*3.2. Analysis of the Characteristics of Land Use Landscape Area Change*

Land use changes were influenced by the expansion of constructed land and loss of cultivated land in 2000–2020 (Figure 4) because of the influence of strong urban development activities. During this period, the cultivated land flowing to constructed land accounts for 36.48% of the landscape in the watershed. By 2020, constructed land accounted for approximately 20% of the watershed area, which was 2.31 times the shared area in 2000. After analyzing the changes in the land landscape in each period with the help of the land use transfer matrix, constructed land recorded the largest growth rate of 130.72% from 2000 to 2020. However, the proportion of grassland and cultivated land was decreasing, and the proportion of forest showed an increasing trend at first but later showed a decreasing trend. With the growth in urbanization, the Nanming River Basin has undergone a dynamic process of changing from natural to unnatural landscapes, indicating that the impact of human activities on the ecosystem of the watershed is more intense. This shows that the Nanming River Basin has undergone continuous economic development in the past 20 years since 2001.

**Figure 4.** Land use status map of the study area in 2000 (**a**), 2010 (**b**), 2020 (**c**), and land use transfer map from 2000 to 2020 (**d**). Note: 1 indicates grassland; 2 indicates cultivated land; 3 indicates constructed land; 4 indicates forest; and 5 indicates waters.
