Spatial–temporal evolution and correlation analysis between habitat quality and landscape patterns based on land use change in Shaanxi Province, China

Abstract

Regional habitat quality is an important reflection of ecosystem services and ecosystem health. Exploring the characteristics of habitat quality changes and revealing the vulnerability of regional ecosystems caused could provide reference for the improvement of ecological service functions and the protection of regional ecological environment. Based on remote sensing data of Shaanxi Province from 2000 to 2015, InVEST model and grid analysis were used to analyze the evolution characteristics of habitat quality and landscape pattern, and spatial autocorrelation was also used to analyze the spatial correlation and temporal evolution characteristics. The results showed: (1) Arable land, grassland, and forest land were the main landscape types in Shaanxi province, accounting for more than 94% of the total area, and the arable land and unused land showed a decreasing trend, while the grassland and forest land showed an increasing trend, and the proportion of construction land continued to increase with the rapid economic development from 2000 to 2015; (2) The spatial distribution characteristics of habitat quality was similar to land use cover change, which was “high in the southern and central forest areas, low in the northern sandy land and central urban agglomeration”, and habitat quality value showed a steady increase, indicating that the habitat quality was getting better; (3) The landscape pattern index values of Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration changed significantly, which tended to be fragmented, and the landscape types were more diverse and uniform; (4) There were obvious spatial correlation between habitat quality and landscape pattern, and the spatial differentiation of clustering was obvious, and the clustering effect of habitat quality and landscape pattern characteristics would weaken with the increase in urbanization degree. The analysis of the spatial association between habitat quality and landscape pattern could provide scientific support for ecological protection and landscape planning.