Abstract:

As the typical representative of the desert area and the ecologically fragile region in northwest China located in the southwest edge of the Junggar Basin, Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture (abbreviated as Bozhou area) is the main gale wind channel and the important source of wind-blown sand. Based on 30 m spatial resolution Landsat data and land use matrix transfer method, this study analyzed the characteristics of the land use change, vegetation coverage and driving forces in Bozhou area during 2005 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) during 2005 to 2020, the main land types in Bozhou area were sandy land, grassland, bare land and cultivated land. The area of sandy land increased by 1447 km² with the growth rate of 18%. The grassland area decreased the most, by 1638 km². During 2000 to 2015, a large amount of sandy land area, woodland area and cultivated land area in Bozhou turned into grassland area, while construction land area increased slightly. (2) During 2005 to 2020, the proportion of lowest and lower vegetation coverage area in Bozhou was 60% and 10%, respectively. The variation of medium vegetation coverage area showed an increasing trend, while the higher and highest vegetation coverage area showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing slowly. The vegetation coverage showed a trend of decreasing first, then increasing and then decreasing with the increase of slope. (3) According to the results of driving forces analysis, land use change was the most important factor for vegetation cover change, followed by roads and GDP, then precipitation and temperature, and finally population density, water system and slope.

Key words: Bozhou area, land use, vegetation cover, geographic detector, driving forces