Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland

Li, Xinyu; Liu, Siming; Shi, Xinjie; Wang, Chunyu; Li, Ling; Liu, Siyuan; Li, Donghao

doi:10.3390/land14071417

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Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland

by

Xinyu Li

¹,

Siming Liu

²,

Xinjie Shi

^1,3,

Chunyu Wang

^1,3

,

Ling Li

^1,3,

Siyuan Liu

^1,3

and

Donghao Li

^1,3,*

¹

College of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China

²

State Key Laboratory of Water Engineering Ecology and Environment in Arid Area, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710000, China

³

Henan Engineering Research Center of Land Consolidation and Ecological Restoration, Zhengzhou 450046, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Land 2025, 14(7), 1417; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071417 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 3 June 2025 / Revised: 3 July 2025 / Accepted: 4 July 2025 / Published: 5 July 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Land–Climate Interactions)

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Abstract

Changes in the environment and in land use interconnect and interact. To ascertain the impact of meteorological factors, namely temperature, precipitation, and sunshine, on land use changes, an analysis was conducted using meteorological data and the China land use dataset spanning from 1990 to 2020. Pearson correlation analysis, grey correlation degree, and vector regression model were employed to assess the influence of meteorological factors on land use alterations and to pinpoint the primary driving forces. The findings reveal the following: (1) The spatial distribution of isohyets and isotherms is shifting towards the north, with the most significant northward movement observed in the 1600 mm isohyets and 15 °C isotherm contours. (2) Overall, the areas of croplands, shrubs, grasslands, and wetlands are decreasing, notably, with a reduction of approximately 100,000 km² in cropland, while forests, water, and impervious surfaces are expanding annually. (3) Temperature and precipitation exhibit notable impacts on various land use types, with temperature exerting the most substantial influence on changes in cropland area, contributing to 8% of the observed variations. This study can provide a scientific basis for the rational optimization and allocation of land resources under changing environmental conditions.

Keywords: land use; climate change; grey relational analysis; driving forces; variance decomposition; China

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MDPI and ACS Style

Li, X.; Liu, S.; Shi, X.; Wang, C.; Li, L.; Liu, S.; Li, D. Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland. Land 2025, 14, 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071417

AMA Style

Li X, Liu S, Shi X, Wang C, Li L, Liu S, Li D. Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland. Land. 2025; 14(7):1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071417

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Xinyu, Siming Liu, Xinjie Shi, Chunyu Wang, Ling Li, Siyuan Liu, and Donghao Li. 2025. "Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland" Land 14, no. 7: 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071417

APA Style

Li, X., Liu, S., Shi, X., Wang, C., Li, L., Liu, S., & Li, D. (2025). Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland. Land, 14(7), 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071417

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Impacts of Climate Change in China: Northward Migration of Isohyets and Reduction in Cropland

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