Study Of The Eco-environmental Evolution In The North Part Of Tianshan Mountain Based On RS & GIS

North part of Tianshan Mountain is a representative area and an important economic development zone of West Development strategy in Xinjiang. This area is the core of local economic construction. But changed with the rapid grows of economy, unreasonable exploitation and utilization of human beings, the local eco-environment system has been faced with a sequence of negative effects, which made a serious disturbance and destruction to the vulnerable arid desert. The problems of degradation of natural plant cover, desertification and atrophy of lakes have become worse and worse, which are direct threat to the stability of agricultural oasis and ecological system, as well as the socio-economic sustainable development of local area. In this paper, north part of Tianshan Mountain is chosen as the working region. This research accomplished the background and current situation investigation (the 1970s', 1990 and 2000) of land use/cover changes (LUCC) during nearly 30 years in this region, with the RS and GIS technology; and also studied the quantitative distinctions in time and space of LUCC and landscape pattern, with the landscape indexes and land use/cover dynamic model, which is in the coupling of local natural factors and human activities. Based on the above, the research has established a info-data set of plant cover and typical lakes area in the recent 20 years; and analyzed the cover alterations of varied land; and disclosure the special changes and trend of plant cover and lakes; and analyzed the coupled relations between eco-environment evolution and natural factors and human activities; and explored the driving factors of the eco-environment evolutions of this area. The result revealed that, during nearly 30 years, Farmland, construction land and water were increased, while grassland, wetland, unutilized land and forest fell off sharply, and the exchanges in all types are multiple. The continuous rise in reclaimed index of land and the continuous decline in the plant cover index illustrated that artificial oases have been expanding constantly, while natural oases have been reducing. The diversity index and the evenness index were both low, while the landscape fragment index was increased. The plant cover in this area is showing a tendency to improve, but artificial oases and natural oases are different, because artificial oases dimension and utilized extent were increased, while natural oases appear deteriorated situation. From 1998 to 2004, the area of Aibi Lake present linear rise annually, and the average area has reached 900 square kilometers in 2004, as well as the monthly average lake area in a year back-up to the level in 1990.The research hold that eco-environment evolution is a result of interacting and coupling between natural and artificial factors, in which climate factor is the primary influence, and unreasonable human activities make it worse. The result offers a scientific database and decision-making basis to find out the original of eco-environment evolution, and how to regulate and protect it. Meanwhile it adds the measures and contents to the eco-environment study of arid and semiarid region, from which many other areas can be benefited.