Spatiotemporal Variation and Influence Factors of Habitat Quality in Loess Hilly and Gully Area of Yellow River Basin: A Case Study of Liulin County, China

Xu Zhang, Chunjuan Lyu, Xiang Fan, Rutian Bi, Lu Xia, Caicai Xu, Bo Sun, Tao Li and Chenggang Jiang
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Xu Zhang: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Chunjuan Lyu: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Xiang Fan: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Rutian Bi: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Lu Xia: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Caicai Xu: College of Public Administration, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Bo Sun: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Tao Li: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China
Chenggang Jiang: College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: China has set up ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin as its national strategy. However, the fragile natural ecosystem and intensive human disturbances pose challenges to it. This study evaluates habitat quality change and analyzes its drivers in a representative county of this region, aiming to provide scientific basis for ecological protection and sustainable development. We took Liulin, a representative county of middle Yellow River Basin as the study area and evaluated the spatiotemporal variation of habitat quality from 2000 to 2020 with the InVEST model. Further, the influencing factors of habitat quality pattern were explored using GeoDetector, and their gradient ranges dominating the habitat quality change were determined by gradient analysis. The results showed that: (1) Areas of low and medium-low habitat quality grades were distributed interactively in the whole county; medium grade areas were scattered in the northeast and southwest parts of the county; and medium-high and high grades area were distributed sporadically along the Yellow River and its branches. (2) Habitat quality of the county almost unchanged from 2000 to 2010. However, from 2010 to 2020, with the rapid expansion of construction land (increased by 9.62 times), the area proportion of medium, medium-high, and high habitat quality grades decreased from 7.01% to 5.31%, while that of low and medium-low habitat quality grades increased from 92.99% to 94.69%. (3) The habitat quality was influenced by multiple natural-human factors. The main influencing factor was land use, followed by elevation. (4) Most changes of habitat quality occurred in areas with lower elevation, gentler slope, and higher vegetation coverage, which were affected by intensive human activities. These results suggest that in future land use policy making and the construction land expansion in Liulin County should be restricted, and differentiated ecological protection and restoration strategies should be implemented in areas with different habitat quality.

Keywords: middle reaches of Yellow River; loess hilly and gully area; habitat quality; influencing factors; Liulin County (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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