Abstract: The aim of this study is to reveal the spatial and temporal changes of landscape stability in Liuyang River Basin. Remote sensing images of 1985, 2000, and 2015 were used to obtain the land use/cover types of three periods in the basin with the support of remote sensing and GIS technology. Hence, the landscape structure change, landscape stability, as well as the relation between them from 1985 to 2015 were analyzed by landscape analysis method. Research manifested that: 1) From 1985 to 2015, the overall landscape structure of Liuyang River Basin was characterized by increased-and-then-decreased fragmentation, patch edge complexity and landscape diversity, as well as human disturbance intensity and landscape aggregation degree in an opposite trend, implying that the landscape stability in the study area weakened but then improved. 2) The landscape stability is spatially heterogeneous, high in the east and south of the study area, while low in the middle and west. 3) The high-value correlation degree of forest land is the largest, followed by that of cultivated land, artificial surface, and water body in sequence, whereas the low-value correlation degree of artificial surface was the largest, followed by that of cultivated land, water body, and forest land in sequence. 4) Forest land is the key landscape to maintain the landscape stability of the basin. 5) Social economy and policy are the most important driving factors of landscape stability. The deterioration of landscape stability can be alleviated by effective policy regulation.

Key words: landscape pattern, landscape stability, spatial and temporal characteristics, remote sensing, GIS, Liuyang River Basin, human activities