Influence of connection with Mainland via bridge on land use of Islands: A case study of Zhujiajian Island

The traffic conditions of an island often seriously restrict its development. A sea-crossing bridge connecting an island with the mainland makes the transportation more convenient and its relations closer, greatly stimulating rapid development of the economy on the island, especially a turism-based island economy. The construction of such a bridge will no wonder have some influences on land use of the island. But so far little has been reported on this aspect. Zhujiajian Island was cited as a case for analysis. Based on timing and availability of remote sensing images of the Zhujiajian Island, five remote-sensing images taken at different times during the past 26 years were selected as the source of data for interpretation of the man-computer interaction type. Transition matrix and land use dynamic models were used to illustrate processes of the change in land use, before and after construction of the bridge. Results show that:(1) During the years of 1990-2015, the island increased in total land area by 694 hm² and varied sharply in landscape structure and land use, the area of constriction land increased by 948 hm²(521%), while the area of agriculture land decreased by 736 hm² (37%); (2) The change in land use occurred gradually in coincidence with the construction of the sea-crossing bridge. Before getting connected with the mainland, the island changed slightly in land use with dynamics declining; and once the bridge was erected, it was subjected to great changes in land use; and (3) The bridge has directly changed the pathway of the material and energy flows between the island and mainland, which in turn affects indirectly land use pattern of the island.