Optimized eco-productive paradigm of hilly landscapes in the southern piedmont region of Daxing’anling Mountain—A case study of Linxi County, Inner Mongolia

On the basis of landscape ecology theory, the outstanding characteristics of the North Farming-pastoral Zone are the landscape of extensively cultivated farmland and villages scattered across grassland (and sometimes forestland) landscapes in China. Optimized eco-productive paradigm of the North Farming-pastoral Zone attempts to build optimized land-use and spatial distribution patterns. As a case study, hilly ecosystems in Linxi County in Inner Mongolia are divided into three agricultural and eco-economic regions with different integral functions based the characteristics of the eco-environment and social economy synthetically. Based on demand for land and optimized farmer production development modes in three regions, optimized eco-management land use pattern paradigm is proposed for Linxi hilly-mountains ecosystem. This is based on optimization principles and spatial land use allocation restrictions. River valley plain agricultural and eco-economic regions should be developed for intensive-efficient agricultural production zones. Low hilly-mountain agricultural and eco-economic regions like ecotones with production and other ecological sites should be positioned in the husbandry-food development mode. Mid-mountains ecosystem should be put in fruit-ecotourism and habitat-conservation areas and farmers emigrated to river valley plains and low hilly-mountain regions.