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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2): 618-627.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.263

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatial migration characteristics and ecological impacts of ecological migrants in arid regions: A case of Gulang County, Gansu Province

ZHANG Wei1(),ZHOU Liang2,3(),SUN Dongqi3,HU Fengning2   

  1. 1. School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    2. Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    3. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2021-06-09 Revised:2021-09-01 Online:2022-03-25 Published:2022-04-02
  • Contact: Liang ZHOU E-mail:11200674@stu.lzjtu.edu.cn;zhougeo@126.com

Abstract:

Ecological migration is one of the effective ways for rural revitalization and regional ecological protection and restoration in western China. Exploring the spatial characteristics and ecological impacts of ecological migrants can contribute to regional poverty reduction and ecological civilization construction. Herein, we select Gulang County in Gansu Province, which has sensitive ecological characteristics in arid areas, special resettlement sites, and many migrants. From the spatial perspective at the county level, we innovatively use indicators, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and vegetation restoration degree (VRD) intrinsically relevant to ecological migration. Combining the statistical yearbook, land use data, ecological migration information, and MODIS remote sensing data obtained from field research. The spatiotemporal characteristics and ecological impacts of ecological migration and vegetation restoration policies in Gulang County from 2010 to 2018 were systematically analyzed by calculating the land use transfer matrix, NDVI, and VRD. This study aims at providing a reference for the scientific formulation of ecological migration policies for relevant agencies in arid areas. The results of this study are as follows. (1) The ecological migrants from 2010 to 2018 are spatially characterized by the tendency of high to low terrain, steep to gentle slope, traffic-oriented, and spatial aggregation, with a total of 6.24×104 migrants, accounting for 20.20% of the county’s resident population. (2) From 2010 to 2018, the NDVI of the study area continuously increased in the southern migrant areas and decreased and then increased in the northern migrant areas. The minimum NDVI value in the overall migration area increased from 0.10 to 0.15, and the maximum NDVI value increased from 0.52 to 0.72. The minimum NDVI value in the resettlement area decreased from 0.10 to 0.09, and the maximum NDVI value increased from 0.66 to 0.72. (3) The mean NDVI and VRD in the study area show a continuous and rapid increasing trend, indicating that the ecological migrants significantly affect ecological protection. The most obvious protection effect was observed in the southern part of the study area, with the NDVI mean value increasing from 0.19 to 0.42 and the VRD mean value increasing from 0.26 to 0.75. Ecological migration in arid areas is an effective approach to improve the regional ecological environment. However, it reduces the pressure of population overload in mountainous areas. Additionally, it combines resettlement with low-quality land resources, such as wastelands and deserts, to effectively reduce the damage to the ecological environment caused by human activities. Therefore, how to better use the ecological migration to improve the ecological environment in sensitive and fragile areas and achieve rural revitalization and promote sustainable development in rural areas is also a key issue in the contemporary world seeking a balance between ecological protection and rural revitalization.

Key words: ecological migration, population migration, rural revitalization, ecological restoration, arid area