Study On Evolution And Driving Forces Of Dafeng Coastal Beach

With the constant development of human society, the economy and population have both undergone a substantial growth, which exacerbates the problem of the shortage of existing resources against people’s growing material and cultural needs. Especially for coastal regions, the economic development is largely restricted by the sharp shrink of arable land, environment deterioration and the damage to the ecosystem. In seek of solution to the problems brought by the regional population pressure and resource shortage and in order to fulfill the strategic goal of substantial, fast and healthy development of coastal regions, people are pouring their attention to coastal mud flat. Coastal mud flat is not only an important living and working area for fishermen, it’s also a critical constituent part of marine ecosystem. As a vital land resources reserve, it is of large significance in increasing effective land supply so as to remit the conflict between land and people. To the same degree, it also does help to optimize resource utilization for the realization of sustainable development. This article targets the coastal area of Dafeng where rich mud land resources and fast silt deposition rate are endowed. Data are collected from the remote-sensing images of terms1975,1992,2006and2012. Technologically aided by the software ArcGIS10.0and SPSS and with the adoption of qualitative and quantitative analysis method, this article focuses on the analysis of the key factors from the aspects of natural, demographic, economic and social elements on the evolution of the mud flat and the transition in land use patterns in the targeted region.Based on the current background of putting coastal development issues on the agenda of national strategies, this research reveals the driving mechanism of human activities and natural processes towards the evolution of mud flat in coastal regions. With the effort to draw people’s attention on the ecosystem of mud flat in coastal regions and reflection on the current social and economic development patterns, this research encourages reasonable suggestions on modifying the unreasonable aspects of this whole process in the respects of food, ecosystem and economic security. Bold and reasonable predictions of social and economic development are also fostered to accelerate the forming of the quaternity development pattern of economy, society, environment and ecosystem, benefited from which the coastal area of Dafeng will witness a sustainable and healthy development.Main conclusions:(1) For the continuous silt deposition of the mud flat, during the period from1975to2012, the acreage of the coastal area of Dafeng appeared generally in growth. The types of available lands of this region mainly include grasslands, water area, farm land, construction area, aquacultural land, uncultivated land and coastal mud flat, among which land for agricultural use occupies the majority of the whole space and certain transitional relations can be found among different land-use patterns.(2) Between1975to2012, the degree of comprehensive use of land in the coastal area of Dafeng experienced some increase but still remained in a low level and the farm land of the whole region exerted an overt regional advantages. The concentration ratio of the researched area showed a downward trend while the evenness index of land use a upward one, which indicated diversifying ways of land use. The information entropy index of land use in Dafeng coastal region kept rising but in a low level. Lacking the variety in land-use patterns, further work should be done to enrich the types of land use according to the needs of regional comprehensive development. Moreover, along with the development of coastal mud flat, the deviation degree of Dafeng coastal area keeps increasing. Interfered by human activities, the wetland ecosystem along the coastal area is also largely affected.(3) Human factors such as economic measures and social policies remain the key elements that drive the transformation of land-use patterns while natural factors, mainly the silt erosion of coastal lines exerts a fundamental influence, accompanied with the driving power of population growth in this area. In the future, the evolution of Dafeng coastal region and the transformation of land-use patterns will to a large extent rely on the cohesive function of three aspects as coastal space development pattern, coastal marine industry development and essential eco-functional regions construction.(4) With the relentless upgrading of coastal development strategies, mud flat resource use keeps on expansion. Accordingly, the degree and intensity of mud flat land use are also magnified, leading to the increasingly prominent problems of coastal silt erosion, sharp decline in wetland area and deterioration of soil environment and water quality, as well as the decrease on biodiversity. To achieve a sustainable and healthy development on the coastal area of Dafeng, sustainable use of mud land resources should be realized, with an overall planning adhering to the principle of combining development with protection. Adjustment of measures to local conditions, intensive development of ports and industrial areas and optimization of agricultural structure, as well as positive development of coastal eco-tourism and eco-industrial park will ensure a verified four-in-one development of economy, society, environment and ecosystem.