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Land-use changes in the small watershed of the Loess Plateau, hilly-gully region, China

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Abstract

As more and more farmland is converted to forestry, the need for effective decision support regarding the use of land in the fragile ecological environment of the Loess Plateau hilly-gully area. The Luoyugou watershed was chosen as the study area to calculate the single dynamic degree, integrated dynamic degree, and change indexes of land use, as well as the land-use type transition matrix. This was done by interpreting the TM and SPOT images of the Luoyugou watershed in 1986, 1995, and 2004 and making statistical analysis. The results of our statistical analysis show that the conversion of slope farm land to terrace and forest land plays a dominant role in land-use changes in the Luoyugou watershed from 1986 to 2004. The land-use changes are mainly driven by population growth, socio-economic development, consumer spending, and investment in forest ecology.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2007CB407207) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (30800888).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation & Desertification Combating, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yini Han, Jianzhi Niu & Feizhou Wu

Authors
  1. Yini Han
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  2. Jianzhi Niu
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  3. Feizhou Wu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianzhi Niu.

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Corresponding editor: Chai Ruihai

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Han, Y., Niu, J. & Wu, F. Land-use changes in the small watershed of the Loess Plateau, hilly-gully region, China. J. For. Res. 26, 91–99 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-015-0039-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-015-0039-7

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