Spatiotemporal changes in land use and landscape fragmentation in coastal plain areas-A case study of Yancheng City, China

Coastal regions in China have the highest levels of economic development due to their prominent geographical locations and corresponding supporting policies. Global research concerns now include the spatiotemporal analysis of urban land use and landscape fragmentation in coastal plains. Research on coastal land use in China and related topics can provide a scientific basis for urban land use and sustainable development in other countries. In this study, a quantitative analysis of spatiotemporal changes in land use and landscape fragmentation was carried out based on land use data from Yancheng City, China. The dynamic degree of land use, Markov transition matrix and landscape indices were all subject to analysis. The results demonstrated that land use patterns in Yancheng City underwent substantial changes from 1990 to 2020. Cropland was found to be the dominant landscape in Yancheng City. Water rapidly increased whereas Grassland and Woodland dramatically decreased during the study period. Frequent transformations in and out of urban land were observed. In the late study period, the Tidal flat was gradually transformed into Grassland and Water. Variations in the landscape indices indicated significant changes in the landscape patterns. The landscape patterns in Yancheng City over a 30-year study period were found to be complicated. The special characteristics of Tidal flat land areas further intensified the landscape heterogeneity of the spatial range. Based on the above analyses, it was concluded that human activities (urban construction, beach reclamation, land development, and utilization activities) increased landscape fragmentation in Yancheng City throughout the three stages and gradually increased the degree of disturbance. These findings indicated that human intervention, the social economy and urban planning development could influence landscape fragmentation in coastal cities. This study used a spatially explicit approach to understand the relevant drivers of urban land-use change in a coastal plain. Moreover, it reduced the knowledge gap between land-use change and landscape fragmentation research from a temporal and spatial perspective.