Landscape ecological studies in China: history and development

It has been more than 70 years since landscape ecology emerged as a new concept of interdisciplinary research in world. Landscape ecological studies in Chin has experienced more than 30 years since its introduction. In this process, many case studies were conducted by Chinese landscape ecologists, and achievements are made in many research fields at tracking the international research. Generally, the development of landscape ecology in China is divided into five periods: infancy period (before the 1980s), introducing and digesting period (1980-1988), rapid development period (1989-2000), rethinking period (2001-2010), innovation period (2011 -?). In this paper, the characteristics of landscape ecological studies in each period were analyzed, and the key achievements obtained in the following research fields are elaborated: land use/land cover change and its scale characteristics, forest landscape dynamic simulation and management, oasis landscape change and eco-hydrological responses, landscape planning and eco-security pattern design, nature reserve network design and spatial optimization, landscape fragmentation and wildlife conservation, multiple-pond-system and wetland landscape design, rice-duck/fish farm ecosystem and landscape health, terrace farming culture landscape and its sustainability, source-sink landscape pattern analysis and soil-water loss evaluation. Finally, the future research priorities of landscape ecology in China are discussed from three aspects: theory research, hotspot research regions, and applications of landscape principles.

Keywords:

Landscape ecology in China , history of development , characteristic , future research priorities