Yajuan Wang, Yongheng Rao, Hongbo Zhu

Analyzing the Land Use and Cover Change Inside and Outside China’s Ecological Function Area

  • Nature and Landscape Conservation
  • Ecology
  • Global and Planetary Change
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The establishment of nature reserves and ecological function areas is crucial for preserving the natural environment and the invaluable services provided by ecosystems. In our study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using the 2011–2020 Chinese land cover dataset to examine the impact of ecological function areas on regional land use and cover change. This analysis allowed us to quantify and visualize the intensity, aggregation effects, and transformation paths of land cover change while considering China’s ecological function areas. Our findings highlight notable disparities in land cover types between the ecological function area and its surroundings. Within the ecological function area, forest and grassland dominate, constituting 67% of the total land cover. In contrast, outside the ecological function area, there is a greater presence of wasteland, in addition to forest and grassland. Moreover, the abundance of impervious surfaces, which are closely linked to human activities, is significantly higher outside the ecological function area, almost double the amount found inside. By examining specific land cover types, we observed that forests exhibit the least change within the ecological function area, whereas croplands experience the least change outside. Throughout the study period, approximately 8.1% of land cover pixels underwent changes, with some areas displaying a frequency of change reaching up to 2. Interestingly, the number of high-frequency land use and cover change pixels inside the ecological function area is only half of the outside. Notably, a higher percentage of impervious surfaces within the ecological function area (0.13%) were converted into cropland compared to the outside (0.07%). Understanding the dynamics of land cover change within China’s ecological function areas provides valuable insights for effective land resource management and planning. It enables us to make informed decisions to ensure the sustainable development and conservation of these areas.

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