Page 104 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Influence of land-use change on carbon storage

Table 6. Change of carbon storage (10 t) in different land‑use types from 2000 to 2020 in Chengdu
6
Particular year/period Cultivated land Forest Grassland Wetland Construction land Unused land Total change
2010 789.990 368.196 2.780 4.413 100.181 0.286 1,265.846
2015 772.021 367.224 2.778 4.395 111.065 0.282 1,257.765
2020 748.296 364.501 2.782 4.787 124.884 0.285 1,245.534
From 2010 to 2015 −17.969 −0.971 −0.001 −0.018 10.883 −0.004 −8.080
From 2015 to 2020 −23.725 −2.724 0.003 0.392 13.820 0.002 −12.231
Total change −41.694 −3.695 0.002 0.374 24.703 −0.002 −20.312

Figure 4. Land-use transfer and carbon storage changes (t) in the study area from 2010 to 2020. Source: Drawings by the authors
As shown in Figure 5D, the distribution of carbon source initiating a new type of industrialization, urbanization,
areas in Chengdu from 2010 to 2020 exhibited spatial and agricultural modernization. This reform aimed to
aggregation, with the northern and southern parts being encourage industrial concentration, urban migration of
the main carbon source areas, and the eastern and central farmers, and large-scale land development, along with the
parts of each county serving as secondary carbon source comprehensive improvement of rural land (Qian et al.,
areas. The conversion of cultivated land and forest land to 2015; Zeng &Tang, 2013).
construction land around towns led to continuous loss of
carbon storage, especially in cities located in plain areas This development strategy prompted the conversion of
where urbanization caused significant carbon release. The various cultivated land and forests in the periphery of central
carbon sink areas were mainly distributed in the Longmen Chengdu and suburban counties into construction land to
Mountains, the Longquan Mountains, and the ring belt address the needs of the rural population and industries
zone around the central area. Since Chengdu proposed concentrating in cities and towns. High-intensity human
the construction of a park city, a 500 m zone on both development activities further exacerbated ecosystem
sides of the ring expressway around the city has gradually destruction and the reduction of high-quality arable land.
formed an ecological green belt to prevent excessive urban Due to the natural geographical pattern of the basin and
expansion. This important ecological protection project the influence of the Longquan Mountains and Longmen
has played a vital role in stabilizing carbon storage in Mountains, the expansion direction of construction land
Chengdu (Lv, 2016; You et al., 2020). is limited, leading to the occupation of relatively flat
cultivated land (Ren et al., 2021). On the other hand, due
4. Discussion to population migration, some remote and scattered rural

In 2007, Chengdu was approved as a national pilot zone construction land has gradually been converted back into
for comprehensive reform of urban and rural areas, cultivated land.

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3069