A new artificial oasis landscape dynamics in semi-arid Hongsipu region with decadal agricultural irrigation development in Ning Xia, China

Understanding the ecological mechanisms and processes driving changes in our landscapes is significant for ecological conservation. This work used remote sensing with the extending contingency-based method to quantify the interchange relationship of land use types, and landscape metrics including spatially nuanced difference at patch level to track immigrants’ resettlement impacts at the semi-arid Hongsipu region with decadal agricultural pumping irrigation development in Ning Xia, China. Landsat-TM images acquired in 1989, 1999, 2003, and 2008 were used to study landscape changes in three periods, the earlier development from 1989 to 1999, the middle period in 1999–2003, and final stage in 2003–2008. The results showed the over 50 % landscape area experienced drastic change in each period with heavy immigrants’ perturbations since 1998. The nearly natural landscape with 1:1 area between desert and steppe in 1989 10 years before development, however, became the overwhelming barren landscape with almost 80 % of the study area in 2008, grassland and shrub land almost disappeared respectively, and cultivated land climbed to the third large type from about 2 % in 1989 to more than 16 % in 2008. The landscape became more fragmented, more regular shape with human disturbance spreading from the northwest low mountain and flat basin to the southeast diluvial fan, even high mountain at the end. Although Hongsipu pumping irrigation zone alleviates poor population pressure in the fragile ecological southern mountainous areas of Ningxia, the new artificial oasis creates another possible new ecological risk of the study area. Therefore, besides the economic development, the ecological conservation and restoration measures should be also the primary objectives in order to successful resettlement immigrants.