Search Results (4)

The Western Sichuan Plateau, an ecologically critical transition zone between the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin, is also a typical fragile and sensitive area in China’s ecological security. This study established a multi-process evaluation model using the Spatial Distance Index Method, integrating cluster analysis, Sen–Mann–Kendall trend detection, and OWA-based scenario simulations to assess composite ecological sensitivity dynamics. The optimal geodetector was further applied to quantitatively determine the driving mechanisms underlying these sensitivity dynamics. The research showed the following findings: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the ecological environment of the Western Sichuan Plateau exhibited a phased pattern characterized by significant improvement, partial rebound, and overall stabilization. The composite ecological sensitivity grading index showed a declining trend, indicating a gradual reduction in ecological vulnerability. The effectiveness of ecological restoration projects became evident after 2010, with the area of medium- to high-sensitivity zones decreasing by 24.29% at the regional scale compared to the 2010 baseline. (2) The spatial pattern exhibited a gradient-decreasing characteristic from west to east. Scenario simulations under varying decision-making behaviors prioritized Jiuzhaigou, Xiaojin, Jinchuan, Danba, and Yajiang counties as ecologically critical. (3) Driving force analysis revealed a marked increase in the explanatory power of freeze-thaw erosion, with its q-value rising from 0.49 to 0.80. Moreover, its synergistic effect with landslide disasters spans 74.19% of county-level units. Dominant drivers ranked: annual temperature range (q = 0.32) > distance to faults (q = 0.17) > slope gradient (q = 0.16), revealing a geomorphic-climatic-tectonic interactive mechanism. This study provided methodological innovations and decision-making support for sustainable environmental development in plateau transitional zones. Full article

The inherent ecological environment of mountainous regions is highly fragile, and the degree of sustainable development is low. There has not yet been a multi-phase ecological vulnerability evaluation (EVE) study based on remote sensing (RS) and GIS for mountainous provinces, for which there is an urgent need to establish a system that is appropriate, practicable and easily operated and applied. In this study, an integrated “RS and GIS + multi-phase land use/cover change (LUCC) + practically quantitative theory and methods of EVE” approach was adopted for analysis based on the interpretation results of five phases of the land use/land cover (LULC) RS images of Yunnan, with 129 counties being considered as the evaluation units. The organic combination of quantitative multi-index comprehensive evaluation (QMCE) and qualitative comprehensive analysis (QCA) methods was adopted to perform quantitative calculations of a system of county-level evaluation indicators which includes “innate” natural ecological vulnerability (INEV), land use ecological vulnerability (LUEV) and land cover ecological vulnerability (LCEV); the degree of ecological vulnerability (DEV) was assessed for the 129 counties within the province during the five study phases (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020). The spatiotemporal variation characteristics and laws of DEV from 1980 to 2020 in the whole province and 129 counties were revealed, aiming to provide a basis for meeting the SDGs for mountainous provinces. The results are as follows: (1) Overall, INEV is high because of the high mountains and steep slopes, and the entire province is classified as “highly vulnerable” on average. In terms of counties, more than 79.07% are classified as “moderately vulnerable”, “highly vulnerable” and “very highly vulnerable”. (2) The degree of LUEV and LCEV caused by acquired human socioeconomic activities was higher in 1980. However, after a series of ecological measures in the past 40 years, the values of D_EVLU and D_EVLC in the whole province and counties in 2020 have decreased to different degrees. Accordingly, the degree of overall ecological vulnerability of Yunnan province and counties decreased significantly from 1980 to 2020. The basic law of change is that the number of counties with high DEV decreases significantly, while the number of counties with low DEV increases significantly. (3) The regional difference in the DEV of Yunnan province is large. In general, the degree of ecological vulnerability is lower in the southern, southwestern, western and central areas of Yunnan and higher in the northwest high mountain canyon, northeast mountain areas and east and southeast karst areas. (4) Overall, the DEV in Yunnan province is currently still high. There is an urgent need to enhance the construction of ecological civilization across the whole province and take effective measures to protect the ecological environment according to local conditions, so as to steadily reduce the DEV. Full article

The three dimensions of ecological, economic, and social vulnerability in the mountainous countryside are caused by the fragility of the natural ecosystems of the mountains, which overlap with the geographical location of the countryside and are associated with farm production and low productivity. This study conducts a vulnerability evaluation of mountainous rural areas based on the fundamentals of ecological vulnerability in mountainous regions by combining “RS and GIS + multistage land use/land cover change (LUCC) + rural vulnerability evaluation theory and quantitative and practical techniques”. The goal of this project is to establish a comprehensive evaluation system that takes into account the various vulnerability levels in rural areas. It is based on the results of the three phases (2000, 2010, and 2020) of land use/land cover remote sensing images of Yunnan Province. The Delphi approach was used to determine the indicator weights. In order to quantitatively assess the rural vulnerability of 129 counties in Yunnan Province in 2000, 2010, and 2020, as well as to reveal the spatiotemporal characteristics of the rural vulnerability of the entire province in each county from 2000 to 2020, the qualitative comprehensive analysis method and the quantitative multi-index comprehensive evaluation method were organically combined. This paper’s objective is to offer a basis for the strategic planning and management of sustainable rural development and revitalization in mountainous provinces. The findings demonstrate that the ecological, economic, and social vulnerability levels all dramatically decreased over the previous two decades in rural Yunnan Province and its counties. The overall vulnerability of rural areas has been somewhat diminished, with an average annual decline of 1.17% over the past 20 years in the whole province. This demonstrates how the construction and development of rural areas over the past two decades have significantly decreased the overall vulnerability of rural areas. There are, nevertheless, substantial geographical variations. At present, the levels of ecological, economic, social, and overall vulnerability in rural areas of Yunnan Province are high. Full article

The basic characteristics of mountain areas are that the innate ecological environment is relatively fragile, the acquired ecological environment is severely damaged and degraded, the whole economy and society are still relatively backward, and the degree of sustainable development is relatively low. At present, it has not been seen that land use sustainability evaluation (LUSE) research lasting for many years based on RS and GIS in mountainous provinces. It is urgent to build a suitable, feasible, operable and applicable LUSE system for mountainous regions so as to provide a basic foundation for strategic planning and management of sustainable land use in mountainous provinces. This study integrated “RS and GIS + multi-phase LUCC + LUSE theory and quantitative practical methods” based on mountain provinces, firmly grasped the basic characteristics of mountain areas—the vulnerability of ecological environment, and conducted the study on mountain LUSE. According to the outcomes of RS of land use in the study area in three phases (2000, 2010 and 2020), a comprehensive indicator system is established from the three dimensions of ecological friendliness of land use (EFLU), the economic viability of land use (EVLU) and social acceptability of land use (SALU). Using the Delphi method to determine weights and combining the AHP method and the comprehensive analysis method, this paper quantitatively measures the overall sustainability of land use (OSLU) of 129 counties in Yunnan province in 2000, 2010 and 2020, revealing the spatio-temporal characteristics of the OSLU of Yunnan province and all counties from 2000 to 2020, and aiming to provide a basic and foundation for strategic planning and management of sustainable land use (SLU) in mountainous provinces. The degree of ecological friendliness (D_EF), degree of economic viability (D_EV), degree of social acceptability (D_SA) and degree of overall sustainability (D_OS) in Yunnan province and all counties have been significantly improved. Accordingly, the OSLU has been improved to a certain extent, with a 0.66% annual growth rate. It indicates that the development and construction from 2000 to 2020 have significantly improved the OSLU. However, regional differences are large. At present, EFLU, EVLU, and SALU in Yunnan province are not high as a whole. The basic situation reflected that there are obvious deficiencies in EFLU, EVLU and SALU in Yunnan province. Land exploitation and use activities have caused certain influences and the destruction of the ecological environment. Full article