China has experienced dramatic changes in its land use and landscape pattern in the past few decades. At present, a large number of studies have carried out in-depth and systematic analyses on the landscape variation and its ecological effects in Central and Eastern China, but research on the northwest arid region is relatively deficient. In the present study, the city of Hami, which is located in the northwest arid region of China, was selected as the study area to investigate the responses in the habitat quality, water yield and carbon storage to land use and cover change during 2000-2020. We found that (1) during the entire study period (2000-2020), the variation intensity of the first decade (2000-2010) was significantly greater than that of the second decade (2010-2020), and the conversion between desert and grassland played a dominant role in the conversion among these land types. (2) The maximum value of the habitat degradation degree in Hami city increased during the study period, indicating that the habitat presented a trend of degradation. (3) The total carbon storage in Hami city was approximately 11.03 × 106 t, 11.16 × 106 t and 11.17 × 106 t in 2000, 2010 and 2020, respectively, which indicated an increasing trend. (4) According to the calculation, the average water yield and the total water conservation showed a decreasing trend in the study area. The corresponding results will help to formulate protective measures that are conducive to the restoration of ecosystem functions in extremely arid regions.
Keywords: carbon dynamics; ecological restoration; habitat quality; land use and cover change; landscape variation; water yield.