Water Occurrence in the Two Largest Lakes in China Based on Long-Term Landsat Images: Spatiotemporal Changes, Ecological Impacts, and Influencing Factors

Abstract

Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake are the two largest freshwater lakes in China. They play a critical ecological role in regional sustainable development, which is closely related to water occurrence (WO). This study aimed to characterize the spatiotemporal changes, ecological impacts, and influencing factors of WO in the two lakes. First, this study utilized the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and all available Landsat images to retrieve the time series of WO in Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake on a two-year scale from 1989 to 2020. Then, the study explored the landscape variation intensity, landscape structure, and their ecological impacts on net primary production (NPP) and total nitrogen (TN) based on the landscape transfer rate (LTR), landscape indices, and geostatistical connectivity analysis. Finally, the study investigated the natural and human factors that influence the changes in WO. The major conclusions include the following: (1) the mean WO showed a significantly decreasing trend in the two lakes from 1989 to 2020. According to the LTR, the landscape variation in Dongting Lake was more intense before 2002, while after 2002, the landscape variation in Poyang Lake was more intense. (2) The landscape structure of WO gradually fragmented and diversified, along with decreasing hydrological connectivity in the two lakes. (3) The increase in NPP in Poyang Lake and the increase in TN in Dongting Lake were closely correlated with the changes in WO. (4) The upstream runoff showed a significantly positive correlation with the mean WO in Poyang Lake and the annual precipitation showed a significantly positive correlation with the mean WO in Dongting Lake; the influences of natural factors on WO changes became weaker. This study reinforces the understanding of long-term changes in the water body in Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake.