The Forest Pattern and Its Variation Characteristics in Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits

Taking Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits as the study area, we use GIS, remote sensing, mathematical statistics and other methods, to analyze the forest pattern and its variation characteristics in Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits during the period 1992—2008; use canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) to examine the effects of environmental factors on changes in forest pattern. The results show that the forest resources are rich in Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits, accounting for 61.40% of the total area, but the geographical distribution is very uneven, with obvious regional and elevation gradient difference; since 1992, the forest has been dwindling in Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits, from 89 300 km2 in 1992 to 88 300 km2 in 2008; in terms of changes in region and elevation gradient, there is obvious difference in the forest, and the central and western forest of Wuyi Mountain tends to decline obviously; the main environmental factors influencing changes in forest pattern in Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits include temperature, sunshine hours, GDP per capita and precipitation; evaporation, evaporation and population density have weak effects on changes in forest pattern.