Land use/land cover change and driving force analysis in Xishuangbanna Region in 1986-2008

This article summarizes the change of land use in 1986-2008 through data analysis on land use/land cover in Xishuangbanna Region, Yunnan Province, China. The major driving forces of land use change are identified by the gray incidence analysis method. The results shows that the area ratio of forestland in Xishuangbanna Region decreased from 57.62% to 42.87% in the studied period, The ratio of plantation and shrub land increased from 4.77%, 15.10% to 13.92%, 23.87%, respectively, The ratio of crop land increased from 4.77% in 1986 to 5.85% in 1999, and then dropped to 4.99% in 2008. The driving force analysis shows that population density, the average annual temperature, grain output and economic density are among the major driving forces causing land use/land cover change (LUCC) in Xishuangbanna Region.