Underlying motivation for land use change: A case study on the variation of agricultural factor productivity in Xinjiang, China

Understanding the driving forces and mechanism of land use change is a key issue in land change science, and has received much attention over the past 30 years. While many driving forces have been identified, the mechanism of land use change is still unclear, mainly because of limited knowledge of the underlying motivation for land use change. Traditionally, the underlying motivation for land use change was ascribed to people＇s pursuit of satisfying their own demands or that of profit maximization. However, those theoretical hypotheses combine all productive factors without highlighting certain predominant factor, in this paper, a case study was conducted on the variation of land productivity, capital productivity and labor productivity in agricultural land use in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The case study revealed that only labor productivity presented a long-term increasing trend in regional cotton and grain production. This result implies that people＇s pursuit of increasing labor pro- ductivity is probably the underlying motivation for land use change. Additional details identi- fied in agricultural and non-agricultural land use in China support the above implication. As labor productivity is a determinant of people＇s living standards, increasing labor productivity means improving people＇s living standards. Therefore, it is concluded that land use change results from people＇s pursuit of increasing labor productivity in a changing environment.     

中国山区农村土地利用转型及其对土地整治的政策启示（英文）

The cultivation of mountainous land results in water loss and soil erosion. With rapid urbanization and industrialization in China, labor emigration relieves the cultivation of mountainous areas in regions with high poverty and leads to a significant land use transition. This research built an analysis framework for "land use transition – driving mechanism – effects –responses" for mountainous areas of China undergoing land use transition and then proposed the direction of mountainous land consolidation. The results showed that the turning point of land use morphology was the core of rural land use transition in mountainous areas. The expansion of cropland and the contraction of forestland have transitioned to the abandonment of cropland and the expansion of forestland; this transition was the main characteristic of the dominant land use change. Land marginalization and land ecological functional recovery were the main characteristics of the recessive land use transition in mountainous areas. Socioeconomic factors were the primary driving forces during land use transition in mountainous areas, with labor emigration being the most direct force. The rising costs of farming and the challenging living conditions causing labor emigration were fundamental driving forces. Rural land use transition in mountainous areas reduced the vulnerability of the ecological function of land ecosystems. The advantages and disadvantages of the socioeconomic effects should focus on rural development of mountainous areas as well as the livelihood of farmers; this should be further supported by empirical and quantitative research. Rural land use transition of mountainous areas improves natural restoration and is related to socioeconomic development. Rural land consolidation of mountainous areas should conform to land use transition,with the goal of shifting from the increase of cultivated land to the synergies of ecological and environmental protection.     

南方水稻复种指数变化对国家粮食产能的影响及其政策启示（英文）

Changes in rice production in Southern China are crucial to national food security. This study employed Landsat images to map the distributions of paddy rice-cropping systems in Southern China in 1990 and 2015. The impact of rice multiple cropping index changes on grain production capacity was then evaluated. Three important results were obtained for the 1990 to 2015 study period. First, the multiple cropping index for rice decreased from 148.3% to 129.3%, and 253.16×10~4 ha of land area was converted from double-cropping to single-cropping rice, termed "double to single". The area with the most dramatic changes is in the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain. The rice-cropping system distribution in Southern China showed a change from north to south with double-cropping rice shrinking and single-cropping rice expanding. Second, the "double to single" conversion led to a reduction of 6.1% and 2.6% in rice and grain production, respectively. Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces, located in the main rice producing areas, and Zhejiang, which has shown better economic development, exhibited large reductions in rice production due to the "double to single" conversion, all exceeding 13%. Third, the grain production capacity of converted "double to single" paddy fields is equivalent to that of 223.3 × 10~4 ha of newly reclaimed cultivated land, which is 54% of the total newly cultivated land reclaimed through the 2001–2015 land consolidation project. It is also 1.7 times the target goal for newly cultivated land in the national land consolidation plan for 2016–2020. Making full use of the converted "double to single" paddy fields can save 167.44 billion yuan in newly reclaimed cultivated land costs. Therefore, instead of pursuing low-quality new arable land, it is better to make full use of the existing high-quality arable land. Based on these results, the government should change the assessment method for cultivated land balance, and incorporate the sown area increased by improving the multiple cropping index into the cultivated land compensation indicator.     

中国山区耕地利用边际化过程机理——基于成本和收益变化的分析（英文）

Farmland marginalization has become the main trend of land-use change in the mountainous areas of China. Using annual survey data of major agricultural production costs and earnings at national and provincial levels in China, this study aims to analyze the reasons and mechanism behind farmland marginalization in mountainous areas. We find that farmers on plains are able to reduce their per mu labor input effectively through intensive use of agricultural machinery, which has minimized the impact of the increase in labor price. However, it is extremely challenging for farmers in mountainous areas to use the same method owing to the rough terrain. Thus, per laborer farming area in these areas has increased relatively slowly, causing a widening gap in agricultural labor productivity between the two regions. With the rapid rise in labor costs since 2003, the marginalization of cultivated land in mountainous areas is evident. In 2013, the net profit of agricultural production in mountainous China fell below zero. Since 2000, the land-use and land-cover change in these areas was characterized by the reduction of farmland area, reforestation, and the enhancement of the NDVI value. The high correlation between the NDVI change rate and the ratio of change in farmland(r = –0.70) and forest(r = 0.91) in mountainous areas at provincial level further attests to the trend of farmland marginalization there. Finally, we summarize the mechanism of such marginalization against the backdrop of the rapid increase in the opportunity cost of farming and the rapid fall of agricultural labor forces in mountainous areas. This study contributes to a deep understanding of the development process of farmland marginalization and abandonment as well as forest transition in Chinese mountainous areas.     

利用高分辨率卫星影像分析工业城市的土地利用

The spatial differentiation of land use changes of Tuticorin is studied using high resolution LISS III satellite imagery and Maximum Likelihood algorithms. The classification accuracy of 95.2% was obtained. In this study,the land use of Tuticorin is classified as settlement,salt pan,agricultural land,wasteland,water bodies and shrubs. The settlement area is increased to 4.6 km2 during the year 2001 and 2006. The settlement area change is mainly driven by growth of industries and migration of people from peripheral villages. Shrub is increased to 3.63 km2 in the six year period. Water logging due to growth of shrubs in Tuticorin leads to several environmental and health hazard. This study warrants proper urban planning for Tuticorin for sustainable use of resource and environment.     

Coordinated development efficiency between cultivated land spatial morphology and agricultural economy in underdeveloped areas in China: Evidence from western Hubei province

Suitable spatial morphology of cultivated land is a basic requirement for sustaining agricultural economic development in mountainous areas. Coordinated development efficiency of cultivated land spatial morphology and agricultural economy(CECA) is of great practical significance to measure the efficiency of cultivated land use, and thereby promote regional rural revitalization. However, few studies to date have focused on coordinated development efficiency between cultivated land use and agricul...     

广州市城市边缘区土地利用优化配置(英文)

In response to the strong drive for social and economic development, local governments have implemented urban master plans, providing measures and timeframes to address the continuous demand for land and to alleviate urban problems. In this paper, a multi-objective model was constructed to discuss the problem, including economic benefits and ecological effectiveness, in terms of land use optimization. A genetic algorithm was then adopted to solve the model, and a performance evaluation and sensitivity analysis were conducted using Pareto optimality. Results showed that a set of tradeoffs could be acquired by the allocation of land use. In addition, the Pareto solutions proved the model to be efficient; for example, a limit of 13,500 ha of urban area conformed to plan recommendations. The reduction in crop land, orchard land, grassland, and unused land provided further efficiencies. These results implied that further potential regional land resources remain and that the urban master plan is able to support sustainable local development in the years to come, as well as verified that it is feasible to use land use allocation multi-objective modeling and genetic algorithms.     

过去百年尼泊尔耕地时空变化（英文）

In order to advance land use and land cover change(LUCC) research in Nepal, it is essential to reconstruct both the spatiotemporal distribution of agricultural land cover as well as scenarios that can explain these changes at the national and regional levels. Because of rapid population growth, the status of agricultural land in Nepal has changed markedly over the last 100 years. Historical data is used in this study, encompassing soils, populations, climatic variables, and topography. Data were revised to a series of 30 m grid cells utilized for agricultural land suitability and allocation models and were analyzed using a suite of advanced geographical tools. Our reconstructions for the spatiotemporal distribution of agricultural land in Nepal reveal an increasing trend between 1910 and 2010(from 151.2 × 10~2 km~2 to 438.8 × 10~2 km~2). This expanded rate of increase in agricultural land has varied between different eco, physiographic, and altitudinal regions of the country, significantly driven by population changes and policies over the period of this investigation. The historical dataset presented in this paper fills an existing gap in studies of agricultural land change and can be applied to other carbon cycle and climate modeling studies, as well as to impact assessments of agricultural land change in Nepal.     

Land use change and its ecological effect in Qian＇an County of Jilin Province

Based on GIS and statistical methods, with the help of searching historical literatures and calculating the landscape indices, the land use changes of Qian‘an County in both spatial and temporal aspects from 1945 to 1996 has been analyzed in this paper. And the driving forces of land use changes and their ecological effects are discussed too. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Land use changed greatly in Qian‘an during 1945-1996, characterized by a decrease in grassland, wetland and water bodies, and an increase in cultivated land, saline-alkali land, and the land for housing and other construction purposes. Grassland decreased by 175,828.66 ha, and cultivated land increased by 102,137.23 ha over the half century. Accordingly, the main landscape type changed from a steppe landscape to a managed agricultural ecosystem. (2) Results of correlation analysis show that the land use change in the study area was mainly driven by the socioeconomic factors. (3) The ecological effects of land use change in the area are characterized by serious salinization, degression of soil fertility and the weakening, of landscaoe suitability.     

农户的非农就业如何影响中国的土地流转?

To clarify the impact of non-agricultural employment on rural land circulation in China,we built logit models using the Chinese Household Income Project 2013 dataset,which includes 18,948 household samples over 15 provinces,126 cities and 234 counties of China in 2013.We use the proportion of non-agricultural income,the proportion of non-agricultural laborers and non-agricultural fixed operating assets to reflect the degree of the households’dependence on agriculture,the degree of the households’laborers committed to non-agricultural employment and the stability of non-agricultural employment,respectively.The results show that the stability of non-agricultural employment is an important reason for farmers to transfer out their land,and an increase in non-agricultural income is the fundamental reason.The proportion of non-agricultural assets has the greatest impact on the decision to transfer land,followed by the proportion of non-agricultural income.Per unit increase in the non-agricultural income ratio has a stronger effect on the transfer-out decision than it does on the transfer-in decision,which is a 0.09 increase of the probability of transfer-out the land and a 0.07 decrease of the probability of transfer-in the land.In terms of regional differences,when considering the impact of non-agricultural employment on the land transfer-out decision,the impacts of non-agricultural income and labor force are the greatest in the Central region.The impact of non-agricultural assets is the greatest in the Eastern region.For the Eastern region,the decision to transfer out land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets and the non-agricultural labor force,and the decision to transfer in land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets.In the Central and Western regions,the decision to transfer out land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets,non-agricultural income and the non-agricultural labor force,in that order.The decision to transfer in land in the Central region is not significantly affected by non-agricultural employment.The decision to transfer in land in the Western region is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets,non-agricultural labor force and non-agricultural income,in that order.We note that non-agricultural assets have a prominent impact on land transfer,which shows that the stability of non-agricultural employment has an important impact on land transfer decision-making.Vocational training for rural labor forces may be an effective means to promote stable non-agricultural employment and simultaneously facilitate rural land circulation,especially in Central and Western China.     

Land use change and its ecological effect in Qian'an County of Jilin Province

Based on GIS and statistical methods, with the help of searching historical literatures and calculating the landscape indices, the land use changes of Qian'an County in both spatial and temporal aspects from 1945 to 1996 has been analyzed in this paper. And the driving forces of land use changes and their ecological effects are discussed too. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Land use changed greatly in Qian'an during 1945-1996, characterized by a decrease in grassland, wetland and water bodies, and an increase in cultivated land, saline-alkali land, and the land for housing and other construction purposes. Grassland decreased by 175,828.66 ha, and cultivated land increased by 102,137.23 ha over the half century. Accordingly, the main landscape type changed from a steppe landscape to a managed agricultural ecosystem. (2) Results of correlation analysis show that the land use change in the study area was mainly driven by the socioeconomic factors.　(3) The ecological effects of land use change in the area are characterized by serious salinization, degression of soil fertility and the weakening of landscape suitability.     

近30年中国茶叶生产时空演变格局及其驱动力分析（英文）

As a daily necessity and an important cash crop in China and many other countries, tea has received increasing attention. Using production concentration index model and industry' s barycenter theory, we analyzed the spatio-temporal distribution of tea production and barycenter movement trajectory of tea plantations and production in China between 1986 and 2015. Driving forces of the movement were also analyzed. From 1986 to 2000, tea production in China's Mainland of grew slowly(by 210×10~3 t). The continuous increase in tea yield per unit area was the primary contributor(more than 60%) to the growth in tea production during this period. Since China joined the World Trade Organization(WTO) in 2001, tea production has grown rapidly, by 1.59×10~6 t between 2001 and 2015. The increase in the tea plantations area is the main contributor. Over the last 30 years, the barycenters of tea production in China have moved westward from the Dongting Lake Plain to the eastern fringe of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Guizhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan in southwestern China have gradually become regions of new concentrated tea plantations and main tea production provinces. Lower cost of land and labor in southwestern China are the main drivers of the westward movement of China's tea industry. In addition, supportive policies and the favorable natural geographical environment contribute to the westward movement of tea industry. Our research highlights the spatio-temporal variation of China's tea production in the last three decades. The result indicates importance to make appropriate policies to promote the development of tea industry in China.     

利用GIS和Dyna-CLUE模拟泰国东北部粮食作物保护区土地利用变化（英文）

Land use in the northeast region of Thailand has changed dramatically in the past two decades. These changes are mainly due to the government policies, which launched a scheme to promote rubber plantation during 2003–2013 targeting to solve the problem of poverty in the region. At least 50,000 ha of paddy fields were found to be converted to other land use types between 2002 and 2012. This study was conducted in Nong Khai and Bueng Kan province of northeast Thailand, where massive rubber plantation is going on prompting significant amount of land-use change, with the objective of investigating how land-use changes will affect on food availability in future. We analyzed land-use changes of the past and simulated future land uses using GIS and Landsat Thematic Mapper Data. The most obvious change was the decrease in paddy field and an increase in rubber plantation. This eventually leads to decreased paddy production affecting food supply of farm households. The land use projections for 2032 were done for three scenarios using Dyna-CLUE model. Unlike business as usual scenario, which will further decrease the paddy area, other scenarios with different land use policies if implemented will help protect paddy areas and thus achieving higher food production locally. The lack of implementation of proper spatial policies will lead to a further loss of paddy areas at macro level.The smallholder farmers may be highly vulnerable to land use-change and experience significant food crop losses, food insecurity and income loss when they change the land to rubber and there is market failure.     

苏州城郊土地利用变化对土壤的影响

1IntroductionThe conversion of natural systems to agricultural production has been the primary basis for the successful growth of human populations for the last 9,000 years (Kates etal., 1990). The conflict between urban and agricultural land use, however…     

关中—天水经济区生态系统服务的权衡关系（英文）

Natural ecosystems provide human society with very important products and services. With the rapid increase in population and the over-exploitation of natural resources, humans are continually enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. This paper estimates changes in ecosystem services, and the relationship between these services in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China. These ecosystem changes are of great significance to the sustainable development of this economic region. The concept of production possibility frontier(PPF) is applied to evaluate the trade-offs and synergy between carbon sequestration, water yield and soil retention. Three land use strategy scenarios – planning, exploitation and protection – are applied to evaluate potential changes in ecosystem services. This study reveals noticeable trade-offs between carbon sequestration, soil retention and water yield, with synergy between carbon sequestration and soil retention. There are synergies between carbon sequestration, water yield and soil retention in the three scenarios. The protection scenario is the most favourable land use strategy for regulating ecosystem service capacity. This scenario results in the highest carbon sequestration, water yield and soil retention. The results could have implications for natural capital and ecosystem services planning, management and land use decision-making.     

中全新世黄河流域耕地格局重建及对原生植被的影响(英文)

Yangshao culture is the most important mid-Holocene Neolithic culture in the Yellow River catchment,and thus,a study on the impact of human activities on the environment is important.In the current study,the distribution pattern of the cultivated land in late Yangshao culture is reconstructed using GIS tool and site domain analysis(SDA).The results show that the cultivated land during 5.5-5.0 ka BP was mainly distributed in the Weihe River valley,Luohe River valley,northwestern Henan Plain,Fenhe River valley and eastern Gansu region,especially concentrated in the Xi’an-Baoji line of the Weihe River valley.At that time,at least 37,000 km 2 of lands were reclaimed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River,and 132,000 km 2 of lands were affected by agricultural activities.Human activities had become the driving force of land use/land coverage.Charcoal records indicate that the ancestors of Yangshao culture burnt forests for reclamation,leading to the decrease of arbor pollen at 5 ka BP in core areas of the Yangshao culture.The areas that were significantly affected by human activities accounted for 3.2% of the Yangshao culture influenced area,while the moderately affected areas accounted for 20.1% of Yangshao culture influenced area.Meanwhile,92% of the land areas on the edge and outside of the Yangshao culture influenced area were not affected by human activities.The arbor pollen in these areas did not decrease until 4.0 ka BP.     

生态退耕对中国农田生产力的影响(英文)

The changes in cropland quantity and quality due to land use are critical concerns to national food security, particularly for China. Despite the significant ecological effects, the ecological restoration program (ERP), started from 1999, has evidently altered the spatial patterns of China’s cropland and agricultural productivity. Based on cropland dynamic data from 2000 to 2008 primarily derived from satellite images with a 30-m resolution and satellite-based net primary productivity models, we identified the impacts on agricultural productivity caused by ERP, including "Grain for Green" Program (GFGP) and "Reclaimed Cropland to Lake" (RCTL) Program. Our results indicated that the agricultural productivity lost with a rate of 132.67×104 t/a due to ERP, which accounted for 44.01% of the total loss rate caused by land use changes during 2000-2005. During 2005-2008, the loss rate due to ERP decreased to 77.18×104 t/a, which was equivalent to 58.17% of that in the first five years and 30.22% of the total loss rate caused by land use changes. The agricultural productivity loss from 2000-2008 caused by ERP was more attributed to GFGP (about 70%) than RCTL. Although ERP had a certain influence on cropland productivity during 2000-2008, its effect was still much less than that of urbanization; moreover, ERP was already converted from the project implementation phase to the consolidation phase.     

“一带一路”沿线区域耕地格局变化（英文）

The Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)–a development strategy proposed by China – provides unprecedented opportunities for multi-dimensional communication and cooperation across Asia,Africa and Europe.In this study,we analyse the spatio-temporal changes in cultivated land in the BRI countries(64 in total) to better understand the land use status of China along with its periphery for targeting specific collaboration.We apply FAO statistics and Globe Land30(the world's finest land cover data at a 30-m resolution),and develop three indicator groups(namely quantity,conversion,and utilization degree) for the analysis.The results show that cultivated land area in the BRI region increased 3.73×10~4 km~2 between 2000 and 2010.The increased cultivated land was mainly found in Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia,while the decreased cultivated land was mostly concentrated in China.Russia ranks first with an increase of 1.59×10~4 km~2 cultivated land area,followed by Hungary(0.66×10~4 km~2) and India(0.57×10~4 km`2).China decreased 1.95×10~4 km~2 cultivated land area,followed by Bangladesh(–0.22×10~4 km~2) and Thailand(–0.22×10~4 km~2).Cultivated land was mainly transferred to/from forest,grassland,artificial surfaces and bare land,and transfer types in different regions have different characteristics:while large amount of cultivated land in China was converted to artificial surfaces,considerable forest was converted to cultivated land in Southeast Asia.The increase of multi-cropping index dominated the region except the Central and Eastern Europe,while the increase of fragmentation index was prevailing in the region except for a few South Asian countries.Our results indicate that the negative consequence of cultivated land loss in China might be underestimated by the domestic-focused studies,as none of its close neighbours experienced such obvious cultivated land losses.Nevertheless,the increased cultivated land area in Southeast Asia and the extensive cultivated land use in Ukraine and Russia imply that the regional food production would be greatly improved if China' "Go Out policy" would help those countries to intensify their cultivated land use.     

Ecosystem carbon storage under different scenarios of land use change in Qihe catchment,China

Regional land use change is the main cause of the ecosystem carbon storage changes by affecting emission and sink process.However,there has been little research on the influence of land use changes for ecosystem carbon storage at both temporal and spatial scales.For this study,the Qihe catchment in the southern part of the Taihang Mountains was taken as an example;its land use change from 2005 to 2015 was analyzed,the Markov-CLUE-S composite model was used to predict land use patterns in 2025 under natural growth,cultivated land protection and ecological conservation scenario,and the land use data were used to evaluate ecosystem carbon storage under different scenarios for the recent 10-year interval and the future based on the carbon storage module of the In VEST model.The results show the following:(1) the ecosystem carbon storage and average carbon density of Qihe catchment were 3.16×107 t and 141.9 t/ha,respectively,and decreased by 0.07×107 t and 2.89 t/ha in the decade evaluated.(2) During 2005–2015,carbon density mainly decreased in low altitude areas.For high altitude area,regions with increased carbon density comprised a similar percentage to regions with decreased carbon density.The significant increase of the construction areas in the middle and lower reaches of Qihe and the degradation of upper reach woodland were core reasons for carbon density decrease.(3) For 2015–2025,under natural growth scenario,carbon storage and carbon density also significantly decrease,mainly due to the decrease of carbon sequestration capacity in low altitude areas;under cultivated land protection scenario,the decrease of carbon storage and carbon density will slow down,mainly due to the increase of carbon sequestration capacity in low altitude areas;under ecological conservation scenario,carbon storage and carbon density significantly increase and reach 3.19×107 t and 143.26 t/ha,respectively,mainly in regions above 1100 m in altitude.Ecological conservation scenario can enhance carbon sequestration capacity but cannot effectively control the reduction of cultivated land areas.Thus,land use planning of research areas should consider both ecological conservation and cultivated land protection scenarios to increase carbon sink and ensure the cultivated land quality and food safety.     

东北地区农业结构转型时期土地利用变化的成因与效应

During the last decade of the 20th century, extensive conversion in agricultural land use took place in Northeast China. The goal of this study is to ascertain its spatial distribution and regional differentiation, determine its causes, and analyze its environmental impact, Especially we attempt to elucidate how institutional constraints have facilitated the change at a time of agrarian restructuring when newly emerging free market was hybridized with the former planned economy. Information on six categories of land use was mapped from interpretation of Landsat TM images recorded in 1990,1995 and 2000. Most of land use changes took place during the first half of the decade, coinciding with abrupt and chaotic changes in government directives. Farmland was changed mainly to woodland,water body and built-up areas while woodland and grassland were converted chiefly to farmland.Spatially, the change from farmland to woodland was restricted to the west of the study area. The change from grassland to farmland took place in the grazing and farming interlocked west. These chaotic and occasionally conflicting changes were largely caused by lack of stability and consistency in agricultural land use policies promulgated. They have exerted adverse impacts on the local environment, including land degradation, increased flooding, and modified climate regime.