Analysis of Characteristics of Spatio-temporal Evolution of Land Use in Inhabited Islands of Pearl River Estuary

Abstract Under the support of the remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) techniques, we acquire the land use data in 1990 and 2008 regarding 6 inhabited islands, namely Longxue Island, Hengmen Island, Weiyuan Island, Oi'ao Island, Hengqin Island and Gaolan Island in Pearl River Estuary . By using dynamic degree of land use, land use change intensity, relative change rate and other indicators, we conduct quantitative description, and thus quantitatively and qualitatively analyze characteristics of temporal evolution and law of spatial pattern change concerning land use of each island. The study indicates that in the period 1990 2008, the area of construction land and water in 6 islands increased, while the area of agricultural land and unused land increased in some islands and decreased in others. The land use change shows spatial disparity; the holistic land use change degree in Hengmen Island is higher than that of other islands; the dynamic degree of land use, intensity of land use, and relative change rate differ in different islands.