Land-Use Change Analysis Using GIS in the Water-Level-Fluctuating Zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region: A Kai´xian County Case

The water-level-fluctuating zone (WLFZ) in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) changes seasonally because of the special hydrological characteristics and agriculture practices. Rapid land use changes have taken place in the WLFZ of the TGR, which is affected by the functions and structures of the local environmental system directly or indirectly. Land use change analysis is very important for land planning and environmental management in the TGR area. This paper presents an integrated study of land use change in the WLFZ of the TGR area by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The study explored the temporal and spatial characteristics of this area from 2000a to 2005a and the land use/cover changes during this period. Data of viewdata graphics, social statistics and environmental monitor were collected and inputted into ArcGIS for calculating the transition matrix of land use and used to analyze the changes in the landscape. The main purpose of this study was to determine the land use transition rate between land use types in this area over the 5 years from 2000-2005 and to quantify the changes of various land uses. Surprisingly the results show that the arable land has increased by 1466.79ha while the garden land has decreased by 519.71 ha and the water area has decreased by 652.39ha during the past 5 years. The major factors influencing the ecosystem and land use changes of the WLFZ were human-related factors, such as transmigrant, and intensified and unreasonable utilization of land resources.