Land use change is the most direct manifestation of the interaction between human activities and the natural environment, which can significantly change the pattern of the ecosystem, and then affect the process and function, thus having a far-reaching impact on the regional ecological environment. Ecological risk plays an important role in ecological environment quality assessment and ecological environment management, which can better reflect the impact of land use change on ecological process and function. The Dongting Lake Basin, which flows through Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Chongqing, is situated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin in the central south of China. It is famous for its agricultural products. In this article, land use data in 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018, were used. Land cover types were interpreted, and the dynamic characteristics of land use were quantitatively analyzed. In addition, the ecological risk assessment model was constructed to evaluate ecological risk from the perspective of landscape ecology, thereby revealing the characteristics of spatial-temporal evolution. The results showed that (1) since 1980, the land use types of Dongting Lake Basin were mainly woodland and cropland. The land use pattern has taken great changes, which is characterized by the continuous expansion of built-up land, the basic stability of woodland, the shrinking of cropland and the expansion of water area. (2) the ecological environment of Dongting Lake Basin showed a relatively good state, with lower and medium ecological risk areas as the dominant type during 1980-2018. In the three periods of 1980-1990, 1990-2010 and 2010-2018, ecological risk has been increasing, mitigating and aggravating. High risk areas were mainly distributed in Dongting Lake and Dongting Lake Plain. Moreover, the ecological risk of Dongting Lake region, Xiangjiang River Basin and Zishui basin were significantly higher than that of other areas, while it was a lesser risk extent in Yuanshui basin, Lishui basin and the east and south of Xiangjiang River Basin.