Processes on the Boundary Definition of Agro- pastor al Zone in China
农牧交错带边界判定方法的研究进展

The agro-pastoral zone in China is the ecotone between the traditional agricultural regions and pastoral regions in our country,which is also a fragile zone of eco-environment and a barrier for ecosecurity.Many studies have focused on the agro-pastoral zone and some achievements had been obtained.But there is still no agreement on the boundary definition.For different researchers,the criteria to the boundary definition are different,and then the spatial location and the area of the agro-pastoral zone in China were in difference.Therefore,further studies on boundary definition of eco-environment are needed.The spatial distribution of agro-pastoral zone is controlled by natural factors such as precipitation,but also influenced by human activities intensively.Land use pattern,reflecting the integrative results of natural factors and human activities,can be used for the definition of agro-pastoral zone.Interms of land-use pattern,the agro-pastoral zone is none other than the landscape boundary between farmlands and pastures.In this paper,the processes on the boundary definition of agro-pastoral zone in China were reviewed,and the shortcomings of current studies were summarized.To solve these questions,the spatial analysis methods used in ecotone studies were introduced to the definition of agro-pastoral zone since the agro-pastoral zone is one kind of the ecotones.The spatial analysis methods include spatial clustering analysis,discriminate analysis,spatial statistics analysis and multi-fractal analysis.