Spatial Distribution of Land-Use Types

Abstract

Land use is one of the most important ways that humans use land resources to meet their material, social, and cultural needs, and its spatial distribution pattern largely features topographic dependence in mountain regions. Study on spatial distribution of different land-use types in the Lhasa area at central Tibetan Plateau shows that the altitude difference between the highest and the lowest points is 3612 m with an average elevation of 4616 meters above sea level (masl), and most of land ranges from 3550 to 5500 masl with 92.27% of total land area. As a mountainous region, in the study area the flat land without slope gradient is limited in area and covers 23.70% of total land area. Most of cultivated land is in elevation range from 3550 to 4000 masl with covering 74.32% of total cultivated land, while forest distribution is spatially much broader and natural shrub is dominant cover type. Over 50% of settlement and built-up land is in elevation range from 3650 to 3750 masl. Grassland is the largest land-use type with 93.78% lying in elevation range from 4000 to 6000 masl, while lake covers the largest area in water body and is composed of eastern part of Namtso Lake within Lhasa area.