A study of scenic byways, a new form of integrated tourism and transport developing in karst areas, is of great significance for promoting the rational use of landscape resources and sustainable development in karst areas. The rocky karst desertification area of Yunnan-Guangxi-Guizhou in the Nanpan–Beipan River Basin was taken as an example. Here, 16 factors in four dimensions of landscape visual quality, ecological suitability, transport convenience, and accessibility to resource points were selected to construct the evaluation index system of scenic byway routing. Next, a comprehensive resistance surface model was constructed based on the minimum cumulative resistance, which was then combined with the source location to simulate the optimal path and plan route selection for a scenic byway. The study shows that: (1) influenced by topography, traffic network, and resource points, the spatial distribution pattern of resistance in the Nanpan–Beipan River Basin was "low in the middle and high in the surrounding areas;" the low resistance area was mainly distributed in the central part of the watershed around the first-class scenic spots and the traffic network, while the high resistance area was distributed in the southeastern and northwestern parts of the watershed; (2) a total of 494 ecotourism corridors were generated with 273 attractions as the ecological sources, generally showing a distribution pattern of "high in the middle and low in the surrounding areas. Among them, 44 key ecological corridors were centered on valleys, 196 important ecological corridors were centered on water areas with good habitat quality, and 254 general ecological corridors were mainly important landscape types such as woodland, grassland, wetland, etc. and (3) the Karst Scenic Byway constructed in the Nanpan and Beipan River Basins as a whole formed a ring-shaped network, which was divided into the Karst Landscape Ethnic Scenic Byway and the Karst Summer Resort Three-Line Cultural Scenic Byway. This study provides a reference for the planning and construction of the Karst Mountain Scenic Byway in China.
To bibliometrically analyze karst-related studies from 1990 to 2016. We collected data, and our findings revealed that the number of documents, authors, research institutes, participant countries, and English references dominant increased for karst-related studies. While geology, water resources, and ecology were leading categories of karst-related studies, environmental earth science karst-related papers were the highest. To quantitatively and qualitatively examine karst-related research documents, we used spatiotemporal, international collaboration, yields, and GDP characteristics to determine global trends in karst-related studies. This study provides quantitatively and qualitatively examine karst-related research documents to determine global trends in karst-related studies and the direction of future studies.
A scientific definition of the type of mountain area and an exploration of the spatial correlation between different types of mountain areas and regional land use at the county level are important for reasonable land resource utilization and regional sustainable development. Here, a geographic information system was used to analyze digital elevation model data and to define the extent of mountainous land and types of mountain areas in Guizhou province. Exploratory spatial data analysis was used to study the spatial coupling relation between the type of mountain area and land use degree in Guizhou province at the county level. The results were as follows: (1) Guizhou province has a high proportion of mountainous land, with a ratio of mountainous land to non-mountainous land of 88:11. The county-level administrative units in Guizhou province were exclusively mountainous, consisting of eight semi mountainous counties, nine quasi mountainous counties, 35 apparently mountainous counties, 13 type I completely mountainous counties, and 23 type II completely mountainous counties; (2) The land use degree at the county level in Guizhou province have remarkable spatial differentiation characteristics. Counties with a high cultivation coefficient are mainly located in the western area along the line between Yinjiang county and Anlong county in west Guizhou province. Counties with a large proportion of construction land or a high integrated index of land use degree are mainly distributed in the economically developed area of central Guizhou province, including parts of the counties (districts/cities) administrated by Guiyang, Zunyi, Liupanshui, Anshun, Duyun, and Kaili; (3) County-level administrative units with relatively flat topography and a low proportion of mountainous land have a large proportion of construction land and a large degree of regional land exploitation. However, the extent of cultivation of county-level administrative units under similar topography differs considerably; (4) The increase in urban land intensity and the decrease in cultivated land intensity are distinctive features of land system change in mountain areas, which is conducive to the sustainable development of mountain.
Understanding the regime shifts of Social–Ecological Systems (SES) and their local effects and driving factors over a long period of time is significant for future sustainability. We provide a perspective on the processes unfolding over time in order to identify the regime shifts of an SES based on changes in the relationships between the SES components. In addition, we investigate their driving factors and local effects. The applicability of this approach is demonstrated by analyzing the evolution of the SES in Guizhou Province, China, over the past 600 years. Six evolutionary phases are identified: the slow expansion of cultivation, the rapid expansion of cultivation, the continuous expansion of cultivation, the slower expansion of cultivation, the transformation of ecological protection driven by returning farmland to forest, and green development driven by urbanization. Our study establishes the empirical relationship between the state (phase) of the SES and its driving factors and effects. This study on the evolution, driving factors, and effects of the SES in Guizhou Province, China, provides an important reference for long-term regional planning and policy making.
'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(23.036 .093 25.536)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(45.87 1.273 16.18)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(69.945 .996 12.078)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(20.66 -19.689 31.932)'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
