Evolution and Transformation Analysis of Land-use in Mountainous “Granary”—Evidence from Typical Basin in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwest China

Intermountain basins are the granaries of the karst mountains of southwest China. Revealing the process and trend of land-use transformation in typical mountainous “granaries” is of great significance to optimizing land-use, food security, and rural revitalization in the karst mountains of southwest China. Lianjiang basin in Huishui County is the largest in Guizhou Province of southwest China, and a typical mountainous “granary” is used as a case study area. Based on seven periods of high-definition remote sensing images from 1966 to 2020 and on-the-spot investigation, we adopt the analysis methods of landscape pattern, moving window, and buffer zone and conduct an in-depth study on the spatial evolution of land-use and the land-use transformation law of the typical “granaries” of karst mountainous areas in southwest China from the perspectives of changes in the quantity of land-use, changes in the types of land-use, and changes in the landscape pattern. The results showed that the transformation of land-use in the basin was mainly manifested in the transformation of the function of cultivated land and the diversification of the function of cultivated land. The landscape pattern of the basin was gradually transformed from traditional rural landscape to modern agricultural landscape. The gradient effect of land-use evolution and transformation in the study basin was obvious. Traffic, location, and land resources significantly affect land-use transformation in the basin. Based on the above analysis, this paper proposes that the “granary” basins in karst mountainous areas should optimize the land-use of the basin by the trade-off between regional socio-economic development, ecological protection, and food security. The results of this paper provide a reference for land-use optimization and rural development in the granary-type basins and other similar areas in the karst mountains of southwest China.