Land Cover Changes and Some Proposals for Promoting Sustainable Development in the Source Regions of the Yellow River, China

摘要

The source regions of the Yellow River are situated in the hinterland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of the roof of the world, and it is of great ecological significance to Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The source regions are regarded as "China's water tower". There inhabit large quantities of rare wild animals. Based on land ecological classification and field investigation, the two phases of TM remote sensing data obtained in 1986 and 2000 were compared. From spatial distribution pattern variations and type transformation trend, the spatial changes and evolutional patterns of land ecosystem in the source regions were analyzed in this paper using the analytical method of landscape ecological spatial patterns. Results show that the natural condition is harsh and the ecological environment is fragile. The environmental problems in the source regions have been caused by the global climate changes, human activities, and rat-caused damages influence. The critical problems urge the authors to seek approaches of ecological alleviation in the source regions of the Yellow River. The ultimate intention of this paper is to contribute to the sustainable utilization of the resources as well as sustainable development of economy in the source regions of the Yellow River.