Quantitative estimation and spatial reconstruction of urban and rural construction land in Jiangsu Province, 1820–1985

Land cover is the most evident landscape signal to characterize the influence of human activities on terrestrial ecosystems. Since the industrial revolution, the expansion of construction land has profoundly changed the status of land use coverage and changes. This study is proposed to reconstruct the spatial pattern of construction land (urban construction land and rural settlement land) for five historical periods over the past 200 years in Jiangsu Province with 200 m × 200 m grids on the basis of quantitative estimation. Urban construction land is estimated based on data about city walls, four gates along walls, and other socio-economic factors. Rural settlement land is calculated based on the rural population and per capita housing allowance. The spatial pattern of historical construction land is simulated based on the distribution of modern construction land in 1985 with a quantitative-boundarysuitability control method and thorough consideration over connectivity of different land use types. The study concludes that: (1) the amount of construction land in Jiangsu Province is estimated at 963.46 km² in 1820, 1043.46 km² in 1911, 1672.40 km² in 1936, 1980.34 km² in 1952 and 10,687.20 km² in 1985; and (2) the spatial distribution of construction land features the great proclivity to water bodies and main roads and the strong polarization of existent residence. The results are verified directly and indirectly by applying the trend verification of construction land changes and patterns, the correlation analysis between rural settlement land and local arable land, and quantitative accuracy test of the reconstructed construction land to actual historical survey maps covering four sample regions in 1936.     

Landscape transformations in savannas of northern South America: Land use/cover changes since 1987 in the Llanos Orientales of Colombia

This study presents a detailed spatial, quantitative assessment of the land use/cover changes (LUCC) in the savanna region of Llanos Orientales in Colombia. LUCC was determined from multitemporal satellite imagery (Landsat and CBERS) from 1987 to 2007. Systematic landscape transitions were identified and put in the context of population change and economic activity. The results showed that during the period 1987 to 2007, 14% of the study area underwent some kind of land use/cover change, with most change occurring in the last decade. Systematic transitions were observed from flooded savannas to crops and exotic pastures. An important land cover change was linked to the expansion of palm oil plantations from 31 km² in 1987 to 162 km² in 2007. The observed changes are shown to be related to the economic and market-oriented-development from before 1970 to the present day. Based on the future economic development plans, the Llanos Orientales will continue to undergo significant change as an estimated 70% of the 17,000 km² have been identified for conversion to plantation, or for petroleum and mining purposes. We provide recommendations for future economy integrated conservation, by proposing the implementation of a Llanos ecological network.     

Remotely sensing the spatial and temporal land cover changes in Eastern Mau forest reserve and Lake Nakuru drainage basin,Kenya

This study aimed at characterizing land cover dynamics for four decades in Eastern Mau forest and Lake Nakuru basin, Kenya. The specific objectives were to: (i) identify and map the major land cover types in 1973, 1985, 2000 and 2011; (ii) detect and determine the magnitude, rates and nature of the land cover changes that had occurred between these dates, and; (iii) establish the spatial and temporal distribution of these changes. Land cover types were discriminated through partitioning, hybrid classification and spatial reclassification of multi-temporal Landsat imagery. The land cover products were then validated and overlaid in post-classification comparison to detect the changes between 1973 and 2011. The accuracies of the land cover maps for 1973, 1985, 2000 and 2011 were 88%, 95%, 80% and 89% respectively. Six land cover classes, namely forests-shrublands, grasslands, croplands, built-up lands, bare lands and water bodies, were mapped. Forests-shrublands dominated in 1973, 1985 and 2000 covering about 1067 km², 893 km² and 797 km² respectively, but were surpassed by croplands (953 km²) in 2011. Bare lands occupied the least area that varied between 2 km² and 7 km² during this period. Overall, forests-shrublands and grasslands decreased by 428 km² and 258 km² at the annual average rates of 1% each, whereas croplands and built-up lands expanded by 660 km² and 24 km² at the annual rates of 6% and 16% respectively. The key hotspots of these changes were distributed in all directions of the study area, but at different times. Therefore, policies that integrate restoration and conservation of natural ecosystems with enhancement of agricultural productivity are strongly recommended. This will ensure environmental sustainability and socio-economic well-being in the area. Future research needs to assess the impacts of the land cover changes on ecosystem services and to project the future patterns of land cover changes.     

东洞庭湿地植被格局变化及其影响因素

东洞庭湖(也称东洞庭)湿地植被格局的变化特征及其影响因素的分析是该地区湿地植被保护与恢复策略制定的基础。基于美国陆地资源卫星Landsat TM/ETM+数据,应用决策树分类法分别提取东洞庭湖1999年、2002年、2006年三个时期湿地景观信息,通过转移矩阵法和质心迁移法对植被的时空演变分析。结果表明:(1)1993～2002年东洞庭湖芦苇、林地、苔草滩地面积均有所增加,芦苇增长速度最快,年均增长面积为28.93km²;2002～2006年林地面积迅速增加,年均增长面积为29.655km²,苔草面积有所减少,芦苇面积保持基本稳定;(2)东洞庭湖湿地植被质心呈现从林地—芦苇—苔草逐层靠近湖心的分布特点,1993～2006年三种植被类型的质心均不断向湖心迁移,其中以林地与芦苇的变迁更为显著。     

Visual assessment of the Australian Land Erodibility Model

There is a growing requirement for techniques to assess land susceptibility to wind erosion, i.e. land erodibility, over large geographic areas (>10⁴ km²). This requirement stems from a lack of wind erosion research between the field (10¹ km²) and regional scales, and a need to evaluate the performance of spatially explicit wind erosion models across these scales. This paper addresses this issue by presenting a methodology for monitoring land erodibility at the landscape scale (10³ km²). First, we define criteria suitable for evaluating land erodibility based on empirical relationships between soil texture, vegetation cover, geomorphology, and wind erosion. The criteria were used to visually assess land erodibility over long distances (10³ km) using vehicle-based transects run through the rangelands of western Queensland, Australia. Application of the data for testing the performance of a spatially explicit land erodibility model (AUSLEM) is then demonstrated by comparing the visual assessments of land erodibility with the model output. The model performed best in the west of the study area in the open rangelands. In regions with higher woody shrub and tree cover the model performance decreases. This highlights the need for research to better parameterise controls on erodibility in semi-arid landscapes consisting of forested and rangeland mosaics.     

The Norwegian area frame survey of land cover and outfield land resources

There is a growing demand for reliable information about land cover and land resources. The Norwegian area frame survey of land cover and outfield land resources (AR18X18) is a response to this demand. AR18X18 provides unbiased land cover and land resource statistics and constitutes a baseline for studying changes in outfield land resources in Norway and a framework for a national land resource accounting system for the outfields. The area frame survey uses a systematic sampling technique with 0.9 km² sample plots at 18 km intervals. A complete wall-to-wall land cover map of an entire plot surveyed is obtained in situ by a team of fieldworkers equipped with aerial photographs. The use of sample plots with extended coverage (0.9 km²) ensures that the survey also deals with local variation, thus strengthening the estimates well beyond simple point sampling. The article documents the methodology used in the survey, followed by a discussion of issues raised by the choice of methodology. These issues include the problem of calculating uncertainty and a confidence interval for the estimates, the focus on common rather than rare land cover categories, and the prospect of downscaling the results in order to obtain statistics for subnational regions.     

Environmental changes,remote sensing,and infrastructure development: The case of Egypt's East Port Said harbour

Using Landsat TM data, this article examines the environmental impact of the East Port Said harbour project on the surrounding landscape. The optimum three-band combination and the most appropriate multispectral bands were selected to enhance the images and monitor land cover changes for the periods of 1984–1991 and 1991–2003. The results indicate that wetland areas declined from 103 km² in 1984 to 30 km² in 2003. In addition, the surface area of El-Malha Lake has shrunk from 27 km² to 18 km² over the same period. In contrast, the area covered by salt crust has increased from 11 km² in 1984 to 19 km² in 2003. Urban land use and designed cultivated lands were also significant in 2003, covering 49 km² and 71 km², respectively. The rate of shoreline change between 1984 and 2003, the period when the East Port Said harbour was constructed, was calculated. Vector data indicate that the rate of shoreline loss was ?13 m/year from 1984 to 1991 and ?15 m/year from 1991 to 2003. Despite the fact that construction of the East Port Said harbour caused significant changes in the study area, there are several factors controlling coastline and land cover changes including industrial development and fish cultivation farms.     

The basic characteristics and spatial patterns of global cultivated land change since the 1980s

In this paper, we analyzed the spatial patterns of cultivated land change between 1982 and 2011 using global vector-based land use/land cover data. (1) Our analysis showed that the total global cultivated land area increased by 528.768×10⁴ km² with a rate of 7.920×10⁴ km²/a, although this increasing trend was not significant. The global cultivated land increased fastest in the 1980s. Since the 1980s, the cultivated land area in North America, South America and Oceania increased by 170.854×10⁴ km², 107.890×10⁴ km², and 186.492×10⁴ km², respectively. In contrast, that in Asia, Europe and Africa decreased by 23.769×10⁴ km², 4.035×10⁴ km² and 86.76×10⁴ km², respectively. Furthermore, the cultivated land area in North America, South America and Oceania exhibited significant increasing trends of 7.236× 10⁴ km²/a, 2.780×10⁴ km²/a and 3.758×10⁴ km²/a, respectively. On the other hand, that of Asia, Europe and Africa exhibited decreasing trend rates of–5.641×10⁴ km²/a,–0.831×10⁴ km²/a and–0.595×10⁴ km²/a, respectively. Moreover, the decreasing trend in Asia was significant. (2) Since the 1980s, the increase in global cultivated lands was mainly due to converted grasslands and woodlands, which accounted for 53.536% and 26.148% of the total increase, respectively. The increase was found in southern and central Africa, eastern and northern Australia, southeastern South America, central US and Alaska, central Canada, western Russia, northern Finland and northern Mongolia. Among them, Botswana in southern Africa experienced an 80%–90% increase, making it the country with the highest increase worldwide. (3) Since the 1980s, the total area of cultivated lands converted to other types of land was 1071.946×10⁴ km². The reduction was mainly converted to grasslands and woodlands, which accounted for 57.482% and 36.000%, respectively. The reduction occurred mainly in southern Sudan in central Africa, southern and central US, southern Russia, and southern European countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Hungary. The greatest reduction occurred in southern Africa with a 60% reduction. (4) The cultivated lands in all the continents analyzed exhibited a trend of expansion to high latitudes. Additionally, most countries displayed an expansion of newly increased cultivated lands and the reduction of the original cultivated lands.     

Comparison of spatial and aspatial logistic regression models for landmine risk mapping

Landmines continue to affect the lives of millions of people living in war-torn countries. One major challenge in humanitarian mine action (HMA) is finding new and integrated approaches to land release, which remains a slow and costly process. The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in HMA can improve the land release process by efficient mapping and prioritizing of landmine risk areas. This study explores the usage of aspatial and spatial regression techniques to construct a predictive geo-statistical model for landmine risk mapping in a small 160 km² municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and a large 4500 km² region in Colombia. The first application of logistic geographically weighted regression to landmine risk mapping is presented. The results show that in the BiH study area, the effect of local parameters that influence the distribution of landmine risk varies significantly across the study area. Conversely, in the Colombia case study the effect of explanatory variables remains more homogeneous over the study area. We produced two landmine risk maps for each study area, based on aspatial and spatial regression models. Risk maps are classified into five classes, i.e. very low, low, medium, high, and very high risk. The landmine risk maps created through the usage of these innovative methodologies improve the assessment of risk and prioritization of the land release process in mine-contaminated areas, compared to existing approaches.     

近20a察尔汗盐湖区景观格局变化与趋势分析

柴达木盆地主要景观类型为干盐湖和盐渍地,为了解区内各类景观类型空间分布特征、景观类型变化转移矩阵及变化趋势,分别选取了2000年、2010年、2020年作为3个关键研究时段,以Landsat TM多光谱卫星遥感数据为数据源,采用水体指数法与目视解译相结合的方法,建立了七类遥感图像解译标志,对近20a察尔汗盐湖区景观格局变化进行了分析。结果表明:察尔汗湖区的工矿用地面积、盐田面积、人工湿地(水库)面积在2000~2020年呈现出明显增加的趋势,而盐湖和干盐湖的面积呈现出明显减少的趋势;2000年以后,人工湿地(水库)的面积逐年增长达到了218.88 km²,在以盐滩戈壁为主的原生环境比较恶劣的盐湖区内,这片新生水域为当地野生动植物提供了十分宝贵的生境场所。     

Exploring spatial-temporal change and gravity center movement of construction land in the Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration

Urban agglomeration is caused by the continuous acceleration of the urbanization process in China. Studying the expansion of construction land can not only know the changes and development of urban agglomeration in time, but also obtain the great significance of the future management. In this study, taking Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (Chang-Zhu-Tan) urban agglomeration in Hunan province as a study area, Landsat images from 1995 to 2014 and Autologistic-CLUE-S model simulation data were used. Moreover, several factors including gravity center, direction, distance and landscape index were considered in the analysis of the expansion. The results revealed that the construction area increased by 132.18%, from 372.28 km² in 1995 to 864.37 km² in 2014. And it might even reach 1327.23 km² in 2023. Before 2014, three cities had their own respective and discrete development directions. However, because of the integration policy implementation in 2008, the Chang-Zhu-Tan began to gather, the gravity center moved southward after 2014, and the distance between cities decreased, which was in line with the development plan of urban expansion. The research methods and results were relatively reliable, and these results could provide some reference for the future land use planning and spatial allocation in the urbanization process of Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration.

     

基于遥感和GIS的中国20世纪90年代毁林开荒状况分析

毁林开荒过程是一种林地变为耕地的土地利用变化过程,可以通过遥感和GIS技术对这一过程进行监测。本文通过覆盖全国的TM影像数据,对20世纪90年代林地转为耕地的面积及其空间分布进行分析,从而对全国毁林开荒过程进行遥感监测。结果表明,该时期有17630km²的林地被开垦为耕地。不同面积等级的开垦过程在不同流域分布也不同:面积小于10hm²和介于10～100hm²的被开垦林地较广泛地分布于各大流域;而面积介于100～1000hm²的被开垦林地主要分布于松辽流域、黑龙江流域和东北东部流域、长江流域、珠江流域和云南省所在流域;大于1000hm²的被开垦林地则几乎全部分布于松辽流域、黑龙江流域和东北东部流域。坡度大于3°的毁林开荒地面积占总面积的295%;对土壤侵蚀背景的分析表明,土壤侵蚀强度以微度和轻度为主     

1990—2010年黄河宁蒙段所处流域土地利用变化

以Landsat TM和ETM+遥感影像为基础数据源,应用地理信息系统技术,对黄河宁蒙段所处流域1990-2010年土地利用变化进行了监测,并结合气候变化、人类活动和政策因素探讨了土地利用变化的驱动力,初步分析了土地利用/覆被变化对流域水-沙关系的影响。结果表明：（1）20年来研究区建设用地面积增加了1 310.04 km²,耕地面积增加了611.15 km²,水域和草地面积分别减少了1 499.51 km²和474.93 km²;（2）20年来黄河宁蒙段所处流域土地利用变化速度经历了缓慢变化-显著变化-急剧变化的过程。各土地利用类型在后10 年（2000-2010年）的变化速度均比前10年（1990-2000年）大;（3）研究时段内草地和未利用地转化为林地,草地和耕地被开发为建设用地,未利用地和草地被开垦为耕地;（4）人类活动和政策因素是影响20年来土地利用变化的主要驱动因子,但人口数量的增加、经济的发展及环境政策的调整对研究区土地利用变化的影响更为显著;（5）1990-2010年流域耕地和林地面积分别增加了611.15 km²和543.19 km²,植被覆盖度由1990年的34.7%增加到2010年的40.8%。林地和耕地面积的增加均使得流域总蒸发量增加,灌溉用水增加,从而径流量减少,植被覆盖度的增加使得流域径流量和输沙量均降低。     

Land Changes Fostering Atlantic Forest Transition in Brazil: Evidence from the Paraíba Valley

The Atlantic Forest biome has only 13 percent of its pristine vegetation cover left. This article analyzes the consequences of land changes on forest cover in the Paraíba Valley, São Paulo state, Brazil, from 1985 to 2011. Multitemporal satellite image classifications were carried out to map eight land use and land cover classes. The forest cover increased from 2,696 km² in 1985 to 4,704 km² in 2011, mostly over areas of degraded pastures. The highest rates of afforestation were observed within protected areas around eucalyptus plantations. On the other hand, deforestation processes were concentrated on areas covered by secondary forests. Socioeconomic changes taking place in particular Brazilian settings, such as industrialization and agricultural modernization, allied to the Paraíba Valley's natural biophysical constraints for agricultural production, have led the region to experience a remarkable case of forest transition.     

太湖流域土地利用变化对流域产水量的影响

根据土地详查和土地利用总体规划资料，分析太湖流域近２０年土地利用的现状特点和将来变化趋势。并以 １９９１年降雨类型分别计算了 １９８６、１９９６和 ２０１０年土地利用状况下流域的产水量。结果表明，太湖流域土地利用变化的主要特点是耕地面积的减少和建设用地面积的增加。同样降雨类型，１９９６年流域下垫面状况下的产水量比 １９８６年的多１０．１８ × １０８ ｍ３，２０１０年产水量将比 １９８６年多 １２ × １０８ｍ３。太湖流域土地利用变化对流域产水量有较大影响，这与２０世纪９０年代以来太湖持续高水位的现象相吻合。     

沈阳市城市扩展与土地利用变化多情景模拟

利用基于遥感手段获取的沈阳市城市扩展与土地利用变化历史数据,对SLEUTH城市扩展模型进行校正,对未来(2005~2030年)不同管理情景下的城市扩展与土地利用变化过程进行模拟,并对其发展变化趋势和生态环境影响进行分析与比较。结果显示,在三种管理情景下,未来的沈阳市城市建设用地都将持续增加,大量的耕地资源被侵占;但不同管理情景下,城市景观格局和区域面临的景观生态风险却表现出明显差异。SLEUTH模型的模拟结果较好地反映了沈阳市不同土地利用政策、规划方案等对未来城市扩展和土地利用变化以及区域景观生态风险的潜在影响,同时也指出了当前城市增长管理政策中存在的不足之处。     

土地利用空间格局的图形信息表达初步研究

土地利用表现为在自然要素和人类活动的综合作用下的一系列异质性的图形。不同的土地利用空间格局的地学形成机制、生态功能、演化方向和对环境的影响各不相同,其空间图形也千差万别。运用景观生态学原理、地理图形信息理论,以位于中国北方农牧交错带的吉林省前郭县作为研究区,在GIS的支持下,归纳、抽象了各主要土地利用类型斑块形状及其描述参数,探讨了土地利用空间格局和空间分布的表达方法(VCM曲线),实现了土地利用空间格局图形的数量化描述和分析。其结果为从图形信息机理的角度研究土地利用格局的地学形成机制及生态功能、时空演化等方面奠定了基础     

Cultivated land change in the Belt and Road Initiative region

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 GlobeLand30 (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 3.73×10⁴ km² 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 1.59×10⁴ km² cultivated land area, followed by Hungary (0.66×10⁴ km²) and India (0.57×104 km2). China decreased 1.95×10⁴ km² cultivated land area, followed by Bangladesh (–0.22×10⁴ km²) and Thailand (–0.22×10⁴ km²). 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.     

白洋淀湖沼湿地系统景观格局演变及驱动力分析

以白洋淀湖沼湿地系统为研究对象,分析了1979年、1991年、2000年和2006年4个时期白洋淀湖沼湿地系统景观格局演变过程及其湿地景观格局指数的动态变化,并剖析白洋淀湖沼湿地系统格局演变的驱动力。研究结果表明,研究期内湿地面积呈减少趋势,由1979年的404.5 km²缩减到2006年的338.4 km²,且减少部分大多转化为耕地;同时,各景观类型分布趋于集中分布,但景观多样性降低。1979-2006年期间,1979-1991年时段内的湿地景观格局指数变化最快,之后变缓。近30年内耕地斑块面积、边界密度和面积加权平均邻近指数最大;建设用地的斑块数量最多,斑块密度最大;各湿地景观类型的平均分维数都接近1,形状都比较简单。引起湿地系统景观格局演变的主要原因包括气候、水文过程以及社会经济和政策等因素。     

Time series assessment on landslide occurrences in an area undergoing development

This study assesses the influence of development on landslide occurrences in a rapidly developing area, Kota Kinabalu in Sabah Malaysia, across three assessment years (1978, 1994 and 2010). Two development indicators, land use and road density, were used to measure the influence of development on landslide occurrence. Land use was classified into four categories (barren, forest, developed and other), and road density was classified into low (< 50 m/40 000 m²), moderate (50–150 m/40 000 m²) and high (> 150 m/40 000 m²). Landslide density analysis was used to calculate the concentration of landslide for the different land use and road density categories. The number of landslides in developed areas increased from 19 landslides/100 km² in 1978, to 29 landslides/100 km² in 1994 and to 50 landslides/100 km² in 2010, mirroring an increase in land use for development purposes from 8 per cent in 1978 to 27 per cent in 2010. Landslide density also gradually increased in the high road density class from 10 landslides/100 km² in 1978, to 30 landslides/100 km² in 1994 and 62 landslides/100 km² in 2010. These results show that road construction activities influence landslide occurrences.