TY - JOUR
T1 - Conversions between natural wetlands and farmland in China
T2 - A multiscale geospatial analysis
AU - Mao, Dehua
AU - Luo, Ling
AU - Wang, Zongming
AU - Wilson, Maxwell C.
AU - Zeng, Yuan
AU - Wu, Bingfang
AU - Wu, Jianguo
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was jointly supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFC0500408, 2016YFA0602301, and 2016YFC0500201), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41771383), and the funding from Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences (2017277, 2012178) and the China Scholarship Council (201604910407). We are very grateful to those who participated in the image classification and field investigation for the ChinaCover project.
Funding Information:
This study was jointly supported by the National Key R&D Program of China ( 2016YFC0500408 , 2016YFA0602301 , and 2016YFC0500201 ), the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41771383 ), and the funding from Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences ( 2017277 , 2012178 ) and the China Scholarship Council ( 201604910407 ). We are very grateful to those who participated in the image classification and field investigation for the ChinaCover project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/9/1
Y1 - 2018/9/1
N2 - Agricultural activity is widely recognized as a leading driver of natural wetland loss in many parts of the world. However, little is known about the spatiotemporal patterns of conversion between natural wetlands and farmland in China. This information deficiency has limited decision-making for the sustainable management of natural wetland ecosystems. In this study, we explicitly quantified bidirectional natural wetland-farmland conversions during the periods of 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Our results revealed that about 60% (15,765 km2) of China's lost natural wetlands were due to agricultural encroachment for grain production, 74.7% (11,778 km2) of which occurred from 1990 to 2000. Natural wetland conversion to farmland was highest in Northeast China (13,467 km2 or 85.4%), whereas the natural wetlands in Northwest China demand extra attention because of a notable increase of agricultural encroachment. Natural wetlands in the humid zone experienced tremendous agricultural encroachment, leading to a loss of 10,649 km2, accounting for 67.5% of the total agriculture-induced natural wetland loss in China. On the other hand, a total of 1369 km2 of natural wetlands were restored from farmland, with 66.3% of this restoration occurring between 2000 and 2010, primarily in Northeast China and the humid zone. Although a series of national policies and population pressure resulted in agricultural encroachment into natural wetlands, there are also policies and management measures protecting and restoring natural wetlands in China. The spatial differences in natural wetland-farmland conversions among different geographic regions and climatic zones suggest that China must develop place-based sustainable management policies and plans for natural wetlands. This study provides important scientific information necessary for developing such policies and implementation plans.
AB - Agricultural activity is widely recognized as a leading driver of natural wetland loss in many parts of the world. However, little is known about the spatiotemporal patterns of conversion between natural wetlands and farmland in China. This information deficiency has limited decision-making for the sustainable management of natural wetland ecosystems. In this study, we explicitly quantified bidirectional natural wetland-farmland conversions during the periods of 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Our results revealed that about 60% (15,765 km2) of China's lost natural wetlands were due to agricultural encroachment for grain production, 74.7% (11,778 km2) of which occurred from 1990 to 2000. Natural wetland conversion to farmland was highest in Northeast China (13,467 km2 or 85.4%), whereas the natural wetlands in Northwest China demand extra attention because of a notable increase of agricultural encroachment. Natural wetlands in the humid zone experienced tremendous agricultural encroachment, leading to a loss of 10,649 km2, accounting for 67.5% of the total agriculture-induced natural wetland loss in China. On the other hand, a total of 1369 km2 of natural wetlands were restored from farmland, with 66.3% of this restoration occurring between 2000 and 2010, primarily in Northeast China and the humid zone. Although a series of national policies and population pressure resulted in agricultural encroachment into natural wetlands, there are also policies and management measures protecting and restoring natural wetlands in China. The spatial differences in natural wetland-farmland conversions among different geographic regions and climatic zones suggest that China must develop place-based sustainable management policies and plans for natural wetlands. This study provides important scientific information necessary for developing such policies and implementation plans.
KW - Agricultural encroachment
KW - ChinaCover
KW - Farmland
KW - Natural wetlands
KW - Wetland restoration
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85045013076&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.009
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 29635197
AN - SCOPUS:85045013076
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 634
SP - 550
EP - 560
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
ER -