–statistical, land use dynamic degree model, principal component analysis, and geographically weighted regression model were used to analyze the change in cultivated land area and social–economic factors in the Yangtze River Delta region from 2009 to 2018. The results showed that the cultivated land area and per capita cultivated land area had a decreasing trend from 2009 to 2018, decreasing by 8.5 × 104 ha and 0.0039 ha, respectively. From the perspective of spatial patterns, the rapidly decreasing areas of cultivated land were mainly distributed in the southeast, while the slowly decreasing areas of cultivated land were becoming concentrated in the northwest, and the slowly increasing areas presented as scattered distribution, which was also the same spatial distribution for the per capita cultivated land area in the Yangtze River Delta region. Among these factors, population (POP) and the total power of agricultural mechanization (TPAM) had a positive spatial correlation with cultivated land. The gross domestic product (GDP) had a negative spatial correlation with cultivated land, which revealed that cultivated land was intensely affected by human activities. Moreover, the spatial distribution and influence degree of the controlling factors differed in regions. Our research is expected to reveal the relationship between economic development and cultivated land protection for providing references for strengthening regional cultivated land management, maintaining the healthy development of regional resources, and rational utilization of cultivated land.

Enhancing sustainability of vegetation ecosystems through ecological engineering: A case study in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Ecological engineering is an important measure to promote ecosystem adaptation and restoration to deal with environmental change and human disturbance. To assess the effectiveness of ecological construction and analyze the influencing factors of ecosystem changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), this study detected the spatial changes and dynamic hotspots of vegetation ecosystems in the ecological construction regions of the QTP (QTPE) and regions without ecological construction (QTPWE) using hot spot analysis and comprehensive dynamic degree model. Then the random forest (RF) model and geographical weighted regression model were used to study the degree and spatial heterogeneity of impacts of climate and human activities on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Results showed that the vegetation restoration of the QTPE was obvious during 2001–2018 as the area of the increasing NDVI accounted for 74.15%. In addition, the effects of climate and human activities on NDVI of vegetation ecosystem showed significant spatial heterogeneity. The RF model showed that population density was the most significant factor affecting ecosystem vegetation in the QTPE, and its relative importance was between 26.1–32.6%, followed by downward shortwave radiation (7.9–16.8%). However, climate factors still had the greatest impact in the QTPWE, with the relative importance of precipitation and temperature being 45% and 15%, respectively. These findings provide a scientific basis for the restoration and management of vegetation on the QTP, and are of great significance for the deployment of future ecological engineering projects.

Study on the Spatial Differences in Land-Use Change and Driving Factors in Tibet

As the main body of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, the Tibet Autonomous Region is an important ecological security barrier for the surrounding areas and even for Asia. However, the ecological environment is very fragile, and slight changes in land use may seriously affect the stability of the ecosystem. Therefore, it is necessary to deeply explore the driving factors of change in the various land-use types to stabilize the ecological structure and function of Tibet. In this paper, the transition matrix, land dynamic degree and Geodetector model are introduced to obtain the land-use change in the whole Tibetan region and its four subregions from 1990 to 2020. Based on the elevation, slope, temperature, precipitation, population and GDP, the driving factors of conversions between land-use types are explored. The results showed that during the study period, farmland, grassland and forest all showed a decreasing trend in area size. The grassland is large in the northwest region and is the main land-use type in Tibet, and its conversion to water area is the largest. The area of construction land has increased significantly, and its occupation of farmland is the largest, especially in the southwest region. The Geodetector results show that there are differences in the driving factors of the conversions between the whole region and each subregion. In the whole region, the increase in precipitation and temperature were the main drivers of unutilized land and grassland-to-water area conversions, whereas the growth of GDP and population were the dominant drivers of built-up land expansion; however, at the subregional scale, the driving effects of topographic and climatic factors in the two conversions were enhanced. In addition, under the implementation of different ecological protection measures, the productivity of vegetation has been improved. Based on the study results, ecological protection and restoration projects can be implemented in a targeted manner by guiding human activities and formulating reasonable plans to achieve the purpose of strengthening the sustainability of land use and protecting the ecological environment regionally.

Dynamic Monitoring of Land Use in the Loess Plateau from 1995 to 2015

Taking the Loess Plateau region as the research object, using 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 land use spatial data sets, based on ArcGIS platform, land use dynamic degree model and land use degree comprehensive index model to study 1995 From year to 2015, the dynamic change process of land use in the Loess Plateau region and the characteristics of temporal and spatial differences. The results showed that in the land use types of the Loess Plateau, the area of woodland, water area and construction land increased, while the area of arable land, grassland and unused land decreased, and the area of woodland and construction land increased significantly. Since the implementation of ecological control measures on the Loess Plateau, the decline in the area of cultivated land has increased significantly. The urban districts and surrounding areas of the Loess Plateau, as well as the counties and cities with large areas of conversion of farmland, have changed drastically. The changes in other areas have been relatively slow. Space difference.

Evaluation of Coordinated Level between Coastal Ports and Urban Economics Based on DEA and Coordination Degree Model: Case of Jiangsu Province

The coordinated development of coastal ports and urban economy has great significance to realize the high-quality development of marine economy. Under the requirements of high-quality development, this article theoretically analyzes the interactive relationship between port economics and urban economics, then based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA), static coordination degree model, and dynamic coordination degree model, constructs the vertical evaluation index system and evaluation model to evaluate the coordinated development level of port economics and urban economics, and evaluates the actual situation of the three coastal cities of Jiangsu province as an example. The results show that the average effectiveness ranking of the coastal ports to urban economics is the same as that of urban economics to coastal ports, but the degree of impact varies from region to region, and the degree of coordination follows a phenomenon of Lianyungang >Nantong >Yancheng. Finally, the article gives strategic suggestions to promote the high-quality development of the three coastal cities in Jiangsu Province.

Research on Spatial-Temporal Variations of Cultivated Land in China Based on GlobeLand30

The period from 2010 to 2020 is a period of rapid economic development in China, with the increasing population and the urbanization level reaching 63.89%. Cultivated land plays an extremely important role in China’s food security. In order to grasp the spatial and temporal distribution and change of cultivated land use in China in time, based on GlobeLand30 data in 2010 and 2020, this study studied the spatial and temporal change characteristics of total cultivated land resources, cultivated land development and utilization degree, dynamic change degree of cultivated land utilization rate, and cultivated land use center and direction by using GIS technology, reclamation index, cultivated land utilization rate dynamic change degree model, cultivated land center shift model and standard deviation ellipse model. The results show that: ①The cultivated land area in China has changed greatly during 2010–2020, with the largest increase in cultivated land area in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, while the largest decrease in cultivated land area in Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Guangdong, Henan and Zhejiang; ②The areas with the highest degree of cultivated land development and utilization are mainly concentrated in Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Anhui and other provinces in the east, while Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang have the lowest degree of cultivated land development and utilization; ③The regions with the highest dynamic change degree index of cultivated land utilization rate are mainly concentrated in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai, while the dynamic change degree index of cultivated land utilization rate in Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong shows obvious negative changes; ④The spatial and temporal migration of the center of gravity of cultivated land use in China shows the trend of “moving westward to northward”, and the spatial distribution direction of cultivated land use roughly presents the overall characteristics of northeast-southwest direction. This study can effectively reveal the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of cultivated land use at provincial level in China based on GlobeLand30, and provide a scientific reference for further rational development, utilization and protection of cultivated land resources in China.

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics and Driving Force Analysis of Cropland Change: Taking Dangyang City, Yichang City as Example

With the land use data of Dangyang City, Yichang City, Hubei Province in 2000, 2010, and 2020, 13 factors of nature, economy, and society were selected as the driving factors affecting the change of Cropland by using the land-use transition matrix and the kernel density analysis. In this study, the dynamic degree model of cropland use was introduced, combined with the geographic detector method, to explore the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and main driving factors of cropland in various towns in Dangyang City from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that the distribution of cropland generally showed a decreasing trend from southeast to northwest. From 2010 to 2020, the cropland in Dangyang City changed significantly, and the cropland area decreased. Economic and social factors turn out to be the main factors affecting the distribution of cropland. When interacting with other factors, the impact on cropland is weakened, and natural factors have interactive effects on cropland.

Empirical study on comparative analysis of dynamic degree differences of land use based on the optimization model

The land use dynamic degree model is constantly improved with the in-depth development of land use change research to optimize research results. On the basis of the analysis and summary of existing land use dynamic degree models, this study proposes an optimization model. We take the analysis of land use change in Jining City as an example for empirical research. Results show that the simulation effect of the optimized land use dynamic degree model is more reliable. The optimized single land use dynamic degree model can more truly reflect the intensity of changes in various land use types. The optimized comprehensive land use dynamic degree model can better reflect the intensity of regional land use changes; thus, hot spots of land use changes are easier to identify.

Spatial and Temporal Pattern Analysis of Land Use in Yangtze River Delta Based on Remote Sensing and GIS in Intelligent Environment

Land use change plays an important role in regional socio-economic development and global environmental change. Whether the land is effectively and efficiently used is not only related to the income level of the people in the surrounding cities but also closely related to the local economy and national economy. Intelligent environment refers to the indoor environment with a variety of data acquisition equipment. Combined with related technologies, the reasoning and analysis of the data can be used to realize the functions of activity identification, data perception, and control. In addition, the Yangtze River Delta is an economically developed area in China, and its land use situation is related to the economic development in the next ten or even decades. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the spatial and temporal pattern of land use in Yangtze River Delta region by remote sensing image technology and GIS in intelligent environment. Based on intelligent environment, this paper uses RS and GIS technology to interpret remote sensing image and map land use in multitemporal coastal zone. The land use dynamic degree model and spatial interpolation method were used to analyze and evaluate the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of land use in the Yangtze River Delta region, and the landscape pattern changes in the Yangtze River Delta region were analyzed and evaluated. This study found that the land use types in the Yangtze River Delta have transformed each other, and the land use change speed is fast, which is inseparable from the rapid economic development. In the future, in addition to maintaining the rapid and stable development of industry, the rational use of limited land resources, the improvement of agricultural development short board, and the improvement of tourism economic benefits will make the economy of the Yangtze River Delta region to a new level.

Response of Land Use Change to the Grain for Green Program and Its Driving Forces in the Loess Hilly-Gully Region

Implementation of the Grain for Green program (GGP) intensifies land use/cover change (LUCC) in the loess hilly-gully region. Clarifying the response of LUCC to the GGP and its driving forces are basic premises to implement the GGP more effectively for alleviating soil erosion in this region. This study analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics of conversion of cultivated land to forest land and grassland in two study periods of 2000–2010 and 2010–2018. The transition matrix model and the dynamic degree model were utilized to explore changes among cultivated land, forest land, and grassland based on the remote sensing (RS) and monitoring data of land use in 2000, 2010, and 2018. Secondly, further detection on driving forces of increase of forest land and grassland was conducted through the logistic regression model. Fourteen driving factors were selected: the GGP, elevation, slope, population density, GDP per land area, distance to city, distance to residential area, etc. The results revealed that: (1) Area of cultivated land was mainly transferred to forest land and grassland during two study periods. The conversion of cultivated land to forest land and grassland occupied 21.48% and 68.01% of outward-transferring area of cultivated land from 2000 to 2010, and accounted for 13.26% and 74.3% from 2010 to 2018; (2) From the results of the logistic regression model, elevation, the GGP, annual mean temperature, slope III (6–15°), and GDP per land area were the main driving forces from 2000 to 2010. Moreover, the most prominent driving forces were the GGP, elevation, rural population density, slope III (6–15°), and soil pH from 2010 to 2018. The findings of this study can help us better understand the conversion of cultivated land to forest land and grassland under the GGP and provide a scientific basis to facilitate sustainable development of land resources in the study area.

Coupling Coordination and Influencing Factors among Tourism Carbon Emission, Tourism Economic and Tourism Innovation.

To discuss the coupling coordination relationship among tourism carbon emissions, economic development and regional innovation it is not only necessary to realize the green development of tourism economy, but also great significance for the tourism industry to take a low-carbon path. Taking the 30 provinces of China for example, this paper calculated the tourism carbon emission efficiency based on the super-efficiency Slacks based measure and Data envelope analyse (SBM-DEA) model from 2007 to 2017, and on this basis, defined a compound system that consists of tourism carbon emissions, tourism economic development and tourism regional innovation. Further, the coupling coordination degree model and dynamic degree model were used to explore its spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of balanced development, and this paper distinguished the core influencing factors by Geodetector model. The results showed that (1) during the study period, the tourism carbon emission efficiency showed a reciprocating trend of first rising and then falling, mainly due to the change of pure technical efficiency. (2) The coupling coordination degree developed towards a good trend, while there were significant differences among provinces, showing a gradient distribution pattern of decreasing from east to west. Additionally, (3) the core driving factors varied over time, however, in general, the influence from high to low were as follows: technological innovation, economic development, urbanization, environmental pollution control, and industrial structure. Finally, some policy recommendations were put forward to further promote the coupling coordination degree.

Spatial-temporal pattern evolution and driving force analysis of ecological environment vulnerability in Panzhihua City.

Panzhihua City, a typical eco-fragile region for agro-sylvo-pastoral industry in China, is located in the dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River, characterized by its big landform undulation, great elevation difference, uneven hydrothermal conditions, and complex geological structure. As a crucial ecological barrier in upper reaches of the Yangtze River, this area is abundant in water resources and mineral resources, such as vanadium and titanium. However, due to its over-development for nonnatural urban economy in the mining industry, agriculture, and animal husbandry, ecological problems are getting worse. Such problems as soil erosion and groundwater pollution have led obvious ecological degeneration in Panzhihua city. Therefore, for protecting the eco-environment and planning construction, it is significant to scientifically recognize that how eco-environment changes based on spatial-temporal, and how the driving mechanism affects Panzhihua city. Nowadays, there are some theories and methods that study eco-environmental protection and city construction in Panzhihua, but they are not comprehensive enough to study its spatial-temporal evolution and driving-force system. This study takes Panzhihua City as the research area of which evaluation factors, for example, topography, soil, vegetation, and meteorological factors, are chosen to construct an evaluation system suitable for the ecological environment vulnerability of Panzhihua City. These factors are selected in three aspects, which are ecological sensitivity, ecological recovery, and ecological pressure from 2005 to 2015 in this area. Then, spatial principal component analysis method, CA-Markov model, and dynamic degree model are applied to analyze the spatial-temporal evolution for ecological vulnerability based on three periods from 2005 to 2015 in Panzhihua City. Besides, GeoDetector is used to quantitatively analyze how spatial-temporal disparities change and what drives them to change. The results show that (1) during these 10 years, the overall ecological fragility of Panzhihua City is steadily increasing from northwest to southeast. The overall ecological quality is moderate, and regional differences are obvious. Places of moderate vulnerability or above are distributed in central and eastern regions of frequent human activities; places of mild vulnerability or below are distributed in the regions of Yanbian County and Miyi County. (2) The comparison of the changing rates based on vulnerability levels is severe > potential > moderate > mild > slight. The overall vulnerability changes within a small trend, showing a balanced two-way transition state between adjacent vulnerability levels. The comprehensive index for overall ecological vulnerability decreases period by period. (3) The interactions between each two factors toward spatial differentiation and explanatory power by ecological vulnerability show a two-factor-enhanced relation, indicating that multiple factors form the ecological vulnerability of Panzhihua City.

Coupling Analysis of Urban Land Use Benefits: A Case Study of Xiamen City

The high coupling coordination of urban land use benefits is a significant factor for urbanization and sustainable urban development. This study, based on the statistical data from 2002 to 2017 of Xiamen City, constructs an index system that includes social, economic, ecological, and environmental benefits by evaluating the overall coupling coordination degree of land use benefits, using the entropy weight method (EWM), the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, and the dynamic coupling coordination degree (DCCD) model. The results show that the coupling degree of Xiamen City’s land use is relatively low, while showing a positive trend of development. In terms of the management of land use, the market should play a major role to achieve more efficient land use and promote industrial upgrading. The government should take responsibility for supplying infrastructure, perfecting related laws and regulations, intervening the land use according to the law of markets, and expanding the investment in education, as well as science and technology.

Investigate the Relationship between Urbanization and Industrialization using a Coordination Model: A Case Study of China

The coordinated development of industrialization and urbanization has become a common goal and concern of developing countries. At the same time, measuring the relationship between them is becoming a research hotspot. With reference to value engineering, we constructed a dynamic coordination model to analyze the degree of coordination between urbanization and industrialization in China. During the study, three primary indicators were used to assess the level of industrialization in China, namely: economic development, industrial structure, industrial enterprise. We also use demographic urbanization rate to evaluate the level of urbanization. Subsequently, a dynamic coordination model was established using panel data of China collected from 1978 to 2017. Through the dynamic coordination degree model, the changes in the degree of coordination between urbanization and industrialization in China from 1978 to 2017 were analyzed, and the reasons for the fluctuation of coordination degree were further explored. The results show that: (1) The coordinated development of urbanization and industrialization can be divided into six phases, which is consistent with the major reforms in China's rural and urban; (2) The degree of coordination fluctuated more obviously during 1991–1995, which reflected the unstable state of China in the process of coordinated development of urbanization and industrialization; (3) Most of the time, industrialization is ahead of urbanization, while with rapid economic development, urbanization, and industrialization, are gradually synchronizing in China. The results are of great significance for promoting the coordinated development of urbanization and industrialization and realizing the sustainable development of the city.

Spatio-temporal analysis of land use changes using remote sensing in Horqin sandy land, China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of spatio-temporal dynamics and the evolution of land use change is essential for understanding and assessing the status and transition of ecosystems. Such analysis, when applied to Horqin sandy land, can also provide basic information for appropriate decision-making.Design/methodology/approachBy integrating long time series Landsat imageries and geographic information system (GIS) technology, this paper explored the spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution-induced land use change of the largest sandy land in China from 1983 to 2016. Accurate and consistent land use information and land use change information was first extracted by using the maximum likelihood classifier and the post-classification change detection method, respectively. The spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution were then analyzed using three kinds of index models: the dynamic degree model to analyze the change of regional land resources, the dynamic change transfer matrix and flow direction rate to analyze the change direction, and the barycenter transfer model to analyze the spatial pattern of land use change.FindingsThe results indicated that land use in Horqin sandy land during the study period changed dramatically. Vegetation and sandy land showed fluctuating changes, cropland and construction land steadily increased, water body decreased continuously, and the spatial distribution patterns of land use were generally unbalanced. Vegetation, sandy land and cropland were transferred frequently. The amount of vegetation loss was the largest. Water body loss was 473.6 km2, which accounted for 41.7 per cent of the total water body. The loss amount of construction land was only 1.0 km2. Considerable differences were noted in the rate of gravity center migration among the land use types in different periods, and the overall rate of construction land migration was the smallest. Moreover, the gravity center migration rates of the water body and sandy land were relatively high and were related to the fragile ecological environment of Horqin sandy land.Originality/valueThe results not only confirmed the applicability and effectiveness of the combined method of remote sensing and GIS technology but also revealed notable spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution-induced land use change throughout the different time periods (1983-1990, 1990-2000, 2000-2010, 2010-2014, 2014-2016 and 1983-2016).

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Land Use and Cover Change from 1990 to 2010: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province, China.

Land use and cover change (LUCC) is one of the most significant parts of global environmental changes, which reflects the interaction between human society and natural resources. In China, the urbanization process is experiencing a rapid sprawl since the reform and open program in 1978, and there has been a serious change in situation in the human–land relationship. In this paper, taking Jiangsu province located in the eastern coastal developed region as an example, the historic evolution process of the land use situation from 1990 to 2010 was explored. Landsat images from three periods were analyzed, using the land use transition matrix model, the land use dynamic degree model, and the land use degree model to evaluate the LUCC of Jiangsu during two research periods from 1990 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2010. Additionally, logistic regression models and some quantitative analysis were applied to identify the major potential driving factors behind the LUCC during the research period based on different dimensions. The results showed the following: (1) the most obvious change was the continuous increase of built-up area and the decrease of arable land, which reflected the deterioration of the ecological environment and the accelerate of the urbanization trend. (2) The land use change dynamic degree from 2000 to 2010 was much greater than that from 1990 to 2000. (3) Socio-economic elements and human activities were the major driving forces of LUCC in Jiangsu province. Amongst these forces, the driving factors of the population change, GDP, per capita household income, and per capita housing area have an obvious effect on the arable land loss and the built-up area expansion.