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Journal of Arid Land  2026, Vol. 18 Issue (10): 1720-1738    DOI: 10.1016/j.jaridl.2026.10.003     CSTR: 32276.14.JAL.20260129
Research article     
Unraveling the driving mechanisms of landscape connectivity dynamics in the Mu Us Sandy Land, northern China
JIN Xiaoze1,2,3, HE Zhaoquan1,2,3,4,*(), SHANG Xue1,2,3, WANG Xiukang1,2,3, XING Yingying1,2,3
1 School of Life Sciences, Yan'an University, Yan'an 716000, China
2 Key Laboratory of Applied Ecology of Universities in Shaanxi Province on the Loess Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Yan'an University, Yan'an 716000, China
3 Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Research and Utilization of Resource Plants on the Loess Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Yan'an University, Yan'an 716000, China
4 Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
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Abstract  

The Mu Us Sandy Land, a critical agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China, served as a key region for understanding landscape connectivity dynamics under coupled climate-human pressures. This study used landscape pattern indices and the Geodetector model to systematically quantify the spatiotemporal dynamics of structural landscape connectivity in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020 by integrating multi-temporal land use and meteorological data. The driving mechanisms of the landscape connectivity dynamics and present status of regional ecological restoration were analyzed. The results showed an overall decline in structural landscape connectivity over the past three decades, marked by a distinct spatial pattern of "decreasing in the east and increasing in the west". Fragmentation in the east was driven by intensive human expansion, while aggregation in the west resulted from long-term ecological restoration. Factor analysis revealed that structural landscape connectivity was jointly influenced by climatic and anthropogenic factors, with wide-ranging synergistic interactions. The dominant drivers changed temporally, i.e., in the early phases (1990-2000), natural factors (e.g., wind speed and temperature) and agricultural activities were the main drivers; in the transitional phase (2000-2010), precipitation played an important role; and in the later phases (2010-2020), the human-land synergy regime characterized by human activity factors, particularly residential density, gained predominant explanatory power. This study revealed the multifactor synergistic driving mechanisms and their temporal evolution, providing a scientific basis for adaptive ecological restoration and spatial planning in semi-arid regions.



Key words: anthropogenic driver      climate-human interactions      ecological restoration      structural landscape connectivity      Geodetector     
Received: 21 March 2026      Published: 31 October 2026
Corresponding Authors: *HE Zhaoquan (E-mail: hzq@yau.edu.cn)
About author: First author contact:

Conceptualization: HE Zhaoquan, SHANG Xue, JIN Xiaoze; Data curation: XING Yingying; Formal analysis: HE Zhaoquan, WANG Xiukang; Funding acquisition: HE Zhaoquan; Investigation: XING Yingying; Methodology: SHANG Xue; Project administration: WANG Xiukang; Resources: WANG Xiukang; Software: WANG Xiukang; Supervision: JIN Xiaoze, XING Yingying; Validation: XING Yingying; Visualization: SHANG Xue, JIN Xiaoze; Writing - original draft preparation: JIN Xiaoze; Writing - review and editing: HE Zhaoquan, SHANG Xue, XING Yingying, WANG Xiukang. All authors approved the manuscript.

Cite this article:

JIN Xiaoze, HE Zhaoquan, SHANG Xue, WANG Xiukang, XING Yingying. Unraveling the driving mechanisms of landscape connectivity dynamics in the Mu Us Sandy Land, northern China. Journal of Arid Land, 2026, 18(10): 1720-1738.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1016/j.jaridl.2026.10.003     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2026/V18/I10/1720

Fig. 1 Topographic map of the study area. (a), elevation of the Mu Us Sandy Land; (b and c), current situation of the Mu Us Sandy Land.
Criteria for judgment Interaction
q(X1∩X2)<Min(q(X1), q(X2)) Nonlinear attenuation
Min(q(X1), q(X2))<q(X1∩X2)<Max(q(X1), q(X2)) One-factor nonlinear attenuation
q(X1∩X2)>Max(q(X1), q(X2)) Two-factor enhancement
q(X1∩X2)=q(X1)+q(X2) Independent
q(X1∩X2)>q(X1)+q(X2) Nonlinear enhancement
Table 1 Types of interaction between two covariates
Fig. 2 Spatial distribution in temperature (T; a), precipitation (P; b), and wind speed (WS; c)
Fig. 3 Trends in T (a), P (b), and WS (c)
Variable Sen's slope p-value of MK test H index Persistence characteristic
P 1.576 mm/a 0.395 0.545 Persistence
T 0.030°C/a 0.030 0.595 Persistence
WS 0.005 m/(s•a) 0.174 0.697 Persistence
Note: P, precipitation; T, temperature; WS, wind speed; H index, Hurst index; MK test, Mann-Kendall test.
Table 2 Trend and persistence characteristic of meteorological factors
Fig. 4 Spatial distribution and area proportion of land use types in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020. (a), 1990; (b), 1995; (c), 2000; (d), 2005; (e), 2010; (f), 2015; (g), 2020.
Fig. 5 String diagram of land use type transition in the Mu Us Sandy Land in different periods. (a), 1990-1995; (b), 1995-2000; (c), 2000-2005; (d), 2005-2010; (e), 2010-2015; (f), 2015-2020; (g), 1990-2020; (h), 2000-2020.
Type Grassland Cropland Construction land Woodland Water body Unused land Loss
(km2)
Grassland 15,978.070 260.277 222.630 205.957 25.526 1235.679 1950.069
Cropland 251.084 2615.525 65.247 51.768 17.575 50.446 2800.561
Construction land 2.092 4.743 124.228 0.232 0.482 1.184 130.869
Woodland 71.108 36.449 26.727 698.905 2.409 26.906 791.396
Water body 31.461 16.072 6.079 0.726 471.536 50.688 545.101
Unused land 1687.359 178.737 238.697 61.018 43.315 13,589.940 14,111.710
Gain 2043.104 2851.526 460.978 812.649 535.317 13,719.164 -
Table 3 Land use conversion matrix in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020
Fig. 6 Landscape indices in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020. H', Shannon's diversity index; DIVISION, landscape division index; CONTAG, contagion index; LSI, landscape shape index; ED, edge density.
Fig. 7 Spatial variation of structural landscape connectivity in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020. (a), ED; (b), LSI; (c), CONTAG; (d), DIVISION; (e), H'.
Region ED LSI CONTAG DIVISION H' Trend direction
East 25.736→29.681 4.083→4.562 56.149→55.773 0.669→0.698 0.892→0.973 Fragmentation
West 17.261→18.492 3.124→3.284 55.451→57.695 0.565→0.554 0.727→0.740 Aggregation
Note: ED, edge density; LSI, landscape shape index; CONTAG, contagion index; DIVISION, landscape division index; H', Shannon's diversity index. All inter-regional differences were statistically significant at P<0.050 level.
Table 4 Comparison of structural landscape connectivity indices between eastern and western Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020
Fig. 8 Principal component analysis (PCA) of structural landscape connectivity index. (a), 1990; (b), 1995; (c), 2000; (d), 2005; (e), 2010; (f), 2015; (g), 2020. PC, principal component.
Year Value T P WS DEM Slope Aspect LUCC CLR RD NL
1990 q 0.166 0.084 0.182 0.151 0.064 0.004 0.113 0.174 0.106 0.025
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.501 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1995 q 0.251 0.118 0.161 0.150 0.055 0.002 0.130 0.181 0.155 0.031
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.850 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2000 q 0.194 0.263 0.168 0.155 0.054 0.003 0.070 0.130 0.107 0.059
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.709 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2005 q 0.186 0.338 0.078 0.155 0.054 0.003 0.075 0.131 0.088 0.051
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.709 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2010 q 0.218 0.259 0.126 0.178 0.055 0.003 0.075 0.127 0.153 0.074
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.720 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2015 q 0.249 0.165 0.068 0.185 0.057 0.003 0.080 0.131 0.162 0.142
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.691 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2020 q 0.274 0.185 0.020 0.207 0.067 0.004 0.086 0.135 0.232 0.150
P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.605 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Note: T, temperature; P, precipitation; WS, wind speed; DEM, digital elevation model; LUCC, land use/cover change; CLR, cropland ratio; RD, residential density; NL, nighttime light.
Table 5 Factor detector of the Geodetector (GD)
Fig. 9 Interaction result of the Geodetector (GD). (a), 1990; (b), 1995; (c), 2000; (d), 2005; (e), 2010; (f), 2015; (g), 2020. NL, nighttime light; RD, residential density; CLR, cropland ratio; LUCC, land use/cover change; DEM, digital elevation model.
Fig. 10 Conceptual diagram of the driving mechanisms of structural landscape connectivity in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1990 to 2020. Arrows indicate causal relationships and bidirectional arrows indicate synergistic interaction.
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