[Spatiotemporal variability characteristics and driving forces of land use in the Pan-Pearl River Basin, China]

The Pan-Pearl River Basin is a bridgehead for China's reform and opening-up and the construction of the Belt and Road at Sea, with vital strategic significance in Chinese overall development. Land use data and climate and socio-economic indicators were integrated to probe the spatiotemporal change and its driving forces of land use in the Pan-Pearl River basin with ArcGIS spatial analysis tool and SPSS factor analysis tool. Results showed that land use in the Pan-Pearl River Basin significantly changed between 1990 and 2015, with decreases of the area of paddy field and woodland and rapid increases of urban land and other construction land. Outflow of grassland occurred in the northwestern part of the basin. Reduction of cultivated field was mainly concentrated in the central part of the basin and coastal areas. Increases in urban and rural land, industrial and mining land, and residential land were centrally distributed in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Marco Greater Bay Area. The prominent change areas were Guangdong-Hong Kong-Marco Greater Bay Area : central and southeast of Guangxi Province : northern Hainan Province. Land use changes during 1990-2000 were most obvious in the basin. The main driving factor of spatiotemporal variation of land use was the rapid development of social economy and industry and the improvement of residents' consumption level.