remote sensing
Article
The Changes of Spatiotemporal Pattern of Rocky Desertification
and Its Dominant Driving Factors in Typical Karst
Mountainous Areas under the Background of Global Change
Bing Guo 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 , Fei Yang 2, *, Junfu Fan 1 and Yuefeng Lu 1
Citation: Guo, B.; Yang, F.; Fan, J.;
Lu, Y. The Changes of Spatiotemporal
Pattern of Rocky Desertification and
Its Dominant Driving Factors in
Typical Karst Mountainous Areas
under the Background of Global
Change. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14102351
Academic Editors: Lizhe Wang,
Xiaodong Zhang, Jining Yan and
Guanzhou Chen
Received: 4 April 2022
Accepted: 10 May 2022
Published: 12 May 2022
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Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14102351
1 School of Civil Architectural Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China;
guobing@sdut.edu.cn (B.G.); fanjf@sdut.edu.cn (J.F.); yflu@sdut.edu.cn (Y.L.)
2 State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences
and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
3 Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation, Ministry of Natural Resources,
Shenzhen 518000, China
4 Key Laboratory of National Geographic Census and Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources,
Wuhan 430072, China
5 Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
6 State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing,
Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
7 Key Laboratory of Land Use, Ministry of Natural Resources, China Land Survey and Planning Institute,
Beijing 100035, China
* Correspondence: yangfei@igsnrr.ac.cn
Abstract: There are significant differences in the dominant driving factors of rocky desertification
evolution in different historical periods in southwest karst mountainous areas. However, previous
studies were mostly conducted in specific periods. In this study, taking Bijie City as an example, the
spatial and temporal evolution pattern of rocky desertification in Bijie City in the recent 35 years
was analyzed by introducing the feature space model and the gravity center model, and then the
dominant driving factors of rocky desertification in the study area in different historical periods
were clarified based on GeoDetector. The results were as follows: (1) The point-to-point B (bare land
index)-DI (dryness index) feature space model has high applicability for rocky desertification moni-
toring, and its inversion accuracy was 91.3%. (2) During the past 35 years, the rocky desertification
in Bijie belonged to the moderate rocky desertification on the whole, and zones of intensive and
severe rocky desertification were mainly distributed in the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous
Region. (3) During 1985–2020, the rocky desertification in Bijie City showed an overall weakening
trend (‘weakening–aggravating–weakening’). (4) From 1985 to 2020, the gravity center of rocky
desertification in Bijie City moved westward, indicating that the aggravating degree of rocky deserti-
fication in the western region of the study area was higher than that in the eastern region. (5) The
dominant factors affecting the evolution of rocky desertification in the past 35 years shifted from
natural factor (vegetation coverage) to human activity factor (population density). The research
results could provide decision supports for the prevention and control of rocky desertification in Bijie
City and even the southwest karst mountainous area.
Keywords: rocky desertification; GeoDetector; spatiotemporal evolution; driving mechanism; Bi-
jie City
1. Introduction
Rocky desertification is a typical process of land degradation caused by serious soil
erosion, large-scale bare bedrock, serious decline in land productivity, and similar desert
landscape on the surface due to the interference and destruction of unreasonable social
and economic activities [1,2]. The southwest mountainous area is one of the most typical
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Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 2 of 24

karst landform areas in the world with the largest distribution area and the strongest
formation [3,4]. The serious problem of rocky desertification has led to the aggravation of
regional soil erosion, the degradation of ecosystem function, and the siltation of rivers and
lakes, which has greatly threatened the ecological security and sustainable development of
the middle and lower reaches of the river [5–7]. It has always been the focus of regional
research and ecological environment governance [8].
Domestic and foreign scholars have carried out a series of studies on rocky deser-
tification in southwest mountainous areas, including rocky desertification information
extraction, dynamic evolution, comprehensive evaluation, driving mechanism, and eco-
logical restoration and management [9,10]. Since the 1990s, many scholars have begun to
explore the extraction methods of rocky desertification information, including the image
interpretation method and comprehensive index method. The image interpretation method
has gradually become an important approach to detect the rocky desertification [11–13].
However, this method could not obtain the inner spatial differentiation pattern information.
In order to monitor the spatiotemporal change of rocky desertification, the comprehensive
index of rocky desertification was established by using rock exposure rate and land-use
status based on the comprehensive index method [14]. The land vegetation types, soil
lithology, slope, vegetation coverage, and bedrock exposure rate were combined to evaluate
the rocky desertification condition and then obtain the spatiotemporal change patterns
of rocky desertification [15]. The bedrock exposure rate and vegetation coverage were
extracted, and then the normalized rock index (NDR) was constructed to obtain the rocky
desertification information based on the above two indices [16–18]. A novel rocky desertifi-
cation index was proposed based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI),
slope, surface albedo, vegetation net primary productivity (NPP), and other factors, which
had higher applicability in a large-scale area [19]. For a small-scale watershed, the re-
mote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) technology were applied to
explore the relationship between the distribution of rocky desertification and different
landscapes [20]. Combined with the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, the evolution pro-
cess of rocky desertification was investigated by using socioeconomic factors, topography,
climate, and geomorphology [21]. However, the comprehensive index method would
amplify one certain factor and ignore the interactions among different evaluating factors. In
order to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of rocky desertification,
GeoDetector was introduced to analyze the dominant factor of rocky desertification [22].
Using field-observed data and remote sensing images, the rocky desertification index was
constructed based on the multiterminal spectral mixture analysis method, and then the
temporal and spatial change characteristics of rocky desertification was explored [23].
However, the above studies are mostly based on the perspective of short-term series, and it
was difficult to reveal the long-term change characteristics and evolution trend of rocky
desertification evolution [24]. In addition, under the background of global change, there
were significant differences in the dominant factors affecting the evolution of rocky deserti-
fication in different historical periods. However, previous studies have mostly explored
the driving mechanism of rocky desertification in specific periods. In different historical
periods of evolution of rocky desertification, the dominant driving factors and the changes
were not clear [25–27].
In this study, taking Bijie City as an example, the feature space model was intro-
duced to quantitatively invert the rocky desertification index from 1985 to 2020 based on
Landsat satellite images, and then the long-term spatiotemporal evolution pattern and
characteristics were analyzed. Finally, the differences of dominant factors affecting the
evolution of rocky desertification in different historical periods were clarified and revealed
utilizing GeoDetector.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 3 of 24

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Area
Bijie City is located in the northwest of Guizhou Province (105◦ 360 –106◦ 430 E,
26◦ 210 –27◦ 460 N, Figure 1), with an area of about 26,853 km2 , accounting for 15% of Guizhou
Province. Bijie mainly has a subtropical humid monsoon climate with rain and heat over
the same periods. The precipitation is abundant with an average annual precipitation of
727.3–1193.2 mm and an average temperature of 10–15 ◦ C. The average elevation of Bijie
City ranges from 457 to 2900 m, and its terrain types are mainly composed of mountain
and plateau. The mainly soil type in this study area is red soil. The land-use types are
mainly composed of woodland and grassland. Woodland has the largest distribution area,
followed by grassland. The karst landform in Bijie City is well developed, and limestone
and dolomite are widely distributed, accounting for about 60% of the total area.

Figure 1. Location and topography of the study area.

2.2. Data Source and Preprocessing

Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI images in 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015,
and 2020 were downloaded from the Geospatial Data Cloud (http://www.gscloud.cn/,
accessed on 6 January 2022), with cloud less than 10% and a spatial resolution of 30 m.
Atmospheric correction was applied using the tool of ENVI5.3 FLAASH atmospheric
correction. Land-use types with a spatial scale of 1:100,000 were downloaded from the
Resource and Environmental Science and Data Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(https://www.resdc.cn/, accessed on 25 December 2021). The land-use types mainly
include cultivated land, forest land, grassland, water area, construction land, and unused
land. The overall accuracy of this dataset reached 95.41%, which met the needs of this
study. The 35 meteorological stations’ data used in this study were obtained from the China
Meteorological Data Network (http://data.cma.cn/, accessed on 14 November 2021),
including precipitation (0.1 mm), sunshine hours (0.1 h), and daily average temperature
(0.1 ◦ C). Then, the kriging interpolation method of ArcGIS 10.2 was applied to obtain grid
images with a spatial resolution of 30 m, and the projection type of Krasovsky-1940-Albers.
The DEM data with a resolution of 30 m were obtained from a Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission 3 (SRTM3) product available at the Geospatial Data Cloud. The gross domestic
product (GDP) density and population density were downloaded from Resource and
Environmental Science and Data Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Table 1).
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 4 of 24

Table 1. Data description and sources.

Data Name Sources Spatial and Temporal Resolution

Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI images Geospatial Data Cloud
Resource and Environmental Science and Data
Land-use types
Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Meteorological station data China Meteorological Data Network
DEM data Geospatial Data Cloud
Resource and Environmental Science and Data
GDP density and population density
Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
30 m; 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005,
2010, 2015, and 2020
1:100,000; 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000,
2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020
35 station(.shp); 1985–2020
30 m, 2003
Statistical data; 1985, 1990, 1995,
2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020

2.3. Methods
The work flowchart of our study is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Work flowchart of the study.

2.3.1. Calculation of Typical Parameters and Principle of Feature Space Model

Feature space is a two-dimensional plane constructed by two typical rocky deserti-
fication parameters as abscissa and ordinate, respectively. The feature space model can
better reflect the interaction effect between sensitive surface parameters of rocky deserti-
fication. There are significant changes in land surface exposure rate during the process
of rocky desertification. The surface bare land index (BLI) could better reflect the surface
land exposure rate. In addition, the land surface dryness would be larger in zones with
more exposed rock, and so the dryness index (DI) could also be a better indicator of rocky
desertification. Therefore, in this study, according to the main causes of rocky desertifica-
tion and regional ecological environment characteristics, the DI and BLI were selected to
indicate the rocky desertification process. With the aggravation of rocky desertification, the
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 5 of 24

surface vegetation coverage decreases and the exposed rock and soil areas increase, which
results in an increase in surface soil bare rate. Vegetation has the function of regulating
the local climate and improving the regional ecological environment quality. Therefore,
surface dryness tends to increase with the aggravation of rocky desertification. As shown
in Figure 3, with the aggravation of rocky desertification, the bare land index and surface
dryness index showed an increasing trend, in which the AD line represented a severe rocky
desertification area, and the CD line represented no or a slight rocky desertification area.

BLI = (( Bswir1 + Bred ) − ( Bnir + Bblue ))/(( Bswir1 + Bred ) + ( Bnir + Bblue )) (1)

DI = 0.0315 × Bblue + 0.2021 × Bgreen + 0.3102 × Bred + 0.1594 × Bnir − 0.6806 × Bswir1 − 0.6109 × Bswir2 (2)

Figure 3. Principle of the feature space model.

2.3.2. Construction of Point-to-Point BLI-DI Rocky Desertification Monitoring Model

In order to analyze the distribution and differentiation law of different levels of rocky
desertification in the feature space, five corresponding point sets were selected in this
study to explore the correlations between BLI and DI, and the rocky desertification level
corresponding to the five-point sets was determined by field observation data, Google
Earth, and GF-2 images in this study. As shown in Figure 4, the distributions of different
point sets corresponding to levels of rocky desertification in the BLI-DI feature space are
significantly different. The farther away from point O (0, 0), the more serious the rocky
desertification. The distance from the point sets of severe rocky desertification to point
O (P, Q) is the largest, followed by the point sets of intensive, moderate, and slight rocky
desertification, and the distance from the point sets of no rocky desertification is the smallest.
The elliptical section perpendicular to the OM line can better distinguish different levels of
rocky desertification. Therefore, the distance from any point M (x, y) to point O (P, Q) can
be used to indicate the change process of rocky desertification. According to the distance
formula between two points, the point-to-point rocky desertification monitoring model can
be established: q
RDI = ( x − P)2 + (y − Q)2 (3)
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 6 of 24

Figure 4. Construction of a point-to-point BLI-DI feature space rocky desertification monitoring

model. (a) BLI-DI feature space; (b) Spatial distribution of levels of rocky desertification.

2.3.3. GeoDetector
GeoDetector is a new statistical method for detecting the spatial differences and
explaining the driving forces behind a certain geographical phenomenon. This study has
utilized this method to determine the dominant factors of rocky desertification in Bijie City:

L
∑ Nh σh2
h =1 SSW
PD = 1 − = 1− (4)
Nσ2 SST
L
SSW = ∑ Nh σh2 , SST = Nσ2 (5)
h =1

where PD is the explanatory power of influencing actors to rocky desertification, and the
range is [0,1]. The larger the value is, the stronger the explanatory power of influencing
factors to rocky desertification is; h = 1, 2 . . . , L is the classification or partition of variable
Y or factor X; and SSW and SST are the sum of intralayer variance and regional total
variance, respectively.
Interaction detection calculates the q value of the factors X1 and X2 , and then calculates
the q value of the interaction between the factors X1 and X2 . Based on the detection results
of interaction, this paper evaluates the explanatory power of the interaction (increase or
decrease) and mutual independence of influencing factors on rocky desertification.

2.3.4. Verification Method

In this paper, the precision index and the basic error matrices were adopted to test the
accuracy of the inversion results:
n n
Ci+ = ∑ Ci j , C+ j = ∑ Ci j (6)
j=1 i =1

Pu,i = Cii /Ci+ , PA,j = Cjj /C+ j (7)

where Pu,i represents the user accuracy of inversion category i, PA,j represents the carto-
graphic accuracy of the field-observed category j, n is the number of categories, Ci + is the
sum of the inversion category i, C+j is the sum of the field-observed category j, and Cij is
the number of the inversion category i and the field-observed category j that both occur.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 7 of 24

3. Results
3.1. Validation of Monitoring Index for Rocky Desertification
Based on the constructed rocky desertification monitoring model, this study used Ar-
cGIS 10.2 to calculate and obtain the spatial distributions of rocky desertification in Bijie City
in 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. In order to eliminate the interference
of the built-up area and the bare land area, this study applied the land-use and geological
and lithologic data to extract this land-use type and then divided the rocky desertification
index (RDI) into five levels: RDI < 0.3 as no rocky desertification, 0.3 < RDI < 0.5 as slight
rocky desertification, 0.5 < RDI < 0.7 as moderate rocky desertification, 0.7 < RDI < 0.9 as
intensive rocky desertification, and 0.9 < RDI < 1 as severe rocky desertification. In order to
verify the accuracy of the proposed rocky desertification monitoring model, 185 validation
samples (Figure 5) in 2020 were selected from different types of landscape areas by using
field measured data, Google Earth, and GF-2 satellite images, and the error matrix of the
rocky desertification monitoring index (2020) was constructed. Table 2 shows that the
overall accuracy of the BLI-DI feature space index monitoring model based on point–point
mode is 91.3%, indicating that the model had good applicability in the study area.

Figure 5. Spatial distribution of the field-observed sites.

Table 2. Error matrix of different levels of rocky desertification in 2020.

Inversion Value
BLI-DI No Rocky De- Slight Rocky Moderate Rocky Intensive Rocky Severe Rocky
Sum
sertification Desertification Desertification Desertification Desertification
No rocky
23 0 0 0 0 23
desertification
Slight rocky
3 30 0 0 0 33
desertification
Moderate
Observed rocky 0 1 29 2 0 32
value desertification
Intensive rocky
0 0 3 37 0 40
desertification
Severe rocky
0 0 1 6 50 57
desertification
Sum 26 31 33 45 50 185
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 8 of 24

3.2. Spatial Distribution of Rocky Desertification in Different Periods

In this study, the rocky desertification indexes in 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010,
2015, and 2020 were retrieved based on the point-to-point BLI-DI feature space monitoring
model. The spatial distributions and proportion of different levels of rocky desertification
in different periods were obtained (Figure 6 and Table 3).

Figure 6. Spatial distribution of rocky desertification in different historical periods: (a) 1985, (b) 1990,
(c) 1995, (d) 2000, (e) 2005, (f) 2010, (g) 2015, (h) 2020.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 9 of 24

Table 3. The proportions of the levels of the rocky desertification area in different periods.

No Rocky Slight Rocky Moderate Rocky Intensive Rocky Severe Rocky

Grade Periods
Desertification Desertification Desertification Desertification Desertification
Area (km2 ) 292.71 6966.95 11,452.44 6686.79 1290.30
1985
Percentage 1.09% 26.03% 42.78% 24.98% 4.82%
Area (km2 ) 630.37 7152.62 6299.84 11,456.29 1239.48
1990
Percentage 2.35% 26.72% 23.53% 42.80% 4.63%
Area (km2 ) 65.65 7089.45 7596.75 8952.3 3073.94
1995
Percentage 0.25% 26.48% 28.38% 33.44% 11.48%
Area (km2 ) 686.03 7172.12 7002.17 9362.53 2549.99
2000
Percentage 2.56% 26.79% 26.16% 34.98% 9.53%
Area (km2 ) 657.07 7401.95 10,733.12 5598.24 2381.78
2005
Percentage 2.45% 27.65% 40.10% 20.91% 8.90%
Area (km2 ) 1937.04 5254.65 7576.62 10,034.94 4914.41
2010
Percentage 6.52% 17.68% 25.49% 33.77% 16.54%
Area (km2 ) 5321.99 9840.29 6687.40 4000.87 1160.32
2015
Percentage 19.88% 36.76% 24.98% 14.95% 4.33%
Area (km2 ) 5683.99 10,523.95 4840.01 2065.99 3575.25
2020
Percentage 21.30% 39.43% 18.13% 7.74% 13.40%

Figure 6a shows that the rocky desertification in Bijie City in 1985 was more serious
in the east and west, and slighter in the middle. Zones of severe rocky desertification
(1290.30 km2 ) were mainly distributed in the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous
Region, Qianxi County, and northern Zhijin County. A zone of intensive rocky desertifi-
cation (6686.79 km2 ) was mainly concentrated in southern Dafang District, eastern Jinsha
County, and western Nayong County. Slight rocky desertification zones (6966.95 km2 )
and no rocky desertification zone (292.71 km2 ) were mainly distributed in eastern Dafang
District, Hezhang County, Qixingguan District, and southern Zhijin County. Figure 6b
shows that the rocky desertification in the central part of Bijie City aggravated in 1990,
while the rocky desertification in the east and west improved. A zone of severe rocky
desertification (1239.48 km2 ) was mainly distributed in the western Weining Yi, Hui, and
Miao Autonomous Region, Hezhang County, Dafang District, Qixingguan District, Qianxi
County, northern Nayong County, and northern Zhijin County. A zone of intensive rocky
desertification (11,456.29 km2 ) was mainly distributed in eastern Jinsha County and the
central of Zhijin County. Zones of slight rocky desertification (7152.62 km2 ) and no rocky
desertification (630.37 km2 ) were distributed in southern Nade County, western Hezhang
County, southern Zhijin County, and the southwestern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Au-
tonomous Region. Figure 6c shows that the overall rocky desertification in Bijie City aggra-
vated in 1995. A zone of severe rocky desertification (3073.94 km2 ) was mainly distributed
in the central part of the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, Qianxi County,
northwestern Nayong County, northern Zhijin County, and southern Dafang District. An
intensive rocky desertification zone (8952.3 km2 ) was mainly distributed in Qixingguan
District and Hezhang County. Zones of slight rocky desertification (7089.45 km2 ) and
no rocky desertification (65.65 km2 ) were mainly distributed in western Jinsha County,
southern Nayong County, and southern Zhijin County. Figure 6d shows that the rocky
desertification in Bijie in 2000 had been improved. A zone of severe rocky desertifica-
tion (2549.99 km2 ) was distributed in the central area of the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao
Autonomous Region, Qianxi County, and southeastern Dafang District. A zone of inten-
sive rocky desertification (9362.53 km2 ) was mainly distributed in western Jinsha County,
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 10 of 24

northern Zhijin County, and western Dafang District. Zones of slight rocky desertification
(7172.12 km2 ) and no rocky desertification (686.03 km2 ) were mainly distributed in eastern
Dafang District, southern Nayong County, and southern Zhijin County. Figure 6e shows
that the rocky desertification in Bijie City continued to be improved in 2005. A zone of
severe rocky desertification (2381.78 km2 ) was mainly distributed in the junction zone of
Qianxi County and the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region. A zone of intensive
rocky desertification (5598.24 km2 ) was mainly distributed in northwestern Nayong County.
Zones of slight rocky desertification (7401.95 km2 ) and no rocky desertification (657.07 km2 )
were mainly distributed in Dafang District, western Jinsha County, Qixingguan District,
and central and southern Zhijin County. Figure 6f shows an aggravation trend in rocky
desertification in 2010. A zone of severe rocky desertification was mainly distributed in
the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, Qixingguan District, eastern Jinsha
County, Qianxi County, northern Zhijin County, and western Hezhang County. Zones
of slight rocky desertification and no rocky desertification were mostly concentrated in
southern Zhijin County and central and eastern Dafang District. Figure 6g shows that
the rocky desertification in Bijie City showed an improvement trend in 2015. A zone of
severe rocky desertification (1160.32 km2 ) was mainly distributed in the northwestern and
southeastern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, western Qianxi County,
and western Nayong County. Zones of intensive rocky desertification (4000.87 km2 ) were
mainly distributed in the junction zones of Qixingguan District and Dafang District. Zones
of slight rocky desertification (9840.29 km2 ) and no rocky desertification (5321.99 km2 ) were
mainly distributed in Qixingguan District, Dafang District, Hezhang County, and Zhijin
County. Figure 6h shows that a zone of severe rocky desertification (3575.25 km2 ) in 2020
was mainly distributed in the western Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region,
southern Dafang District, and the central part of Hezhang County. A zone of intensive
rocky desertification (2065.99 km2 ) was mainly distributed in northern Qixingguan District
and western Qianxi County. Zones of slight rocky desertification (10,523.95 km2 ) and no
desertification (5683.99 km2 ) were mostly distributed in Jinsha County, Zhijin County,
western Hezhang County, and the northern and southern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao
Autonomous Region.

3.3. Change Intensity of Rocky Desertification in Different Historical Periods

In order to further analyze the change trend of rocky desertification in Bijie City,
this study calculated and obtained the spatial distribution of the change intensity (CI) of
rocky desertification and the area proportion of different levels of rocky desertification
change intensity (CI ≤ −0.04 as severely reduced, −0.04 < CI ≤ −0.02 as slightly reduced,
−0.02 < CI ≤ 0.02 as stable area, 0.02 < CI ≤ 0.04 as slightly increased, CI > 0.04 as severely
increased) during 1985–2020 (Figures 7 and 8).

Figure 7. Percentage of rocky desertification change area in different historical periods.

Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 11 of 24

Figure 8. Distribution of levels of rocky desertification change intensity in different historical periods:
(a) 1985–1990, (b) 1990–1995, (c) 1995–2000, (d) 2000–2005, (e) 2005–2010, (f) 2010–2015, (g) 2015–2020.

Figure 8a shows that a zone of severely reduced rocky desertification in Bijie City
during 1985–1990 accounted for 2.50% of the total area, mainly distributed in the western
Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region and Jinsha County. A zone of slightly
reduced rocky desertification was mainly distributed in the southeastern Weining Yi,
Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, northern Qixingguan District, and western Jinsha
County, accounting for 31.13% of the total area. The stable zone was mainly distributed
in the northern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region and northeastern Zhijin
County, accounting for 30.57% of the total area. Zones of slightly and severely increased
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 12 of 24

rocky desertification were mainly distributed in the central parts of Bijie City, including
Qixingguan District and Dafang District, accounting for 35.8% of the total area.
Figure 8b shows that a zone of severely reduced rocky desertification in Bijie City
during 1990–1995 was mainly located in northeastern Jinsha County and the northern
Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, accounting for 0.69% of the study area.
The slightly reduced zone was mainly distributed in the central part of Bijie City, including
Qixingguan District, eastern Dafang District, and northern Nayong County, accounting
for 23.89% of the total area. The stable zone was mainly distributed in Qixingguan District
and Dafang District, accounting for 37.21% of the total area. Zones of slightly increased
and severely increased rocky desertification were mainly distributed in the junction area of
the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, Nayong County, Jinsha County, and
Qianxi County, accounting for 38.31% of the total area of the study area.
Figure 8c shows that a zone of severely reduced rocky desertification in Bijie City
accounted for 1.34% of the total area, which was mainly distributed in the junction area of
Jinsha County, Qianxi County, and northwestern Qixingguan District. A zone of slightly
reduced rocky desertification was mainly distributed in the central and eastern parts,
including Qixingguan District, eastern Hezhang County, Dafang District, Nayong County,
Zhijin County, Qianxi County, and Jinsha County, accounting for 37.02% of the total area.
The stable zone was mainly concentrated in the central and eastern Weining Yi, Hui,
and Miao Autonomous Region, Nayong County and southern Zhijin County, accounting
for 42.08% of the total area. Zones of slightly increased and severely increased rocky
desertification accounted for 19.56% of the total area of the study area.
Figure 8d shows that during 2000–2005, a zone of severely reduced rocky deserti-
fication was mainly concentrated in the central parts of the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao
Autonomous Region, southern Dafang District, and Dafang County, accounting for 1.28%
of the total area. Zone that was slightly reduced decreased, accounting for 27.61% of the
total area of the study area, mainly distributed in central Qixingguan District, northern
Zhijin County, and western Qianxi County. The stable zone was mainly distributed in the
southwestern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, northern Jinsha County,
and the junction area of Hezhang County and Qixingguan District, accounting for 34.04%
of the total area. Zones that were severely increased and slightly increased were mainly
distributed in the northwestern and southeastern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous
Region, southern Hezhang County, Nayong County, and southwestern Zhijin County.
Figure 8e shows that a zone of severely reduced rocky desertification was mainly
distributed in southern Nayong County and southern Zhijin County, accounting for 0.51%
of the total area. The slightly reduced zone was mainly distributed in southern Dafang Dis-
trict, western Jinsha County, and northeastern Qixingguan District, accounting for 20.62%
of the total area. The stable zone accounted for 39.78%, which was mainly distributed
in the northern Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, northwestern Hezhang
County, and eastern Qianxi County. The slightly and severely increased zones were mainly
distributed in southern Dafang District, Hezhang County, Qixingguan District, western
Qianxi County, and northwest Zhijin County.
As shown in Figure 8f, the severely reduced zone of rocky desertification during
2010–2015 was mainly distributed in the central parts of the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao
Autonomous Region and northern Jinsha County. The slightly reduced zone was mainly
concentrated in Hezhang County, Qixingguan District, Dafang District, Jinsha County, and
Qianxi County. Zones of slightly increased and severely increased rocky desertification
were mainly distributed in Nayong County and southern Zhijin County, accounting for
8.47% of the total area.
Figure 8g shows that zone of severely reduced rocky desertification from 2015 to 2020
was mainly distributed in the central parts of the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous
Region, accounting for 2.95% of the total area. The slightly reduced zone was mainly
concentrated in western Hezhang County, southwestern Nayong County, Qianxi County,
and southern Jinsha County, accounting for 27.86% of the total area. The severely and
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 13 of 24

slightly increased zones were mainly distributed in southwestern Qixingguan District and
eastern Hezhang County, accounting for 35.08% of the total area.

3.4. Gravity Center Migration Trajectory of Rocky Desertification in Different Historical Periods
In order to better analyze the internal temporal and spatial heterogeneity of rocky
desertification changes, the gravity center migration trajectory of rocky desertification
in the past 35 years was calculated and analyzed at scales of 5 and 10 years (Figure 9).
During 1985–2020, the gravity center of rocky desertification in Bijie City generally moved
westward. At a 5-year scale, compared with that of 1980–1985, the gravity center of rocky
desertification during 1985–1990 shifted northeastward, indicating that the aggravating
degree of rocky desertification in northeastern parts was greater than that in southwestern
parts during 1985–1990. Compared with that of 1985–1990, the gravity center of rocky
desertification in Bijie City shifted southwestward during 1990–1995, indicating that the
aggravating degree of rocky desertification in southwestern parts was greater than that in
northeastern parts during 1990–1995. Compared with that of 1990–1995, the gravity center
of rocky desertification in Bijie City shifted westward during 1995–2000, indicating that the
aggravating degree of rocky desertification in western parts was greater than that in eastern
parts during 1995–2000. Compared with that of 1995–2000, the gravity center of rocky
desertification shifted southwestward during 2000–2005, indicating that the aggravating
degree of rocky desertification in southwestern parts was greater than that in northeastern
parts during this period. Compared with that of 2000–2005, the gravity center of rocky
desertification shifted northeastward during 2005–2010, indicating that the aggravating
degree of rocky desertification in northeastern parts was greater than that in southwestern
parts during 2005–2010. Compared with that of 2005–2010, the gravity center of rocky
desertification shifted southwestward during 2010–2015, indicating that the aggravating
degree of rocky desertification in southwestern parts was greater than that in northeastern
parts during 2010–2015. Compared with that of 2010–2015, the gravity center of rocky
desertification shifted northwestward during 2015–2020, indicating that the aggravating
degree of rocky desertification in northwestern parts was greater than that in southeastern
parts during 2015–2020. At a 10-year scale, the gravity center of rocky desertification
shifted northwestward during 1990–2000 compared with that of 1980–1990, indicating that
the aggravating degree of rocky desertification in northwestern parts was greater than
that in southeastern parts during 1990–2000. The gravity center of rocky desertification
shifted westward during 2000–2010 compared with that of 1990–2000, indicating that the
aggravating degree of rocky desertification in western parts was greater than that in eastern
parts during 2000–2010. Compared with that of 2000–2010, the gravity center of rocky
desertification shifted westward during 2010–2020, indicating that the aggravating degree
of rocky desertification in the western region was greater than that in the eastern region
during 2010–2020. During 1985–2020, the gravity center of rocky desertification in Bijie
shifted westward, indicating that the aggravating degree of rocky desertification in the
western region of Bijie was greater than that in the eastern region.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 14 of 24

Figure 9. Gravity center migration trajectory of rocky desertification at different time scales.

3.5. Single Driving Factor Analysis

In order to explore the influence mechanism of different factors on the evolution
of rocky desertification, this study selected eight typical factors, including precipitation,
temperature, vegetation coverage, population (POP) density, gross domestic product (GDP)
density, slope, elevation, and land use, to analyze the correlations. Figure 10a shows
that the standard deviation of the rocky desertification index in precipitation zones of
1150–1250 mm was the smallest, indicating that the homogeneity of spatial distribution of
rocky desertification in this zone was higher. The average index of rocky desertification
at a precipitation zone of 750–850 mm was the largest, indicating that the rocky deserti-
fication in this area was the most serious. Figure 10b shows that the average index and
standard deviation of rocky desertification at a vegetation coverage zone of 0.8–1 were the
smallest, indicating that the rocky desertification in high vegetation areas was generally
slighter. Figure 10c shows that with the increase in population density, the average rocky
desertification index first decreased and then increased, while the rocky desertification
index was the smallest in zones with 240–300 person/km2 . The standard deviation of the
rocky desertification index showed an increasing trend with the enlargement of population
density, indicating that the spatial heterogeneity of regional rocky desertification became
greater with the increasing human disturbance intensity. Figure 10d shows that the average
rocky desertification index decreased first, then increased, and finally, decreased, while the
rocky desertification index was relatively smaller in zones of 900,000–1,300,000 Yuan/km2 ,
which indicated that with the increase in human disturbance intensity, the rocky desertifi-
cation became more serious. However, positive interference, such as ecological protection,
gradually became the dominant factor when the economic development reached a cer-
tain level, which contributed to the improvement of rocky desertification. As shown in
Figure 10e, the average rocky desertification index first decreased and then increased with
the enlargement of the slope, and the average rocky desertification index was the smallest
at a slope zone of 15◦ –25◦ . Figure 10f shows that the average rocky desertification index
fluctuated with the increase in elevation, which indicated that moderate and severe rocky
desertification occurred mostly in middle- and high-elevation zones. Figure 10g shows that
the average index and standard deviation of rocky desertification in unused land were the
largest, while the rocky desertification in forest land was relatively slighter.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 15 of 24

Figure 10. Correlations between different single driving factors and rocky desertification. MIN refers
to the minimum value, STD refers to the standard deviation, MAX refers to the maximum value,
and MEAN refers to the mean value. (a) Precipitation; (b) Vegetation coverage; (c) Pop; (d) GDP;
(e) Slope; (f) DEM; (g) Land use.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 16 of 24

In addition, this study utilized GeoDetector to analyze and determine the dominant
influencing factors (elevation, aspect, temperature, land use, slope, precipitation, popu-
lation density, vegetation coverage, GDP density) of rocky desertification in Bijie City in
1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The dominant factors were identified
and displayed in Figure 11: 1985 (vegetation coverage, q = 0.93), 1990 (vegetation cover-
age, q = 0.94), 1995 (land use, q = 0.90), 2000 (air temperature, q = 0.97), 2005 (vegetation
coverage, q = 0.95), 2010 (vegetation coverage, q = 0.92), 2015 (POP density, q = 0.94), and
2020 (POP density, q = 0.94). During the past 35 years, the dominant driving factor in
the evolution of rocky desertification in Bijie City shifted from natural factor to human
activity factor.

Figure 11. The dominant single factors in different historical periods.

3.6. Interactive Factor Analysis

Since the process of rocky desertification was affected by the interaction of different
types of factors, this study utilized the interactive factor detector of GeoDetector to an-
alyze and determine the dominant interactive factor of rocky desertification in different
historical periods.
As shown in Figure 12a, the interactive factors in the evolution of rocky deserti-
fication in 1985 were as follows, according to q value: vegetation coverage ∩ eleva-
tion (0.870) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.853) > vegetation coverage ∩ temperature
(0.798) > vegetation coverage ∩ precipitation (0.795) > vegetation coverage ∩ land use
(0.765) > vegetation coverage ∩ POP density (0.763) > vegetation coverage ∩ aspect
(0.738) > GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage (0.725). The vegetation coverage ∩ elevation
had the largest contribution rate with a q value of 0.870, which was the dominant interac-
tive factor in the evolution process of rocky desertification. As shown in Figure 12b, the
interactive factors of the evolution of rocky desertification in 1990 were as follows according
to the q value: vegetation coverage ∩ POP density (0.956) > vegetation coverage ∩ eleva-
tion (0.917) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.914) = GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage
(0.914) > vegetation coverage ∩ temperature (0.907) > vegetation coverage ∩ precipitation
(0.900) > vegetation coverage ∩ land use (0.879) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.868).
Among them, the q value of the vegetation coverage ∩ POP density interactive factor
was the largest at 0.956, which indicated that vegetation coverage ∩ POP density had
the strongest explanatory power for the evolution of rocky desertification. Figure 12c
shows that the interactive factors in 1995 were as follows according to the q value: land
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 17 of 24

use ∩ elevation (0.989) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.985) > vegetation coverage ∩ land
use (0.981) > vegetation coverage ∩ elevation (0.979) > slope ∩ land use (0.941) > vege-
tation coverage ∩ aspect (0.919) = POP density ∩ land use (0.919) > precipitation ∩ land
use (0.913) > land use ∩ temperature (0.8861) > GDP density ∩ land use (0.858). The
land use ∩ elevation interactive factor had the largest q value of 0.989, so it had the
strongest explanatory power for rocky desertification evolution. As shown in Figure 12d,
the interactive factors in the evolution of rocky desertification in 2000 were as follows
according to the q value: vegetation coverage ∩ POP density (0.992) > vegetation cover-
age ∩ land use (0.913) > GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage (0.876) > vegetation cover-
age ∩ slope (0.854) > vegetation coverage ∩ elevation (0.849) > vegetation coverage ∩ tem-
perature (0.847) > vegetation coverage ∩ precipitation (0.779) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope
(0.766) > POP density ∩ land use (0.739) > POP density ∩ elevation (0.675). The q value of
the vegetation coverage ∩ POP density interactive factor was the largest at 0.992, which
indicated that vegetation coverage ∩ POP density had the strongest explanatory power
for rocky desertification evolution. Figure 12e shows that the interactive factors in the
evolution of rocky desertification in 2005 were as follows: vegetation coverage ∩ elevation
(0.956) > vegetation coverage ∩ temperature (0.920) > vegetation coverage ∩ precipitation
(0.731) > vegetation coverage ∩ land use (0.722) > GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage
(0.6818) > land use ∩ elevation (0.667) > vegetation coverage ∩ POP density (0.6583) > veg-
etation coverage ∩ slope (0.644). The vegetation coverage ∩ elevation interactive factor had
the largest q value, and it had the strongest explanatory power for the evolution process
of rocky desertification. As shown in Figure 12f, the interactive factors in the evolution
of rocky desertification in 2010 were as follows according to the q value: vegetation cov-
erage ∩ land use (0.990) > vegetation coverage ∩ air temperature (0.933) > vegetation
coverage ∩ elevation (0.922) > vegetation coverage ∩ POP density (0.889) > vegetation
coverage ∩ precipitation (0.882) > GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage (0.836) > vegetation
coverage ∩ slope (0.810) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.785) > land use ∩ elevation (0.460).
Among them, the q value of vegetation coverage ∩ land use was the largest, which indicated
that it had the strongest explanatory power for rocky desertification. Figure 12g shows
that the interactive factors in the evolution of rocky desertification in 2015 were as follows
according to the q value: land use ∩ vegetation coverage (0.966) > vegetation coverage ∩ el-
evation (0.837) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.753) > vegetation coverage ∩ precipitation
(0.747) > vegetation coverage ∩ temperature (0.735) > vegetation coverage ∩ POP den-
sity (0.717) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.705) > GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage
(0.687) > land use ∩ elevation (0.675) > land use ∩ temperature (0.645) > slope ∩ land
use (0.597). The q value of land use ∩ vegetation coverage was the largest (0.966), which
had the strongest explanatory power for rocky desertification. As shown in Figure 12h,
the interactive factors in the evolution of rocky desertification in 2020 were as follows
according to the q value: vegetation coverage ∩ land use (0.949) > vegetation cover-
age ∩ slope (0.790) > vegetation coverage ∩ slope (0.764) > vegetation coverage ∩ elevation
(0.762) = vegetation coverage ∩ air temperature (0.762) > vegetation coverage ∩ precipi-
tation (0.725) > GDP density ∩ vegetation coverage (0.703) > POP density ∩ vegetation
coverage (0.689). The q value of vegetation coverage ∩ land use was the largest, and the
explanatory power of vegetation coverage ∩ land use on rocky desertification evolution
was the strongest.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 18 of 24

Figure 12. The interactive dominant factors in different historical periods: (a) 1985, (b) 1990, (c) 1995,
(d) 2000, (e) 2005, (f) 2010, (g) 2015, (h) 2020.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 19 of 24

4. Discussion
4.1. Advantages of Analysis Model
Previous studies on the monitoring of rocky desertification information were mostly
carried out based on image classification and the comprehensive index method [27]. How-
ever, image classification had great advantages in distinguishing the boundaries and ranges
of rocky desertification and nonrocky desertification, but it was difficult to quantitatively
identify different levels of rocky desertification [28]. The comprehensive index method eval-
uates the rocky desertification condition by selecting different types of surface parameters
to obtain a comprehensive index. However, this method often enhanced the contribution of
a certain type of influencing factors in the process of rocky desertification [29]. At the same
time, this method cannot take into account the complex influence of the interaction between
different types of characterization parameters on the rocky desertification process [30]. In
this paper, two typical surface parameters were calculated to construct the feature space
and then to analyze the distribution and differentiation law of the levels of rocky deser-
tification in the feature space, so as to quantitatively establish the rocky desertification
monitoring model [31]. Compared with previous studies, this method could fully consider
the interaction between different surface parameters and improve the accuracy of rocky
desertification monitoring to a certain extent. However, due to the fact that the bandwidth
of NIR in Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI was different, it might affect the inversion
value of BLI and DI. However, the difference was small, which had subtle influences on the
spatial distribution patterns of rocky desertification that derived from the proposed model
based on the above two types of images. Because the formation and evolution of rocky
desertification were often affected by multiple types of natural factors and human activities,
it was difficult to identify the dominant single factor and interactive factors in the evolution
of rocky desertification [32]. As a statistical method to detect the spatial differentiation
of geographical phenomena and their driving forces, GeoDetector was widely used in
natural and social fields [33]. This method could not only analyze the spatial differentiation
characteristics of geographical phenomena [34] but also detect the interactions between
driving factors and ensure their collinearity immunity to multiple factors, which provided
a new idea for the analysis of natural–human nonlinear interaction in the process of rocky
desertification in this study. Meanwhile, there were obvious differences in the influence and
contribution rate of natural–human activity factors on the evolution of rocky desertification
in different historical periods. Revealing and clarifying the dominant driving factors and
their change rules in different periods could provide useful exploration for the evolution
mechanism of rocky desertification under the background of global change.

4.2. Causes of Spatial Distribution of Rocky Desertification

The mountain karst landform in Bijie City was well developed, which accounted for
70% of the study area. Additionally, the rocky desertification was widely distributed in Bijie
City during the past 35 years. The main reason was that the exposed area of limestone and
dolomite in the region was about 2268.7 km2 , which provided natural material conditions
for the formation of rocky desertification [35]. Bijie City had a subtropical monsoon humid
climate with concentrated precipitation and abundant photothermal resources, which was
conducive to a strong karstification process [36]. When the precipitation was relatively
concentrated, it was conducive to form rainstorms and torrential rains, resulting in flood
disasters, soil erosion, and thinning [35,37]. The rocky desertification would aggravate
under the combined effects of frequent drought and flood, vegetation degradation, land-
slides, debris flows, and soil erosion. Meanwhile, human activities exposed excessive
pressures and damages to the vegetation ecosystem [38]. With the arrival of the period of
high birth rate and low mortality in poor areas before 2000, population growth was difficult
to control. The heavy population pressure led to people’s excessive economic activities in
nature, resulting in the destruction of resources. It was an important factor causing rocky
desertification in fragile ecological areas [39]. In the absence of reclamation conditions
and protective measures, agricultural activities, such as slash-and-burn cultivation, steep
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 20 of 24

slope reclamation, and gully cultivation, led to abundant loss of soil and water. In addition,
concentrated precipitation accelerated the soil migration process, prompting the loss of land
productivity, and ultimately exacerbated the rocky desertification. Zones of moderate and
above rocky desertification were mostly distributed in the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Au-
tonomous Region, Qianxi City, Dafang District, Zhijin County, and Qixingguan District. The
main reason was that the mountainous areas in these regions were widely distributed [40].
Due to the inconvenience of transportation and poverty in the mountainous area, the living
energy of the people was single, mainly composed of firewood. Especially in some areas
with a lack of coal and electricity, wood cutting was the main factor for the destruction of
the ecological environment [41]. Excessive wood cutting greatly damaged the vegetation
ecosystem, resulting in an extremely sensitive and fragile environmental system in this
region. The reduction of environmental carrying capacity accelerated the deterioration
rate of the ecological environment in the karst area [42,43]. In addition, the unreasonable
development of mineral resources, such as extensive management and mining, resulted in
mine land rocky desertification [44].

4.3. Causes of Rocky Desertification Evolution

The mountain karst landform in Bijie City was well developed, which accounted for
70% of the study area. Additionally, the rocky desertification was widely distributed in Bijie
City during the past 35 years. The main reason was that the exposed area of limestone and
dolomite in the region was about 2268.7 km2 , which provided natural material conditions
for the formation of rocky desertification [45]. Bijie City had a subtropical monsoon humid
climate with concentrated precipitation and abundant photothermal resources, which was
conducive to a strong karstification process [46]. When the precipitation was relatively
concentrated, it was conducive to form rainstorms and torrential rains, resulting in flood
disasters, soil erosion, and thinning [47,48]. The rocky desertification would aggravate
under the combined effects of frequent drought and flood, vegetation degradation, land-
slides, debris flows, and soil erosion. Meanwhile, human activities exposed excessive
pressures and damages to the vegetation ecosystem [49]. With the arrival of the period of
high birth rate and low mortality in poor areas before 2000, population growth was difficult
to control. The heavy population pressure led to people’s excessive economic activities in
nature, resulting in the destruction of resources. It was an important factor causing rocky
desertification in fragile ecological areas [50]. In the absence of reclamation conditions
and protective measures, agricultural activities, such as slash-and-burn cultivation, steep
slope reclamation, gully cultivation, led to abundant loss of soil and water. In addition,
concentrated precipitation accelerated the soil migration process, prompting the loss of land
productivity, and ultimately exacerbated the rocky desertification. Zones of moderate and
above rocky desertification were mostly distributed in the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Au-
tonomous Region, Qianxi City, Dafang District, Zhijin County, and Qixingguan District. The
main reason was that the mountainous areas in these regions were widely distributed [51].
Due to the inconvenience of transportation and poverty in the mountainous area, the living
energy of the people was single, mainly composed of firewood. Especially in some areas
with a lack of coal and electricity, the wood cutting was the main factor for the destruction
of the ecological environment [52]. Excessive wood cutting greatly damaged the vegetation
ecosystem, resulting in an extremely sensitive and fragile environmental system in this
region. The reduction of environmental carrying capacity accelerated the deterioration
rate of the ecological environment in the karst area [53,54]. In addition, the unreasonable
development of mineral resources, such as extensive management and mining, resulted in
mine land rocky desertification [55]. In 2010, the rocky desertification showed an obviously
exacerbating trend compared with that of 2005. The reason was that the severe drought in
2009–2010 in the southwest mountainous area led to widespread vegetation degradation,
which aggravated the rocky desertification condition.
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 21 of 24

4.4. Suggestions for the Prevention of Rocky Desertification

During the past 35 years, human activities gradually became the dominant factor
affecting the evolution of rocky desertification in Bijie City [56]. Therefore, it was helpful
for the prevention and control of regional rocky desertification to adjust the influence mode
and contribution rate of human activities on the intensification or improvement of rocky
desertification [57,58]. Therefore, corresponding measures could be taken as the following:
(1) The implementation of basic farmland construction, transformation of low-yielding
fields, and promotion of a basic farmland stable high yield could effectively solve the
food and clothing problems of farmers, which would let them devote themselves to the
comprehensive prevention and control of rocky desertification. (2) The implementation of
water conservancy and water conservation projects, rural energy resources, and a ‘slope-
to-ladder’ project could improve people’s living standards to prevent karst mountain
reclamation and destruction. (3) According to the characteristics of the rocky desertification
environment and human disturbance mode, the natural restoration and artificial promotion
restoration should be combined to improve the ecological environment and protect the
existing forest resources [53]. The implementation of a comprehensive mountain closure
management and the adoption of artificial measures to restore forest as soon as possible
could prevent further deterioration of karst mountains. (4) The ecological vulnerability of
rocky desertification mountainous areas in Bijie City was fragile. A total of 60 million poor
people were mainly distributed in karst rocky mountainous areas. For the lack of basic
living conditions in rocky desertification mountainous areas, ecological migration should
be carried out to reduce the carrying capacity of land according to local conditions.

5. Conclusions
Against the background of global change, there are significant changes in the dominant
driving factors in the evolution of rocky desertification in the southwest karst mountainous
area. However, previous studies mostly focus on the driving mechanism of a specific period,
and what are the dominant driving factors and how they change in different historical
periods are still unclear. In this study, the spatial and temporal evolution patterns of rocky
desertification in Bijie City in recent 35 years have been analyzed and investigated by using
the feature space and the gravity center models, and then the dominant factors in the
evolution of rocky desertification in different historical periods have been determined and
clarified with GeoDetector. The main conclusions are as follows:
(1) The proposed point–point BLI-DI feature space model has high applicability for rocky
desertification monitoring in Bijie City, and its inversion accuracy is 91.3%.
(2) During 1985–2020, the rocky desertification in Bijie City was moderate rocky deserti-
fication. Zones of intensive and severe rocky desertification are mainly distributed
in the Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous Region, while zones of slight and
no rocky desertification are mostly located in Jinsha County, Nayong County, and
Zhijin County.
(3) During 1985–2020, there was an overall decreasing trend of rocky desertification in Bi-
jie City (weakening–aggravating–weakening). The gravity center of rocky desertifica-
tion moved westward, indicating that the aggravation degree of rocky desertification
in the western region of the study area is higher than that in the eastern region.
(4) During the past 35 years, the human activity factor (POP density) has become the
dominant factor affecting the evolution of rocky desertification in the study area.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft preparation, B.G.

Investigation, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, F.Y., J.F., and Y.L. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant
number 42101306 and 42171413; Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, grant number
ZR2021MD047, Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation,
Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 2351 22 of 24

Ministry of Natural Resources, grant number KF-2020-05-001; and Major Project of High Resolution
Earth Observation System of China, grant number GFZX0404130304.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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