Land Use Structure Research Articles

ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИ УЯЗВИМЫЕ МЕСТА ИРРИГАЦИОННОГО ЗЕМЛЕПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ЗАПАДНОЙ СИБИРИ

Purpose: to identify the main environmental problems in areas of intensive use of irrigated lands in Western Siberia and to study the relationship between their manifestations and the territorial specifics of the irrigation land use functioning. Materials and methods. The research was carried out on the basis of a systematic approach and comparative geographical analysis. The indicators characterizing the modern structure and territorial specifics of irrigated land use, and parameters reflecting the ecological state of irrigated lands and adjacent territories are studied. Discussions. It was found that the specifics of the identified environmental problems depends not only on type of irrigated lands use but also on the territorial differentiation of irrigated land use and its specialization. For suburban areas with potato and vegetable growing specialization, environmental problems arising as a result of higher intensification of irrigation land use and the proximity effect of Western Siberia metropolis have been identified, which predetermines a high degree of environmental pollution and a high level of land and water resources degradation. For areas with livestock specialization, located in the peripheral and most arid natural and climatic conditions, a great dependence of environmental problems on the irrational structure of irrigation land use and non-observance of norms and technologies for irrigation has been established. Conclusions. For better understanding of the environmental problems causes, it is necessary to study the relationship between their manifestations and the territorial specifics of the irrigation land use functioning. The results of this study can contribute to the search for ways of reducing the irrigation impact on the environment and the development of effective strategies for the sustainable development of irrigation land use in Western Siberia.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL LAND USE IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT

The issue of ensuring the sustainable development of mankind today is recognized as one of the most pressing issues facing society. The purpose of the study is to generalize the features of sustainable land using, identify the main problems of sustainable use of agricultural land in Ukraine and the key ways to solve them. The paper summarizes the key stages of the formation of prerequisites for sustainable land using, systematizes documents and events to create a model of sustainable development, highlights the basic principles and goals of sustainable agricultural land use, in accordance with the concept of sustainable development. The authors emphasize that the practical implementation of the concept of sustainable agricultural land use requires prioritization of agricultural land, especially environmental, as well as increasing the responsibility of agricultural businesses for disturbing the ecological balance and excessive anthropogenic pressure on land resources. It is noted that in Ukraine there is an irrational structure of land use, which is environmentally dangerous. The main problems of sustainable agricultural land use development are highlighted. The authors note that in recent years in Ukraine there have been negative trends in the development of processes that significantly affect agricultural land use. The most acute environmental problems are the development of degradation processes in the arable lands of Ukraine, which are continuous, regional or local in nature. The authors argue that the decline in the natural potential of agricultural land in Ukraine is becoming an even more serious threat to the sustainable development of land use than environmental problems. The priority directions of development of sustainable land use in Ukraine are offered, which will allow passing to the model of sustainable agricultural land use.

ГЕОІНФОРМАЦІЙНИЙ АНАЛІЗ АНТРОПОГЕННИХ ЗМІН ЛАНДШАФТІВ ЛІСОСТЕПОВОЇ ЗОНИ УКРАЇНИ

The purpose of the publication is to present the results of the study of anthropogenic changes in the landscapes of the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine, implemented by assessing the indicators of landscapes anthropogenic transformation, their diversity and fragmentation. The basic research methods are methods of geospatial GIS analysis and decoding of remote sensing data of the Earth, geoinformation mapping. According to the indicators of anthropogenic transformation of landscapes at the level of physical-geographical regions and districts of the Forest-Steppe zone, the features of changes for the period 1992-2018 are determined. The results of assessment of anthropogenic changes in forest-steppe landscapes of Ukraine show that in 1992 as well as in 2018 the vast majority of the landscapes of the territory are strongly and excessively transformed by anthropogenic activity. Such patterns persist, despite the fact that during the analyzed period in part of the investigated area there is a certain decrease in anthropogenic pressure on landscapes. The regular relations between the indicators of anthropic landscape diversity and fragmentation of landscapes are determined, which corroborates to their certain conditionality by the degree and nature of anthropogenic transformation of the territory. The novelty of the study are the proposed methods of spatial and temporal changes in landscapes estimating and identifying such changes in landscapes at the level of physical and geographical regions for the period 1992-2018 and revealing trends in the structure of land use, especially agricultural lands, forests, built-up territories as the leading types of land use in the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine.

南水北调中线工程途经区生态服务价值的时空变化

南水北调中线工程是我国迄今为止最重要的跨流域调水工程，为沿线二十四个大中城市提供了紧缺的生产和生活用水。但是，迄今为止人们对调水影响下南水北调中线工程途径区生态服务价值的动态变化过程所知甚少，阻碍了人们对该工程生态效益的科学评估与沿线土地资源的合理利用。南水北调中线工程建成前后的生态服务价值变化研究有助于沿线土地的合理规划和科学利用。为此，首先基于改进的当量因子法分析了2000、2005、2010、2015、2018年研究区生态服务的静态价值时空变化，然后利用优先指数重构了研究区生态服务的动态价值并探讨了其时空演变的特征。结果表明：① 2000—2018年，研究区生态服务的总价值先减后增，2018年达到峰值。研究区生态服务价值的增长在一定程度上归因于南水北调中线工程的影响。② 研究区水文调节功能价值占总价值的比例最高，约占30%，养分循环功能的价值占比最低，约为1%；各年份林地、草地、耕地和水体均为研究区生态服务总价值的主要构成部分。③ 2000—2018年，研究区生态服务价值空间分布存在明显差异，自西部向东部递减，调水后北京市和天津市的高值区增加。④ 研究区生态服务的动态总价值（1.38×10¹²元）只有静态总价值（2.58×10¹²元）的一半，主要是由于动态与静态生态服务的价值系数差别较大。因此，应重视土地利用类型变化和薄弱生态服务功能对生态服务总价值的影响，优化土地利用结构，对南水北调中线工程沿线周边开展针对性保护，以稳步提升整个区域生态服务的总价值。;The Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (MRSNWDP) is the most important inter-basin water diversion project in China so far, and provides the scarce production and domestic water for 24 large and medium-sized cities along the route. However, the dynamic change process of the ecosystem service value of the project was studied so inadequate that hindered the scientific evaluation of the project ecological benefits and the rational use of land resources. The study on changes in the value of ecological services before and after the completion of the MRSNWDP is helpful to the rational planning and scientific use of land along the route. This paper analyzed the temporal and spatial changes of the static value of ecological services of the project in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018 based on the improved equivalent factor method, and then reconstructed the dynamic value of its ecological services with the priority index, and discussed its temporal and spatial evolution characteristics. The results showed that:① from 2000 to 2018, the total value of ecological services in the study area first decreased and then increased, and reaching its peak in 2018. The increase in the value of ecological services in the study area can be attributed to the impact of the MRSNWDP to a certain extent. ② The value of the hydrological regulation function was the highest, accounting for 30% of the total value, and that of the nutrient cycle function was the lowest, accounting for only 1%. The forest land, grassland, cultivated land and water body were the main components of the total value of ecological services in the study area in each year. ③ The spatial distribution of ecological service values in the study area was significantly different from 2000 to 2018, which decreased from the west to the east. The high-value areas in Beijing and Tianjin increased after water diversion. ④ The total dynamic value of ecological services in the study area was 1.38×10¹² Yuan, which was lower than the static total value of 2.58×10¹² Yuan, due to the value coefficient of dynamic and static ecological services is quite different. Therefore, we should pay attention to the impact of changes in land use types and weak ecological service functions on the total value of ecological services, optimize the structure of land use, and carry out targeted protections along the MRSNWDP to steadily improve the total value of ecological services in the entire region.

Об изменении гидрографических характеристик рек в степных агроландшафтах за последние десятилетия (на примере бассейна р. Бейсуг, Краснодарский край)

In the Krasnodar territory, agricultural land occupies 62 % of the territory; of which 79 % is arable land. Most of the agricultural land is located on the Azov-Kuban Plain in the northern part of the region in the steppe river basins. The basin of the Beysug river with an area of about 6,000 km2, in terms of its geographical characteristics, should be attributed to representative basins from the standpoint of the modern dynamics of agricultural landscapes and transformations of the river network. The article analyzes the changes in the steppe agricultural landscapes in the Beysug river basin for the period 1999–2020 in terms of changes in the structure of land use and hydrographic characteristics, based on the data of satellite images. The transformation of agrolandscapes is accompanied by redevelopment of the territory, massive construction of dams on rivers, violation of the conditions of natural drainage, which leads to the restructuring of water exchange processes in river basins. Changes in water exchange processes under semi-arid conditions can be sensitive to local landscapes and agriculture. Until now, insufficient attention has been paid to the hydrological aspects of the transformation of steppe landscapes. According to the DEM ASTER GDEM, 15 river basins were identified with the subsequent determination of land use types on the surface of the basins. In each of the basins, a land use structure has been established, which directly affects the hydrographic indicators, and a decrease in the length of watercourses and the density of the river network has been revealed. Over the past 20 years, in the studied basins, the total length of watercourses due to plowing and redevelopment of the surface has decreased by 8–37 %, and in general in the Beysug river basin—by 469 km.

ПРОГНОЗИРОВАНИЕ ПАССАЖИРОПОТОКОВ В ПРИГОРОДНОМ ЖЕЛЕЗНОДОРОЖНОМ СООБЩЕНИИ НА ОСНОВЕ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИХ ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ И СТРУКТУРЫ ЗЕМЛЕПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ЧЕЛЯБИНСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ)

In many issues connected with organization and planning of passenger transportation in commuter rail operation an important role has forecasting of passenger traffic based on accessible information about its origin and absorption near railway stations. In order to get such a forecast researchers mostly use models of direct demand that represent regression dependencies between passenger traffic and ride cost, its duration and also social and economic characteristics of settlements (population, average income, unemployment rate and etc.) served by railway stations. The paper suggests an approach to modeling of direct demand that is based on methods of machine learning and that uses not only social and economic characteristics as explaining variables but also geodata about structure of land use near railway stations. The approach considered is realized for the commuter rail operation in Chelyabinsk region.

Анализ антропогенной преобразованности ландшафтов Андроповского района Ставропольского края

The article deals with the issues of the current state and the degree of anthropogenic transformation of landscapes. On the example of the landscapes of the Andropovsky district of the Stavropol Territory, the types of land use are analyzed, and the anthropogenic load is estimated. The obtained data allow us to identify the places most exposed to anthropogenic impact and in need of preventive measures to protect the landscapes. The results of the study can be used to optimize the structure of land use in the Andropovsky district and for further research on the problems of anthropogenic impact on landscapes.

АНАЛИЗ ДИНАМИКИ СТРУКТУРЫ ЗЕМЛЕПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ И ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ ПОЧВЕННОГО ПЛОДОРОДИЯ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ БАССЕЙНА Р. КЛЯЗЬМА

The main trends in changing the land use structure in the territory of the Klyazma River basin were de-scribed in the article. Using GIS technologies and remote sensing data the areas of land with different land use regimes in the studied territory were determined in the period from 2001 to 2019. The indices of LAI and FPAR phytoproductivity for the territory of the Klyazma basin as a whole, and for each basin included in it were determined. The analysis of the dynamics of changes occurring in the structure of land use is carried out. For the territory of Vladimir region, which is a part of the Klyazma River basin, an assessment of soil types distribution over occupied area was carried out. An integral indicator of soil fertility was calcu-lated on the basis of statistical data of agrochemical indicators. The fraction of fallow lands decreased by 2019 and it amounts 33.76% of the total area of the studied territory. The fraction of mixed forests increased from 38.48% in 2001 to 44.50% in 2019 due to the formation of fast-growing tree species shoots on fallow lands. The area of meadow vegetation for the period from 2015 to 2019 decreased by 3.5%, from 4 276 to 3 121 km2, due to agriculture degradation and a significant decrease in livestock grazing. The indicator of soil fertility for the Klyazma basin was 0.74, which is a high indicator. It is established that the most active decrease in the agricultural land area occurs in the central, north-western and western parts of the river basin.

ТЕНДЕНЦИИ И ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ЗЕМЕЛЬНЫХ РЕСУРСОВ В АГРАРНОЙ СФЕРЕ РЕГИОНА

The analysis of the state and efficiency of land use is carried out on the example of the production activities of agricultural producers of the Saratov region, which is part of the Volga Federal District. The dynamics of changes in the size and structure of used land in the period from 2007 to 2020 is analyzed, it is noted that the total area of agricultural land first decreased markedly, and then increased slightly. The change in the structure of land use by forms (powers) of ownership is accompanied by an increase in the share of leased land, but since 2015 it has been decreasing, giving way to land acquired (formalized) in ownership, which significantly affected the economic results of agricultural producers. Correlation analysis, which is based on information from the annual financial statements in the context of municipal districts of the Saratov region for 2020, showed that such indicators of the activities of commodity produ- cers as gross profit, revenue and cost of sales are most influenced not by the land directly used in the production of agricultural products, but by the total area of agricultural land. Moreover, it has a fairly high closeness of connection with the proceeds from the sale of products, works, services, slightly lower with cost and gross profit. The ranking of the array of information characterizing the dependence of the economic results of the activities of agricultural producers on the share of their own land in the total area of agricultural land used by them is carried out. The effectiveness of private ownership of land against the background of zonal differentiation is demonstrated. The necessity of regulating the processes of involvement in the turnover of unused agricultural land, improving the structure of sown areas, as well as solving the problem of efficiency of agricultural land use has been substantiated. The results obtained allow us to understand why the effectiveness of increasing the share of land owned by commodity producers in the total area of agricultural land used by them manifests itself in different ways, which indicates the need to develop effective land management mechanisms.

Agrarian structure changes in the village farmsteads on Durmitor

The paper presents findings about agrarian structure changes that have occurred in the village farmsteads on Durmitor highlands considering thesis that this area has experienced complex and strong changes. The most important characteristics of these changes relate with , aging, de-agrarian striving; and reduction of the livestock fund, land surfaces and number of homesteads. The agrarian structure of the Durmitor area, which includes the municipalities of Žabljak, Šavnik and Plužine, is characterized by the dominant participation of individual farms focused on sheep and catlle production.The structure of agricultural land use in the examined region was defined by natural conditions and natural way of production. In the total agricultural area, natural meadows and pastures occupy over 90% of the area, and arable land and orchards occupy a small percentage of the area.The existing land structure determined livestock production as the basic production.

Improvement of Land Management in Ukraine

Successful implementation of land reform requires the implementation of large-scale market transformations, in particular in the structure of land tenure and land use, in the field of land valuation. The article is devoted to the development of scientific and methodological bases of economic evaluation and use of land resources of agricultural enterprises, substantiation of approaches and recommendations for improvement of ecological, economic and institutional principles of land development in the conditions of new land relations. The economic mechanism of realization programs of protection and reproduction land resources is developed. Mandatory monitoring lands of agricultural significance is proposed in order to identify degradation processes, negative changes in soil condition, development of a long-term forecast of agricultural land use. Due to the fact that the state does not carry out strategic management of land resources, the rate of land degradation is growing, actions to increase soil fertility is not planned. One of the main method of monitoring land resources can be the observation of changes in their condition in the long run using five- and ten-year cycles. It is proposed to move to annual monitoring, which allows to identify the main trends in land use and apply the results to the planning and management of land potential of the country, region, company. The results of monitoring of agricultural land resources in general can be an information base for the characteristics of arable land, which can be used for the purposes of internal land management, implementation of measures to optimize land use, as well as to improve the regulatory assessment of land.

Predicted influence of overhead transmission lines on land-use transfer: A case study on landscape and famous scenery

Taking Baihetan—Jiangsu ±800kV UHVDC power transmission project as an example, the influence of tower foundation on land-use types and functions were predicted using ArcGIS platform and eCognition Developer. Through the construction of land-use transfer matrix analysis, the change of land-use transfer situation and structure were discussed. Our results showed that the forest transfer intensities (RT) of Tangya River Scenic spot and Three Gorges Scenic area were 0.64 and 1.49 respectively, the RT of bushes and grasses in Tangya River Scenic spot and Three Gorges Scenic area were 1.01 and 0.37. The RT of forest, bushes and grasses were both not high. The permanent occupation area of project was all transferred into building land, the construction land dynamics degrees (KT) of Tangya River Scenic spot and Three Gorges Scenic area were +0.40% and +0.031% respectively, which were both low. Thus we drew a conclusion that the project construction would have a slight impact on land use pattern and function and would not affect the overall ecological function and structure of landscape and famous scenery.

基于土地利用的粤港澳大湾区生态系统服务价值及承载力演变分析

研究粤港澳大湾区土地利用、生态系统服务价值及承载力的时空演变特征是优化大湾区生态系统管理、提升生态质量的重要依据。当前针对大湾区的土地利用变化过程、生态系统服务价值及生态承载力相结合的系统分析仍较少。系统研究了快速城市化背景下粤港澳大湾区的土地利用变化、生态系统服务价值及生态承载力变化。基于高分辨率遥感数据分析粤港澳大湾区1990-2015年土地利用变化及特征，采用当量法评估大湾区的生态系统服务价值，基于生态足迹法评估大湾区的生态承载力变化。结果表明：1990-2015年大湾区内建设用地增加，耕地、林地、湿地及未利用地面积逐渐减少；建设用地的增加主要来源于耕地、林地、水域及未利用地等的转化。伴随着剧烈的土地利用变化，大湾区的生态系统服务价值从1990年的6385.09亿元减少到2015年6183.89亿元，减少了3.15%。大湾区的生态承载力总体稳定，但由于消耗增加，整体呈现生态赤字，人均生态赤字达3.09 hm²。未来大湾区土地利用规划中，需加强自然资源保护，合理调整土地结构，实现经济和生态的可持续发展。;Analysis of the spatio-temporal evolution process and characteristics of the land-use changes (LUCC), ecosystem services value (ESV), and ecological carrying capacity (ECC) of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) is an important basis for optimizing ecosystem management and improving ecosystem quality. Currently, there are still few comprehensive analyses on the combination the LUCC, ESV, and ECC of the GBA. This study uses the high-resolution remote sensing data to study the land-use changes and features of the GBA from 1990 to 2015, estimates the ESV based on the equivalent factor method, and evaluates the ECC based on the ecological footprint method. The results showed that from 1990 to 2015, the area of built-up land in GBA increased from 4407.58 km² to 8912.31 km², while the areas of cropland, forest, wetland, and unused land decreased significantly. The area of the forest and cropland decreased 3.19% and 17.23% respectively. The increase of built-up land mainly came from cropland, forest, and water body and 2000-2010 was the most obvious time period. With the dramatic land-use changes, the ESV of the GBA decreased from 6385.09 billion yuan in 1900 to 6183.89 billion yuan in 2015 (decreased by 3.15%). Water contributed the most to ESV and the ESV of food production and hydrological regulation were the highest. Wetland had the greatest loss of value, decreasing by -54.64%, followed by unused lands, which decreased by 45.03%. The regional ecological footprint (EF) of the GBA increased rapidly from 80.57 hm² in 1990 to 241.31 hm² in 2015. The consumption of fossil energy has the largest increase, from 9.21 hm² in 1990 to 44.13 hm² in 2015. The ECC of GBA is generally stable, but the overall ecological deficit is serious due to the increased consumption. In 2015, the regional ecological deficit reached 214.88 million hm² and the per capita ecological load reached 3.09 hm². With a 50% increase in population and nearly 15-fold increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 1990 to 2015, the EF per GDP showed a clear downward trend from 1.47 hm²/yuan to 0.28 hm²/yuan, which indicates that although the overall resource utilization of the GBA has gradually changed from extensive and consumptive to intensive and economical, the overall situation is still challenging. In the future land use planning of the GBA, it is necessary to strengthen the protection of natural resources and rational adjustment of land-use structure to realize the sustainable development of economy and ecology.

How to Include Omnichannel Services in Land-Use Policy?

This paper is a reflective overview of the knowledge on online conversion of services in the perspective of urban planning. It points that traditional planning aimed at building optimal spatial relationships between particular functions in urban environment. Particular decision-making rules have been introduced, contributing to a hierarchical land-use structure. This traditional approach has been recently challenged by the rapid ICT development which added a lively, virtual, and non-spatial dimension of urban economy. The well-established foundations of urban planning started to shake, calling for a new paradigm. This paper looks for an alternative to conventional planning which would be able to develop policies for omnichannel services (i.e., enterprises that use both online and offline channels for communicating and distributing their products). The advantages of ‘e-planning' in managing omnichannel services sector are outlined and a conclusion is drawn that only a multi-channel approach can bring appropriate answers to contemporary developments in services sector.

Impacts of changing urban land-use structure on sustainable city growth in China: A population-density dynamics perspective

The dynamics of urban population density (UPD) has attracted extensive attention from both policymakers and scholars because it can be used to indicate the sustainability of city growth. Substantial research considering urban areas as whole units has demonstrated a close relationship between urban land expansion and demographic urbanization. However, the impacts of the urban land-use structure (ULUS) on sustainable city growth from the perspective of UPD dynamics have largely been ignored. Based on the understanding of human–land interactions in the process of city evolution, we present a holistic theoretical framework for the impacts of changing ULUS on UPD dynamics. Taking 331 cities proper in China as the study objects, we found that the designation of urban land has mostly depended upon land substitution resulting from the high economic returns of land used for secondary and tertiary industries and residential purposes. This is induced by the increasing scarcity of urban land and people's primary requirements for the dwelling and employment functions of a city rather than its living-environment function. The results confirmed that the holistic theoretical framework is effective for understanding the impacts of changing ULUS on UPD dynamics, and that taking consideration of these impacts in the structural reform of urban land supply is significant for promoting sustainable city growth. This study also provides inspiration for understanding the uncertainties relating to sustainable city growth based on identification of city shrinkage and growth patterns. We discuss regionally differentiated policies relating to structural reform of urban land supply and strategies for coping with city shrinkage.

Influence of the hierarchical structure of land use on metals, nutrients and organochlorine pesticides in urban river sediments

Land use management plays a key role in mitigating urban river pollution. Past research has addressed how primary land uses influence river water and sediment quality, but has given limited attention to the subdivision of primary land uses to a secondary level, limiting the accurate identification of potential sources of pollutants. The current study, using Bayesian Networks, investigated how the hierarchical structure of land use can be employed to accurately characterise the pollution of sediments in two rivers in China and Australia. It was found that the primary land uses are a weak determinant of potential sources of metals, nutrients, and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). However, secondary land uses provide higher accuracy in determining pollutant sources. The study highlighted that the lack of data to enable the subdivision of land uses can constrain informed decision making for the mitigation of urban water pollution.

Understanding the drivers of sustainable land expansion using a patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model: A case study in Wuhan, China

Cellular Automata (CA) are widely used to model the dynamics within complex land use and land cover (LULC) systems. Past CA model research has focused on improving the technical modeling procedures, and only a few studies have sought to improve our understanding of the nonlinear relationships that underlie LULC change. Many CA models lack the ability to simulate the detailed patch evolution of multiple land use types. This study introduces a patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model that integrates a land expansion analysis strategy and a CA model based on multi-type random patch seeds. These were used to understand the drivers of land expansion and to investigate the landscape dynamics in Wuhan, China. The proposed model achieved a higher simulation accuracy and more similar landscape pattern metrics to the true landscape than other CA models tested. The land expansion analysis strategy also uncovered some underlying transition rules, such as that grassland is most likely to be found where it is not strongly impacted by human activities, and that deciduous forest areas tend to grow adjacent to arterial roads. We also projected the structure of land use under different optimizing scenarios for 2035 by combining the proposed model with multi-objective programming. The results indicate that the proposed model can help policymakers to manage future land use dynamics and so to realize more sustainable land use patterns for future development. Software for PLUS has been made available at https://github.com/HPSCIL/Patch-generating_Land_Use_Simulation_Model

Land use structure of typical county with conversion of farmland to forests in loess areas of Northern Shaanxi

Loess Plateau is the key construction area of ecological environment restoration in China. Since implementing the project of converting farmland to forests, the land use structure and existing problems in the loess area of northern Shaanxi have received extensive attention. Land use structure is the area and proportion of all kinds of land within a certain area, which determines the play of regional functions and land use benefits. This work took Wuqi County, Loess District, Northern Shaanxi, the demonstration county of national project of converting farmland to forests. Based on the land use data of Wuqi County in Loess Ddistrict of north Shaanxi Province in 2009, this work carried out the quantitative analysis and discussion of land use quantitative structure in this area by means of quantitative geographical model and GIS spatial analysis and by using indexes such as diversification, centralization and combination coefficient of ground class. The results show that the quantity and structure of land use in Wuqi County are diversified, the concentration is low, and the complete degree of land use type is high. Additionally, the land combination type is mainly forestland-grassland, and the overall function needs to be improved. This study can provide reference for the quantitative analysis of land use structure in similar areas and counties.

Deep learning: To better understand how human activities affect the value of ecosystem services-A case study of Nanjing.

The value of ecosystem services is affected by increasing human activities. However, the anthropogenic driving mechanisms of ecosystem services are poorly understood. Here, we established a deep learning model to approximate the ecosystem service value (ESV) of Nanjing City using 23 socioeconomic factors. A multi-view analysis was then conducted on feasible impact mechanisms using model disassembly. The results indicated that certain factors had their own significant and independent effects on ESV, such as the proportion of water areas in the land-use structure and the output value of the secondary industry. The proportion of ecological water should be increased as much as possible, whereas the output value of the secondary industry should be reasonably controlled in Nanjing. Other intrinsically related factors were likely to be composited together to affect ESV, such as industrial water consumption and industrial electricity consumption. In Nanjing, simultaneously optimizing socio-economic factors related to city size, resources, and energy use efficiency likely represents an effective management strategy for maintaining and enhancing regional ecological service capabilities. The results of this work suggest that deep learning is an effective method of deepening studies on the prediction of ESV trends and human-driven mechanisms.

Assessment and spatial analysis of agricultural land erosion processes in the Samara region

Water and wind erosion of land causes annual damage since it leads to soil degradation and loss of fertility, reducing the economic indicators of agricultural production. Detailed systematization of land resources with an assessment of the scale and level of land degradation provides a basis for ranking areas by relevance and effectiveness of erosion protection. The article assesses the level of degradation of agricultural land in the Samara region by the scale of economic losses under the influence of water and wind erosion of soil with differentiation by administrative districts. The map of eroded lands has been developed. The results of integrated erosion zoning of the territory provide an information basis for identifying priority areas requiring anti-erosion measures, as well as for optimizing the structure of agricultural land use. The main directions of anti-erosion organization of the territory and on-farm land management, depending on the features of the landscape and the nature of damage, have been described.