Landscape ecological risk assessment in the Taihu region based on land use change

The quantitative analysis of the land use change and its transformation relationship in the Taihu region during 1990-2008 was put forward,using GIS and RS technologies,based on the remote sensing data and land use data,taking the administrative division as the assessment units.The assessment model comprising a landscape disturbance index and a land use sensitivity index was established on the base of land use change and landscape perspective to assess the landscape ecological risk characteristics of temporal and spatial change in study area.The results showed that the distribution of ecological risk had higher associated with the intensity and pattern of land use change.As a whole,the landscape ecological risk had been rising in the past 18 years;the area of high ecological risk was expanding.Due to the physical characteristics and social economy,the spatial variation of landscape ecological risk was significant.The low risk areas distributed mainly in the hilly and mountainous areas,the medium risk areas was mainly in the agriculture developed plain area,and the higher and highest risk areas distributed at the economically developed areas around the lake.The sources of landscape ecological risks were different,and variable land use types also had different risks.The farmland and construction land were the main risk source of the whole region.As the regional development,the ecological risk from the water and woodland were increasing steadily.