Assessment of forest geospatial patterns over the three giant forest areas of China

Geospatial patterns of forest fragmentation over the three traditional giant forested areas of China (Northeastern, southwestern and Southern China) were analyzed comparatively and reported based on a 250-m resolution land cover dataset. Specifically, the spatial patterns of forest fragmentation were characterized by combining geospatial metrics and forest fragmentation models. The driving forces resulting in the differences of the forest spatial patterns were also investigated. Results suggested that forests in southwest China had the highest severity of forest fragmentation, followed by south region and northeast region. The driving forces of forest fragmentation in China were primarily the giant population and improper exploitation of forests. In conclusion, the generated information in the study provided valuable insights and implications as to the fragmentation patterns and the conservation of biodiversity or genes, and the use of the chosen geospatial metrics and forest fragmentation models was quite useful for depicting forest fragmentation patterns.