Landscape Change in the Upper Min River Based on RS and GIS, China

Abstract

The upper Min River is one of the most important forest regions in China, with effects on not only agricultural activities and eco-environmental construction in the lower Min River catchment, but also ecosystem environment improvement for the upper Yangtze River. The results of our study revealed that landscape change had taken place from 1974 to 2000 at the regional scale: the area of forestland decreased and that of cropland, shrubland, economic forest, grassland, and built-up land increased. Landscape change mainly occurred in forestland, shrubland, grassland, economic forest, and built-up land. Moreover, the changes among forestland, shrubland, and grassland were the largest, influencing the whole character of the changes in the catchment. Analysis of the changes revealed that landscape heterogeneity and fragmentation increased, and the landscape connectivity decreased between 1974 and 2000 in the study area. It was the combination of multiple reasons contributed to landscape change from 1974 to 2000 in the upper Min River.