The comparative analysis of land use change between Chuxiong and Shuangbai in Yunnan Province
云南省楚雄市与双柏县土地利用变化对比研究

In this paper, we analyzed the land use change in Chuxiong city, a plateau area and Shuangbai county,a mountainous area in Yunnan Province, based on their TM images in 1980 and 2000. Four kinds of indexes for land use/land cover, two kinds of indexes for the spatial patterns of regional landscape, the land use type transition matrix and information entropy of land use structure were calculated to examine spatial patterns and dynamics of land use change in Chuxiong and Shuangbai. The results show that, due to human activity, the land use change in Chuxiong was greater than that in Shuangbai during the past 20 years. The built-up area and timberland have increased, but cropland, grassland and water area have decreased in both Chuxiong and Shuangbai. The change of water area and grassland in Shuangbai was faster than that in Chuxiong, the change of built-up area and cropland in Chuxiong was faster than that in Shuangbai. Index for landscape diversity in Shuangbai was lower than in Chuxiong, showing a decreasing tendency in Chuxiong, but an increasing tendency in Shuangbai. Landscape fragmentation indexes were high, the landscape fragmentation indexes in Chuxiong were greater than in Shuangbai, both showing a decreasing tendency. The land use system tended to be unstable in Chuxiong, but oppositely in Shuangbai. The main driving forces of regional land use change in Chuxiong and Shuangbai were natural conditions, economic development, structure of production, level of urbanization and governmental decision makings. Effect of population increase on land use in Shuangbai was notable, but it was not marked in Chuxiong.