Impact of Rapid and Intensive Land Use/Land Cover Change on Soil Properties in Arid Regions: A Case Study of Lanzhou New Area, China

Runxia Zhang, Xueyong Zhao, Chencheng Zhang and Jing Li
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Runxia Zhang: Naiman Desertification Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xueyong Zhao: Naiman Desertification Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Chencheng Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China
Jing Li: Laboratory of Plant Technology, Gansu Science Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Lanzhou 730000, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Land use/land cover (LULC) change widely occurs during urbanization and can affect the functionality of soil ecosystems by altering soil physicochemical properties. However, few studies have evaluated the impacts of LULC change on soils in arid regions. This study investigates LULC change patterns during 2010–2017 in Lanzhou New Area, China based on remotely sensed data (Chinese GaoFen-1 and Advanced Land Observing Satellite). We identified five main land use change types and reference native grassland and farmland to determine soil properties at different depths. Principal component analysis and scatter matrix were employed to evaluate the effect of LULC change on soil properties. The results showed that LULC changes that occurred in Lanzhou New Area were characterized by the rapid growth of construction and bare land (increased by 13.06% and 5.97%, respectively) at the expense of farmland (decreased by 25.38%). The conversion of native grassland to artificial grassland and bare land, and farmland to bare land had similar effects on soil properties; i.e., a significant decline and a lower level in total nitrogen and soil organic carbon. The farmland to construction land transition deteriorated soil nutrients and increased soil compaction by both increasing bulk density (BD, mean = 1.63 g cm −3 ) and enhancing sand content by 69.21%. All land use change types increased BD and decreased soil water content and saturated soil water content when compared to the reference areas. These results indicate that changes in LULC have significant impacts on soil physicochemical properties. Thus, it is essential to optimize land planning and improve soil quality in arid ecosystems to ensure sustainable resource management and ecosystem conservation.

Keywords: Lanzhou New Area; principal component analysis; rapid land use change; soil physiochemical properties; urbanization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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