Characteristics and Associated Factors of Rice-Terrace Landscape Degradation in the Qinba Transition Zone: Evidence from Five Villages in the Fengyan Ancient Terraces

Abstract

Maintaining rice terraces as living agricultural heritage requires distinguishing interruptions of paddy production from changes in settlement fabric, yet evidence on associated factors remains limited in the Qinba transition zone. This study compared terrace abandonment, paddy-to-dryland conversion, and composite change in the settlement architectural landscape in five villages of the Fengyan Ancient Terraces using 260 household questionnaires, 189 changed-plot records, GIS, and binary logistic models. Overall, 77 (29.62%) experienced abandonment, 65 (25.00%) dryland conversion, and 198 (76.15%) composite settlement change; 31 dwellings (11.92%) were vacant or physically deteriorated. A higher share of farmland served by gravity-fed irrigation was associated with lower odds of abandonment and conversion, whereas greater maximum walking time to cultivated plots was associated with higher odds of abandonment. Core-area location showed no stable association with either production outcome, and the exploratory settlement model was not statistically significant. Because the cross-sectional models identify associations rather than motives or causal sequences, the results do not establish that irrigation deterioration caused conversion. By distinguishing cessation of cultivation, adaptive crop conversion, and settlement change, this study identifies functional irrigation continuity and site-specific accessibility as more informative conservation targets than static boundaries alone, while supporting context-sensitive settlement renewal.