Rates and patterns of landscape change between 1972 and 1988 in the Changbai Mountain area of China and North Korea

Satellite imagery was used to quantify rates and patterns of landscape change between 1972 and 1988 in the Changbai Mountain Reserve and its adjacent areas in the People's Republic of China and North Korea. The 190,000 ha Reserve was established as an International Biosphere Reserve by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1979. It is the most important natural landscape remaining in China's temperate/boreal climate. The images used in this research cover a total area of 967,847 ha, about three-fourths of which is in China. Imagery from 1972 and 1988 was classified into 2 broad cover types (forest and non-forest). Overall, forests covered 84.4% of the study area in 1972 and 74.5% in 1988. Changes in forest cover within the Reserve were minimal. The loss of forest cover outside the Reserve appears to be strongly associated with timber harvesting at lower elevations. Landscape patterns in 1988 were more complex, more irregular, and more fragmented than in 1972. This is one of the few studies to assess landscape changes across two countries. The rates and patterns of forest-cover loss were different in China and North Korea. In North Korea, extensive cutting appears to have occurred prior to 1972 and this has continued through 1988 while in China, most cutting appears to have occurred since 1972.