Based on 1985 and 2001 remotely sensed land use data of Xixi watershed

Jinjiang basin

fractal di-mension and stability index of each major land use type were acquired and the change of the land use spatial pattern were investigated. The results show that the fractal dimension value of the study area decreased from 1. 255 in 1985 to 1. 169 in 2001

and the whole land use spatial structure was simplified. The fractal dimen-sion values of forest land and water land increased

while the values of the other land types decreased. The spatial structure stability index of land use in the study area increased from 0. 245 in 1985 to 0. 331 in 2001. The whole spatial structure stability of land use of the watershed tended to increase. The most stable land use types of Xixi watershed were forest land in 1985 and grass land in 2001

and the most unstable land use type was all farm land in both 1985 and 2001. From 1985 to 2001

the use of the forest land

which covers 50 percent of the total area of Xixi watershed

was out of order with an increasingly unstable spatial structure. The forest land should he planned and managed more properly from now on.