Land Use Change in a Typical Transect in Northern China and Its Impact on the Ecological Environment

Yanru Yang, Enpu Ma (), Liuwen Liao () and Man Wu
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Yanru Yang: School of Geographical Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
Enpu Ma: School of Geographical Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
Liuwen Liao: College of Economics and Management, Changsha University, Changsha 410022, China
Man Wu: School of Geographical Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: This paper uses seven periods of land use/cover data from 1990 to 2020 to investigate the spatio-temporal features of land use change in a typical transect in northern China. By using the land use transfer matrix, transect analysis, and ecological contribution rate, image interpretation data obtained from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Resource and Environmental Science Data Platform were analyzed using a spatial overlay to quantitatively examine the transect’s land use changes and their impact on the eco-environment. The results indicate that (1) the transect’s land use is dominated by cropland and grassland. (2) Cropland, forest land, and waters experienced significant transitions in 1995 and 2000, which was linked to socio-economic development and policy factors. (3) The total dynamic percentage of land use change is 4.52%, with built-up land and cropland showing the highest change. (4) The transect’s eco-environmental quality (EQ) has significantly declined, with the quality index dropping from 0.3839 to 0.3773. The transformation of cropland to forest land improves the eco-environment, while the transformation to built-up land has negative impacts. Human activities adversely affect the EQ. The findings are promising for leading the development of conserving the eco-environment and supporting the formation of regionally differentiated paths of ecological civilization construction in the transect.

Keywords: land use change; land use transfer matrix; transect study; ecological quality; eco-environmental quality index; ecological civilization construction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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