# Change and Driving Factor Analysis of Eco-Environment of Typical Lakes in Arid Areas
## 4 Discussion  
### Analysis on the Factors of Lake Area Change Trend of Taitema Lake  
The analysis of the curves of ecological water conveyance and area changes showed that the area change of Lake Taitema was highly consistent with the trend of ecological water conveyance, so it was speculated that the area change of Lake Taitema might have a close relationship with ecological water conveyance. Temperature changes in Lake Taitema were flat over the selected 20 years, as higher temperatures lead to the evaporation of water from the lake, which in turn affects the lake area. The overall change in rainfall fluctuated little, but the change in rainfall was similar to the overall trend of the change in the area of Lake Taitema. Therefore, the specific effects of temperature and rainfall on the lake need to be analyzed.  
As Taitema Lake is situated in Ruooqiang County, which is also a natural reserve, this article selected the population and GDP data of Ruoqiang County as the driving factors to analyze Taitema Lake (Figure 11). With the analysis of the results of the structural equation model, it is possible to see that ecological water conveyance, precipitation, and GDP had a positive effect on the area of Taitema Lake, while population and temperature had a negative effect on the area of Taitema Lake.  
Among them, the path coefficient of ecological water conveyance to the area of Taitema Lake was 0.87, which passed the test with \(p<0.05\) (Figure 12a). The linear relationship between ecological water conveyance and lake area was significant, indicating that ecological water conveyance had a significant impact on the area of Taitema Lake. Precipitation had a secondary impact on the area (Figure 12b), and precipitation also had a positive effect on ecological water conveyance. Temperature had a negative effect on the area of Taitema Lake, and temperature also limited ecological water conveyance. Based on the above analysis, it is possible to see that ecological water conveyance had the largest positive impact on the area of Taitema Lake. As ecological water conveyance and temperature change, the area of Taitema Lake is expected to change accordingly [41], but the main cause of the changes in the area of Taitema Lake is the ecological water conveyance. Therefore, during the rainy season, ecological water conveyance can be reduced or temporarily stopped to avoid the waste of resources. During the high-temperature season, ecological water conveyance is necessary to maintain the lake area and protect the local ecology. Due to the scarce rainfall  
Figure 10: Inter-annual changes in ecological water conveyance volume and area of Taitema Lake area from 2000 to 2020.  
and high evaporation in the Taitema Lake area [42], water resources mainly come from the Daxiaizi Reservoir supply, which performs ecological water conveyance downstream of the Tarim River. In summary, the change in the area of Taitema Lake is largely influenced by ecological water conveyance, and ecological water conveyance has a significant impact on inland lakes in arid areas [16]. Therefore, if we want to restore the lakes in arid areas, ecological water conveyance projects should be considered.