The Role of Spatial Morphology in Forest Landscape Fragmentation: Insights From Planted and Natural Forests of the Chinese Loess Plateau

ABSTRACT This study aimed to emphasize the key role of spatial morphology of planted and natural forests on landscape fragmentation and to furnish a scientific foundation for the effective assessment of ecological restoration projects of vegetation on the Loess Plateau. The spatial morphological pattern and landscape fragmentation characteristics were analyzed using morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and forest area density methods. This is the inaugural study to reveal the linear and nonlinear relationships between forest landscape fragmentation and its driving factors using machine learning methods and introducing morphological indicators with two different strategies. The results showed significant differences in the spatial patterns and landscape fragmentation characteristics between planted and natural forests. The spatial patterns of planted and natural forests were found to be dominated by “Core” in terms of area, while “Branch” was more prevalent in terms of number. Compared to natural forests, planted forests were more fragmented. The introduction of the MSPA indicator significantly enhanced the explanatory power and predictive performance of the model despite the disparate contribution rates of the driving factors in planted and natural forests. This study highlights the importance of spatial morphology in understanding forest landscape fragmentation and provides a new combination of analytical techniques to better understand the complexity of forest ecosystems. These provide new insights into forest landscape restoration and sustainable management on the Loess Plateau.