Impact of Typical Land Use Expansion Induced by Ecological Restoration and Protection Projects on Landscape Patterns

Xuyang Kou, Jinqi Zhao and Weiguo Sang ()
Additional contact information
Xuyang Kou: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
Jinqi Zhao: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
Weiguo Sang: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-24

Abstract: Land use and land cover (LULC) changes driven by ecological restoration and protection projects play a pivotal role in reshaping landscape patterns. However, the specific impacts of these projects on landscape structure remain understudied. In this research, we applied geographically weighted regression (GWR) to analyze the spatial relationships between typical land use expansion and landscape pattern characteristics in the Lesser Khingan Mountains–Sanjiang Plain region between 2017 and 2022. Our results indicate three key findings: (1) Significant spatial heterogeneity exists in the relationship between landscape patterns and land use expansion, which varies across geographic locations; (2) Ecological restoration projects generally reduce fragmentation, dominance, and heterogeneity while enhancing connectivity, particularly in forest and farmland regions. However, excessive land use expansion in certain areas may reverse these positive effects; (3) Landscape complexity increases in high-altitude mountainous regions due to land use expansion but decreases in plains, particularly in forest-to-farmland conversions. These findings provide new insights into how landscape patterns respond to ecological restoration efforts and offer actionable guidance for improving future land use planning and policy decisions. Our study highlights the need to consider local geomorphological factors when designing ecological projects, ensuring that restoration efforts align with regional landscape dynamics to maintain landscape integrity.

Keywords: land use expansion; landscape pattern; ecological restoration and protection projects; geographically weighted regression; spatial heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/9/1513/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/9/1513/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:9:p:1513-:d:1480429

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().