Analysis of Changes in Landslide Susceptibility according to Land Use over 38 Years in Lixian County, China

Jie Liu, Zhen Wu and Huiwen Zhang
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Jie Liu: Lanzhou Geophysical National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station, Lanzhou Geotechnical and Seismological Research Institute, Earthquake Administration, Earthquake Administration of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000, China
Zhen Wu: Lanzhou Geophysical National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station, Lanzhou Geotechnical and Seismological Research Institute, Earthquake Administration, Earthquake Administration of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000, China
Huiwen Zhang: State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Desertification and Aeolian Sand Disaster Combating, Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, Lanzhou 730070, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-23

Abstract: Landslides occur frequently in Lixian County, China, and land use has changed significantly in recent decades. We obtained land use data for the years 1980, 2000, and 2018, as well as three landslide susceptibility maps from a Random Forest model. Agricultural land, low coverage grassland, water area, and urban, rural and other construction land were prone to landslides. Landslide susceptibility was low in areas of woodland, moderate and high coverage grassland, bare rock land, desert and tundra. Areas with high landslide susceptibility were mainly located in the catchment of the study region, and a 2.61% decrease in high landslide susceptibility areas over the 38-year period was primarily driven by changes in agricultural and rural land. By contrast, a 1.42% increase in low landslide susceptibility areas over the 38-year period was driven by changes in moderate and high coverage woodland and moderate coverage grassland. There is a need for effective management measures to be implemented because areas with high landslide susceptibility are still present. We also found that human aggregations, or the absence of these, vary in their effects on the areas of Lixian County most susceptible to landslides.

Keywords: land use change; landslide susceptibility partition; multitemporal; natural vegetation; human activities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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