Land use/cover changes in the Oriental migratory locust area of China: Implications for ecological control and monitoring of locust area.

• An integrated patch-based habitat suitability assessment method for nationwide locust area extraction is proposed. • Dynamic changes of locust area and its evolution in China from 1995 to 2017 are analyzed. • The influences of land use/cover change on locust area evolution are quantified. • Suggestions for locust area management and monitoring are provided. The Oriental migratory locust (Locusta migratoria manilensis) is a threat to agriculture in China. The locust area is defined as an area possessing a suitable breeding habitat for this locust and has a locust outbreak at least once per decade. Ecological control of the locust area is an effective approach to manage locust with minimal environmental degradation. The formation and dynamic changes of locust areas are greatly affected by land use/cover changes (LUCC). Clarifying the LUCC in the locust area is significant for implementing rational ecological control strategies and detecting timely potential locust areas. This paper proposed a patch-based habitat suitability assessment (PHSA) method for nationwide locust area extraction. Then, a multi-temporal binary coding method was used to detect the locust area dynamic changes from 1995 to 2017. Subsequently, the relationship between LUCC and the extinction and formation of locust areas in different ecotypes was quantitatively investigated. Results show that the area of the locust area has greatly reduced over the past 20 years, and the distribution range has a large degree of temporal and spatial variation. The extinction of the locust area is closely related to the LUCC from cropland and wetland to woodland and artificial surface. It is also related to changes from grassland to cropland and woodland. The newly formed locust area shows opposite LUCC trends. These results provide practical strategies and guidance for ecological control and early monitoring of locust areas. They are instrumental in reducing pesticide use and achieving more sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]