Land consolidation projects play an important role in promoting agricultural land use transitions, ensuring national food security, and accelerating the construction of ecological civilization. The ...Loess Plateau in China is a typical ecologically fragile area, where the Gully Land Consolidation Project (GLCP) has been implemented recently and had a major impact on local ecological safety. In this study, we established a quantitative evaluation model for ecological safety effects from the four aspects of dam safety, slope stability, efficient farmland, and effective management, and then scientifically measured the ecological safety effects of land use transitions promoted by land consolidation projects. Three small watersheds (Gutun, Yangjuangou and Luoping) within the GLCP area were employed to verify the evaluation model for ecological safety effects. The results showed that the GLCP can effectively improve the ecological environment and promote the development of modern agriculture, but the ecological safety of gullies and slopes in some areas may also facing a series of threats due to improper project management measures. Among them, Gutun had the highest ecological safety evaluation value, followed by Yangjuangou, while Luoping had the lowest value. The indicator system and evaluation method established in this research could be helpful to systematically diagnose the problems and scientifically guide the implementation of the GLCP from the perspective of ecological safety.
Cropping systems worldwide have been affected by the current trend in global warming and the optimization of cropping systems is an important area of research in the transition of agricultural land. ...The Loess Plateau is a typical ecologically fragile region with the most serious soil erosion in China. We carried out a field experiment in Yan’an city on the Loess Plateau to explore the effect of sowing date on crop growth and yield. We then analyzed the feasibility of a double-cropping system by considering climatic adaptability, ecological suitability and economic viability. Our results showed that different sowing dates resulted in significant differences in crop growth and that appropriate early sowing can result in higher crop yields for early maturing varieties. We showed that double-cropping systems of sweet maize (
Zea mays
)–forage rape and feed maize–forage rape are feasible on the Loess Plateau. We discuss the implications for the efficient use of farmland, which is important in guiding agricultural supply-side reform and the development of modern agricultural management.
Land is the root of rural revitalization, and its core is to reinvigorate land resources through the building up of land capacity. Since the late 1990s, land consolidation efforts have been widely ...extended to all parts of China. Land consolidation has served as an essential instrument for reinvigorating stock land, strengthening intensive land use, timely supplementing cultivated land, and promoting agricultural modernization, as well as urban-rural integration. This study uses a typical poor village (Dadao Village) in a state-designated impoverished county (Fuping County, Hebei Province), to analyze the socioeconomic benefits and eco-environmental impacts of land consolidation. With the aid of first-hand data from questionnaire surveys, face-to-face interviews and the visual interpretation of land use and land cover changes (LUCC), we found that: 1) the barren hilly land consolidation (BHLC) helps to promote the transformation of resource-advantages into asset-advantages in poverty-stricken areas. In 2017, 60.16% households in the study area gained the additional transferred-income with an annual average of 2843 yuan, while 19.11% households received the wage-income with an annual average of 9871 yuan. 2) Land consolidation inspires farmers’ enthusiasm to participate in village government and helps alleviate rural poverty. From 2014 to 2017, land consolidation has helped 585 poor in the village out of poverty. Meanwhile, by land consolidation, most farmers’ attitudes towards land consolidation have shifted from “not caring” to “have great concern,” and their identity cognition has gradually changed from being bystanders to becoming decision makers and supervisors. 3) Further analysis demonstrated that land consolidation could not only increase the quantity and quality of arable land, but also have a certain impact on eco-environment. During 2014–2016, the BHLC in the study area transformed 242.12 ha unused barren hilly land and open forest land into well-facilitated arable land, and increased the average arable land by 0.19 ha per capita. Also, the index of land use intensity increased by 27.01% between 2014 and 2016. Farmers’ perceptions of environmental awareness have confirmed that such high-intensity LUCC were significant enough to make two-side impacts on eco-environment. We appeal to establish a combined organization and encouragement mechanism of rural land consolidation, to take the full breadth and depth of farmers’ participation into consideration, and to formulate more scientific and sustainable land consolidation planning. Also, we put forward some suggestions and notes for the implementation and promotion of BHLC model. These findings can provide beneficial references for those involved in policymaking and planning in the areas of land consolidation and poverty alleviation in China, as well as other developing countries around the world.
•We analyze the spatial pattern of the effect of land-centered urbanization on rural development.•Land-centered urbanization has significantly promoted the development of agriculture and rural areas ...nationwide.•The effects of population, economic and land urbanization on rural development have a remarkable spatial difference.
Since the late 1970s, China has undergone an unprecedented urbanization process. With land finance as the main driving force, land-centered urbanization has not only greatly accelerated China’s economic and social development, but it has also had negative effects on social development and the environment. Amid the concerns regarding China's land-centered urbanization process, there have been growing calls for greater attention to be focused on the decline of rural China. The urban-rural relationship is the most basic social and economic relationship, a topic which has become a hotspot in geography, economics and sociology studies in recent decades. Based on panel data from 298 cities in China, from the 2001–2013 period, this paper uses the extended Cobb-Douglas model to measure the effect of land-centered urbanization on rural development, and its spatial pattern characteristics. The results show that, during the period from 2001 to 2013, China's urbanization level increased steadily, while the level of rural development showed a trend of declining first and then rising. Moreover, land-centered urbanization significantly promoted the development of rural areas nationwide, and urbanization’s influence intensity displayed strong regional and particularity characteristics. Generally, compared with the relatively poor areas in the central and western regions, urbanization in the economically developed areas has a stronger driving effect on rural development. The findings have an important reference value for policy-makers in new-type urbanization and rural revitalization strategies for China.
The keys to realizing spatial restructuring in rural areas are the optimization of the spatial pattern of rural settlements and the integration of rural resources. Based on a 2015 Google Earth remote ...sensing image, this study employed kernel density estimation (KDE), the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) method, and a logistic regression model to apply quantitative analysis to the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of a rural area. The results revealed that the density of rural settlements is significantly spatially different in Baota District; the density core area in the district was located in the valley area with industrial agglomeration. Rural settlements in Baota District were located near the county seat and township seat, near a river, farmland and county-level road, on sunny slopes. Traffic accessibility to the townships had a greater impact on the spatial distribution of rural settlements than the traffic accessibility to the county. Thus, county-level road development plays a more important role in the optimization of town-village systems. Hence, we suggest constructing a complete transportation network system in the optimization of the town-village spatial pattern in the county, thereby improving the central service functions of towns to strengthen the spatial connection between townships and the central agglomeration effects of towns.
•Rural settlement density is significantly spatially different in Baota District.•The minimum cumulative resistance model was used to refine the study of rural settlements' spatial tropism distribution.•Logistic regression model effectively identify the driving forces of rural settlement distribution.•Strengthening township and transportation construction is conducive to rural development.
With the widespread implementation of farmland consolidation projects globally, the poor soil quality of newly created farmland (NCF) has become a significant bottleneck hindering the sustainable ...progress of such projects. Soil reconstruction technology (SRT), an innovative method to rapidly and effectively enhance the soil quality of NCF, has emerged as a prominent area of research in modern agricultural development. The Loess Plateau in China is highly susceptible to soil erosion and ecological degradation, making it a prime location for large-scale farmland consolidation efforts over the years. Investigating the practical feasibility and application potential of SRT can offer crucial technical insights for project implementation. This study conducted a field experiment in the Yangjuangou catchment of Yan’an City to explore the effects of soil mixing measures on soil properties and crop yield. Results indicated significant improvements in soil particle size distribution, physicochemical properties, and maize yield of NCF following soil reconstruction through the mixing of Malan Loess. Furthermore, the application of SRT demonstrated practical feasibility for farmland consolidation, leading to maximum crop yield and optimal ecological and economic benefits. The study also deliberated on the implications of farmland consolidation for land use policy and its contribution to sustainable agricultural development.
•A field experiment was conducted in China's Loess Plateau.•The effects of soil mixing measures on soil properties were analyzed.•Soil reconstruction technology has practical feasibility for farmland consolidation.
•Ecologically-sustainable land from the perspective of urban and suburban areas was integrated in an innovative way.•Temporal change in ecologically-sustainable land across selected settlements was ...analyzed from 2009 to 2016.•Spatial variability across ecologically-sustainable settlements was illustrated.
Ecologically-sustainable land (eco-land) is a basic resource for human survival. Rapid urbanization has profoundly transformed the spatial pattern of urban-rural land use in China. This study examined the spatiotemporal characteristics of eco-land in urban-rural areas using comparative and spatial analysis based on eco-land change data for China’s prefecture-level settlements. From 2009 to 2016, eco-land in both urban and surrounding rural areas changed significantly, with change rates of 13% in the urban area and 24% in the surrounding rural area. From the six different settlement types in urban-rural eco-land, the urban growth type (UGT) accounted for 24%, the rural growth type (SGT) accounted for 22%, the urban growth & rural reduction type (UGT&SRT) accounted for 18%, the urban reduction & rural growth type (URT&SGT) accounted for 21%, the urban reduction type (URT) accounted for 7%, and the rural reduce type (SRT) accounted for 8%, respectively. As settlement scale increased, the differences between settlements decreased: the differences between metropolises were the lowest, differences between large and medium-sized settlements were in the middle, and differences between small settlements were the highest. The settlements were clustered into four types based on the change slope of urban-rural eco-land. Further, vital and major zones for green environment management were identified. These included settlements in Shandong, Hebei, and other central rising provinces as well as other large settlements in Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi Province. The major zones included the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, and most settlements in the Central Plain urban cluster. These results can support more effective land use decisions and provide a theoretical basis for policy decisions and sustainable settlement management.
The Loess Plateau is one of the most vulnerable areas in the world as it is extremely susceptible to soil erosion and ecological destruction. Recently, the local government carried out the “Gully ...Land Consolidation Project” (GLCP) in the Loess Plateau region to increase farmland area, improve rural production and living conditions. Among all the GLCP engineering constructions, slope protection engineering plays an important role in ensuring the safety of the main project, residential lives and properties, although more theoretical and technical research on comprehensive protection of engineering slopes is required. In this study, a field experiment using 12 standard runoff plots (length 4m×width 2m) was performed in Yangjuangou catchment of Yan'an City, to compare and analyze the comprehensive benefit to vegetative growth, soil erosion and engineering benefit from four vegetation styles and three levels of slope gradient (45°, 53°,63°). Results show that under different slope gradient and vegetation styles, significant differences existed in the comprehensive benefit to slopes, as well as the levels of vegetative growth, soil erosion and engineering benefit. The comprehensive benefit of the 53° slope was significantly better than that of 45° and 63° slopes. In addition, the comprehensive benefit of slopes with one or more vegetation styles was better than that of non-vegetation covered slopes. With the increase in slope gradient, the vegetative growth and slope erosion indices of vegetation average height, species richness, vegetation coverage slope, runoff production and sediment yield, showed a remarkable declining trend. Conversely, the engineering benefit index including newly-increased farmland area and excavating earthwork volume, showed an increasing trend. Recently, agricultural geographical engineering (AGE) has become an indispensable method for ecological construction and agricultural development, resulting in an increase in research in the field of geography. These findings not only have theoretical significance and enrich our understanding of the influence of gradient and vegetation styles on excavation slope protection, but also have practical significance and provide a baseline for engineering parameters and suggestions for slope protection engineering strategies.
•A field experiment using 12 standard runoff plots was performed in the Loess Plateau.•The evaluation index system for assessing the comprehensive benefit of excavation slope were established.•The effects of slope gradients and vegetation styles on slope comprehensive benefits were compared and analyzed.•The benefit of the 53° slope was significantly better than that of 45° and 63° slopes.•The slopes with one or more vegetation styles were more stable than that of non-vegetation covered slopes.
Rural regional system is a geographical perspective to understand rural development and land use change. Identifying the structure of rural regional system has been the key issue in rural geography. ...This paper proposed a multi-dimension analysis framework and developed "Pole–Field–Zone–Network" (PFZN) to identify the structure of rural regional system. Taking Yanchi County as a case, which is in farming pastoral ecotone northern China, we integrate geospatial analysis methods to identify the structure. The results show that the structure of Yanchi’ rural regional system can be identified and divided into 23 rural revitalization poles, eight village-town spatial fields, and five rural development zones. This paper analyzes the PFZN structure of rural regional system, which cascade connects taking the development poles as the nodes, fields as the influence domain, and zones as the type of control area, and according to the regionalization results for the rural development zone, the corresponding implications of revitalization are given. It is proposed to promote the construction of central villages and towns with revitalization as the core, optimize the spatial structure and layout based on filed and zone, and build a multi-functional network structure. Then, the main function-oriented zoning for the rural areas, as well as dominant type classification and principal purpose classification of the rural regional system should also be feasible strategies for policymakers and rural revitalization planners to achieve sustainable rural development. We try to fill the gap in quantitative identification on the structure of rural regional system to enrich the research regarding the theoretical model by exploring the interaction of human-environment relationship, which has significance for the rural revitalization and sustainable development.
•This paper proposed a multi-dimension analysis framework for rural regional system.•"Pole–Field–Zone–Network" (PFZN) method is developed to identify the structure of rural regional system.•The structure of Yanchi’ rural regional system was identified by PFZN method.•Policy suggestions were given for Yanchi’s rural revitalization.•This research has significance for the rural revitalization and sustainable development.
Cultivated land pressure represents a direct reflection of grain security. Existing relevant studies rarely approached the spatiotemporal pattern of cultivated land pressure or the spatial ...heterogeneity of its influencing factors from the level of economic zones. Taking the Huaihai Economic Zone (HEZ), China for case analysis, this study investigated the spatiotemporal pattern of cultivated land pressure in diverse periods from 2000 to 2018 based on a modified cultivated land pressure index and spatial correlation models. On this basis, it explored the influencing factors of the spatial differentiation of cultivated land pressure in the late stage of the study using geographical detector as well as multi-scale geographically weighted regression model. The results indicated that: 1) in the study period, the global cultivated land pressure index of the study area decreased gradually, but cultivated land pressure increased locally in a significant way, especially in the central and southern Shandong Province; 2) the spatial pattern of cultivated land pressure manifested global clustering features. Hot and secondary-hot spots presented a narrowing and clustering trend, whereas cold and secondary-cold spots manifested a spreading and clustering trend; 3) average slope, the proportion of non-grain crops, population urbanization rate, and multiple cropping index have significant effects on the spatial differentiation of cultivated land pressure. The former three factors were positively correlated with cultivated land pressure, and the last factor was negatively correlated with cultivated land pressure; and 4) the amount of cultivated land has increased in the central and southern Shandong Province through land consolidation which, nonetheless, failed to improve the grain production. In regards to major grain producing areas similar to the HEZ in China, the authors suggest that great importance should be given to the balance of the quality and quantity of cultivated land, the optimization of agricultural production factors and the rational control of non-grain crops, thus providing a powerful guarantee for grain security in China.
PDF
