Abstract: Based on the landsat images of the years of 1987 and 2002 and land use data of 1997,variation of the agricultural landscape patterns of the flooded area of the Yellow River in Henan Province in the past 20 years and its driving factors were analyzed quantitatively,using landscape indexes,such as patch density,landscape diversity index,landscape fragmentation index,landscape dominance index and distribution centroids of various landscape types.Results show that within the study area,the agricultural landscape patterns changed significantly from 1987 to 2002,especially in total area,patch number and patch density of each type of landscape.Irrigated land,dry land and construction land increased in area and became dominant ones,accounting for 83.51% in the study area in 2002.As a result of intensified human activities,landscape diversity index and fragmentation index of the area were increasing while its landscape dominance index was decreasing,illustrating that the differences between various landscapes got narrower in acreage percentage,but the fragmentation degree rose.Agricultural development,population growth,economic development,improvement of the living standard,accelerated urbanization and so on are the main driving factors.

Key words: agricultural landscape, dynamics of landscape pattern, driving factor, flooded area of the Yellow River in Henan Province