ANALYSIS OF THE SPATIAL-TEMPORAL STRUCTURE OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER IN SUNAN YUGU AUTONOMOUS COUNTY, GANSU
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/jcest.11753.2026Keywords:
Land use and Land cover, Spatial-Temporal Structure Analysis, Slope, Watershed, Sunan CountyAbstract
The Qilian Mountains serve as a vital ecological security barrier in China, with Sunan Yugu Autonomous County playing a crucial role in glacier and water conservation. Land use and land cover changes in this region significantly impact water resources, biodiversity, and ecosystem stability, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of their spatio-temporal dynamics. Existing studies had primarily focused on short-term changes or individual environmental drivers, and thus there is a gap in long-term integrated analysis considering topographical and spatial-temporal influences. To address this gap, this study utilized Landsat TM imagery (1985–2015), Digital Elevation Model-derived slope data, and field surveys to examine the long-term dynamics in Sunan County. The findings established a relatively stable distribution of woodland and grassland, averaging 14.56% and 56.77% of the total area, respectively, but also indicated a continuous decline in grassland and an expansion of arable land due to grassland conversion. Forests were primarily found on slopes of 15–25°, while grasslands were concentrated along riverbanks on slopes of rivers below the sixth level. Grassland loss was most pronounced on gentle slopes of <15° from 1995 to 2005 and on steeper slopes of >25° after 2005, while arable land expanded along river systems, notably on both steep and gentle slopes, by 107.51 km². The study further revealed that the Beida River played a dominant role in land-use and land-cover changes due to its large watershed area, while other watersheds contributed moderately. These findings emphasized the need for slope-based ecological management and watershed conservation to mitigate land degradation, enhance resilience to climate change and promote sustainable land use and land cover.
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