Transition of rural landscape patterns in Southwest China's mountainous area: a case study based on the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

China's rural areas have experienced far-reaching social and economic transformation since the twenty-first century. Studying the rural landscape pattern (RLP) transition under this background is significant in revealing human–land relationship evolution and exploring the rural revitalization path in China’s mountains. In this paper, we put forward the theoretical framework of landscape pattern transition and establish the RLP transition model of mountainous areas in Southwest China by using high-resolution remote sensing images and field investigation. The results show that the RLP transition in the case region is mainly embodied in sloping farmland reduction, orchard expansion, and woodland restoration. Moreover, there are obvious differences in landscape pattern transition among different terrain areas. From 2000 to 2018, the landscape types in valleys have gradually diversified, and there is a spatial concentration of intensification land-use types, and the landscape types in mountainous and hilly areas have gradually simplified, and forest land has been restored. Overall, the regional RLP has changed from production-oriented to eco-economic and eco-regulatory landscape patterns. The RLP in the mountainous areas of Southwest China has undergone a transition different from regular land-use transition, and the process verifies the theoretical framework proposed in this paper. The theories and methods of this paper are helpful to understand the RLP transition process in mountainous areas and to provide a reference value for rational land resource use, ecological management, and rural revitalization in similar mountainous areas.