Spatiotemporal variations in oasis structure and landscape stability in the middle reaches of the Konqi River based on high-spatial-resolution multispectral imagery

doi:10.1016/j.regsus.2026.100372

Abstract

Abstract:

Inland river oasis ecosystems have undergone substantial transformations due to extensive land exploitation. It is essential to understand the environmental implications and consequences of such activities to ensure the ecological safety of these ecosystems. This study applied a U-Net model to multi-temporal imagery acquired from the Système Probatoire d’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) and Sentinel-2 satellites to map structural variations of oasis ecosystems in the middle reaches of the Konqi River, China, from 1986 to 2023. Based on the mapping results, the study analysed landscape pattern changes in the context of water resource utilisation and agricultural development. The stability of the oasis in the middle reaches of the Konqi River was also assessed through landscape pattern analysis. The results showed that, from 1986 to 2023, the landscape transitioned predominantly from a natural desert ecosystem to an anthropogenic farmland ecosystem. Significant increases were observed in cropland, orchard, and urban land, with increases of 143.39%, 337.73%, and 143.39%, respectively. Conversely, grassland, shrub woodland, and bare land decreased by 58.04%, 27.30%, and 25.57%, respectively. Notably, grassland and shrub woodland together contributed to 75.15% of the cropland increase, while bare land accounted for 64.83% of the urban expansion. Cropland and orchard primarily expanded along riparian zones and irrigation channels, with new orchard developing from existing croplands that have favourable water, soil, and transportation conditions. From a landscape perspective, the proliferation and clustering of cropland and orchard patches enhanced the connectivity of the oasis ecosystem. The overall stability of the oasis landscape in the middle reaches of the Konqi River gradually increased. This study offers a scientific evaluation of land exploitation and the overall stability of oasis ecosystems under conditions of limited water resources.

Key words: Ecosystem structure, Landscape pattern, Oasis structure, Landscape stability, Remote sensing, Konqi River

JIN Jingyu, LI Junli, BAO Anming, WEI Chunxia, LI Fujie, WANG Haoyu, ZHANG Jiudan, Naibi SULEI. Spatiotemporal variations in oasis structure and landscape stability in the middle reaches of the Konqi River based on high-spatial-resolution multispectral imagery[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2026, 7(4): 100372.

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Year	Data type	Spatial resolution (m)	Count	Acquisition date	Data quality	Data source
1986	SPOT-1	20.0	3	13 June 1986 and 30 August 1986	Cloudless	https://regards.cnes.fr/user/swh/modules/60
2003	SPOT-4	10.0	3	30 September 2003 and 25 October 2003
2008	SPOT-4	10.0	3	02 September 2008 and 24 October 2008
2011	SPOT-4	10.0	3	02 July 2011, 23 July 2011, and 07 August 2011
2023	Sentinel-2	10.0	3	10 September 2023, 15 October 2023, and 20 October 2023		https://scihub.copernicus. eu/dhus/#/home
2023	GF-2	0.8	12	07 June 2023, 27 June 2023, 07 July 2023, 30 August 2023, and 04 September 2023		https://data.cresda.cn

Ecosystem structure type	1986-2003		2003-2008		2008-2011		2011-2023		1986-2023
Ecosystem structure type	Area change (km²)	Change proportion (%)	Area change (km²)	Change proportion (%)	Area change (km²)	Change proportion (%)	Area change (km²)	Change proportion (%)	Area change (km²)	Change proportion (%)
Grassland	-111.45	-7.12	-536.92	-36.92	-97.55	-10.63	-162.86	-19.86	-908.78	-58.04
Cropland	362.85	47.93	472.23	42.16	156.90	9.85	93.66	5.35	1085.65	143.39
Orchard	42.76	114.43	120.74	181.97	30.28	11.91	139.83	47.98	336.76	901.30
Shrub woodland	-248.74	-18.17	-35.86	-3.20	-76.71	-7.07	-12.54	-1.24	-373.85	-27.30
Urban land	8.01	9.60	81.93	89.61	42.32	-24.41	149.46	69.30	281.72	337.73
Bare land	-51.29	-3.14	-122.61	-7.76	-49.65	-3.41	-193.59	-13.75	-417.14	-25.57
Water bodies	-2.15	-1.78	-4.56	-3.86	-2.21	-1.94	4.55	4.08	-4.37	-3.63

Year	PD	ED	AI	CONTAG	PAFRAC	SPLIT	SHDI	SHEI
1986	0.04	4.09	99.81	66.96	1.30	5.65	1.36	0.65
2003	2.47	45.56	97.71	56.78	1.20	8.4	1.56	0.80
2008	4.01	66.66	96.67	53.63	1.19	13.78	1.64	0.84
2011	4.55	71.36	96.44	53.16	1.19	12.88	1.65	0.85
2023	5.50	79.14	96.05	51.22	1.19	17.75	1.70	0.87

Year	PAFRAC	SHDI	PD	SPLIT
1986	1.00	0.00	1.00	1.00
2003	0.10	0.60	0.55	0.77
2008	0.02	0.84	0.27	0.33
2011	0.03	0.85	0.17	0.40
2023	0.00	1.00	0.00	0.00

Principal component (PC)	PAFRAC	SHDI	PD	SPLIT
PC1	0.29	0.57	-0.56	-0.53
PC2	0.91	0.03	0.14	0.39