Land Cover Change on Beach of Dongting Lake's Beach

In order to understand the land cover change of beach in the Dongting Lake since the 1970s, it has been systematically monitored based on various remote sensing images since 1978 in this study. Results show that poplar and reed land have experienced the largest changes of land cover in the past 40 years,showing a complementary relationship with one increased with decrease of the other. After 2007, the distribution area of poplar and reed land has been basically same. Till 2015, the distribution area of poplar land has been substantially reduced,and the distribution area of the reed land has been steadily increased. Before 2002, the beach area of Dongting Lake has been increased,after that,the area tends to be stable. Reed land and lake grass are two most covered categories in the Dongting Lake,which is 2/3 of the total beach area. In Dongting Lake Nature Reserve area,populus nigra is widely distributed in the Nature Protection Zone of South Dongting Lake,reed is widely distributed in the Nature Protection Zone of East and South Dongting Lake. Since 2015, the artificial usage of the beach in the Dongting Lake is decresed to 48.57%,but further control measures are urgently needed.