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Landscape Sustainability in the Loess Hilly Gully Region of the Loess Plateau: A Case Study of Mizhi County in Shanxi Province, China

Xiaoying Liang, Hui Jia, Hai Chen, Di Liu and Hang Zhang
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Xiaoying Liang: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Hui Jia: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Hai Chen: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Di Liu: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Hang Zhang: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: In general, specific indicators of landscape sustainability are missing. To spatially evaluate landscape sustainability and its change in a rural landscape, the authors combined ecological and social components to develop an indicator system and a model based on information entropy. Four types of information entropy, namely, landscape service capability, landscape service demand, landscape vulnerability and landscape adaptation, were calculated using year-based information entropy to analyze the spatial-temporal differentiation of a rural ecosystem. Combined with the landscape composition and configuration indicators, the spatial and temporal differentiation of landscape sustainability was analyzed, and the effect of landscape structure on landscape sustainability was explored. Based on survey data from Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province, China from 2009 to 2014, the following results were obtained: (1) An analysis of entropy change could be used to evaluate landscape sustainability. (2) The carrying capacity of the complex ecosystem in the study area increased during the study period. (3) If the effect of landscape structure is not considered, then the landscape sustainability of the study area might be overestimated. Additionally, it was pointed out that the analysis of landscape sustainability through Boltzmann entropy also provides a new way to test and verify the research results in the future.

Keywords: entropy change; landscape sustainability; index system; landscape structure (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 references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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