Dynamic Variation and Change Mechanism of Landscape of Desert Area in Hexi Corridor

The Markov model was applied to study the dynamic variation and change mechanism of landscape of desert area in Hexi Corridor. The results showed that landscape matrix of Hexi Corridor mainly is desert and Gobi , which have not fundamentally changed in the past semi-century;Characteristics of landscape elements were that the mean area of unused land ,flowing sand dune, semi-flowing sand dune and Gobi patches had become larger and larger , while the mean patch area of forest land, regular sand, arable land had decreased. During 1949 to 1995, landscape elements with high transforming speed mainly were arable land ,forest land ,grass land ,fixed sandy plain and semi-sandy plain , the main transforming forms were from flowing sand dune to fixed or semi-fixed sand dune, from alkali-saline land ,arable land ,grass land ,fixed land and aquatic area to semi-fixed sandy land ,from grass land and aquatic area to fixed land ,from different land types to desert land and inter-transform of arable land , forest land and grass land . Dynamic variation of landscape showed that this area was facing the problem of land degradation and hard to restore the ecological balance , while regional landscape pattern ,as a whole, showed the developing trend of desertification.