Change of land use in Beijing region

This paper analyzed major characteristics of land use changes in the Beijing-around region, based on TM(ETM) in 1991 and 2002. On the basis of that, we studied the differences in districts of land use change on county area scale, using intensity, state and trend parameters of land use change. In addition, we investigated the effects of land use change on eco-environment in this region. We found that the area of arable land decreased greatly, with a gradually increasing trend from southeast to northwest from 1991 to 2002. On the other hand, the area of forested land and grassland increased, especially in the northwestern area. The total area of sandy land increased, with a gradually decreasing trend from east to west. Land use change was characterized by low intensity, and the area of net change in each kind type of land use was much more for the most counties in the studied region. From south and north to middle and east to west, the intensity of land use change increased gradually. The degree of single-direction interchange between different land use types decreased gradually from west to east. In recent 10 yr, quality and productivity of land was decreased increasingly in this region. But with the construction of various forest zones by reversing arable land to grassland and forest land, the descent dust amount per yr in Beijing suburban decreased with increase of the area of grassland and forestry land in the Beijing-around region.