Land use change and ecological environment evolution in Taihu Lake Basin

Taihu Lake basin is among the most developed regions in China, and changes in land use and land-cover change were distinct in last two decades. The rapid economic growth and lagged measures in pollution control have resulted in serious environmental problems in this region. Using Landsat satellite imagery of different periods (1985, 1995, 2000, and 2005), we achieved the land use data in Taihu Lake Basin through interpretation. The analysis of land-use transfer matrix showed that the area of agriculture and forestry was decreasing continuously, while the construction area increased distinctly. This fact can be attributed to the rapid economy development in the study area shortly from the reform and opening policy of 1980s. The some suburban agricultural areas were replaced by buildings and streets, which was accompanied by the great changes in local ecological environments. In this region, the analysis of landscape ecological indices showed the increase of landscape fragments, which reflecting that the effects of human activities on the ecological environment was gradually deepened and the instability of the ecological environment decreased, thus reduced the self-regulation ability of ecosystem. The main reason underlying the conversion of farmland area into construction land area was economic development, population increase, industrialization and urbanization. The analysis showed that changes in land use were mainly driven by rapid population growth, socio-economic development and national policy adjustments etc. in Taihu Lake Basin.