Landscape pattern evolution and its driving forces in the Shiyang River Basin from 1986 to 2020

The spatio-temporal evolution of landscape pattern is the most intuitive manifestation of land use and cover change (LUCC), and is the focus of landscape ecology research. Based on the land use/land cover (LULC) data from 1986 to 2020, the landscape pattern index was calculated by the standard and moving window methods to analyze the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of landscape pattern in the Shiyang River Basin using ArcGIS and FRAGSTATS software. The main driving forces of landscape pattern change were determined by calculating the grey correlation degree. The results showed that the areas of cultivated and construction land have increased significantly, that of unused land has decreased significantly, and the other landscape types have had a relatively stable change trend in the Shiyang River Basin in the last 35 years. The transfer of each landscape area was relatively simple, mainly manifested in the conversion of unused to cultivated land from 1986 to 2010. The transfer of each landscape area became complex from 2010 to 2020, mainly manifested in the conversion of unused to construction and cultivated lands, and exhibited a large-area mutual conversion between forest land and grassland, and unused land and grassland. During 1986–2020, the dominance of unused land and grassland decreased and the fragmentation increased, whereas the dominance of cultivated land and construction land increased and the fragmentation decreased, and the overall landscape tended to be diversified and fragmented. Temperature, precipitation, population, and primary industry are the key driving factors of landscape pattern change in the Shiyang River Basin. The results can provide a scientific basis for land use planning and management, and landscape ecological restoration, protection, and sustainable development.