| Based on the MSS images in 1976 and the TM images in 1989, 2000 and 2010, the changes of land use/coverage and landscape pattern and their driving force in Taolai River Basin were analyzed from 1976 to 2010 by using principal component analysis method in combination with landscape indexes
and the methods of variation amplitude, dynamic degree and transfer matrix. The results indicated that during the recent 34 years after 1976, the proportions of cultivated land and construction land expanded sharply from 4% and 0.04% to 7.4% and 0.26%, respectively; while the area of glaciers and permanent snow and grassland decreased by 897.98×104 hm2 and 383.7×104 hm2, respectively. Among the various types of land use, construction land was the highest in dynamic degree (16.13%), followed by cultivated land. The conversion of glaciers and permanent snow into bare rocks, the conversion of gobi into cultivated land and
the conversion between forestland and grassland were the main trends of land us
e variation. The patch density of total landscape increased at first and decreas
ed later, while the largest path index decreased at first and expended later. Th
erefore, the shape of landscape became more and more irregular, and the degree o
f landscape diversity decreased at first increased later. The population growth
and economic development were the most direct driving forces of land use/coverag
e changes in Taolai River Basin, and climatic factors also affected land use/cov
erage changes to some extend. |