Change characteristic of lakes in Hubei province in the past 100 years

Abstract

Hubei province (29°05′N -33°20′N,108°21′E- 116°07′E) is located in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, in which there are many types of wetlands, including lake, river, reservoir, marsh, marshy meadow and swamp etc. Among them, lake is main wetlands type in the province. Using geographical maps and the documents since early 20th century, and the remote sensing images during 1986 -2005, the spatial - time change characteristic of lakes in Hubei province in the past 100 years was analyzed with GIS/RS technology and methods in this paper. The results showed that (1)In the early years of the 20th century, the area of the lakes was about 26 000 km2 in Hubei province, but it decreased by 3 025.6 km2 in 2005, which was 11.64% of the area 100 - year ago. There were 1 309 lakes in Hubei province in 1950s, but, only 979 lakes existed in 2005, some lakes had vanished completely or were used for other purposes because of cultivation or other reasons. Human activities were the main factor for change of lakes in Hubei province. (2)The lakes in Hubei province changed rapidly in the late 50 years of the 20th century, especially in the period of 1960s - 1980s, cultivation was the main reason for the change of lakes. (3)In the recent 100 years, the lakes in Hubei province had not only an obvious evolution for 4 stages, but also a clear regional difference, especially in the Jianghan Plain.

Publication Title

Wetland Science

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