Soil attributes are more important than others in shaping the diversity of cultivated land quality types, southern China

Abstract

Despite progress in land protection, agricultural land in China faces threats from urban expansion and unsustainable practices, necessitating urgent efforts to protect and enhance cultivated land quality. This study quantifies cultivated land quality as a composite indicator through an evaluation model, which reduces the heterogeneity and diversity of cultivated land quality among fields to some extent. This study introduced the concept of geodiversity and constructed a new framework for measuring cultivated land quality type (CLQT) and explored the CLQT in different geomorphic regions of Jiangxi, China. Using landscape metrics, spatial autocorrelation and structural equation modeling, this study analyzed the spatial clustering types and drivers of CLQT diversity. The results showed that 1) the framework of CLQT composed of nine indicators arranged by topographic conditions, soil conditions, ecological conditions, and anthropogenic management conditions yielded 2,565 CLQTs in the research area. 2) The landscape metrics showed a high degree of overlap, with the main overlapping areas distributed in the plains, hills, and mountainous regions in the central and southern parts of the country. SHDI, SHEI, PR, and PD showed low-low cluster in the central plains, while SHDI, SHEI, PR, LSI, PAFRAC, and DIVISION showed high-high cluster in the southern hills.3) The main influencing factors in the plains were natural factors (mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation) and in the hills were a combination of natural factors (MAT and MAP) and socio-economic factors (Ninput and GDP). The highest diversity of CLQT was observed in the mountainous regions, where the influencing factors include both natural (MAT) and socio-economic factors (POP and GDP). Therefore, it is recommended that in the plains, large-scale operators should adopt diversified planting strategies to enhance CLQT diversity and the stability of cropland ecosystems. In hills and mountainous regions with high CLQT diversity, the government should formulate policies to stimulate farmers’ planting motivation and increase inputs to support agricultural production. This study provides a new perspective on the study of cultivated land quality and provides a reference for improving agroecosystem stability and food production in regions with similar landscapes around the world.

Keywords

• Cultivated land quality type
• Diversity
• Landscape metrics
• Influencing factors
• Different geomorphological area