Landscape fragmentation and spatial reorganization on a tourism-driven coral island: an integrated analysis of xiaoliuqiu using intensity and dynamic patch methods

Tourism development on small islands creates land use pressures within constrained environments, leading to landscape fragmentation and altered connectivity patterns. However, our understanding of tourism-driven spatial reorganization processes on small islands is limited. Understanding these tourism-driven land use change mechanisms is important for promoting sustainability in vulnerable island ecosystems. This study aims to quantify tourism-driven land use change patterns and identify spatial reorganization mechanisms on Xiaoliuqiu Island, Taiwan, to examine spatial transition processes and inform sustainable island landscape management. This study collected land use data for 2006, 2014, and 2023, supplemented by tourism-accommodation and economic data. Seven land use categories were defined: farmland, forest and natural areas, coastal areas, built-up areas, tourism-related land use, transportation infrastructure, and vacant land. Intensity analysis and DynamicPATCH analysis were employed to quantify transition patterns and processes. Tourist arrivals increased from approximately 150,000 in the early 2000s to 1.12 million in 2023. Accommodation facilities expanded from 2 establishments during 2000–2005 to 182 by 2024, and the tourism industry proportion increased from 11 to 49.5%, resulting in an extreme tourist-to-resident ratio of 90.5:1. The total area of tourism-related land use increased by 1098.0% over 17 years and exhibited "target" effects, attracting increasing conversions from semi-natural landscapes (farmland-to-tourism and vacant land-to-tourism). DynamicPATCH analysis showed that tourism-related land use exhibited Appearing-dominated patch dynamics, while farmland demonstrated intensive patch fragmentation. The extreme tourist numbers and intensive spatial transitions indicate potential sustainability pressures for small island development. Island spatial planning should strengthen land use delineation and tourist carrying capacity management to pursue island sustainable management.