remote sensing Article The Process-Mode-Driving Force of Cropland Expansion in Arid Regions of China Based on the Land Use Remote Sensing Monitoring Data Tianyi Cai 1,2, Xinhuan Zhang 1,*, Fuqiang Xia 1, Zhiping Zhang 1,2, Jingjing Yin 1,2 and Shengqin Wu 1,2 1 State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +86-099-1782-7314 Abstract: The center of gravity of China’s new cropland has shifted from Northeast China to the Xinjiang oasis areas where the ecological environment is relatively fragile. However, we currently face a lack of a comprehensive review of the cropland expansion in oasis areas of Xinjiang, which is importantly associated with the sustainable use of cropland, social stability and oasis ecological security. In this study, the land use remote sensing monitoring data in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 were used to comprehensively analyze the process characteristics, different modes and driving mechanisms of the cropland expansion in Xinjiang, as well as its spatial heterogeneity at the oasis area level. The results revealed that cropland in Xinjiang continued to expand from 5803 thousand hectares in 1990 to 8939 thousand hectares in 2018 and experienced three stages of expansion: steady Citation: Cai, T.; Zhang, X.; Xia, F.; expansion, rapid expansion, and slow expansion.