Changes of land use and landscape pattern in the boundary change areas in farming-pastoral ecotone of Northern China

The ecotone was defined as a transitional zone between two adjacent ecosystems, and it was the sensitive region of terrestrial ecosystems which is vulnerable to global change and human disturbance. Under the impact of global climate change and human disturbance, the location and boundary in farming-pastoral ecotone of Northern China are changing continually, and the land use and landscape pattern of boundary changing area are also changing quickly. Based on the meteorological data and land use data, by using RS, GIS technology and landscape ecological methods, the locations of farming-pastoral ecotone of Northern China and its boundary change area are defined, and the temporal and spatial changes of land use and landscape pattern are analyzed in boundary change area from 1986 to 2000. The main results reveal that: (1) The structural changes of land use, the alternative transformation of different land use types and the dynamic degree of land use have obvious regional differences in the buffer zones of northwest boundary and southeast boundary. (2)The distances and directions of landscape gravity centers transfer, and the changes of landscape pattern have their different characteristics in buffer zones of northwest boundary and southeast boundary.