Abstract:Based on Landsat TM/MSS images of the middle and lower reaches of the Jialing River in 1972, 1986 and 2000, and a relif map (1:50000 in scale) of the region in 1960, temporal-spatial changes in land use were analyzed, with the aid of GIS. The results indicated that from 1960 to 2000 a general declining trend was observed with forest land and grassland, which decreased by 27087.0 hm2 and by 37696.5 hm2 respecively, and a rising trend with built-up land and farmland, which increased by 15252.3 hm2 and by 14871.8 hm2, respectively. Before 1986, the dominant trend of the change was forestland being turned into grassland and farmland, so forestland dropped rapidly in area during the period from 1960 to 1986. However, since 1986, the trend has been reversed. Large areas of farmland have been yielded to forestland and grassland, leading to decrease in farmland and increase in forestland. And in the past 40 years, the area of built-up land has been expanding. Besides, the paper also analyzed driving forces of the change based on available historical documents.