Impacts of Land-Use Change on Habitat Quality during 1985–2015 in the Taihu Lake Basin

Abstract

Habitat quality (HQ) is of great significance to regional sustainable development, which is a key link for regional ecological security and human welfare. Assessing the temporal and spatial evolution of HQ caused by land-use change could provide a scientific basis for regional ecological protection and land management. Here, based on the ArcGIS platform and the InVEST model, this study quantified the spatial and temporal evolutions of land use, landscape patterns, and HQ from 1985 to 2015, in Taihu Lake Basin (TLB). Hotspot analysis tools were used to identify the spatial agglomeration and evolution characteristics of HQ in TLB. The results showed that, (1) the land use and landscape pattern in TLB experienced dramatic change process during 1985–2015, with the dominating conversion being from farmland to construction land, which led to an increase in landscape heterogeneity and fragmentation. (2) The HQ was generally reduced in the past 30 years. In particular, the decline of HQ was extremely severe in the peripheral area of cities and roads, due to urban sprawl. (3) Regarding the spatial distribution of HQ, the northern and eastern areas were generally higher, while the western and southern areas were generally lower. The hotspots areas were mainly located in the southwestern mountain area and west-central lake area, while the cold spots areas were mainly located in urban areas in the north and the east. (4) The area and degree of habitat degradation were both increased significantly due to land-use change, and the degradation of the Taihu Lake was highlighted. Strengthening the ecological environment management and reducing the threat of urban expansion to the HQ is urgently required. This study could help understand HQ of the TLB and provide a scientific basis for decision-makers.

Remote Sensing-Based Analysis of Landscape Pattern Evolution in Industrial Rural Areas: A Case of Southern Jiangsu, China

“…(1) At the patch-class level, the landscape pattern evolution characteristics of industrial rural areas in Southern Jiangsu were that construction land had continuously encroached on green and cultivated land in all four study areas, exhibiting trends of expansion, centralization and the continuous consolidation of small patches into large patches during evolution and ultimately replacing cultivated land as the dominant landscape category. The result was in accordance with those in the studies of Yang, Sun et al, Ma et al, Xu et al and Chuai et al [31][32][33][34][35]. The reasons might be as follows: (1) Relevant studies showed that under the background of rapid socio-economic development, urban master planning is constantly updated, and relevant policies and regulations constantly promote human beings to expand the scope of urban built-up areas through deforestation, farmland reclamation and civil construction.…”

“…Among the four study areas, Kunshan exhibited the most significant landscape pattern evolution characteristics. This result was also in accordance with the results of the studies by Yang, Sun et al, Ma et al, Xu et al and Chuai et al [31][32][33][34][35]. The reason for the results might be as follows: (1) The gradual improvement of a traffic network would cause disorderly cutting of the original patch landscape, which seriously affects the circulation of the ecological function of the regional landscape.…”

“…The reason for the results might be as follows: (1) The gradual improvement of a traffic network would cause disorderly cutting of the original patch landscape, which seriously affects the circulation of the ecological function of the regional landscape. From the perspective of landscape pattern, it is embodied in the increase of the SPILT index and the decrease of the CONTAG index [33,34]; and (2) for the rapid urbanization in China, the area of urban construction land had increased sharply, and the landscape tends to be homogeneous and fragmented. These might mainly explain the decline of the SHDI index and the SHEI index [35].…”

A Conceptual Approach to Modeling the Geospatial Impact of Typical Urban Threats on the Habitat Quality of River Corridors

“…Xu et al [37] included nine different threats in their study of impacts of land-use change on habitat quality in the Taihu Lake Basin. Additional to the typical urban threats considered in our study, they also included, for instance, industrial and mining land and paddy fields as threats to habitat quality.…”

Spatiotemporal Differentiation and the Factors of Ecological Vulnerability in the Toutun River Basin Based on Remote Sensing Data

“…In recent years, the ecosystem is undergoing increasing pressures and degeneration owing to climate change, urban sprawl, and human activities [1][2][3][4]. The environmental problems following those pressures, such as global warming [5], soil erosion [6], desertification [7], environment pollution [8], and loss of biodiversity [9], have changed the ecosystem structure and process, decreased the ecosystem service value, and posed great threats to region sustainable development. Ecological vulnerability is regarded as a core issue in sustainability science [10], and it is an inherent property of an ecosystem.…”