Objective  Through the research on the transformation of production-living-ecology land in Xinjiang in recent 40 years, this paper discusses the evolution of deep-seated eco-environmental effects, so as to provide scientific reference for the rational adjustment of land use structure, eco-environmental protection and sustainable development.

  Method  Based on 8 remote sensing data of land use in Xinjiang from 1980 to 2020, the spatial-temporal variation of land use transformation and eco-environmental effects were analyzed by using ArcGIS eco-environmental quality index and eco-environmental contribution rate.

  Result   The land use structure changed significantly in Xinjiang from 1980 to 2020. The land for production and living increased significantly, while the land for ecological use decreased continuously. The ecological environment quality in Xinjiang decreased from 1980 to 2020. The decreasing rate was fast from 2015 to 2020. The primary positive factor for the ecological environment was the transformation of other ecological land into grassland ecological land, while the main negative factor was the transformation of water ecological land into other ecological land. The high ecological quality area in Xinjiang were mainly distributed in the Tian shan, Kun lun and Altai Mountains, and it decreased from 1980 to 2020. The low ecological quality area was expanding in the Tarim, Junggar and Turpan basins from 1980 to 2020.

  Conclusion  The continuous reduction of water ecological land area is the main reason for the deterioration of ecological environment quality and the continuous reduction of high-quality ecological environment area in Xinjiang.