Broad scale forest cover reconstruction from historical topographic maps

Land cover change is one of the major contributors to global change, but long-term, broad-scale, detailed and spatially explicit assessments of land cover change are largely missing, although the availability of historical maps in digital formats is increasing. The problem often lies in efficiency of analyses of historical maps for large areas. Our goal was to assess different methods to reconstruct land cover and land use from historical maps to identify a time-efficient and reliable method for broad-scale land cover change analysis. We compared two independent forest cover reconstruction methods: first, regular point sampling, and second, wall-to-wall mapping, and tested both methods for the Polish Carpathians (20,000 km²) for the 1860s, 1930s and 1970s. We compared the two methods in terms of their reliability for forest change analysis, relative to sampling error, point location and landscape context including local forest cover, area of the spatial reference unit and forest edge-to-core ratio. Our results showed that the point-based analysis overestimated forest cover in comparison to wall-to-wall mapping by 1–3%, depending on the mapping period. The reasons for the differences were mainly the backdating approach and map generalisation rather than the point grid position or sampling error. When we compared forest cover trajectories over time, we found that the point-based reconstruction captured forest cover dynamics with a comparable accuracy to the wall-to-wall mapping. More broadly, our assessment showed that historical maps can provide valuable data on long-term land cover trends, and that point-based sampling can be an efficient and accurate way to assess forest area and change trends. We suggest that our point-based approach could allow land cover mapping across much of Europe starting in the 1800s. Our findings are important because they suggest that land cover change, a key component of global change, can be assessed over large areas much further back in time than it is commonly done. This would allow to truly understand path dependencies, land use legacies, and historical drivers of land cover change.     

River channel response to short-term human-induced change in landscape connectivity in Andean ecosystems

The drainage basin of the Deleg River (88 km²), located in the southern Ecuadorian Andes, was studied to assess the geomorphic and hydrologic response of a fluvial system to human-induced environmental change in its contributing area. Historical data on land use, channel morphology and sedimentology were collected, based on a spatial analysis of aerial photographs (1963–1995) and a field survey (2002). Analysis of channel cross-sectional profiles and sedimentological data revealed a major change in morphology and sedimentology of the Deleg River during the past four decades: (i) the active river channel narrowed by over 45%, (ii) the riverbed incised on average by over 1.0 m and (iii) the median grain size of the bed surface decreased from 13.2 cm to 4.7 cm. The spatial pattern of land cover within the Deleg catchment also changed considerably: highly degraded agricultural land in the low-lying areas was abandoned and partially afforested for timber and wood production, whereas secondary upland forest was increasingly cleared for expansion of cropland and pastures. Notwithstanding large changes in the spatial organization of land use within the catchment, the overall land use did not change significantly during the past four decades. This suggests that the response of the Deleg River to land-use change not only depends on the overall land-use change, but also on the spatial pattern of land-use/cover change within the catchment. Although forestation and regeneration of bare gully slopes and floors throughout the catchment only represented a minor part of the total land-use change, these land-use/cover changes had a major impact on the hydrological and sediment connectivity in the landscape.     

耕地撂荒研究进展与展望

20世纪后半叶以来许多发达国家发生明显的耕地撂荒现象,并逐渐演变为全球性土地利用现象,深刻地改变了广大农村地区土地景观.本文以"土地利用变化--驱动机制--环境效应--政策响应"的框架系统梳理耕地撂荒主要研究进展.研究表明:① 全球耕地撂荒仍主要发生在欧美发达国家,但发展程度的区域差异很大;② 社会经济要素变化是耕地撂荒最主要驱动力,务农机会成本上升等原因引起的耕地边际化是撂荒发生的根本原因,而劳动力析出是造成耕地撂荒的直接原因;③ 耕地撂荒与否,撂荒程度以及撂荒地空间分布受村镇,农户,地块三个尺度的自然条件,劳动力特征,农业生产条件和区域社会经济条件等多方面因素的综合影响;④ 生态环境效应是当前撂荒效应研究的焦点,但该效应是以积极还是消极为主仍存争议;⑤ 增加农业补贴是当前减缓耕地撂荒的主要措施,但并非唯一和最合理的措施.未来,快速城镇化进程将促使中国耕地撂荒现象愈演愈烈,所以当前研究有待加强,本文认为应加强大范围耕地撂荒信息提取和监测,撂荒趋势预测和风险评估,社会经济效应评估及政策设计等方面研究.     

Mapping abandoned agricultural land in Kyzyl-Orda,Kazakhstan using satellite remote sensing

In many regions worldwide, cropland abandonment is growing, which has strong and known environmental and socio-economic consequences. Yet, spatially explicit information on the spatial pattern of abandonment is sparse, particularly in post-Soviet countries of Central Asia. When thriving reaching for key Millennium Development Goals such as food security and poverty reduction, the issue of cropland abandonment is critical and therefore must be monitored and limited, or land use transformed into an alternative one. Central Asia experienced large changes of its agricultural system after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Land degradation, which started already before independence, and cropland abandonment is growing in extent, but their spatial pattern remains ill-understood. The objective of this study was to map and analyse agricultural land use in the irrigated areas of Kyzyl-Orda, southern Kazakhstan, Central Asia. For mapping land use and identifying abandoned agricultural land, an object-based classification approach was applied. Random forest (RF) and support vector machines (SVM) algorithms permitted classifying Landsat and RapidEye data from 2009 to 2014. Overlaying these maps with information about irrigated land parcels, installed during the Soviet period, allowed indicating abandoned fields. Fusing the results of the two approaches, RF and SVM, resulted in classification accuracies of up to 97%. This was statistically significantly higher than with RF or SVM alone. Through the analysis of the land use trajectories, abandoned agricultural fields and a clear indication of abandoned land were identified on almost 50% of all fields in Kyzyl-Orda with an accuracy of approximately 80%. The outputs of this study may provide valuable information for planners, policy- and decision-makers to support better-informed decision-making like reducing possible environmental impacts of land abandonment, or identifying areas for sustainable intensification or re-cultivation.     

Evaluation of forest cover change using remote sensing techniques and landscape metrics in Moncayo Natural Park (Spain)

Monitoring the change in land cover in natural places, such as ecotones, has become an important tool for forest management, especially in protected areas. The present work analyses the spatial and temporal changes in forest cover in Moncayo Natural Park (Spain) from 1987 to 2010 using remote sensing techniques, geographical information systems (GIS) and quantitative indices of landscape ecology. Four Landsat images were used to map nine representative land cover categories in this preserved area in both years. The overall classification accuracies in land cover cartographies in 1987 and 2010 were 87.65% and 84.56%, respectively. Landscape metrics obtained at the landscape level show an increase in fragmentation and, as a result, an increase in landscape spatial diversity. Focusing on the class level, the results show a forest expansion of sessile oaks (Quercus petraea) and beech forest (Fagus sylvatica), two important bioclimatic indicators in this natural park, because they are the southernmost locations for these species in Europe. The decrease of mainly introduced pine forest and the transformation of mixed shrub areas into natural forested areas explain the aforementioned increase in fragmentation. These results are in agreement with the strategies for nature conservation designed by forest managers during the period evaluated.     

耕地撂荒研究进展及启示

本文运用文献计量方法对1992-2019年在Web of Science数据库中发表的耕地撂荒领域的910篇文献进行总量和关键词分析,并根据关键词领域从耕地撂荒监测与制图、驱动力与影响因素、效应评估与权衡三个方面进行主题综述。研究发现:(1)目前撂荒耕地的提取与制图渠道以农户调研与遥感技术为主,结合空间信息的NDVI时间序列撂荒地提取方法具有较高精度;(2)从作用程度、来源、属性三个维度对耕地撂荒的驱动力和影响因素进行归纳,发现耕地边际化是耕地撂荒的根本驱动力,劳动力析出是耕地撂荒的直接驱动力,社会经济因素是主要驱动力;(3)耕地撂荒的环境效应具有空间异质性,时空差异、景观环境、气候、耕种、地形特征均会对耕地撂荒的环境效应起决定作用;耕地撂荒效应权衡主要集中在生态系统服务功能和价值领域,但相关空间背景的作用往往被忽略。在系统梳理现有文献的基础上,本文从开展全国层面的撂荒耕地调查、开展多尺度的撂荒驱动力研究、结合国情开展撂荒效应权衡研究等方面对未来耕地撂荒研究进行展望。     

Land use/cover, landforms and fragmentation patterns in a tropical dry forest in the southern Pacific region of Mexico

In spite of widely documented studies of deforestation rates and land use/cover changes in tropical dry forests in Mexico, relatively little is known about fragmentation patterns in such forests. This study defines the spatial distribution of landforms and land use/cover types the lower Papagayo River basin and examines their influence on fragmentation patterns and biological diversity in a tropical dry forest in that southern Pacific region. The land use/cover map was constructed from aerial photographs, Landsat TM imagery (2000) and fieldwork. Landform units were defined based on altitude, slope, lithology and morphology. Landscape fragmentation parameters were obtained using FRAGSTATS (version 3.3) considering the numbers of patches, mean, minimum and maximum patch size, edge density, total edge and connectivity. Results show tropical dry forest to be remnant vegetation (~11 per cent), characterized by isolation and low connectivity. Land use/cover types have different effects on fragmentation patterns. Agriculture and cattle raising produce similar numbers of patches, but with a different mean size; and human settlements have a scattered distribution pattern. The abandonment of rural agricultural livelihoods has favoured the expansion of secondary tropical dry forest characterized by continuity and high connectivity, which suggests a high regeneration potential from land abandonment. It can be concluded that tropical dry forest fragmentation and recovery at regional scales depend on such landscape attributes as lithology, slope, geomorphology and management.     

撂荒耕地的提取与分析——以山东省庆云县和无棣县为例

由于城镇化的快速发展和农村劳动力不断流失,中国部分地区出现大面积的撂荒现象。利用遥感技术可以间接提取撂荒耕地的规模和数量,对耕地的保护和粮食安全有重要意义。以山东省庆云县和无棣县为研究区,基于Landsat数据和HJ1A数据,采用CART决策树分类方法,制作了1990-2017年的土地利用图,制定了撂荒地的识别规则,在此基础之上提取了研究区的撂荒地空间分布、持续撂荒时间分布和撂荒地复垦区域。结果显示：1990-2017年基准期影像的CART决策树分类精度高于85%;1992-2017年间,研究区撂荒地面积最大值为5503.86 hm²,最大撂荒率为5.37%,其中1996-1998年撂荒率最高,2006-2017年撂荒地面积的整体趋势逐年降低;1992-2017年间最大持续撂荒时间为15年,大部分耕地持续撂荒时间在4年之内,少数耕地持续撂荒时间超过10年;1993-2017年撂荒耕地复垦面积最大为2022.3 hm²,最小复垦面积约为20 hm²,复垦率最大值为67.44%,年均复垦率为31.83%。研究结果不仅能够为研究区撂荒驱动因素分析提供数据支撑,而且也可以为其他地区的撂荒耕地识别提供参考。     

Optical and radar remote sensing data for forest cover mapping in Peninsular Malaysia

This study aims to map forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia using satellite images as deforestation is of concern in the recent decades, and is an important environmental issue for the future too. The Carnegie Landsat Analysis System‐Lite (CLASlite) program was used in this study to detect forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia using Landsat satellite data. The results of the study show that CLASlite algorithm misclassified some oil palm, rubber and urban areas as forest vegetation. A reliable forest cover map was produced by first combining Landsat and ALOS PALSAR images to identify oil palm, rubber and urban areas, and then subsequently removing them. The HH and HV polarization data of ALOS PALSAR (threshold method) could detect oil palm plantations with 85.26 per cent of overall accuracy. For urban area detection, Enhance Build up Index (EBBI) using spectral bands from Landsat provided higher overall accuracy of 94 per cent. These methods produced a forest cover reading of 5 914 421 ha with an overall classification accuracy of 94.5 per cent. The forest cover (including rubber areas) detected in this study is 0.38 per cent higher than the percentage of 2010 forest cover detected by the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia. The technique described in this paper presents an alternative and viable approach for updating forest cover maps in Malaysia.     

三峡库区腹地山区农业景观格局动态变化与转型

山区农业景观格局动态分析有利于厘清农业景观发展的动态轨迹与方向,对农地用途的合理规划和管理有重要意义。本文提出了山区农业景观格局转型理论框架,并在三峡库区草堂溪流域进行了实证研究,从整体—微观的角度解析2000—2018年期间,以坡耕地、撂荒地和果园为代表的农业景观格局转型特征。研究发现：① 果园沿河谷的扩张和撂荒地在较高海拔处的扩张明显压缩了坡耕地的空间,这导致区域景观多样性的整体增强,而在局部地形上的差异明显,斑块破碎但聚集度增强;② 研究区农户耕种范围内的农业景观格局转型主要表现为耕—果转换型、综合型、部分撂荒型和撂荒型4种模式,各模式揭示了山区农业景观格局的不同发展阶段;③ 在以社会经济因素为主的驱动下,三峡库区山区的农业景观格局转型具有双向性,表现为以传统均衡分布的纯粮种植景观向河谷生态经济双赢的经果林景观和较高海拔的撂荒地转变。研究结果揭示了近年来中国山区农业景观格局演变的独特性,对库区山区农村土地利用和农业生态系统的深入认识以及库区乡村发展和生态环境的改善均有启示意义。     

Effects of postsocialist reforms on land cover and land use in South-Eastern Albania

This paper examines effects of postsocialist reforms on land cover and land use through a case study from South-eastern Albania. The paper uses satellite data to measure changes in land cover between 1988 and 2003, draws on a village survey to assess changes in local land-use practices, and examines shifts in the determinants of land cover through seemingly unrelated regressions at the village level. The results show a high incidence of cropland abandonment especially in lower-lying areas closer to markets. Socio-economic factors have emerged as new determinants of spatial variation, suggesting a growing influence of market principles on land use.     

不同类型农户撂荒及其影响因素研究——以重庆市12 个典型村为例

近年来,耕地撂荒因与耕地流失及粮食安全紧密联系而备受关注。反映撂荒现状并揭示其影响因素,有利于政府制定科学的政策、规划和计划。现有的研究多将农户作为一个整体,较少考虑到不同类型农户撂荒的差异。以重庆市12 个典型村为例,在农户类型划分的基础上,分析不同类型农户撂荒的差异,运用多元线性回归模型定量分析不同类型农户撂荒的影响因素。研究表明：① 不同类型农户撂荒的差异主要体现在撂荒户数比重、户均撂荒面积、撂荒面积占承包地面积比重随耕作半径的变化情况、撂荒地现状及不同时间段撂荒面积;② 野生动物影响和人均耕地面积是影响不同类型农户撂荒的共同原因。此外,影响基本型农户的因素包括户主外出经历、耕作半径和房屋离集镇距离;影响自然资产型农户的因素包括农业劳动力比重、户主外出经历、地块平均面积和耕地收益;影响人力资产型农户的因素包括家庭人口、非农收入、耕地转出面积和耕作半径。     

基于景观格局定量分析的流域治理--以文峪河流域为例

以航片、森林资源调查资料和林相图为基础资料,在地理信息系统软件及数据库管理系统的支持下,应用景观多样性指数、景观要素优势度指数、类斑形状指数、景观要素斑块分数维等景观格局分析指标,对流域景观空间总体分布、景观组成结构、景观要素斑块形状特征进行分析,揭示了山西文峪河流域植被景观的总体格局。基于分析成果,针对目前文峪河流域植被景观格局存在的问题,建议在今后的流域管理和建设中应开展的工作,即上游及中高海拔带重点进行寒温性针叶林保护;中下游山地积极增加阔叶林,营造混交林;河谷重点开展河岸植被和河岸林规划设计和建设。     

Mapping and monitoring of land use changes in post-Soviet western Ukraine using remote sensing data

While agriculture is expanded and intensified in many parts of the world, decreases in land use intensity and farmland abandonment take place in other parts. Eastern Europe experienced widespread changes of agricultural land use after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, rates and patterns of these changes are still not well understood. Our objective was to map and analyze changes of land management regimes, including large-scale cropland, small-scale cropland, and abandoned farmland. Monitoring land management regimes is a promising avenue to better understand the temporal and spatial patterns of land use intensity changes. For mapping and change detection, we used an object-based approach with Superpixel segmentation for delineating objects and a Random Forest classifier. We applied this approach to Landsat and ERS SAR data for the years 1986, 1993, 1999, 2006, and 2010 to estimate change trajectories for this time period in western Ukraine. The first period during the 1990s was characterized by post-socialist transition processes including farmland abandonment and substantial subsistence agriculture. Later on, recultivation processes and the recurrence of industrial, large-scale farming were triggered by global food prices that have led to a growing interest in this region.     

基于CiteSpace软件国内外撂荒地研究进展与述评

基于Web of Science(WOS)和CNKI数据库中以撂荒地为研究主题的文献数据,借助CiteSpace软件对国内外撂荒地研究学科、作者、内容、热点、进程进行梳理,进而对撂荒地成因、机制、影响进行分析。了解国内外撂荒地研究历程和研究现状,并总结遏制土地撂荒的具体措施和办法,期待为中国撂荒地研究提供指引。结果表明：① 国内外学者对撂荒耕地的关注不尽相同,国外学者多研究撂荒地的形成机制,国内学者则侧重揭示耕地撂荒现象。农用地撂荒是国外的研究热点,撂荒政策、模型模拟和遥感技术运用是国内的研究热点。② 国内外撂荒地研究的发展历程有所差别,各阶段呈现出不同的研究特征。③ 撂荒地研究中国内外学者在成因、机制、影响、举措等方面有共识。建议学者采用地理空间大数据、流数据、遥感影像数据等,对撂荒地的时空模拟、趋势推演、风险评估等开展研究;探寻不同资源禀赋和社会经济背景下撂荒的驱动和演变规律,总结演化过程;提出自然-社会-经济等科学化、系统化的研究方法,丰富研究内容和成果;并开展村镇级小尺度案例研究,为理论深化和方法创新提供支撑,进而为小尺度区域的撂荒地生态修复与治理提供理论支撑和案例借鉴。     

Does outmigration lead to land degradation? Labour shortage and land management in a western Nepal watershed

In Nepal, changing demographic patterns are leading to changes in land use. The high level of outmigration of men in the hills of Kaski District, Western Development Region of Nepal, is affecting the household structure but also land management. Land is often abandoned, as the burden on those left behind is too high. How do these developments affect the state of the land in terms of land degradation? To find out, we studied land degradation, land abandonment caused by outmigration, and existing sustainable land management practices in a subwatershed in Kaski District. Mapping was done using the methodology of the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT). While previous studies expected land abandonment to exacerbate slope erosion, we demonstrate in this paper that it is in fact leading to an increase in vegetation cover due to favourable conditions for ecosystem recovery. However, negative impacts are several, including the increase of invasive species harmful to livestock and a decline in soil fertility. Traditional land management practices such as terraces and forest management exist. To date, however, these measures fail to take account of the changing population dynamics in the region, making the question of how migration and land degradation are linked worth revisiting.     

潮白河上游土地利用的时空变化特征与驱动力分析

本文以1990年和2000年两期土地利用数据和社会经济数据为基础,采用变化率、土地利用转移矩阵、动态度等指数分析方法,对潮白河上游1990~2000年间土地利用的变化及驱动因子进行了分析。结果表明,在1990年到2000年10年间,由于生态保护和植树造林,潮白河上游土地利用发生了很大变化,突出表现为草地与耕地往林地的转移。从变化的空间差异看,赤城县以及几个县的交界地区土地利用变化最剧烈。从土地利用变化的原因看,生态建设和农业结构调整对土地利用影响深刻,是区域土地利用变化最重要的驱动因子。     

黑河中游地区耕地景观演变及社会经济驱动力分析

选取1987~2010年的土地利用数据,运用变化轨迹分析方法以及景观指数表征黑河中游地区耕地景观的演变过程,采用偏最小二乘回归模型分析耕地景观演变的驱动力。结果表明：从耕地的变化轨迹来看,研究期间耕地的扩张是黑河中游地区耕地景观演变的主要趋势;从空间上来看,扩张型耕地和缩减型耕地分布趋向集中,主要集中在稳定型耕地边缘,同时耕地扩张的方向趋向河流;从驱动因素分析来看,总人口、城市化、产业发展、机电井数等是促使耕地景观演变的主要社会经济驱动因素,但是各个驱动因素的驱动作用均有差异。     

塔里木河干流区土地利用/覆被变化及其生态环境效应

在GIS和遥感技术支持下,利用1973年MSS遥感影像、1983年航空遥感土地利用图、1990年TM、2000年TM和2005年CBERS遥感影像对新疆塔里木河干流区土地利用/覆被变化过程和生态环境效应进行了分析。结果表明,1973~2005年塔里木河干流区土地利用/覆被发生了显著变化,耕地、未利用地和城乡居民及建设用地面积分别增加了25.72×104hm2、17.33×104hm2和0.51×104hm2,林地、草地和湿地面积分别减少了29.10×104hm2、8.63×104hm2和5.84×104hm2。在1973~1983年、1983~1990年、1990~2000年、2000~2005年4个时段中土地利用变化呈"显著变化—缓慢变化—显著变化—急剧变化"的过程。土地利用类型转移的主要方向是林地和草地转化为耕地、耕地转化为城乡居民及建设用地、草地转化为未利用地。土地利用/覆被的变化引起了干流区水环境恶化、土壤质量改变、天然植被严重退化、土地荒漠化和盐渍化加剧、湿地面积减少和生物多样性丧失等一系列生态环境问题。     

清代青藏高原东北部河湟谷地林草地覆盖变化

河湟谷地是青藏高原东北缘典型的农牧交错区,清代以来耕地的扩张导致林草地覆盖发生明显变化。本文在现代植被图的基础上,选取土壤、地形因素,并依据历史文献数据,重建河湟谷地潜在林地草地格局,在此基础上结合清代耕地变化的重建结果,推算出清代河湟谷地林草地覆盖的变化状况。结果显示：①清代耕地扩张之前,其林、草地分布与现今各类植被类型的空间分布格局基本一致,林地分布范围比现代略大,灌木林地在空间上连续性更强,草地分布区域更广;②估算出河湟谷地潜在林地、灌木林地、草地面积分别约为0.28×10⁴、0.93×10⁴、2.1618×10⁴ km²,由于耕地开垦,至清代末期,河湟谷地草地、灌木林地、林地面积分别累计减少5180.41、1330.35、441.31 km²,其中草地被垦殖占用的面积最大,程度最深,减少的区域主要集中在湟水谷地中游的乐都盆地、西宁盆地以及黄河谷地的尖扎盆地、化隆盆地等;③清代河湟谷地中人类垦殖原始覆盖类型的差异性不仅受自然环境的限制,同样受到社会政策因素的影响。