RIASSUNTO
With the background of global change, forests are a significant resource for economic activities. In order to investigate the spatial characteristics and heterogeneity in the pattern and dynamic of forests, the forests ecosystem pattern in 1990, 2000, 2015 were rebuilt based on satellite images from Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI. Results indicated that forests in Liaoning Province, China, during 1990 to 2015 was observed to be 61885.9, 61617.7, and 61783.8 thousand square kilometers, respectively. Most of the disappeared forests were converted to cropland. Based on the changing trends of forest, climate, and human factors, human activities were the leading driving forces for the losses of forest.