Land Use Types and Landscape Dynamics and Analysis in Coastal Zone of Yancheng

This paper uses land use transfer matrix, dynamic degree and landscape pattern index, reveals the land use and landscape dynamic changes in the coastal zone of Yancheng in the past 15 years, and explore their driving force factors. The results showed that during the entire study period, the proportion of each landscape area was farmlands > wetlands > tidal flats > forestlands > oceans > residential areas. The proportion of natural landscapes in the study area has been decreasing year by year, while the proportion of artificial landscapes has continued to rise. This is mainly manifested by the gradual decreased area of natural tidal flats, and the increased area of farmlands, wetlands (mainly constructed wetland such as fish ponds and salt fields), and residential areas. The area of tidal flats has changed the most, with a decrease of 292.4 km². The disorderly expansion of artificial landscapes such as wetlands, forestlands, farmlands, and residential areas have led to increased fragmentation of their types of horizontal landscapes, increased boundary fragmentation, and increased landscape complexity, which in turn led to the landscape level pattern index of the entire Yancheng coastal zone. The fragmentation of the landscape has increased, the overall shape of the landscape has become more complex, the diversity of the landscape has declined, and the distribution has become uneven. Correlation analysis shows that the area of tidal flats, farmlands, and residential areas are mainly driven by social and economic factors, and the areas of wetlands, oceans, and forestlands are driven by natural factors.