Land-Use/Cover Change and Driving Mechanism on the West Bank of Lake Baikal from 2005 to 2015—A Case Study of Irkutsk City

Zehong Li, Yang Ren, Jingnan Li, Yu Li, Pavel Rykov, Feng Chen and Wenbiao Zhang
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Zehong Li: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yang Ren: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jingnan Li: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yu Li: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Pavel Rykov: V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk 664033, Russia
Feng Chen: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Wenbiao Zhang: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Lake Baikal is located on the southern tableland of East Siberian Russia. The west coast of the lake has vast forest resources and excellent ecological conditions, and this area and the Mongolian Plateau constitute an important ecological security barrier in northern China. Land-use/cover change is an important manifestation of regional human activities and ecosystem evolution. This paper uses Irkutsk city, a typical city on the West Bank of Lake Baikal, as a case study area. Based on three phases of Landsat remote-sensing image data, the land-use/cover change pattern and change process are analyzed and the natural factors and socioeconomic factors are combined to reveal driving forces through the partial least squares regression (PLSR) model. The results show the following: (1) From 2005 to 2015, construction land expanded, and forestland was converted into construction land and woodland. In addition, grass land, bare land, and cultivated land were converted into construction land, and the woodland area increased. The annual changes in land use from 2005 to 2010 were dramatic and then slowed down from 2010 to 2015. (2) The main reasons for the change in land-use types were urban expansion and nonagricultural development caused by population migration. The process of urbanization from external populations to urban agglomeration and the process of reverse urbanization from a central urban population to urban suburbs jointly expanded urban construction land area. As a result, forestland, grass land and bare land areas on the outskirts of cities were continuously reduced. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, land privatization led to a decline in the farm economy, the emergence of agricultural land reclamation and urban expansion; in addition, the implementation of the “one-hectare land policy” intensified development in suburban areas, resulting in a reduction of forestland and grass land areas. The process of constructing the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor has intensified human activities in the region, and the prevention of drastic changes in land cover, coordination of human-land relations, and green development are necessary.

Keywords: land-use and land cover change; driving mechanism; Lake Baikal; PLSR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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