Response of land use changes on ecological water diversion in midstream of the Heihe River Basin

Based on the land use data in midstream of the Heihe River Basin in 1986, the CLUE-S model was used to simulate the land use distribution in 2000. In addition, the simulated map was verified by the land use map in 2000. Then the spatial pattern of land used in 2015 under the scenario without water diversion was simulated. The results show that the CLUE-S model could be applied to simulate the spatial pattern of land use changes in midstream of the Heihe River basin. Under both scenarios, cultivated land and construction land area showed a tendency of increasing. Forestland, pastureland and unused land showed a tendency of decreasing, while the convert tendency from unused land to other land use types was accelerated. The water surface area decreased under the scenario without water diversion, while under ecological water diversion scenario it showed a tendency of increasing. After the implementation of water diversion, the speed was accelerated. Under the scenario without water diversion, the main types of land use changes were cultivated land, pastureland and water surface area. Conversely, they were cultivated land, pastureland and unused land