Assessment of wetland fragmentation in the Tarim River basin, western China |
| |
| Authors: | Ruifeng Zhao Yaning Chen Huarong Zhou Yiqing Li Yibing Qian and Lihua Zhang |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Oasis Ecology and Desert Environment, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 830011 Urumqi, China;(2) Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100039 Beijing, China;(3) College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Management, University of Hawaii, Hilo, HI 96720, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | The wetlands in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River are a rich area of biodiversity and natural resources in the
inland arid region of China. However, this wetland area has decreased in size during the past several decades. Water quality
and biodiversity has declined due to expanded agricultural activities since 1960s. Using remote sensing (RS), geographic information
system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS) techniques, we investigated the dynamics, spatial patterns and fragmentation
of the wetlands in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River from 1980 to 2000. We found that the total area of the
wetlands was reduced by 45.8% and the density of the patches increased four times from 1980 to 1990. From 1990 to 2000, though
the total area of the wetlands slightly increased the number of the patches increased three times and the density of the patches
doubled. Based on the analyses of transition matrixes, diversity and fragmentation indexes, and spatial distribution alternation
of the wetlands, we found the landscape diversity and fragmentation indices increased while wetland dominance index decreased
dramatically. Among the wetland types, the areas of the river-channel, reservoir and pond wetlands increased while the areas
of the lake and marsh wetlands decreased continuously. |
| |
| Keywords: | Landscape pattern Fragmentation index Tarim River Wetlands GIS |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
