How Does Eco-Migration Influence Habitat Fragmentation in Resettlement Areas? Evidence from the Shule River Resettlement Project

Lucang Wang (), Ting Liao and Jing Gao
Additional contact information
Lucang Wang: College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Ting Liao: College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Jing Gao: School of Teacher Education, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-24

Abstract: Eco-migration (EM) constitutes a specialized form of migration aimed at enhancing living environments and alleviating ecological pressure. Nevertheless, large-scale external migration has intensified habitat fragmentation (HF) in resettlement areas. This paper takes the Shule River Resettlement Project (SRRP) as a case, based on the China Land Cover Dataset (CLCD) data of the resettlement area from 1996 to 2020, using the Landscape Pattern Index ( LPI ) and the land use transfer matrix ( LTM ) to clearly define the stages of migration and the types of resettlement areas and to quantitative explore how EM affects HF. The results show that (1) EM accelerates the transformation of natural habitats (NHs) to artificial habitats (AHs) and shows the characteristics of sudden changes in the initial stage (1996–2002), with stability in the middle stage (2002–2006) and late stage (2007–2010) and dramatic changes in the post-migration stage (2011–2020). In IS, MS, LS, and PS, AH increased by 26.145 km 2 , 21.573 km 2 , 22.656 km 2 , and 16.983 km 2 , respectively, while NH changed by 73.116 km 2 , −21.575 km 2 , −22.655 km 2 , −121.82 km 2 , and −213.454 km 2 , respectively. The more dispersed the resettlement areas are the more obvious the expansion of AH will be, indicating that the resettlement methods for migrants have a significant effect on habitat changes. (2) During the resettlement process, the total number of plaques ( NP ), edge density ( ED ), diversity ( SHDI ), and dominance index (SHEI) all continued to increase, while the contagion index ( C ) and aggregation index ( AI ) continued to decline, indicating that the habitat is transforming towards fragmentation, diversification, and complexity. Compared with large-scale migration bases (LMBs), both small-scale migration bases (SMBs), and scattered migration settlement points (SMSPs) exhibit a higher degree of HF, which reflects how the scale of migration influences the extent of habitat fragmentation. While NHs are experiencing increasing fragmentation, AHs tend to show a decreasing trend in fragmentation. Ecological migrants play a dual role: they contribute to the alteration and fragmentation of natural habitat patterns, while simultaneously promoting the formation and continuity of artificial habitat structures. This study offers valuable practical insights and cautionary lessons for the resettlement of ecological migrants.

Keywords: eco-migration; resettlement area; migration stage; habitat transformation; habitat fragmentation; Shule River Resettlement Project (SRRP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/8/1514/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/8/1514/ (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:14:y:2025:i:8:p:1514-:d:1707942

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 ().