Main Land Use Research Articles

Investigation of the effect of anthropogenic land use on the Pănăzii Lake (Romania) catchment area using Cs-137 and Pb-210 radionuclides.

The problem of soil degradation has accentuated over recent decades. Aspects related to soil erosion and its relation to changes in land use as well as anthropogenic influence constitute a topic of great interest. The current study is focused on a soil erosion assessment in relation to land use activities in the Pănăzii Lake catchment area. Fallout radionuclides were used to provide information on soil erosion as well as redistribution rates and patterns. Variations in the sedimentation rate of the lake were also investigated as these reflect periods in which massive erosion events occurred in the lake catchment area. The novelty of this study is the construction of a timescale with regard to the soil erosion events to better understand the relationship between soil erosion and land use activities. In this study, 10 soil profiles and one sediment core from the lake were taken. Soil parameters were determined for each sample. The activities of 210Pb, 137Cs and 226Ra were measured by gamma spectroscopy. For low 210Pb activities, measurements via 210Po using an alpha spectrometer were performed. Soil erosion rates were determined by the 137Cs method and the sedimentation rate calculated by the Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) model. A soil erosion rate of 13.5 t·ha-1·yr-1 was obtained. Three distinct periods could be observed in the evolution of the sedimentation rate. For the first period, between 1880 and 1958, the average deposition rate was 9.2 tons/year, followed by a high deposition period (1960–1991) of 29.6 tons/year and a third period, consisting of the last 30 years, during which the sedimentation rate was 15.7 tons/year. These sedimentation rates fluctuated depending on the main land use activity, which can also be seen in the soil erosion rates that had almost doubled by the time agricultural activities were performed in the area.

Driving forces of cultivated land evolution in agro-pastoral areas on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on ecological niche theory

Scattered cultivated lands in the agro-pastoral areas on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) cause pressure on the structure, function and evolvement of landscape and affect regional ecological sustainability. Based on niche theory, this study is the first to apply the niche breadth, niche entropy and niche overlap model to explore how the cultivated land expansion and development forms affect ecological roles from ecosystem interaction aspects from 1990 to 2015 at regional scales on the QTP. The results showed that: (1) Grassland was overall dominant in most counties, while the interface between the cultivated land and grassland showed great spatial variability and the main land use conversion occurred between them. From 1990 to 2015, the transfer percentage of grassland into cultivated land was 0.27%. (2) Results of cultivated land niche breadth and entropy indicated that at provincial scale, the occupancy rates of cultivated lands in Tibet and Xinjiang were lower than Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai. (3) Cultivated land niche overlap exhibited by network graph revealed that Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai had a high niche overlap over 0.994 at provincial scale. At city scale, the maximum overlap was Haibei-Guoluo and Lanzhou-Wuwei (0.999) while the minimum was Bayingol-Kizilsu Kirghiz (0.243), indicating that the development forms and competition of cultivated land between each two regions were quite different. (4) The driving forces derived by niche difference of different ecosystems showed that cultivated land niche was affected the evolution of grassland niche, and the social benefit was the leading benefit of cultivated land change. Overall, this study can assist local government in building the cultivated land management system. Moreover, the results of this study contribute to understand the characteristics and driving forces of the cultivated land evolution on the QTP, thus providing valuable decision reference for ecological protection, land use structure regulation and policy formulation.

Forest Management Plan for Implementation of a Pilot REDD+ Project for Masito Community Forest Reserve, Kigoma, Tanzania for 2012-2017: General Description

A forest management plan is a document that guides management of a formally managed forest. The general description is a component of a forest management plan, which describes the target forest and the focal landscape in socioeconomic and ecological terms. This paper gives a general description as part of a forest management plan for implementation of a pilot REDD+ project for Masito Community Forest Reserve, Kigoma, Tanzania for 2012-2017. The methodology used to obtain the data and information for the description was literature review. The general description is given under six main sections, namely: (1) legal status, ownership and administration; (2) location, size and boundaries; (3) physical features; (4) biological aspects; (5) buffer zones and corridors, and; (6) socio-economic aspects of adjacent communities. The forest was not yet gazetted. The vegetation type was predominantly miombo woodlands. The main land use of the forest adjacent communities was agriculture. The general description formed the basis for development of the other components of the management plan.

Sea-land hydrological connectivity of coastal wetlands based on water salinity and hydrological structure.

In this study, with water salinity as the core index, sea-land hydrological connectivity index was constructed by integrating the hydrological structure connectivity index (water surface ratio, intake and outtake density, sea-land distance, and ditch distance). Based on multi-scale spatial analysis, we carried out the spatial quantitative analysis and classification of sea-land hydrological connectivity in the study area under an evaluation unit of 150 m×150 m grid. The results showed that sea-land hydrological connectivity gradually decreased from sea to land, with different decreasing rates. The spatial differentiation of water salinity in the study area was substantial, with certain impacts on the change rate of hydrological connectivity. The sea-land hydrological connectivity was divided into four grades, which was excellent, good, medium, and poor. The areas under excellent and good grades were mainly distributed in offshore areas, with saltwater aquaculture ponds and farmland as the main land use types. The regions with moderate and poor land use were mainly distributed in inland areas, with freshwater aquaculture ponds and farmland as the land use types. The hydrological process of coastal wetlands was complex. Quantitative coastal wetland hydrological connectivity could provide reference for coastal wetland status assessment and wetland restoration.

Water quality in relation to land use in the Junshan Lake watershed and water quality predictions

AbstractChanges in human-dominated spatial patterns of land use are the main driving factors of water quality evolution in watersheds, and the quantitative impact of land use changes on water quality is currently a focus of lake ecology research. Using the Junshan Lake Basin as a study area, this paper quantitatively analyzes the response relationships between the water quality parameters, land use, and socio-economic factors in the study area from 2005 to 2019 and predicts the water quality in 2035 based on land and space planning scenarios. The results show the following. (1) The land use structure of the Junshan Lake Basin has changed significantly over the last 15 years. The basic trend is an increase in settlement and wetland areas in the basin and a decrease in water, cropland, forest, and grassland areas. (2) Settlement areas play the role of a ‘source’ for the total phosphorus (TP) and ammonium-nitrogen (NH3-N) pollution load, and cropland areas play the role of a ‘sink’ for the TP, NH3-N, and chemical oxygen demand (CODMn) pollution load. (3) The main land use type in the Junshan Lake Basin is cropland, which accounts for more than 40% of the total, and the water quality in the lake is affected not only by non-point source pollution but also by the regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP), total population, and per capita disposable income. According to the water quality prediction and analysis, the concentrations of TN and TP in Junshan Lake will meet the Class IV water quality standard in 2035, and the concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) and CODMn will meet the Class II standard. This study is significant for the management and control of the water environment in the Junshan Lake Basin.

On Landscape Patterns in Typical Mountainous Counties Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China.

The landscape patterns of plantations (PT) are the results of human disturbances on local vegetation, and in turn, differ greatly from natural forests (NF), since the patterns strongly influence the natural circulation of material and energy. There is a need to understand the differences of landscape patterns between PT and NF, to establish a near natural afforestation strategy. This study chose three typical silvicultural counties in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River as the research areas and compared the landscape patterns of NF and PT, with other land use types (grassland, GL; cropland, CL; shrubland, SL; orchard, OR; built-up land, BUL; bare land, BL; and water bodies, WB). The results revealed that the areas of PT accounted for 7.67%, 12.05%, and 18.97% of three counties, bigger than GL, OC, BUL, BL, and WB, as one of main land use types. The landscape patterns of PT (mean patch size between 2.06 to 6.05 ha) were more fragmented than NF (mean patch size between 5.83 to 53.91 ha). NF areas increased along the relative altitude gradient, from 0 to 2500 m, while PT areas peaked from 100–1000 m. The higher the altitude, the more typical the zonal distribution of PT, the more aggregated the NF. NF had significant negative correlations with BL, BUL, CL, PT, GL, and OC, which suggest that human activities had seriously interfered with NF. Although PT as an ecological protection strategy was increasing, the landscape patterns of PT were obviously different from NF. This may affect the material energy flow in the ecological environment. The results in the present study have great implications in the other regions in China and the relevant parts of the world where natural forests were heavily disturbed.

Land Use-Driven Changes in Ecosystem Service Values and Simulation of Future Scenarios: A Case Study of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Global climate change and land use change arising from human activities affect the ecosystem service values (ESVs). Such impacts have increasingly become significant, especially in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). Major factors impeding the construction of China’s “ecological security barrier” are shifts in land-use patterns under rapid urbanization, irrational crop and animal husbandry activities, and tourism. In the present study, land use changes in the QTP in recent years were analyzed to determine their impacts on ESVs, followed by simulations of the interactive and evolutionary relationships between land use and ESVs under two scenarios: natural development scenarios and ecological protection scenarios. According to the results, the QTP land-use structure has a small change, and the main land use type is alpine grassland, followed by bare land and woodland. The stability of the major land use types is the key factor responsible for the overall increasing ESV trend. Different regions on the QTP had substantially varied ESVs. The northwest and southeast regions are mostly bare land, which is a concentrated area of low value of ecosystem services. A variety of land use types including grassland and woodland have been found in the humid and semi-humid areas of the central region, so the high value of ecosystem services is concentrated in this area to form a hot spot, with a Z value of 0.63–2.84. Simulations under the natural development and ecological protection scenarios revealed that land use changes guided by ecological policies were more balanced and the associated ESVs were relatively higher than those under the natural development scenario. Under a global climate change context, human activities on the QTP should be better managed. Sustainable development in the region could be facilitated by ensuring synchronization between resource availability and adopted socioeconomic activities.

Sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the landscape: Approach for spatially explicit estimates

Climate change mitigation is a global response that requires actions at the local level. Quantifying local sources and sinks of greenhouse gases (GHG) facilitate evaluating mitigation options. We present an approach to collate spatially explicit estimated fluxes of GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) for main land use sectors in the landscape, to aggregate, and to calculate the net emissions of an entire region. Our procedure was developed and tested in a large river basin in Finland, providing information from intensively studied eLTER research sites. To evaluate the full GHG balance, fluxes from natural ecosystems (lakes, rivers, and undrained mires) were included together with fluxes from anthropogenic activities, agriculture and forestry. We quantified the fluxes based on calculations with an anthropogenic emissions model (FRES) and a forest growth and carbon balance model (PREBAS), as well as on emission coefficients from the literature regarding emissions from lakes, rivers, undrained mires, peat extraction sites and cropland. Spatial data sources included CORINE land use data, soil map, lake and river shorelines, national forest inventory data, and statistical data on anthropogenic activities. Emission uncertainties were evaluated with Monte Carlo simulations. Artificial surfaces were the most emission intensive land-cover class. Lakes and rivers were about as emission intensive as arable land. Forests were the dominant land cover in the region (66%), and the C sink of the forests decreased the total emissions of the region by 72%. The region's net emissions amounted to 4.37 ± 1.43 Tg CO2-eq yr−1, corresponding to a net emission intensity 0.16 Gg CO2-eq km−2 yr−1, and estimated per capita net emissions of 5.6 Mg CO2-eq yr−1. Our landscape approach opens opportunities to examine the sensitivities of important GHG fluxes to changes in land use and climate, management actions, and mitigation of anthropogenic emissions.

Ecosystem services under different grazing intensities in typical grasslands in Inner Mongolia and their relationships

Grazing, as the main land use of grasslands, is a key factor affecting the supply of ecosystem services11ES, ecosystem service; GI, grazing intensity; CK, control check; LG, light grazing; MG, moderate grazing; HG, heavy grazing; BI, biodiversity; HI, herbage intake; CP, crude protein content; SOCD, soil organic carbon density; SMN, soil mineralization nitrogen; AB, aboveground biomass; BB, belowground biomass; LB, litter biomass; TES, total ecosystem services; SSU, standard sheep units. (ESs) as well as the relationships between ESs. Using four grazing intensities, including control check, light grazing, moderate grazing, and heavy grazing, this paper quantified eight key ESs, including biodiversity, herbage intake, herbage quality (herbage crude protein content), climate regulation (soil organic carbon density), soil mineralization nitrogen, soil conservation (aboveground biomass), wind prevention and sand fixation (belowground biomass), and soil erosion prevention(litter biomass), in typical grassland areas of Inner Mongolia. Structural equation models were used to illustrate the impact of grazing on ESs through biodiversity, and the root mean square error was used to quantify the level of trade-offs for ES pairs. The results of this study indicated that grazing intensity (GI) significantly affected all ESs (p < 0.05), except for soil organic carbon density and soil mineralization nitrogen. As GI increased, provisioning services increased, while most regulating services decreased, and there was a general trade-off relationship between regulating services and other ones. In order to realize the maximum ESs benefit and the minimum trade-offs for ES pairs, the optimal grazing intensity for typical grasslands of Inner Mongolia should be between 170 (standard sheep units) SSU · d · hm−2 · y−1 and 340 SSU · d · hm−2 · y−1. The results of this study provide a decision-making foundation for grassland grazing management policies for the sustainable development of Inner Mongolian grasslands.

The land use pattern and its changes in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River from 1980 to 2015

Using the land use data in 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River(UYRB), the area and changes of various types of land use in the study area were analyzed, and the transformation characteristics of various land use types were expounded. Suitable landscape indices such as Patch Number(NP), Patch Density (PD), Connectivity Index (COHESION) and Shannon Diversity Index (SHDI)were used to explore and analyze the land use pattern of the study area. The results showed that from 1980 to 2015, farmland, forest and grassland were the main land use types in the UYRB. The area of construction land and grassland increased, the area of farmland, forest, wetland and desert decreased, and the area of lake/river did not change much. The main direction of land use type transfer in the study area was the conversion of farmland to forest, grassland and construction land, grassland to forest, wetland to lake/river, and desert to grassland. Through the analysis of landscape level indicators, it is concluded that the degree of landscape fragmentation in the UYRB in the past 20 years has gradually increased, the heterogeneity of the landscape has gradually increased, and the types of land use have developed towards diversification. Through the analysis of the patch type level indicators in the study area, results showed that farmland, forest and grassland occupied an absolute dominant position in the study area, resulting in a large separation of the rest of the landscape types. The separation of farmland and construction land under the strong interference of human activities, Fragmentation showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing.

Assessing the impact of watershed land use on Kebena river water quality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BackgroundThe impact of watershed land-use on surface water quality is one of the under researched areas in mega cities of the developing countries like Addis Ababa. The study examined the impact of watershed land uses on the Kebena river water quality within its seasonal and spatial variation and assessed the relationship between river water pollution and dominant land-use types in the sub-watersheds.MethodThe main land use types in the sub-watersheds were digitized from aerial photograph of 2016, and quantified for water quality impact analysis. Water samples were collected from the main Kebena river and the three sub-watersheds source and outlet points. A total of 128 samples were collected during the dry and wet seasons of 2016 and 2017 and analyzed for various water quality parameters. The study employed ANOVA, independent t-tests and multiple regression analysis to examine variations in water quality and assess the influence of the different land uses on water quality.ResultsForest, built-up area and cultivated lands are the three major land use types in the Kebena watershed accounting for 39.14, 32.51 and 27.25% of the total area, respectively. Kebena catchment is drained by three sub-watersheds namely, Denkaka (44.9% cultivated land), Little-Kebena (60.87% forested) and Ginfle (90.44% urban land). The concentration of pollutants in the Kebena river was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the dry season than in the wet season. However, when compared to surface water quality standards, both the dry and wet season water quality records are exceptionally high. The urban and forest dominated sub-watersheds contribute significantly high amount of (P < 0.001) pollutant loads to the river which is associated with high runoff from impervious surfaces and sewerage discharge to the river from nearby urban settlements.ConclusionIntegrating watershed planning with land use planning is of paramount importance to address water quality problems in urban areas. Thus, in the urban dominated sub-catchment, land-use planning should aim to relocating river front communities, providing sufficient river buffer-zones and forwarding appropriate storm water management schemes. In the forested sub-catchment, planning should protect, retain and enhance the existing natural green spaces through open space planning, and management schemes while providing wide river-buffer with natural vegetation cover to minimize pollution load to urban rivers from agriculture dominated sub-watershed.

Soil physical quality responses to silvopastoral implementation in Colombian Amazon

Cattle ranching is the main land use after deforestation in Amazon region of Colombia. Those poor-managed pasture system typically induces soil compaction, acidification, organic matter losses and soil erosion, leading to soil health degradation and ecosystem service losses. To mitigate this problem, alternative production systems such as silvopastoral systems, where trees, forage, and cattle are combined in an integrated and intensively managed system, have been established in the last years. Hence, we conducted a field study that aimed to assess soil physical quality changes due to the traditional management of livestock and the subsequent transition to a silvopastoral system in two sites in Caquetá state, northwestern Colombian Amazon. In each site, soil samplings were performed in a chronosequence conformed by three areas following the typical land-use change at the region: i) native vegetation, ii) traditional pasture and iii) silvopastoral system. The soil physical properties quantified were: soil bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance, visual evaluation of soil structure, aggregate stability as well as soil organic carbon. Compared to native vegetation, traditional pasture management causes a degradation in soil physical quality, with increases in soil bulk density in subsoil from 1.10 to 1.33 g cm−3 and penetration resistance, which reached values around 5 MPa, affecting the distribution of pores and soil structural quality. When pastures were replaced by silvopastoral systems, we observed a recovery in the physical soil attributes with bulk density reaching values of 1.09 g cm−3 and penetration resistance of 3.77 MPa. Those improvements as well as the enhacement in visual evaluation soil structure could be associated with increases in soil C content since diversified and greater above and belowground biomass production are expected, as well as improved animal/pasture management. Thus, the implementation of silvopastoral systems is highlighted as an efficient strategy to restore soil physical quality of degraded pastures, contributing to increase pastureland productivity, and indirectly decrease deforestation pressure in the Amazon Basin.

黄河中下游影响区生态空间和生态指数变化评估

黄河中下游影响区人地关系复杂，受到自然和人类活动交叠影响，厘清该区域的生态空间及其生态指数变化对实现黄河流域生态保护与高质量发展这一国家战略具有重要意义。对黄河中下游影响区的生态空间时空格局演化和生态状况进行定量分析，具体包括基于土地利用遥感监测数据的生态空间演变分析和基于纯遥感驱动的遥感生态指数RSEI （Remote Sensing Ecological Index）分析，从而完整刻画了2000-2020年黄河中下游影响区生态环境的动态变化格局。研究结果显示：（1）从土地利用类型变化来看，黄河中下游影响区主要土地利用类型是耕地，占研究区的70%；近20年以来耕地和建设用地变化明显，耕地面积减少了2.15%（约9849km²），建设用地增加了30.75%（约11146km²），且建设用地的扩张主要以侵占耕地为主；（2）从生态空间类型变化来看，研究区半生态用地面积变化较大，主要向弱生态用地转变，发生在城市地区；天津市、河北省以及山东省的沿海地区生态空间类型由弱生态用地转为生态用地；黄河流域河南段可以明显看出半生态用地向生态用地的转变；（3）从生态级别来看，近20年来生态级别为"差"和"较差"的面积有所减少，由2000年的38.85%减少至2020年的23.01%，生态级别为"中等"和"良"的面积有所上升，由2000年的45.54%增加至2020年的73.71%，生态级别为"优"主要分布在河南省、江苏省和安徽省周边；黄河滩区内外生态环境质量相当，均呈缓慢上升趋势。本研究利用遥感大数据完整地对黄河中下游影响区的生态空间及其对应生态状况进行了长时间序列的监测与评估，为总体认知和把握该区的生态状况提供了基础支撑。;The human-land relationship in the affected area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is complex, and it is affected by overlapping natural and human activities. Clarifying the ecological space of the region and its ecological changes is of great significance to achieve the national strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development for the Yellow River Basin. In this study, we made a quantitative analysis on the evolution of ecological pattern and ecological status in the affected area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Specifically, by analyzing the spatio-temporal evolution of ecological space with the data of land use and Remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) derived by remote sensing products, this study completely depicted the dynamic change pattern of ecological environment in the affected area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that:(1) from the perspective of the land use change, the main land use type in the study area was cultivated land, accounting for 70% of the study area. Over the past 20 years, cultivated land and construction land changed significantly. The area of cultivated land decreased by 2.15% (9849km²), and the construction land increased by 30.75% (11146km²), and the expansion of construction land was mainly by occupying cultivated land. (2) In terms of the ecological space, the areas of semi-ecological land changed greatly, mainly to weak-ecological land, which occurs in urban areas. The ecological space type in the coastal areas of Tianjin, Hebei, and Shandong changed from weak-ecological land to ecological land. The transition from semi-ecological land to ecological land appeared obviously in the Henan section of the Yellow River Basin. (3) For the RSEI, the area proportion with low level RSEI decreased from 38.85% in 2000 to 23.01% in 2020 while the area proportion with high level RSEI increased from 45.54% to 73.71% in recent 20 years. Relatively good ecological environment was mainly distributed around Henan, Jiangsu, and Anhui. The eco-environmental quality inside and outside the Yellow River beach area was similar, showing a slow upward trend. In this study, ecological space and its corresponding ecological status in the affected areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were monitored and evaluated over a long time series based on the remote sensing big data, which provided the foundation support for the overall cognition and characterization for the ecological dynamics of the study area.

EFFECT OF SPATIAL-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER ON SOIL EROSION

ABSTRACT Land use and land cover changes are the main factors of human influence on the erosive process. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the effect of land use and land cover changes over 30 years on water erosion in a tropical subbasin in southeastern Brazil. The hypothesis was tested that the expansion of coffee and reforestation areas decreased soil losses due to water erosion. The Potential Erosion Method (EPM) was used to estimate water erosion in 1988, 1998, 2008 and 2018. In the first two decades, the predominant land use in the subbasin was corn, while in 2008 and 2018, coffee and reforestation areas became the main land use class in the area. The acquisition of EPM input parameters and data analysis was performed using remote sensing techniques and the Geographic Information System. Between 1988 and 1998, the total soil loss increased by 50.36 Mg year-1 due to the conversion of pasturelands to coffee plantations and the increase of deforestation. However, between 1998 and 2018, there was a soil loss reduction of 660.21 Mg year-1 (-37.46%), once the conversion of pasture and corn areas to coffee with the adoption of conservation practices, and the expansion of reforestation areas among 1988 - 2018, contributed to the decrease of soil erosion rates.

Farm-level land use responses to climate change among smallholder farmers in northern Benin, West Africa

ABSTRACT Adaptation to climate change often involves land use adjustments that can shape the sustainability of production systems. We conducted a survey to identify current farm-level land use strategies driven by climate change and their underlying socioeconomic determinants. Our study involved primary data collected on 336 maize producers randomly selected in 8 villages. We find that crop association/rotation, land reallocation/change of cropping patterns, water and soil conservation strategies, and field relocation are the main land use strategies driven by climate change at the farm-level. Farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics such as such as experience in agriculture, participation in off-farm activity, availability of farmland, organization membership, access to credit, contact with extension and household size have significant but differential effects on the choices of land use strategies. As a recommendation, extension services need to be revisited to better support smallholder farmers in adopting crops association/rotation and water and soil conservation methods. Policymakers can also tap into the opportunity of changes in cropping patterns to promote crops that are suitable for new climate conditions and have additional benefits for household food and nutritional security.

Spatial and temporal evolution of habitat quality in Fujian Province, China based on the land use change from 1980 to 2018.

Analyzing the characteristics of spatial-temporal evolution of habitat quality caused by land use change can provide a scientific basis for the coordinated development of regional ecological economy. With Fujian Province (the ecological civilization demonstration area of China) as an example,the InVEST model was used to evaluate the habitat quality based on the land use change data from 1980 to 2018. Further, the influencing factors were analyzed through Geodetector, and the spatial-temporal characteristics of habitat quality was analyzed by combining with the change of land use type. The results showed that the main land use change types included farmland translating to forest land and construction land, forest land translating to farmland, grassland and construction land, and grassland translating to forest land, which accounted for 8.4%, 14.5%, 7.6%, 17.1%, 6.4% and 31.7% of the total land use change, respectively. From 1980 to 2018, the overall habitat quality of Fujian Province was at a high level (0.6-0.8), showing a trend of habitat degradation and habitat quality reduction. The first leading factor for the spatial variation of habitat quality was the change of land use type, with the impact of socioeconomic factors on the habitat quality of coastal counties and cities being significantly higher than that of the entire region and inland counties and cities. The rapid encroachment of construction land on the surrounding forest and grassland accele-rated the degradation of habitat in coastal areas, the process of which was irreversible. The habitat degradation of central urban areas would undergo a similar process in inland area, but might be slower than coastal area in terms of speed and scale. In the long term, the speed of habitat degradation could be slowed by controlling the scale of cities, developing urban ecological greening, and buil-ding an ecological security pattern.

Relationship between Plant Biodiversity and Carbon Stock in Rural Area of Cisadane Watershed

The main activities in the rural landscape are agriculture, involved natural resources management that compose the function of area as settlement, government services, social services and economy activities. These activities affected the rural landscape that changed plant diversities as well as carbon stock. The aim of this research was to evaluate biodiversity and carbon stock in the rural area of Cisadane Watershed. Two villages were defined on a purposive random sampling, i.e. Sukadamai and Bantarsari. The sampling plots were selected based on main land use type with size for tree was 20 m × 20 m, polewas 10 m x 10 m, sapling was 5 m x 5 m and seedling was 2 m x 2 m; with 3 replications. Similarly, other concentric plots were established. The number of plant species were counted, diameterat breast height (DBH) and height were measured. Then, carbon stock, plant diversity and the relationship was developed. The results showed that main land use in Sukadamai and Bantarsari Village consisted of settlement area, farmland, mixed farming and palm oil plantation. There were 106 species from 43 families that classified into 9 horizontal diversity based on function and 5 vertical diversity based on height. The values of Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’) ranged 2.78–3.20. Estimated carbon stocks were 1.16–51.40 Mg ha−1 in research areas, respectively. These research concluded there was a negative correlation between species richness and diversity index with carbon stock in the village landscapes.

Impact of Rapid and Intensive Land Use/Land Cover Change on Soil Properties in Arid Regions: A Case Study of Lanzhou New Area, China

Land use/land cover (LULC) change widely occurs during urbanization and can affect the functionality of soil ecosystems by altering soil physicochemical properties. However, few studies have evaluated the impacts of LULC change on soils in arid regions. This study investigates LULC change patterns during 2010–2017 in Lanzhou New Area, China based on remotely sensed data (Chinese GaoFen-1 and Advanced Land Observing Satellite). We identified five main land use change types and reference native grassland and farmland to determine soil properties at different depths. Principal component analysis and scatter matrix were employed to evaluate the effect of LULC change on soil properties. The results showed that LULC changes that occurred in Lanzhou New Area were characterized by the rapid growth of construction and bare land (increased by 13.06% and 5.97%, respectively) at the expense of farmland (decreased by 25.38%). The conversion of native grassland to artificial grassland and bare land, and farmland to bare land had similar effects on soil properties; i.e., a significant decline and a lower level in total nitrogen and soil organic carbon. The farmland to construction land transition deteriorated soil nutrients and increased soil compaction by both increasing bulk density (BD, mean = 1.63 g cm−3) and enhancing sand content by 69.21%. All land use change types increased BD and decreased soil water content and saturated soil water content when compared to the reference areas. These results indicate that changes in LULC have significant impacts on soil physicochemical properties. Thus, it is essential to optimize land planning and improve soil quality in arid ecosystems to ensure sustainable resource management and ecosystem conservation.

The Influence of Innovation Resources in Higher Education Institutions on the Development of Sci-Tech Parks’ Enterprises in the Urban Innovative Districts at the Stage of Urbanization Transformation

Innovation is an inevitable way to enhance regional competitiveness, promote urbanization and achieve sustainable development. The sci-tech park is one of the main land use types in the construction of a new town and the critical space carriers of urbanization. This study focuses on the correlation between higher education institutions (HEIs) innovation and sci-tech enterprises (STEs) development, and the Hangzhou West Hi-tech Corridor as a case study. Innovation indicators of HEIs related to teaching staff, talent cultivation, scientific research quality, academic influence, and university-enterprise cooperation, as well as development indicators of STEs related to aggregation degree, development level, and innovation level are selected. The results show that HEI innovation is significantly positively correlated with STE development. The number of senior titled teachers, average number of citations per paper, and number of invested enterprises exhibit a strong positive correlation with STE development indicators. Regarding the correlation between HEI innovation and STE development, academic research HEIs and professional application HEIs are stronger than vocational skill HEIs. This study is conducive to improving land use efficiency and a sustainable development level of urban innovative districts. Suggestions are provided to support the researches and practices of urban innovative spatial planning and advancement of the urbanization process.

Anthropization and Climate Change: Impact on the Discharges of Forest Watersheds in Central Africa

Climate change and anthropization are major drivers of river flows variability. However, understanding their simultaneous impact on discharges is limited. As a contribution to address this limitation, the objective of this study is to assess the impact of climate change and anthropization on the discharges of two watersheds of Central Africa (Nyong and Ntem) over a recent period. For this, the hydropluviometric data of the watersheds concerned were analyzed using the Pettitt test. Similarly, the dynamics of the main land use modes (LUM) have been assessed, through classifications obtained from the processing of Landsat satellite images of the watersheds studied on two dates. The results of this study show that in Central Africa, annual discharges have decreased significantly since the 1970s, and yet the decline in annual rainfall does not become significant until the 2000s. The discharges of the rainy seasons (spring and autumn) recorded the most important changes, following variations in the rainfall patterns of the dry seasons (winter and summer) that precede them. Winters experienced a significant decrease in precipitation between the 1970s and 1990s, which caused a drop in spring flows. Their rise, which began in the 2000s, is also accompanied by an increase in spring flows, which nevertheless seems rather slight in the case of the Nyong. Conversely, between the 1970s and 1990s, there was a joint increase in summer rainfall and autumn flows. A decrease of summer rainfall was noted since the 2000s, and is also noticeable in autumn flows. Maximum flows have remained constant on the Nyong despite the slight drop in rainfall. This seems to be the consequence of changes in land use patterns (diminution of forest and increasing of impervious areas). The decrease in maximums flows noted on the Ntem could be linked to the slight drop in precipitation during the rainy seasons that generates it. Factors such as the general decrease in precipitation during the winter and the reduction in the area occupied by water bodies could justify the decrease in minimum flows observed in the two watersheds. These findings would be vital to enhance water management capabilities in the watersheds concerned and in the region. They can also give some new elements to study and understand the seasonal variation and fresh water availability in downstream, estuaries and coastal areas of the regional rivers.