Effects of Farmland Landscape Fragmentation on Agricultural Irrigation in Hotan Oasis

Lei Zhang, Yunfei Liu, Changjun Yin, Dongping Xue, Dongwei Gui () and Zhiming Qi ()
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Lei Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Yunfei Liu: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Changjun Yin: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Dongping Xue: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Dongwei Gui: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Zhiming Qi: Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: Farmland landscape fragmentation is an important problem affecting the agricultural modernization process in China. However, farmland landscape fragmentation leads to land being wasted and increases management costs, particularly in the dryland’s oasis regions. Therefore, investigating the impact of farmland landscape fragmentation on agricultural irrigation is of great significance in developing oasis agriculture. This paper used the landscape quantitative index (DIVISION), the moving window method, and gradient analysis methods to study the temporal and spatial pattern changes in farmland fragmentation in the Hotan Oasis. Additionally, the impact of fragmentation on irrigation in the oasis was elaborated upon by exploring the relationship between evapotranspiration and its components in farmland fragmentation. The results showed that the farmland area of the Hotan Oasis increased from 1546.19 km 2 in 2000 to 2068.23 km 2 in 2020, and farmland landscape fragmentation increased with the expansion of the Hotan Oasis. In addition, a significant relationship between farmland fragmentation and evapotranspiration and its components was evident. A lower DIVISION value corresponded to a higher ET value, a lower ETs/ETc ratio, and a higher water use efficiency. When the total farmland area is assumed to remain unchanged, the irrigation water consumption is reduced by 4.82 × 10 8 m 3 according to the size and proportion of arable land with the lowest degree of fragmentation (L1, division value of 0.46). In addition, with the increase in the proportion of farmland, the scale of oasis decreases by 2431.56 km 2 for the reduction in field roads, shelterbelt, and bare land. These findings suggest that solving the problem of farmland fragmentation can effectively reduce irrigation water consumption, realize the internal expansion of the oasis through intensive land use, and relieve the pressure of the external expansion of the oasis.

Keywords: oasis; farmland fragmentation; evapotranspiration; agricultural irrigation; intensive land use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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