A Study on the Evolution of Land Use Diversity in Karst Mountainous Areas

Abstract

Land is the foundation upon which human life depends, yet it is also a highly vulnerable ecological component within the ecological systems of karst mountain regions. Taking Huaxi District in Guiyang City as a case study, Based on an analysis of land use data for Huaxi District from 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, and utilising the spatial overlay analysis function in ArcGIS software, the study calculated the areas of land use types across these four periods and the land use transition matrices for three time segments, thereby analysing the evolution of land use in Huaxi District from 2005 to 2020. The results indicate that the evolution of land use diversity in Huaxi District was primarily characterised by the conversion of arable land and woodland. The land use diversity index showed an upward trend across all four time periods. While arable land and woodland remained the predominant land use types, their areas were decreasing, whilst the areas of urban and rural, industrial and mining, and residential land continued to increase. The dynamics of single land-use types exhibited significant changes, primarily manifested in the conversion of arable and forest land into urban and rural, industrial and mining, and residential land. The comprehensive land-use dynamics gradually increased, indicating that land use is undergoing dynamic changes. The land-use intensity index exceeded 200, placing it at an upper-middle level.