Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
Ningxia Medical University, 692 Shengli St, Xingqing, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, PR China; Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2017 Nov 15;598:669-679. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.124. Epub 2017 Apr 25.
Environmental change has been a topic of great interest over the last century due to its potential impact on ecosystem services that are fundamental for sustainable development and human well-being. Here, we assess and quantify the spatial and temporal variation in land cover in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), China. With high-resolution (30m) imagery from Landsat 4/5-TM and 8-OLI for the entire region, land cover maps of the region were created to explore local land cover changes in a spatially explicit way. The results suggest that land cover changes observed in NHAR from 1991 to 2015 reflect the main goals of a national policy implemented there to recover degraded landscapes. Forest, herbaceous vegetation and cultivated land increased by approximately 410,200ha, 708,600ha and 164,300ha, respectively. The largest relative land cover change over the entire study period was the increase in forestland. Forest growth resulted mainly from the conversion of herbaceous vegetation (53.8%) and cultivated land (30.8%). Accurate information on the local patterns of land cover in NHAR may contribute to the future establishment of better landscape policies for ecosystem management and protection. Spatially explicit information on land cover change may also help decision makers to understand and respond appropriately to emerging environmental risks for the local population.
在过去的一个世纪里，环境变化一直是一个备受关注的话题，因为它可能对生态系统服务产生影响，而生态系统服务是可持续发展和人类福祉的基础。在这里，我们评估和量化了中国宁夏回族自治区（NHAR）的土地覆盖时空变化。我们利用来自 Landsat 4/5-TM 和 8-OLI 的高分辨率（30m）图像对整个地区进行了研究，创建了该地区的土地覆盖图，以便以空间明确的方式探索当地的土地覆盖变化。结果表明，1991 年至 2015 年 NHAR 观察到的土地覆盖变化反映了在该地区实施的一项国家政策的主要目标，该政策旨在恢复退化的景观。森林、草本植被和耕地分别增加了约 410200 公顷、708600 公顷和 164300 公顷。整个研究期间最大的相对土地覆盖变化是林地的增加。森林的增长主要是由于草本植被（53.8%）和耕地（30.8%）的转化。NHAR 土地覆盖的本地模式的准确信息可能有助于未来为生态系统管理和保护制定更好的景观政策。土地覆盖变化的空间明确信息也可以帮助决策者了解和适应当地人口面临的新出现的环境风险。
