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Spatial patterns of farmland abandonment and its impact factors in the central Three Gorges Reservoir Area

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Abstract

The severe farmland abandonment phenomena in China have tremendously decreased the farmland usage efficiency and caused a series of profound ecological and social outcomes. The complexity of farmland abandonment necessitates a systematic research on its patterns and impact factors to underpin the dynamics of problem as well as potential solutions. This paper took Wanzhou district in the central part of Three Gorges Reservoir Area as an example to study the spatial distribution patterns of abandoned farmland at three scales, i.e., town, village, and plot, and analyzed the influence from labor transfer and farmland circulation. We conducted a survey on the distribution patterns of abandoned farmland via questionnaires at town and village scales, together with the modeling and interpretation of high-resolution aerial images taken by unmanned aerial vehicles at plot scale. Our research discloses a strong relationship between the distribution of abandoned farmland and the distance from population center at different scales. At either town or village scale, the abandonment proportion was recognized the highest in mid-distance areas and lowest in close-distance areas, and the per capita area of abandoned farmland increased with the distance to downtown or township. At plot scale, abandonment proportion presented exponential growth with the distance to village center, whereas the abandoned farmland was mainly distributed in the areas with distance above 500 m from the village center. Moreover, we noticed that labor transfer and farmland circulation are two important factors that influence farmland abandonment. Labor's outbound transfer distance has a positive linkage with the possibility of farmland abandonment. Finally, it is recommended that development and adoption of corresponding policies on local urbanization and farmland circulation will facilitate to alleviate farmland abandonment.

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Acknowledgements

Our work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41371539) and Three Gorges Project Committee of the State Council research project: The ecological barrier area of Three Gorges Reservoir ecological benefits monitoring technology and assessment approach (Grant No. 0001792015CB5005). We would like to express our sincere thanks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Ying-feng Chen, Yu-kuan Wang & Bin Fu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ying-feng Chen

  3. Wanzhou Station of Reservoir Eco- environment Monitoring, Chongqing, 404020, China

    Ying-feng Chen, Yu-kuan Wang & Bin Fu

  4. Inner Mongolia Land Surveying and Planning Institute, Hohhot, 010010, China

    Hai-wen Wang

  5. Survey & Planning Institute of State Forestry Administration, Beijing, 100714, China

    Wei Wang

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  1. Ying-feng Chen
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  2. Yu-kuan Wang
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Correspondence to Yu-kuan Wang or Bin Fu.

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Chen, Yf., Wang, Yk., Fu, B. et al. Spatial patterns of farmland abandonment and its impact factors in the central Three Gorges Reservoir Area. J. Mt. Sci. 15, 631–644 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4452-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4452-6

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