Spatial and temporal variations of Black Soil Type degraded grassland in the Three River Source Region

The Black Soil Type Degraded grassland can lead to rapidly ecological environment deteriorated in Three River Source Region. The accurate and timely investigation of the spatial and temporal variations characteristics played an important role for the protection of ecological environment in Three River Source Region. The comparisons of the QuickBird images on June 29, 2007 and the Landsat TM images on July 1, 2007 in Dari County in Qinghai showed that Landsat TM images had low interpretation precision although it was still enough for the present area monitor. The spatial and temporal variations of Black Soil Type Degraded grassland in 2000, 2007, and 2011 were analyzed using Landsat TM data. From 2000 to 2007, the total areas of the non black soil patch decreased and the areas of the black soil patch increased which suggested that the grassland tended to degrade From 2007 to 2011, the total areas of the non black soil patch increased and the areas of the black soil patch decreased which suggested the grassland degradation and black soil patch extension trend were effectively inhibited. These inhibitions suggested that the ecological protection and construction in Three River Source Region had achieved remarkable success in comprehensive treatments of Black Soil Type Degraded grassland.