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Comparative studies of the distribution characteristics of rocky desertification and land use/land cover classes in typical areas of Guizhou province, China

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Abstract

The Huajiang and Hongfenghu demonstration areas represent typical karst landforms and rocky desertification landscapes in Guizhou, China. These were selected for a comparison of rocky desertification and land use cover. Based mainly on 5 m resolution Spot 5, remote sensing images, topographic maps (1:10,000) and land use maps, the intensity and extent of rocky desertification, and slope characteristics of the two areas were interpreted. Spatial overlay analysis was used to compare the land use/land cover (LULC) and rocky desertification within each. The results were compared using the concepts of rocky desertification occurrence (RDO) among LULC classes and the structure value of desertification land (SVDL). The results demonstrated that (1) the landforms and extent of rocky desertification in the two areas are significantly different and the proportion of very steep slopes is one of the reasons leading to large areas of rocky desertification; (2) the RDO and SVDL show significant differences between the two areas; also rocky desertification intensity in various LULC classes cannot be measured in terms of RDO. High RDO may occur in low-intensity desertification land, and vice versa; (3) the structural characteristics of rocky desertification among various LULC are consistent among the woodland, “bare land” and “other grassland” land use classes in the two areas, but sequence slight > moderate > intense is not consistent between the areas. For the rocky desertification control, the present authors consider that the spatial distribution differences of rocky desertification and LULC among areas with different landform types area combined with the intensity of rocky desertification should be used in designing appropriate measures for control of desertification and rehabilitation of land.

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Acknowledgments

This work supported by the foundation of Key Projects in the National Science and Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan Period (2011BAC09B01) and Science and Technology Development Plan Projects of Guizhou (Qiankehe SY [2011]3087). The authors are most grateful to Dr. Brian Marker’s constructive suggestions as well as his assist with the English presentation, which contributed to an improvement of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Ying

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Ying

  3. Institute of South China Karst, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, 550001, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Shi-zhen Xiao, Kang-ning Xiong & Jin-sheng Luo

  4. The State Key Laboratory Incubation Base for Karst Mountain Ecology Environment of Guizhou Province, Guiyang, 550001, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Shi-zhen Xiao, Kang-ning Xiong & Jin-sheng Luo

  5. School of Geography and Tourism, Guizhou Normal College, Guiyang, 550003, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Qi-wei Cheng

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  1. Bin Ying
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  2. Shi-zhen Xiao
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  3. Kang-ning Xiong
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  4. Qi-wei Cheng
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  5. Jin-sheng Luo
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Correspondence to Bin Ying or Kang-ning Xiong.

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Ying, B., Xiao, Sz., Xiong, Kn. et al. Comparative studies of the distribution characteristics of rocky desertification and land use/land cover classes in typical areas of Guizhou province, China. Environ Earth Sci 71, 631–645 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2460-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2460-6

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