Spatiotemporal patterns and driving forces of land-use and land-cover change in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China from 1980 to 2018

Abstract The understanding of land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) is crucial for the study of global climate change and the terrestrial ecological environment. Sandy land is an important component of the terrestrial ecosystem. This study applied the land-use transition matrix and change trajectory analysis to examine the spatiotemporal characteristics of LUCC from 1980 to 2018 in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China. The influences of soil, meteorological conditions, and national policy on LUCC in this region were also investigated. The results of land-use classification of five remote sensing images captured between 1980 and 2018 showed that Grassland was the dominant land-use type. The areas of Woodland and Built-up land in the study area continued to increase, whereas those of Water bodies and Unused land continued to decrease. The area of Cropland first increased and then decreased. The areas where LUCC was driven by natural factors and anthropogenic factors were 25,428 km2 and 9,683 km2, representing 27.92% and 10.63% of the total area, respectively. The area that experienced no LUCC was 55,950 km 2 (61.44% of the total area). These data showed that LUCC was driven by natural and anthropogenic factors, with anthropogenic factors dominant in driving changes in Cropland, Woodland, and Built-up land, whereas natural factors dominated reductions in the areas of Water bodies and Unused land. Although natural factors played an important role in LUCC, this study showed that anthropogenic factors determine the direction of LUCC.