Assessing China's Lake Changes and Associated Driving Forces During 1985-2015

摘要

China's lakes have experienced dramatic changes in recent decades, but quantitative information on such changes remains unclear. Here we present a national-scale investigation of lake changes in China during 1985 to 2015 and further explore the associated driving factors. We found an apparent increase in the total area of the lakes (increased by 4616.7 +/- 296.3 km(2)). The increasing trend in lake area has been particularly pronounced in the Tibetan Plateau Lake-zone (TPL) and Xinjiang primarily due to increased precipitation and glacier/snow melting under global warming, although significant downward trends (P &0.05) in lake area occurred in eastern and northeastern China and Inner Mongolia, dominantly driven by anthropogenic activities. There are significant negative relationships between relative lake area and irrigated area, built-up land, and number of water projects in the East and the Northeast China Plain (P &0.05). This study provides a crucial basis for continuous investigation and protection of China's lakes.