Spatiotemporal Evolution, Landscape Pattern Changes, and Potential Drivers of Fengshui Forest Degradation in Shirong Village, Leizhou Peninsula

Fengshui forests are cultural-ecological landscape units that preserve native vegetation, ritual memory, and village-based conservation practices on the Leizhou Peninsula. However, recent land-use change has increased the risk of native-core loss, plantation encroachment, and fragmentation. Using Shirong Village, Suixi County, Zhanjiang City, as an exploratory village-scale case, we distinguished the historical Fengshui forest landscape zone from the native Fengshui forest core represented by the native evergreen broad-leaved forest. High-resolution remote-sensing images from 2012, 2017, and 2024 were interpreted using a unified classification scheme, and transition matrices and landscape metrics were calculated using ENVI, ArcGIS, and Fragstats. From 2012 to 2024, the native Fengshui forest core decreased from 8.30 ha to 6.49 ha (−1.81 ha; −21.8%), while plantation patches increased from 0.22 ha to 3.26 ha as Eucalyptus forest expanded and Acacia mangium appeared by 2024. Open/degraded buffer land declined from 3.20 ha to 0.43 ha, whereas built-up, cropland, and road components increased from 2.72 ha to 4.26 ha. Landscape metrics showed a weakened dominant core, higher patch density, and increased boundary complexity after 2017. The observed transitions indicate a shift from a relatively continuous native forest core to a reduced core embedded in plantation and built-up components. Because socioeconomic and policy drivers were not directly quantified, the study discusses potential explanatory pathways rather than statistically tested causal mechanisms. The findings provide village-scale evidence for cultural-landscape conservation, native-core restoration, and adaptive management of Fengshui forests.