Chinese Cropland Quality and Its Temporal and Spatial Changes due to Urbanization in 2000-2015

doi:10.5814/j.issn.1674-764X.2019.02.008

Abstract

Abstract:

The acceleration of urbanization has led to the occupation of more cropland, especially higher quality cropland, which could pose a huge threat to food security and have other implications for the inadequate cropland resource supply in China. Though the spatial status of Chinese cropland quality has been assessed, its temporal changes since 2000 to 2015 are still not clear. An accumulated probability distribution method was used to determine the criteria of cropland quality using the net primary production data product (MOD17) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Then the cropland quality of higher, median and lower production was spatially mapped and its changes due to occupation by urbanization were analyzed through the land use changes (LUCC) data primarily from Landsat TM images in the three periods of 2000-2005, 2005-2010, and 2010-2015. The results showed that of the total cropland reduction area the proportion taken by urbanization increased from 47.29% in the early stage to 77.46% in the recent period. The quality of Chinese cropland was dominated by low- and medium-yield fields, accounting for 40.81% and 48.74%, respectively, with high-yield fields accounting for only 10.44% of the total cropland in the country in 2000. The high-yield areas have been seriously threatened by the expansion of construction land fields, with the ratio of high-yield area to total area occupied by urbanization increasing from 9.71% in 2000-2005 to 15.63% in 2010-2015. Spatially, this phenomenon has been moving from eastern and southern China to central and western China, especially in Northwest China where the ratio has arrived at the highest proportion, with 52.97% of high-yield cropland in the total land taken by the expansion by 2015. This study not only provides a method to assess cropland quality but also reveals the threatening trend from the expansion of urbanization on high-quality cropland. More attention should be paid to the latter in land use planning and policies made to prevent threats to food security from declines in both cropland quantity and quality.

Key words: cropland quality, cropland quantity, urbanization, spatial-temporal changes, remote sensing

WANG Chunyu,SUN Xiaofang,WANG Meng,WANG Junbang,DING Qingfu. Chinese Cropland Quality and Its Temporal and Spatial Changes due to Urbanization in 2000-2015[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2019, 10(2): 174-183.

Figures/Tables 9

Table 1 The NPP (gC m-2 yr-1) criteria for defining higher, medium and lower yield cropland for the nine regions (climatic zones) in China

Region	Upper value of low-yield cropland	Lower value of high-yield cropland
Inner Mongolia	165.46	273.98
Northwest China	188.36	387.18
Tibetan Plateau	164.53	372.79
Southwest China	587.89	878.65
Central China	427.35	560.24
Northeast China	245.20	365.19
North China	245.29	446.07
Southeast China	437.17	654.33
South China	541.82	873.34

Table 2 The net change of cropland area (km2) and the area of cropland occupied by construction land expansion (km2) and its proportion (%) from 2000 to 2015

Region	Net change in cropland area (km²)			Cropland area occupied by construction land (km²)			Proportion of cropland occupied by construction land (%)
Region	2000-2005	2005-2010	2010-2015	2000-2005	2005-2010	2010-2015	2000-2005	2005-2010	2010-2015
Inner Mongolia	11	358	-158	125	33	690	4.93	20.12	47.26
Northwest China	6092	2415	8372	357	128	1149	13.08	15.92	55.48
Tibetan Plateau	-22	50	-79	35	10	79	27.78	45.45	81.44
Southwest China	-1471	-1308	-2630	725	591	2349	32.51	42.98	80.86
Central China	-1148	-572	-2020	351	393	1683	28.70	67.76	75.91
Northeast China	1222	311	1821	392	346	856	27.80	27.16	67.24
North China	-5005	-2437	-2593	3537	1886	3137	55.15	69.13	86.39
Southeast China	-4918	-3427	-3552	4608	3187	3916	80.69	89.15	89.30
South China	-2081	-773	-1015	1477	491	1055	68.10	61.68	86.83
Total	-7320	-5383	-1854	11607	7065	14914	47.29	62.42	77.46

Fig. 1 The spatial pattern of cropland occupied by construction land expansionNote: The number in legend is the maximum value for the bars.

Fig. 2 The spatial pattern of high-, medium- and low-yield cropland in China in 2000(a), 2005(b), 2010(c) and 2015(d).

Fig. 3 The proportions of high-, medium- and low-yield cropland of each sub-region (climate zone) in the total cropland area of China in 2000(a), 2005(b), 2010(c) and 2015(d).Note: I M-Inner Mongolia; Nw C-Northwest China; TP-Tibetan Plateau; Sw C-Southwest China; C C-Central China; Ne C-Northeast China; N C-North China; Se C-Southeast China; S C-South China.

Fig. 4 The spatial pattern of high-, medium- and low-yield cropland occupied by construction land expansion from 2000 to 2005Note: The number in legend is the maximum value for the bars.

Fig. 5 The spatial pattern of high-, medium- and low-yield cropland occupied by construction land expansion from 2005 to 2010 Note: The number in legend is the maximum value for the bars.

Fig. 6 The spatial pattern of high-, medium- and low-yield cropland occupied by construction land expansion from 2010 to 2015. Note: The number in legend is the maximum value for the bars.

Fig. 7 The proportion of high-, medium- and low-yield cropland occupied by construction land expansion in each sub-region (climate zone) from 2000 to 2015.

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