Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, an area located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is an area very sensitive to global climate change. Due to impacts from climate change and human disturbances, grassland vegetation in the area has been degraded and desertification has been expanding. Ecosystems in the area are very sensitive and fragile and ecological problems have become increasingly serious in the area, resulting in an adverse effect on the local socio-economic development and environment of Qinghai province. Using data gathered from Landsat TM/ETM images for 1987, 1997 and 2007, we analyzed landscape patterns across Yushu Prefecture. Spatial structure indices indicated that: (i) the area of grassland has significantly decreased in the form of degradation and conversion from grassland into bare land and farmland; (ii) grassy vegetation patches changed into fragmented and isolated patches; (iii) the main landscapes in Yushu Prefecture are grasslands, forests and rivers; (iv) patches of grass have relatively high connectivity; and (v) landscape change is significantly correlated with human activities and climate change. This study provides a strong theoretical and technical basis for policy-making regarding environmental protection of and management in Yushu Prefecture of Qinghai Province.
GUO Luo, XUE Dayuan, DU Shihong, HUANG Qi, CAI Liang
. Analysis of Spatial-Temporal Changes in the Landscape Structure of Yushu Prefecture in Qinghai Province[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2011
, 2(2)
: 158
-161
.
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-764x.2011.02.008
Apian A A, S R Raine, M S Paterson. 2002. Mapping and analysis of changes in the riparian landscape structure of the Lockyer Valley catchment, Queensland, Australia. Landscape and Urban Planning, 59 (1): 43-57.
Farina A. 1998. Principles and Methods in landscape ecology. New York: Chapman and Hall, 115-126.
Forman R T T, M Godron. 1986. Landscape ecology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Franklin J F. 1994. Developing information essential to policy, planning and management decision-making: the promise of GIS. In: Sample A V (Ed.). Remote Sensing and GIS in Ecosystem Management. Washington, DC: Island Press, 18-24.
McGarigal K, B J Marks. 1994. FRAGSTATS: Spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure (version 2.0). Corvallis: Forest Science Department, Oregon State University.
O’Neill R V, J R Krummel, R V Gardner, et al. 1998. Indices of landscape Pattern. Landscape Ecology, 1(3): 153-162.
Wang Y, Wu Z M, Wang X R. 2009. Urban forest landscape patterns in Ma’anshan City, China. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 16(5): 346-355.
Zhou W, A Troy. 2008. An Object-oriented Approach for analyzing and characterizing urban landscapes at the parcel level. International Journal of Remote sciences, 29(11):3119-3135.
Zhou W Q, K Schwarz, M L Cadenasso. 2010. Mapping urban landscape heterogeneity: agreement between visual interpretation and digital classification approaches. Landscape Ecology, 25(1): 53-67.
