Effect of land use and land cover change on soil erosion and the spatio-temporal variation in Liupan Mountain Region, southern Ningxia, China

The Liupan Mountains are located in the southern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, that forms an important divide between landforms and biogeographic regions. The populated part of the Liupan Mountain Region has suffered tremendous ecological damage over time due to population pressure, excessive demand and inappropriate use of agricultural land resources. To present the relationship between land use/cover change and spatio-temporal variation of soil erosion, data sets of land use between the late 1980s and 2000 were obtained from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, and spatial models were used to characterize landscape and soil erosion conditions. Also, soil erosion in response to land use and land cover change were quantified and analyzed using data from geographical information systems and remote sensing. Soil erosion by water was the dominant mode of soil loss, while soil erosion by wind was only present on a relatively small area. The degree of soil erosion was classified into five severity classes: slight, light, moderate, severe, and very severe. Soil erosion in the Liupan Mountain Region increased between the late 1980s and 2000, both in terms of acreage and severity. Moderate, severe, and very severe eroded areas accounted for 54.86% of the total land area. The lightly eroded area decreased, while the moderately eroded area increased by 368817 ha (22%) followed by severe erosion with 146552 ha (8.8%), and very severe erosion by 97067.6 ha (5.8%). Soil loss on sloping cropland increased with slope gradients. About 90% of the cropland was located on slopes less than 15°. Most of the increase in soil erosion on cropland was due to conversion of steep slopes to cropland and degradation of grassland and increased activities. Soil erosion was severe on grassland with a moderate or low grass cover and on dry land. Human activities, cultivation on steep slopes, and overgrazing of pastures were the main reasons for the increase in erosion severity.     

1996—2006年武汉市土地利用/覆被变化研究

以武汉市为研究区,利用1996和2006年Landsat5的TM影像解译结果,基于GIS空间分析与数理统计方法定量研究了1996—2006年11年间的武汉市土地利用/覆被变化。研究结果表明：（1）1996—2006年期间,武汉市土地利用覆被总体特征表现出耕地、草地和未利用地减少,林地、水域和建设用地面积增加的态势;（2）这11年间耕地转化为林地、建设用地和水域这3种变化类型分布最为广泛,转换率最大;（3）11年来武汉市土地利用综合动态度变化幅度较大,并呈缓慢上升趋势。土地利用年变化速度达到1.25%;（4）1996—2006年武汉市土地利用程度逐年提高,土地利用程度变化量和变化率均大于0,说明武汉市处于土地利用发展时期,土地利用集约度会进一步提高。     

吉林西部土地利用/覆被时空变化驱动力分析

针对吉林两部土地利用/覆被情况,基于TM影像,借助人机交互解译方法,结合1:10万地形图获得1986年、1996年、2000年和2004年的4期土地利用/覆被变化(LUCC)矢量数据.利用土地利用动态度模型、土地利用转移矩阵.全面揭示研究区15年的LUCC时空变化特征,结果表明.盐碱地扩张,湿地、水域萎缩和草地退化已经成为吉林西部生态环境恶化的突出表现.结合研究区的实际情况选取总人口数、农业人口数、粮食总产置等12个指标作为LUCC:变化的丰十会经济驱动因子,借助多元线性回归模型,建立主要土地利用类型的驱动力模型.结果表明吉林西部土地利用变化的最主要社会经济因子是农业人口数、农民人均纯收入、农业生产技术(农业机械总动力、化肥施用量)和农村用电量,同时提出相应的生态环境保护和社会经济措施.     

Assessment of ecological risks induced by land use and land cover changes in Xiamen City,China

The landscape ecological risk (LER) in Xiamen City, China, from 1990 to 2030 was studied using an urban land use and land cover change (LUCC) model and LER analysis. The LUCC model was used to predict the LUCC of Xiamen from 2020 to 2030. We analyzed the characteristics of LUCC and landscape pattern changes and, finally, evaluated the effect of rapid LUCC on LER. Of the six landscape types investigated, built-up land and farmland demonstrated the most significant changes. The area of built-up land increased by 1.5 times in 2010 and is predicted to increase by 2.7 times in 2030 than that in 1990. The area of farmland increased from 34.5% in 1990 to 24.5% in 2010 and is predicted to decrease to 15.1% in 2030. The number of patches (NP) of built-up land decreased with increasing area, which promoted the dominance of built-up land over other landscape types. Five landscape types, those other than built-up land, increased in NP, landscape fragmentation, segmentation, and disturbance but decreased in dominance. The LER of Xiamen in 2010 was slightly lower than that in 1990. However, with the acceleration of urbanization, the LER in 2020 and 2030 will increase by 7.6% and 12.5% than that in 2010. The LER will significantly increase in areas such as the Huandong sea area, the second urban core of Xiamen, and northern Xiang'an. For the areas, some measures (e.g. optimum urban spatial growth patterns and control of coastal reclamation) must inevitably increase to reduce the LER posed by rapid urbanization.     

A novel participatory and remote-sensing-based approach to mapping annual land use change on forest frontiers in Laos,Myanmar, and Madagascar

Tropical forests are under pressure from both commercial and smallholder agriculture. Forest frontiers are seeing dynamic land use changes that frequently lead to land system regime shifts, posing challenges for the sustainability of entire local social-ecological systems. Monitoring highly dynamic land use change and detecting land system regime shifts is methodologically challenging due to trade-offs between spatial and temporal data resolution. We propose an innovative approach that combines analysis of very-high-resolution satellite imagery with participatory mapping based on workshops and field walks. Applying it in Laos, Myanmar, and Madagascar, we were able to collect annual land use information over several decades. Unlike conventional land use change mapping approaches, which assess only few points in time, our approach provides information at a temporal resolution that enables detection of gradual and abrupt land system regime shifts.     

森林土地利用变化及其对碳循环的影响

由于人口剧增，人类活动的影响不断加大，在过去100年全球土地利用／土地覆被发生了巨大的变化。最常见的土地利用变化是由森林转变为农业用地。森林砍伐使森林生态系统地上部生物量大大减少，砍伐后作农业用地，降低了植被生产力，减少了土壤有机质的输入，增强了腐殖质的矿化作用，有机质分解速率增加，有机碳贮量随之降低，从而影响到森林生态系统的碳循环，使大量碳元素释放到大气中，引起温室效应，导致全球变暖。另一个常见的土地利用变化是植树造林和森林恢复，这一过程可以增加森林生态系统的碳储量，从而减缓大气CO2体积分数的上升。     

黄土小流域水沙输移过程对土地利用/覆被变化的响应

以甘肃定西安家沟小流域为典型研究区,基于TM、ALOS遥感影像解译和地面长期水文数据,深入分析了1997至2010年间流域土地利用变化特征及其产流产沙效应。结果显示,（1）14年间,流域林灌草面积分别增加160.23%、176.33%和80.75%;坡耕地、居民地、裸地和梯田面积分别减少25.57%、0.16%、48.45%和21.52%。以2005年为时间节点,发现前期灌草增加较多、裸地减少明显,后期则是乔木增加比例和坡耕地减少比例更为显著,彰显出不同历史阶段植被恢复的策略变化。（2）流域出口多年平均径流量和输沙量分别由前期的18 249 m3和6 383 kg锐减至后期的2 292 m3和2 267 kg,流域土地利用/覆被有效增加是其主要驱动。（3）春冬季节,由于降雨稀少、径流泥沙的本底值很低,前后两个阶段的水沙输移量差异较小,土地利用/覆被变化的影响相对尚不显著。但在夏秋季节,随着降雨事件增多,土地利用/覆被变化减水减沙的效应趋于显性化。     

Accounting for monogastric livestock as a driver in global land use and cover change assessments

Land systems are described based on various characteristics, including land cover composition and agricultural production. However, it is uncertain to what extent livestock, particularly monogastric livestock, determines land systems. We included monogastrics in a land system classification, and statistically analyzed the land cover composition and agricultural production of otherwise similar land systems with and without monogastric livestock. The results indicate that land systems with monogastrics are statistically different from their counterparts in the classification without monogastrics in terms of grassland area and crop yields, but are less different in terms of tree area, crop area, and ruminant livestock production. We then used a land systems map that includes monogastrics in the classification and a similar map that does not include monogastrics to project future changes in a novel manner that integrates livestock as a determinant of land systems. The results show that including monogastrics in otherwise similar projections yields less cropland intensification and more cropland expansion in several world regions, including Northern Africa and the Middle East. Other regions, such as Europe and Australia, were characterized by less decrease or more increase in tree area in the application with monogastrics, mainly due to the occurrence of open forests with monogastrics. This study prompts a call for improved characterization of land systems for land use and cover change (LUCC) assessments in order to better represent LUCC driven by monogastric livestock.     

Patterns and drivers of forest land cover changes in tropical semi-deciduous forests in Ghana

This study was conducted to determine the patterns and drivers of forest land cover changes in Bobiri and Oboyow Forest Reserves (BFR and OFR, respectively), Ghana. Landsat images were employed to determine forest land cover types and changes in 1990, 2000 and 2010 using supervised classification method. Factors that drive forest land cover changes in the forest reserves were determined using a semi-structured questionnaire and field observations. Generally, closed-canopy forest decreased by 49% in both forests over 20-year period resulting in a tremendous increase in open-canopy forest (BFR: 85%; OFR: 46%) and non-forest land cover types (BFR: 48–80% OFR: 127–350%). Factors such as logging manual illiteracy among timber operators, offences of authorised timber operators, ineffective community participation, harvesting schedule revision, chainsaw logging, illegal logging, bushfires, fuel gathering and weak penalty for offences were identified as contributing to rapid depletion of closed canopy forest cover in the forest reserves.     

土地利用/覆被变化对土地生态系统有机碳库的影响——以吉林省通榆县为例

土地利用/覆被变化对陆地碳循环影响显著.文章基于实地采集的土壤、植物样品的测试数据和1989、2004两年8月陆地卫星TM遥感影像数据,采用生态系统类型法分析吉林省通榆县1989-2004年耕地、林地、草地、盐碱地、沙地等11 种地类之间土地利用变化对土地生态系统有机碳库的影响.计算结果表明1989-2004年通榆县土地生态系统有机碳库共损失了3.18 TgC(1Tg=106t),年均损失约为0.265 Tgc.其中,湿地、草地有机碳库分别损失5.54 TgC和3.71 TgC,盐碱地面积的增加导致有机碳库损失4.75 TgC.林地面积增加和沙地面积减少分别使有机碳库增加了4.58 TgC和3.75 TgC.研究区总体上为一个碳失汇,草地退化、湿地萎缩、土地沙化和盐碱化造成了有机碳库的碳损失,而植树造林、草地植被的恢复和重建等活动则可以显著增加土壤有机碳储量.该研究对于评估自然环境与人为活动影响下,特别是大规模土地整治与生态修复对土壤有机碳的增汇潜力和固碳效应的影响具有重要的理论意义和应用价值.     

Remote sensing technology and land use analysis in food security assessment

ABSTRACT

Climate change and a rapidly growing human population have put ever greater strains on the global food system. Although the number of food insecure people in the world has reached a record low, changing land use and climate variability will threaten our ability to maintain this progress. Profound changes in the structure of economies around the world have affected agricultural production and how food is delivered to the consumer. This paper explores connections between land use, environmental change and food availability, access, and utilization. Each of these elements of food security has vulnerabilities to changing environmental conditions and land use that can be explored using satellite remote sensing observations. Technology is a key way environmental changes can be quantified and used in food security assessment.     

Multi-temporal land use and cover changing analysis: the environmental impact in Mediterranean area

ABSTRACT

Human activity shapes the levels of anthropogenic pressure that depend on the land management method adopted. This has a fundamental role in the transformation of traditional landscapes. This study focuses on a representative region of the Mediterranean area with the objective to analyse the landscape’s dynamics, to detect the spatial arrangement of class patches, to identify the main agroecosystem characters and to provide a framework to assess ecosystems services. In order to assess land use/land cover changes and landscape persistence, the period between 1960 and 2012 was analysed, taking into consideration the years 1960, 2000 and 2012 using comparable land use maps. Land use and land cover analysis show an urban area growth of 24% during 2000–2012 and of 523% over between 1960 and 2012. The very high levels of land abandonment up to the year 2000 (+7216%) have reversed their trend between 2000 and 2012 (?95%). The orchards showed a relevant increase, particularly after 2000, while the vineyards were linked to the highest value of surface erosion (?74%). The outcomes showed that urban settlements can damage the ecological network with negative effects on the landscape’s environmental sustainability in proximity of significant urban centres. Instead, the ecological network is well preserved and highly associated to the agricultural areas when there is the persistence of many land uses and low urban density, despite the presence of dynamic changes.     

传统农业区土地利用对土壤氮素季节动态变化的影响——以官厅水库上游延庆盆地为例

土地利用对土壤养分时空动态变化的影响,不仅影响到土壤中养分元素的利用效率,同时会影响到养分流失的危险性和区域非点源污染的形成。本文通过野外采样分析,按照不同时期对官厅水库上游延庆盆地内的玉米地、蔬菜地、果园、其他经济类用地的土壤全氮含量进行了测定;分析了不同农业用地影响下土壤氮素的季节动态变化特征和土壤垂直剖面变化。结果发现:(1)0～40cm是玉米地养分活跃层;蔬菜地的养分含量在0～10cm土层变化最剧烈;果园整个剖面上养分变化均较剧烈;其它经济用地在25～40cm土层养分变化较大;(2)果园和蔬菜地是研究区内养分活动最活跃的土地利用方式,蔬菜地的表层养分流失风险性最高,对于地表水和地下水具有很高的潜在影响;果园在整个剖面上养分变化较大,其发生养分的淋溶流失的风险性最高;玉米和其他经济用地养分变化不大。研究结果建议,传统农业区在开展农业结构调整时,尤其是将传统的农作物种植改为蔬菜地和果园时,必须加强对农田生态系统研究,实施严格的科学管理,提高养分的利用效率,降低对环境的影响。     

Exploration of spatial morphometry and socioeconomic variables in modelling urban land use change

The incorporation of land use (LU) data with socioeconomic data is a main issue in modelling. This is as a result of difference in data model and scale. This study proposed and tested the change–pattern approach, which allows the incorporation of these data sets in modelling LU change. Focusing on LU dynamics for a selected part of the Thames Gateway within the City of London, the approach tested two different methods of input selection for the modelling operations. Variables selected from these two methods serve as inputs into several neural networks tested in order to identify the direction of change for each of the LU types within the study area. The result shows that direction of LU change across the study area could be identified when spatial morphology of the area and socioeconomic variables are considered. Some classes of change could be identified fairly accurately using landscape metrics indicating level of fragmentation, extent of LU patches, shape complexity of LU patches in combination with some socioeconomic variables.     

Urbanization and small household agricultural land use choices in the Brazilian Amazon and the role for the water chemistry of small streams

Many small watersheds and streams in the Brazilian Amazon have been impacted by agriculture and urban development, often due to household economic needs and migration processes. This study examined the relationships between land use, soil type, and household factors on stream water chemistry in and near the city of Altamira, Pará, Brazil, in 2008–2009. While soil weathering and stream discharge may have affected several stream water ion concentrations, agriculture and especially urban development were associated with high dissolved nitrogen concentrations, high water temperatures, and low dissolved oxygen concentrations in streams. Younger interviewed households were generally associated with these watersheds, and many urban residents reported disposing of household waste directly into streams. In contrast, older households were generally associated with forest and cocoa agriculture, along with lower water temperatures and higher dissolved oxygen concentrations in streams. These conditions persisted despite reported uses of herbicides and fertilizers by some residents.     

红河哈尼梯田世界文化景观遗产的遥感监测与土地覆盖变化

红河哈尼梯田是中国重要的世界文化景观遗产,以森林、梯田、村寨、水系四度同构的人与自然高度协调的生态系统而著称。随着经济与旅游的发展,哈尼梯田自申报世界遗产以来,其文化景观不可避免地遭受干扰。遗产监测有助于及时了解遗产本体的保存现状和风险影响因素,确定遗产突出普遍价值以及制定规避风险的有效措施。文章基于红河哈尼梯田独特的文化景观特征,利用高分辨率卫星遥感影像对申遗前后的文化景观遗产要素进行遥感监测,分析其土地覆盖现状与变化趋势,探究遥感手段在遗产要素变化监测中的可行性与可靠性,对遥感在文化遗产监测中的应用具有一定的指导意义。结果表明,(1)红河哈尼梯田申遗后,景观格局基本没有发生改变,仍然以森林和梯田为主,其遗产要素的变化均在可控范围内。主要申遗范围坝达片区各遗产要素面积变化共为93.78 hm²,水田变化约占总变化面积的80%,其次是林地约占18%,其他遗产要素面积变化不大。(2)各遗产要素之间的面积变化以水田转变为林地和灌木林地为主,占总变化面积的57%,部分房屋建筑物拆迁变为灌木林地,说明申遗后相关的退耕还林政策与生态环境保护规划起到了明显成效。(3)随着旅游业的发展,以及村民生活条件改善的需求,部分梯田转变为道路和房屋建筑,但这些规划的合理性还需进一步核实与确认。(4)依据哈尼梯田的文化景观特征,监测文化景观遗产要素时的精细化程度比土地利用变化要求高,因此首选高分辨率遥感影像,建议空间分辨率达到1 m以上。     

Synthesis and spatial dynamics of socio-economic metabolism and land use change of Taipei Metropolitan Region

Ever since the concept of metabolism was extended from biological science by social scientists to analyze human systems, socio-economic metabolism has been extensively applied to explore resource consumption, asset accumulation, waste emissions, and complex processes of land use change in a socio-economic system. Current research in socio-economic metabolism and land use change has used accounting approaches for macroscopic comparisons of countries and regions. However, socio-economic metabolism has seldom been applied to the analysis of land use change. To simulate the spatial-temporal dynamics of socio-economic metabolism and land use change, this study adopts a spatial system modeling method to develop a Socio-Economic Metabolism and Land Use Change (SEMLUC) model for the Taipei Metropolitan Region. The simulation results illustrate that the Taipei Metropolitan Region is highly dependent on inflows of non-renewable energy and exhibits a spatial hierarchy of non-renewable energy consumption centering on Taipei's Main station. Additionally, urban assets provide feedback to natural and agricultural systems to extract additional resource inflows which, driven by the maximum power principle, accelerate the convergence of energy flows toward urban assets. Accumulating urban assets also facilitates inflows of non-renewable material to nearby cells thereby enhancing land use conversion to urban areas. This work also demonstrates the capability of ArcGIS software in simulating socio-economic metabolism and land use change in an urban system.     

Tracking land cover change along the western edge of the U.S. Corn Belt from 1984 through 2016 using satellite sensor data: observed trends and contributing factors

The Cropland Data Layers (CDL) are high-resolution geo-referenced data products made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the CDL lacks in its ability to be employed as a tool to identify the impact of the gradually evolving drivers of land use change, e.g., climate change, due to its limited historical depth. We implement a robust, phenology-based satellite image classification algorithm to identify historical cropland allocation in eastern South Dakota and North Dakota predating the initial CDL by 13 and 22 years, respectively. Five major land covers, i.e., corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa and grass (including native grass, hay and pasture) are identified using archived Landsat-5 surface reflectance data, while achieving CDL-like accuracy. The long-term rate of grassland loss during 1985–2011 is found to be significantly lower (26,781 hectares or 1.5% annually) relative to the near-term rate of grassland loss during 2006-’11 (84,545 hectares or 5.2% annually). We find similar discrepancy in regional corn expansion rates. Our value-added raster data provide opportunities for improved identification of land use drivers, whereas relying solely on the CDL’s restricted historical extent may lead to biased land use change estimates and misguide policy.     

Assessing the shelf life of cost‐efficient conservation plans for species at risk across gradients of agricultural land use

High costs of land in agricultural regions warrant spatial prioritization approaches to conservation that explicitly consider land prices to produce protected‐area networks that accomplish targets efficiently. However, land‐use changes in such regions and delays between plan design and implementation may render optimized plans obsolete before implementation occurs. To measure the shelf life of cost‐efficient conservation plans, we simulated a land‐acquisition and restoration initiative aimed at conserving species at risk in Canada's farmlands. We accounted for observed changes in land‐acquisition costs and in agricultural intensity based on censuses of agriculture taken from 1986 to 2011. For each year of data, we mapped costs and areas of conservation priority designated using Marxan. We compared plans to test for changes through time in the arrangement of high‐priority sites and in the total cost of each plan. For acquisition costs, we measured the savings from accounting for prices during site selection. Land‐acquisition costs and land‐use intensity generally rose over time independent of inflation (24–78%), although rates of change were heterogeneous through space and decreased in some areas. Accounting for spatial variation in land price lowered the cost of conservation plans by 1.73–13.9%, decreased the range of costs by 19–82%, and created unique solutions from which to choose. Despite the rise in plan costs over time, the high conservation priority of particular areas remained consistent. Delaying conservation in these critical areas may compromise what optimized conservation plans can achieve. In the case of Canadian farmland, rapid conservation action is cost‐effective, even with moderate levels of uncertainty in how to implement restoration goals.     

南京市四种下垫面气温日变化规律及城市热岛效应

为了监测城市热岛特征、热场空间分布及综合评价城市环境质量,探讨消减城市热岛效应对策,2005年7—9月期间,通过对南京市的中心城区夫子庙、城市湖泊玄武湖、城市森林紫金山、城市郊区浦口四个观测点选取水泥地、草地、林地和水体四种下垫面进行温度、湿度、风速等气象因子的24 h同步观测,结果表明,(1)四个观测点的四种下垫面白天气温呈林地<水体<草地<水泥地的变化趋势,夜晚则是相反,但草地的温度最低;与水泥地比较,其他3种下垫面白昼期有明显的降温效应,均幅度为0.2~2.9℃,而夜晚林地与水体有轻微的保暖效应,晴好无风天气时这种效应更明显。(2)南京市的热岛强度平均为0.5~3.5℃,凌晨3:00左右热岛强度较大且平稳,当日出后热岛强度减小,但在中午12:00左右有一个明显回升,然后下降,至傍晚18:00~21:00,热岛强度有个强烈提升的高峰。(3)利用各观测点温度的时间标准差、空间标准差及时空数据正规化的标准差定量与定性的揭示了城市景观与城市下垫面对城市热岛效应变化的影响机理。(4)不同观测点舒适度指数表明观测期间人们对温度、湿度和风速日变化的综合生理感觉是暑热到较舒适间的变化过程,紫金山和浦口有时给人舒适的感觉。基于实验观测数据,对南京市不同下垫面的温度日变化规律、热岛强度特征、舒适度指数以及相关成因机理进行了全面分析与探讨,为城市生态建设、城市规则、城市环境治理及城市绿化建设提供重要的理论参考。