Studying Changes in Land Use Within the Poyang Lake Region

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China. Because the lake is faced with a series of ecological and environmental problems, it is important and necessary to study the land use changes in the Poyang Lake region. In this study, Landsat images from 1976, 1989, 1999 and 2009, were used along with other evaluation methods (quantitative analysis of changes in land use, land use dynamic, degree and transfer matrix analyses) to investigate the changes in land use within the Poyang Lake region from 1976 to 2009. Land use was classified into seven types: cropland, woodland, grassland, the water body, construction land, bottomland and unused land. Areas of cropland, bottomland and the water body were decreasing although the area of the water body decreased relatively slowly. However, areas of construction land, grassland, woodland and unused land increased to a certain extent, with unused land increasing the most rapidly given its smaller proportion compared to the other types. All land types in the study region had different levels of conversion between other types of land. As a whole, the decrease in cropland and the increase in construction land, woodland and grassland were caused by human activities and the conservation policies such as Grain-for-Green and “returning farm to lake”. However, the decrease in the water body area was mainly influenced by natural factors and human activities. Changes in the area of bottomland were mainly influenced by water levels and human farming activities.