Landscape Dynamics in a Poverty-Stricken Mountainous City: Land-Use Change, Urban Growth Patterns, and Forest Fragmentation

Abstract

For poverty-stricken mountainous cities in China, both poverty alleviation and ecological restoration projects are sources of land-use change in urban development. However, the patterns in changes are understudied in light of sustainable forest management. The study aims to explore the characteristics of land-use change in a poverty-stricken mountainous city with a focus on forests. This research proposed a three-step approach to explore the multi-aspect dynamics of land change, including the differences among land-use categories, spatial characteristics of urban expansion, and forest fragmentation. This study investigated Enshi City, China, based on land-use data from 2000, 2010, and 2020. Throughout the two intervals, the gain of water bodies and the loss of grassland were active. Artificial surfaces increased most intensively from 2010 to 2020, with transitions from grassland and cultivated land. Edge-expansion was the dominant type of artificial surface growth. Furthermore, forests had the largest size of gain across the two intervals, and there was a substantial reduction in forest fragmentation in the western part of the city. The findings confirm that recent planning measures are effective in restoring the natural environment. The identified key areas can support sustainable forest management in urban growth.