Abstract: Based on land use data of 2010 and 2000, the land use status and change of the main streams and tributaries of the Yangtze River riparian zone were analysed, and the comparative analysis was carried out on the land use structure and spatial changes of the main streams and tributaries with buffer area of different widths. On this basis, the effects of human development activities at different geographical scales on the land use pattern in the shore of the Yangtze River were discussed. The results showed that the riparian zone is the very important area of construction and agricultural activities in Yangtze River Basin. The proportion of cultivated land and a.pngicial surface area in riparian zone was 31.9% and 6.8%, respectively, which was significantly higher than that of basin average values (24.9% and 3.1%). In the riparian zone of the middle of Yangtze River where the human development and construction and the intensity of agricultural activities were relatively high, the proportion of forest land in the main streams and tributaries were only 14.1% and 66.0% of the average level of the Yangtze River Basin, respectively. According to the analysis of land use change in 2000 and 2010, the a.pngicial surface of the main streams and tributaries of the Yangtze River riparian zone accounted for the largest increase, and the increase of the a.pngicial surface of the main streams and tributaries in the middle stream of the Yangtze River was 5.3 and 2.1 times of the average level of the basin.