Landscape Characters of Small and Micro Waterbodies and Its Drivers in Mt. Qianhu, Yunnan Province from 1995 to 2019

This study obtained the distribution of small and micro waterbodies based on Landsat images in the Mt. Qianhu(MQH) in northwestern Yunnan Province from 1995 to 2019. Then the changes in landscape pattern of small and micro waterbodies in MQH were analyzed. Meanwhile, the effects of climatic factors on the changes of landscape pattern were discussed. The results showed that the average distribution altitude of small waterbodies and micro waterbodies were 3953.1 m and 3987.8 m, respectively. The distribution slope of small waterbodies was between 9° and 14°, and it was between 6° and 13° for micro waterbodies. These 2 types of waterbodies mainly distributed on the eastern and northern slope, and a few distributed on the southern slope of MQH; the patch area of small waterbodies was larger than that of micro waterbodies, while the patch number of micro waterbodies was larger than the small waterbodies. The patches of small waterbodies showed a concentrated distribution tendency, while the patches of micro waterbodies showed an opposite distribution tendency. Generally, the patch area, patch number and the separation index of small and micro waterbodies increased firstly and then decreased from 1995 to 2019; it was a climatic warming and drying trend in MQH from 1995 to 2019. The altitude and slope had significant impacts on the landscape characteristics of small and micro waterbodies. The increase of annual temperature tended to increase the patch number, patch area and patch separation index of the small and micro waterbodies. The reduce of annual precipitation, however, played an opposite role in changing landscape characteristics of small and micro waterbodies. This study shows that topography factors(i.e., altitude and slope) control the spatial distribution of small and micro waterbodies, climatic warming and drying could strong change the landscape characteristics of these waterbodies in the MQH. Furthermore, the micro waterbodies were more sensitive than small waterbodies in responding to environmental changes in MQH.