Influence of conversion from forest to pasture on visual effect of landscape
森林草地转换对景观视觉效果的影响

Geographical information system (GIS) was applied to quantitatively evaluate the influence of conversion from forest to pasture on the visual effect of the landscape by the viewpoint of landscape conservation. The visible area of the intermediate zone was larger than that of both the near and far zones and hence, the influence of the conversion was the biggest on the visual effect of the intermediate zone. Therefore, intermediate zone is the most important part in landscape conservation. Analyses on the visibility of forest on the background of pasture showed that most parts of visible forest in all the zones located at elevations 400-600 m, but rarely distributed on slopes as steep as 25 degrees. The measures in landscape management and conservation were also discussed in the sense of increasing the visual effect of pasture landscape.