Original Articles

Spatial Patterns and Driving Forces of Land Use Change  in China in the Early 21st Century

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  • 1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China;
    2. Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, CAS, Beijing 100101, China;
    3. Chengdu Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS, Chengdu 610041, China;
    4. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, CAS, Changchun 130012, China;
    5. Wuhan Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, CAS, Wuhan 430077, China;
    6. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China;
    7. Nanjing Institute of Soil Science, CAS, Nanjing 210008, China;
    8. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, CAS, Urumqi 830011, China;
    9. Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, CAS, Nanjing 210008, China

Received date: 2009-06-03

  Revised date: 2009-06-24

  Online published: 2009-12-25

Supported by

National Basic Research Program of China, No.2009CB421105, National Key Technology R&D Program, No.2006BAC08B00, Knowledge Innovation Program of the CAS, No.KSCX1-YW-09-01

Abstract

Land use and land cover change as the core of coupled human-environment systems has become a potential field of land change science (LCS) in the study of global environment change. Based on remotely sensed data of land use change with the spatial resolution of 1km ×1km on national scale among every five years, this paper designed a new dynamic regionalization according to the comprehensive characteristics of land use including regional differentiation, physical, economic, and macro-policy factors as well. Spatial pattern of land use change and its driving forces were investigated in Chia in the early 21st century. To sum up, land use pattern of this period was characterized by rapid changes in the whole country. Over the agricultural zones,e.g., Huang-Huai-Hai Plains, the southeast coastal area and Sichuan Basin, the built-up and residential areas were considerably expanded to a great proportion in the northwestern oasis agricultural zones and the northeastern zone led to a slight increase of arable land aea in the northern China. Due to the "grain for green" policy, forest area was significantly increased in the middle and western developing region,Where the vegetation coverage was substanially enlarged, likewise. This paper argued the main driving forces as the implementation of the strategy on land use and regional development, such as the "Western Development", "the Revitalization of the Northeast" policy, coupled with rapidly economic development during this period.

Cite this article

LIU Ji-Yuan-1, Zhang-Ceng-Xiang-2, Xu-Xin-Liang-1, Kuang-Wen-Hui-1, Zhou-Mo-Cun-3, Zhang-Shu-Wen-4, LI Ren-Dong-5, Ya-Chang-Zhen-6, Xu-Dong-Sheng-7, Tun-Shi-Xin-8, Jiang-Na-9 . Spatial Patterns and Driving Forces of Land Use Change  in China in the Early 21st Century[J]. Acta Geographica Sinica, 2009 , 64(12) : 1411 -1420 . DOI: 10.11821/xb200912001

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