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Human activities, especially industrial production and urbanization, have significantly affected vegetation cover, water resource cycles, climate change, and biodiversity in the Qinling-Daba Mountain region and its surrounding areas. These activities contribute to complex and lasting impacts on ecological vulnerability. The Qinling Mountain region exhibits a complex interaction with human activities. The current research on the ecological vulnerability of the Qinling Mountain region primarily focuses on spatial distribution and the driving factors. This study innovatively applies the VSD assessment and Bayesian networks to systematically evaluate and simulate the ecological vulnerability of the study area over the past 20 years, which indicates that the integration of the VSD model with the Bayesian network model enables the simulation of dynamic relationships and interactions among various factors within the study areas, providing a more accurate assessment and prediction of ecosystem responses to diverse changes from a dynamic perspective. The key findings are as follows. (1) Areas of potential and slight vulnerability are concentrated in the Qinling-Daba mountainous regions. Over the past 20 years, areas of extreme and high vulnerability have significantly decreased, while areas of potential vulnerability and slight vulnerability have increased. (2) The key factors impacting ecological vulnerability during this period included industrial water use, SO2 emissions, industrial wastewater, and ecological water use. (3) Areas primarily hindering the transition to potential vulnerability are concentrated in well-developed small urban regions within basins. Furthermore, natural factors like altitude and temperature, which cannot be artificially regulated, are the major impediments to future ecological restoration. Therefore, this paper recommends natural restoration strategies based on environmental protection and governance strategies that prioritize green development as complementary measures. The discoveries of the paper provide a novel analytical method for the study of ecological vulnerability in mountainous areas, offering valuable insights for enhancing the accuracy of ecological risk prediction, fostering the integration of interdisciplinary research, and optimizing environmental governance and protection strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated development of ecological protection and socioeconomics in the Tibetan Plateau is of great significance. This study examines the coupling coordination of urban ecosystems and economic development across 15 municipal administrative units in Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, the core areas of the Tibetan Plateau. The findings reveal that a larger proportion of the Qinghai and Tibet ecosystems are classified above the medium vulnerability level, primarily due to inherent natural geographic conditions. Additionally, the area of the two provinces and regions below the medium development level is larger, which is mainly influenced by indicators of economic strength and industrial structure. The degree of coupling coordination between the ecosystem and economic system in Qinghai and Tibet is predominantly driven by economic factors. Given the existing natural environmental conditions, the eastern regions of Qinghai and Tibet still possess certain development potential, while the economic development in the western areas is somewhat constrained by the natural environment. Based on this, further policy recommendations have been proposed to adjust and upgrade the industrial structure, aligning ecological protection with economic development in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. These recommendations aim to facilitate the formulation of strategies and policies for sustainable urban construction and social development in such high-ecological-value regions as the Tibetan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the dynamic response of land use and ecological vulnerability (EV) to future climate change and human ecological restoration policies is crucial for optimizing regional ecosystem services and formulating sustainable socioeconomic development strategies. This study comprehensively assesses future land use changes and EV in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), a climate-sensitive and ecologically fragile area, by integrating climate change, land management, and ecological protection policies under various scenarios. To achieve this, we developed an EV assessment framework combining a scenario weight matrix, Markov chain, Patch-generating Land Use Simulation model, and exposure–sensitivity–adaptation. We further explored the spatiotemporal variations of EV and their potential socioeconomic impacts at the watershed scale. Our results show significant geospatial variations in future EV under the three scenarios, with the northern region of the upstream area being the most severely affected. Under the ecological conservation management scenario and historical trend scenario, the ecological environment of the basin improves, with a decrease in very high vulnerability areas by 4.45% and 3.08%, respectively, due to the protection and restoration of ecological land. Conversely, under the urban development and construction scenario, intensified climate change and increased land use artificialization exacerbate EV, with medium and high vulnerability areas increasing by 1.86% and 7.78%, respectively. The population in high and very high vulnerability areas is projected to constitute 32.75–33.68% and 34.59–39.21% of the YRB's total population in 2040 and 2060, respectively, and may continue to grow. Overall, our scenario analysis effectively demonstrates the positive impact of ecological protection on reducing EV and the negative impact of urban expansion and economic development on increasing EV. Our work offers new insights into land resource allocation and the development of ecological restoration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of the ecological vulnerability of regional forests is extremely vital for easing the struggle for forest conservation. Therefore, the present study aims to delve into the ecological vulnerability of the Eastern Duars forest in the Indian sub-Himalayan region. The study employs three cutting-edge multi-criteria decision-making methods, including AHP, CRITIC, and AHP-TOPSIS methods, in which geo-environmental (elevation, slope, soil texture), hydro-meteorological (precipitation, temperature, waterbodies), vegetation index and anthropogenic (land use land cover, road, settlement) criteria are integrated, to assess ecological vulnerability. The vulnerability maps indicate that very high vulnerable areas comprise 0.05%, 0.01%, 23.96%, high vulnerable 19.72%, 17.51%, 41.52%, moderate vulnerable 63.45%, 49.66%, 29.49%, low vulnerable 16.70%, 30.82%, 4.10% and very low vulnerable 0.08%, 2.02%, 0.92% of area as per AHP, CRITIC, and AHP-TOPSIS method respectively. The highly vulnerable region is found in human-modified areas, where anthropogenic activities disrupt the natural ecological process, and deforestation is evident. Hence, careful strategic policies should be enforced regarding the restriction of anthropogenic activities, human habitation expansion, and changing climate to sustain the fragile Duars forest ecosystem. The inclusion of objective and hybrid criteria weighting methods, along with predominant knowledge-driven subjective weighting method, will promote the practice of comprehensive ecological vulnerability assessment.

Coastlines have experienced profound alterations due to human disturbances and ocean dynamics against the backdrop of climate change and intensified anthropogenic activities. Significant modifications have occurred within the muddy coastal ecosystem, rendering it extremely susceptible to heightened levels of vulnerability. However, existing studies on coastal eco-environmental vulnerability have often overlooked crucial factors such as coastline erosion and siltation, particularly concerning coastline change. In this study, we assess coastline stability utilizing Landsat remote sensing imagery to investigate the vulnerability of coastal ecology alongside 24 economic and natural parameters, serving as indices for the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) of the coastal eco-environment. Subsequently, we analyze the impact factors to vulnerability and predict trends in coastline change over the next 20 years to propose recommendations for sustainable development to safeguard the coastal eco-environment. Our findings reveal a trend towards coastline stabilization in Jiangsu, with significantly higher stability observed during 2010–2020 compared to 1985–2010. The overall CVI along the Jiangsu coast shows an downward trajectory over the past 15 years, primarily influenced by tidal action and coastal topography and geomorphology. Predictive modeling suggests Jiangsu coastline is bounded by the Sheyang estuary, with the coastline to the north dominated by stabilization and to the south dominated by siltation. Climate change, coupled with intensified human activities and future coastline alterations, may exacerbate vulnerability. Effective protection strategies for coastal ecosystems necessitate a comprehensive understanding of local natural conditions, resource availability, and socioeconomic dynamics. Governmental interventions should focus on reinforcing regulatory frameworks for coastal organism management, implementing coastal protection infrastructure, and enhancing supervision and management protocols for beachfront development, thereby fostering the sustainable management of muddy coastlines.

In tandem with societal and economic progress, ecological and environmental issues have emerged as pivotal constraints to the sustainable development of China’s economy and society. While the impacts of land use are widely acknowledged as a significant factor in ecological changes, studies on ecological sensitivity often overlook the effects of land use edge dynamics in rapidly urbanizing, fragmented landscapes, leading to inadequate evaluation frameworks. This paper establishes an evaluation framework encompassing ecosystem importance-vulnerability-sensitivity to assess China’s ecological sensitivity in 2020 amid various external disturbances. The neighborhood effect method was employed to formulate a neighborhood matrix capturing interactions among various land use categories. This enabled the quantification of the impacts of interactions between different land use types on ecological sensitivity, subsequently leading to the correction of ecological sensitivity results in China. The findings indicate that the ecological sensitivity, when adjusted for the neighborhood effects method, offers more nuanced and reasonable details. The spatial variation of ecological sensitivity in China is noteworthy, with areas of extreme sensitivity and high sensitivity concentrated in the southeastern hills, northwestern mountains, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau-Hengduan Mountains, northeastern mountains, and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The comprehensive evaluation results of ecological sensitivity revealed a trend of spatial distribution fragmentation, with extremely sensitive and highly sensitive areas primarily distributed in woodland and grassland, and less sensitivity observed in artificial land, water, and cropland. Further factor analysis of ecological sensitivity results identified that the significance of wind and sand fixation and soil conservation are crucial factors influencing ecological sensitivity, and the superposition of these factors enhances the explanatory power of ecological sensitivity. This study provides a scientific basis for preserving natural resources and managing ecological environments in China.

Ecosystems are vulnerable to accelerated climate change, population pressure, and urbanization, so ecological vulnerability assessments and impact analyses are essential if regional development is to be managed sustainably. This study develops a novel assessment framework based on resilience-sensitivity. Various techniques—including the landscape index, the ecological elasticity limit model, and the soil erosion equation—are incorporated to examine spatiotemporal variation characteristics across diverse ecological systems of China’s Jiangsu province through the decade 2010–2020, to reveal mechanisms by which various factors influence vulnerability. We arrived at a stable average yearly ecological vulnerability index value of 0.56–0.57, and found high vulnerability concentrated in cities and townships, areas along the Yangtze River, and the province’s northern coast. Results also show that vulnerability is affected more by ecological sensitivity than by ecological resilience. Stepping up from one ecological sensitivity class to another has the greatest impact on the probability of an upward step in ecological vulnerability class, accounting for 16.2% of the total area undergoing such a change. Urbanization rates and differences in human-induced landscape composition were the main factors, and their cumulative contribution to ecological vulnerability variations ranged from 59.3% to 65.8%. We found our proposed framework capable of enhancing the strength and applicability of ecological vulnerability assessments, specifically in areas with extensive river and lake networks. The framework could be used in assessments throughout China, and very likely beyond.

Constructing an ecological network is crucial to maintaining ecosystem stability, optimizing ecological space, and ensuring regional ecological security. Using circuit theory, the study integrated habitat condition, ecosystem function, and landscape structure to construct ecological network in Ulanqab. The ecological networks consist of four basic components, including sources, resistance surfaces, corridors and nodes. Ecological sources refer to patches with high habitat quality, while the resistance to species movement between patches is named as ecological resistance surfaces, the important corridors for movement between patches are referred to as ecological corridors, and the vital spots in ecological network are referred to ecological nodes. In addition, the drivers affecting these changes were also analyzed using geographical detector. The results indicated that the area of ecological sources dropped by 19.1 % and the area of high value of ecological resistance surfaces increased from 2000 and 2020. The length of ecological corridors increased by 793.80 km. Mean annual precipitation is the main natural factor influencing the ecological network, and land use intensity and human footprint are the main anthropogenic factors. Our findings suggest that in this region, urban developing should minimize the encroachment on grasslands, forests and waters. Additionally, the availability of water resources should be considered in the planning and implementation of ecological restoration and protection. The findings of the study offer reasonable suggestions for the protection and restoration of priority regions, as well as a scientific foundation optimization and sustainable development of the regional ecological network.

Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world. Its ecological environment is facing numerous stresses such as climate change, rapid urbanization, natural disasters, and a decline in air quality. Thus, the scientific understanding of spatial and temporal changes in Pakistan's ecological environment is crucial for formulating an informed strategy for regional sustainability. This study used the Google Earth Engine platform and the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) to investigate ecological vulnerability in three provinces of Pakistan for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 datasets are used to construct RSEI indicators and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is adopted to objectively compute RSEI for the past three decades. The results indicated that (1) the ecological vulnerability of the Punjab province exhibited a slightly improved trend from 1990 to 2020 with overall dominance of ‘moderate’ level vulnerability in all four years; (2) The Sindh province has exhibited a declining trend of the ecological environment with ‘poor’ ecological vulnerability contributing to 28.6% of the total area in 2020 as compared to 1.04% of the total area in 1990; and (3) The ecological environment of Balochistan province has shown resilience to some extent during 1900–2010 with the dominance of a ‘moderate’ level of ecological vulnerability. However, a decline is observed between 2010 and 2020. These research results can provide support for the Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan provinces in achieving sustainable development while conserving the regional ecological environment.

The Yellow River Basin in China, which is characterized by significant soil erosion and arid to semi-arid conditions, has experienced severe ecological issues due to prolonged excessive development and land-use changes. Studies on ecosystem vulnerability have become a major basis for supporting the sustainable and healthy development of watershed ecosystems. Based on the land-use data of 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, this study used a complex network model to identify the key types of land-use transformation in the Yellow River Basin. The cascade failure model was used to evaluate the impact of land-use transformation on ecological vulnerability in the Yellow River Basin of China. The land-use changes in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2020 exhibit significant heterogeneity in both quantity and direction. Among them, the total area of agricultural land showed a downward trend as a whole, and the area rebounded slightly from 2000 to 2015. The growth trend of construction land area is obvious, with a year-on-year increase of 46.81 % in 20 years. Through network identification, we found that ecological land types such as forest, grassland, and dryland are the primary factors contributing to land area outflow. Conversely, artificial land types including urban land, rural residential land, and other built-up land predominantly serve as factors for land area inflow. The Yellow River Basin experiences frequent land-use transitions, resulting in the poor stability of the land transfer network. However, the study reveals that the ecosystem service value increases as the areas of paddy fields, dryland, urban land, rural residential land, and bare land decrease; this trend contributes to mitigating ecological vulnerability. To ensure the overall stability of the ecosystem and implement healthy and sustainable development, the maximum reduction in the areas of dryland, forest, paddy, and grass should be limited to 40 %, 30 %, 50 %, and 50 %, respectively, in future planning and design processes. In conclusion, the land-use transformation in the Yellow River Basin of China has profound implications for ecological vulnerability. The research findings can provide valuable references for future ecological research on areas facing similar challenges in protecting ecological fragility.

The coordinated development of ecological protection and socioeconomics in the Tibetan Plateau is of great significance. This study examines the coupling coordination of urban ecosystems and economic development across 15 municipal administrative units in Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, the core areas of the Tibetan Plateau. The findings reveal that a larger proportion of the Qinghai and Tibet ecosystems are classified above the medium vulnerability level, primarily due to inherent natural geographic conditions. Additionally, the area of the two provinces and regions below the medium development level is larger, which is mainly influenced by indicators of economic strength and industrial structure. The degree of coupling coordination between the ecosystem and economic system in Qinghai and Tibet is predominantly driven by economic factors. Given the existing natural environmental conditions, the eastern regions of Qinghai and Tibet still possess certain development potential, while the economic development in the western areas is somewhat constrained by the natural environment. Based on this, further policy recommendations have been proposed to adjust and upgrade the industrial structure, aligning ecological protection with economic development in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. These recommendations aim to facilitate the formulation of strategies and policies for sustainable urban construction and social development in such high-ecological-value regions as the Tibetan Plateau.

This article aims to reflect on 'ecological vulnerability' – which makes evident the relationship, flows and interactions between the human being/body and the environment/non-human world – as applied in the context of environmentally induced migration. In particular, the dual role of the law vis-à-vis environmentally displaced migrants as a generator and exacerbator of their vulnerability as well as potential antidote, valuable for attaining protection, will be highlighted. Namely, on one hand, the analysis will show how a lack of conceptualisation of the notion to understand the spatial and temporal patterns of climate change-related migration, as well as its consequences for societal well-being, contributes to generate and exacerbate the vulnerability of that category of migrants. On the other hand, the critical understanding of vulnerability, as developed in some recent legal reasoning of international and national jurisdictions, will be proposed as a key element for ensuring the resilience of both environmental migrants and the law itself, for both virtuously expanding traditional asylum norms and flexibilising access to international protection for those migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource exploitation and rapid urbanization in coal mining areas with a high groundwater table (CMA-HGT) have created double pressure on regional ecological security and increased the vulnerability of the ecological environment. Ecological restoration should be carried out to balance the relationship between economic development and ecological and environmental protection. An ecological security pattern (ESP) can identify key locations that are critical to maintaining ecosystem service stability and landscape connectivity, with territories displaying relatively high vulnerability identified as priority areas for ecological restoration. The Jining planning area (JPA), a typical representative of CMA-HGT, was taken as the study area. To construct the integrated ESP, ecological sources were identified by measuring the importance of multiple ecosystem services and landscape connectivity. Then, the ecological resistance surface was constructed, and the ecological corridors, pinch points, and barriers were determined using circuit theory. Ecological vulnerability (EV) evaluation was performed from the perspectives of natural factors and human activities. The study results showed that the spatial superposition of ESP and EV can effectively identify priority areas for ecological restoration. The ecological restoration priority areas for ecological sources, ecological corridors, and ecological pinch points were 44.56 km2, 11.7 km2, and 9.96 km2, respectively, and corresponding restoration strategies were proposed. Some valuable references were provided for the identification and restoration of priority areas for ecological restoration in CMA-HGT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Increased global floating populations is an important driver of local social‐ecological systems change, especially in ecologically fragile areas. However, the limitations of accurate data and specific methods have prevented the exploration of spatial visitation of floating populations and its risk of negative effects on fragile ecosystems. Here, we contribute to filling the knowledge gap in Tibet by adopting large‐scale geolocation data and incorporating factors such as landscape aesthetic value, ecological vulnerability and traffic accessibility. We found that 89.97% of the digital footprints of floating populations in Tibet have entered nature areas with low density of resident population, and 40.57% of them have entered ecologically fragile areas, leading to increased ecological risks. Nature‐based tourism is the main motive for floating populations to enter the ecologically fragile areas, accounting for 65.56%. The central government inadvertently exacerbated ecological risks by leading road construction, resulting in 64.62% of the ecological risks being located in areas with high traffic accessibility. The floating populations entering Tibet have the dual effects of promoting economic development and causing ecological risks. Therefore, it is urgent to put forward strategies to promote the sustainable development in Tibet based on the complex system of “nature‐based tourism–ecological protection–economic income–government behavior”. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Exploring the dynamic response of land use and ecological vulnerability (EV) to future climate change and human ecological restoration policies is crucial for optimizing regional ecosystem services and formulating sustainable socioeconomic development strategies. This study comprehensively assesses future land use changes and EV in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), a climate-sensitive and ecologically fragile area, by integrating climate change, land management, and ecological protection policies under various scenarios. To achieve this, we developed an EV assessment framework combining a scenario weight matrix, Markov chain, Patch-generating Land Use Simulation model, and exposure–sensitivity–adaptation. We further explored the spatiotemporal variations of EV and their potential socioeconomic impacts at the watershed scale. Our results show significant geospatial variations in future EV under the three scenarios, with the northern region of the upstream area being the most severely affected. Under the ecological conservation management scenario and historical trend scenario, the ecological environment of the basin improves, with a decrease in very high vulnerability areas by 4.45% and 3.08%, respectively, due to the protection and restoration of ecological land. Conversely, under the urban development and construction scenario, intensified climate change and increased land use artificialization exacerbate EV, with medium and high vulnerability areas increasing by 1.86% and 7.78%, respectively. The population in high and very high vulnerability areas is projected to constitute 32.75–33.68% and 34.59–39.21% of the YRB’s total population in 2040 and 2060, respectively, and may continue to grow. Overall, our scenario analysis effectively demonstrates the positive impact of ecological protection on reducing EV and the negative impact of urban expansion and economic development on increasing EV. Our work offers new insights into land resource allocation and the development of ecological restoration policies.

Evaluating the ecological vulnerability of the northwestern region of Liaoning Province, a typical ecologically vulnerable area in China, and exploring its inherent patterns help formulate effective measures for ecological protection and restoration. Existing studies in this region have focused on the county, city, or provincial level, failing to capture the overall ecological vulnerability. Based on the “sensitivity-degradation” model framework, this study employed the Analytic Hierarchy Process, Principal Component Analysis, and geographical detector methods to evaluate the ecological vulnerability in the northwestern region of Liaoning Province from 2000 to 2022 and analyzed the possible driving factors. The results showed that, from 2000 to 2022, areas with moderate or higher vulnerability accounted for an average of 64.7% of the total area, while severely and extremely vulnerable areas accounted for 32.5%. These severely and extremely vulnerable areas are mainly distributed along both banks of the Liuhe River and in the northern part of Liaoning Province, where it adjoins the Horqin Sandy Land. From 2000 to 2022, the overall ecological vulnerability in the northwestern region of Liaoning Province showed a decreasing trend, with the proportion of severe vulnerability significantly decreasing from 35.6% to 8.6%. Vegetation and land use were the primary factors leading to long-term changes in ecological vulnerability. This research can also provide an example for the similar issues in other study areas.

Increased global floating populations is an important driver of local social‐ecological systems change, especially in ecologically fragile areas. However, the limitations of accurate data and specific methods have prevented the exploration of spatial visitation of floating populations and its risk of negative effects on fragile ecosystems.Here, we contribute to filling the knowledge gap in Tibet by adopting large‐scale geolocation data and incorporating factors such as landscape aesthetic value, ecological vulnerability and traffic accessibility.We found that 89.97% of the digital footprints of floating populations in Tibet have entered nature areas with low density of resident population, and 40.57% of them have entered ecologically fragile areas, leading to increased ecological risks. Nature‐based tourism is the main motive for floating populations to enter the ecologically fragile areas, accounting for 65.56%.The central government inadvertently exacerbated ecological risks by leading road construction, resulting in 64.62% of the ecological risks being located in areas with high traffic accessibility.The floating populations entering Tibet have the dual effects of promoting economic development and causing ecological risks. Therefore, it is urgent to put forward strategies to promote the sustainable development in Tibet based on the complex system of "nature‐based tourism–ecological protection–economic income–government behavior". Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is a typical ecologically fragile area in both the Chinese and global contexts. This paper built a sensitivity-resilience-pressure model to evaluate the ecological vulnerability (EV) of the YRB at the grid and prefecture-level regional scales; explored the spatiotemporal characteristics of EV; and scrutinized the impacts of socioeconomic driving factors on EV. The results showed that (1) at the grid and prefecture-level regional scales, EV decreased from the upper to lower reaches, and high vulnerability was observed in the provincial capital city. Mild and severe vulnerability constituted the main EV types in the YRB. (2) The EV index of the YRB decreased from 2.71 to 2.56 in the study period, indicating that the ecological environment improved in the YRB. The slightly and lightly vulnerable areas experienced shrinking-expansion changes, and the overall areas of these two EV types showed expanding trends, while the areal changes and overall trends of the moderately, severely, and extremely vulnerable areas were contrary to those of the slightly and lightly vulnerable areas. (3) The impacts of socioeconomic driving factors on EV dynamically strengthened with the improvement of the socioeconomic level. After considering the interactions of all socioeconomic factors, the explanatory power of the spatial differentiation of EV was enhanced, and the influence of these factors became more prominent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constant conflict between the rapidly developing socioeconomic and ecological environment within the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area necessitates the exploration of ecosystem vulnerability patterns and driving mechanisms. A comprehensive social–economic–ecological framework is proposed to assess the ecosystem vulnerability pattern of the Greater Bay Area, specifically spanning from 1990 to 2020. Employing geographic detectors and weighting methods, the study quantifies spatiotemporal variation and the underlying mechanisms driving vulnerability in the study area. The results demonstrate an obvious trend in ecosystem vulnerability index (ESVI) across the Greater Bay Area, with an initial decline followed by gradual increase during the1990–2020. A substantial majority of the region (approximately 63.85% of the total area) experienced a decline in ESVI from 1990 to 2010. Moreover, the spatial distribution of this decline exhibited a prevailing east-to-west pattern, indicating an overall southward shift over time. Furthermore, a decline was primarily concentrated in the central region and the rapidly expanding urban areas situated on both sides of the Pearl River estuary. Encouragingly, a notable amplification in ESVI was observed between 2010 and 2020, which is attributed to the development, utilization, and protection of land, forests, water bodies, and other pertinent factors associated with urban expansion. The impact of climate change on ESVI changes exhibits a growing magnitude over time, while human activities persist as the predominant driver of ESVI changes. The natural factors exerted a substantial impact on ESVI changes primarily in the upper reaches of the Pearl River, which included topographic relief, precipitation, water network density, biological abundance, and related aspects. Conversely, the pronounced influence of human activities on ESVI changes predominantly manifests within the urban agglomeration of the Pearl River Delta. Key contributors to such a manifestation encompass land change types, intensity of human activities, population density, and related variables. Changes in land use have the potential to induce heightened ecological vulnerability changes. The amelioration of ecological protection and land use practices can be mitigated and reduced by employing ESVI. Moreover, the framework introduced in this study holds the potential to extend vulnerability assessments to other regions with similar ecosystem types. It is expected that the findings derived from this framework could contribute to the formulation of policy recommendations pertaining to ecosystem protection and management.

Compared to plains, hills and basins, mountainous areas with complex topography are more prone to ecological and environment vulnerability to climate change, human interference and geological disasters. This type of region is usually located in abrupt transitional zones, which marked by active neotectonic movements, high-incidence mountain disasters, abundant available resources, slower economic development, diverse eco-environment and insufficient cultivated land resources. Therefore, it is of great significance to determ the vulnerability status and spatial–temporal change process of the eco-environment in mountainous area with complex topography. In this study, data derived from vegetation, topography, soil, meteorological and human social factors were used to develop an evaluation index system that can reflect the characteristics of the eco-environment in the mountain area. Employing the Genetic Projection Tracing Model (RAGA-PPM), we developed a framework for assessing the vulnerability of mountainous areas with complex terrains and applied it to the western Sichuan mountain region, China. In addition, the relationship between the geological factors and the vulnerability of eco-environment was quantitatively analyzed by using the geographic detector. The results indicate that (1) The overall vulnerability was medium and the spatial distribution was higher in the central and eastern parts and lower in the surrounding areas. The area with high vulnerability accounted for 27.9%. (2) The overall degree of vulnerability increased from2010 to 2020, the eco-environment experienced a rapid deterioration from 2010 to 2015, followed by a slower improvement from 2015 to 2020. (3) Correlations were minimal between vulnerability results and fault density and earthquake dynamic peak acceleration, the influence of other geological factors ranged from 10% to 25.8%, indicating a nonlinear correlation. (4) This study reveals that the ecological vulnerability of mountain areas was the effect of multiple human and natural factors, and there was a certain correlation between geological environment and vulnerability distribution. These findings can assist decision-makers in providing a scientific basis for managing and developing the ecological environment in mountainous regions.

Rational differentiated utilization of cultivated land can effectively coordinate the contradiction between ecological protection, cultivated land utilization, and urban development. Therefore, this article adopts the southern section of the Yellow River Basin as an example, starting with vulnerability and resilience and then formulating an index system for evaluating farmland ecological vulnerability and farmland resilience. Moreover, this article combines Future Land-Use Simulation–Urban Growth Boundaries (FLUS–UGBs) to conduct urban development boundary simulations, which take the urban development boundary as restrictions and comprehensive division and determine the differentiated utilization zoning strategies for cultivated land to achieve coordinated development between ecological protection, cultivated land use, and urban development. The following results are presented: (1) The ecological vulnerability of the research area mainly involves low-to-medium vulnerability; the western and middle sections of the research area demonstrate high and low ecological vulnerability, respectively. (2) Areas with high resilience of cultivated land are mainly located in the mid-eastern part of the research area, and those with low resilience mainly involve the western mountains. (3) The four-quadrant method, the PLUS model, and the FLUS-UGB module are employed to determine differentiated usage zones for cultivated land to achieve rational allocation and effective use of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nothofagus alessandrii is an endangered species with limited and fragmented distribution in the Maule coastal forest of central Chile. Understanding the factors and processes that influence the natural growth of this species is crucial for mitigating its ecological vulnerability. The primary objective of this research is to determine the spatial distribution pattern of N. alessandrii and its association with geomorphometric variables (slope, elevation, and exposure), as well as its association with other tree species in a representative forest located in the northernmost natural distribution range of the species. To achieve this, the coordinates (x, y, z) of all N. alessandrii individuals and accompanying tree species, along with their slope, elevation, and exposure, were obtained using a total station. A spatial analysis tool based on distance indices (SADIE) was used to quantify the spatial pattern of N. alessandrii and detect local aggregates, as well as determine the degree of spatial association between pairs of variables. The results showed that N. alessandrii trees had a random distribution pattern and a significant spatial association with the studied geomorphometric variables. An additional significant finding was the lack of spatial association observed between N. alessandrii and the accompanying species. In conclusion, our study provides valuable information on the spatial distribution and ecological correlates of the endangered N. alessandrii in a fragmented forest ecosystem of central Chile. The results highlight the importance of geomorphometric variables in shaping the distribution pattern of the species, which can be used to guide restoration and conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the rapid socioeconomic development and urbanization around the world have caused the ecological environment on the earth surface to become extremely fragile and destroyed. In addition, the increasing demand of human beings for material also leads to the unsustainable development of resources and environment. However, how to achieve the win–win goal between socioeconomic development and ecological protection in the context of these impacts? It is becoming a major problem for governments and policy makers. To further reveal the contradiction between man and land, taking Wuhan metropolitan area as the study area, this study mainly proposed a framework for the comprehensive optimization of landscape pattern and ecological environment and constructed the ecological vulnerability mixed evaluation model. Then, the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) model was employed to evaluate the changes in habitat quality, focusing on the analysis of the impact mechanism of the evolution of ecological environment. This study found that the hybrid model of landscape vulnerability can successfully explore the landscape ecological vulnerability of Wuhan metropolitan area from 2000 to 2020, and its spatiotemporal differentiation pattern was obvious. The InVEST model showed that the habitat quality had obvious spatial differentiation. On the whole, the overall quality of the habitat was low and the degradation degree was high. Furthermore, our study also showed that the change of landscape ecological environment was influenced by the common potential of local nature and social economy, rather than a single factor. Finally, the main purpose of this study is to help scientifically formulate habitat protection and landscape planning strategies through in-depth study of landscape ecological environment, so as to alleviate man-land contradiction and support regional sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological vulnerability is the main index to evaluate areal environmental stability and monitor the development of ecological environment. Longdong area is a typical Loess Plateau area with complex terrain, serious soil erosion, mineral resource development, and other human activities leading to the ecological vulnerability evolution of the area, but the monitoring of its ecological status and the determination of its factors are still lacking. Based on the ecological characteristics of Longdong area, this study constructed an ecological vulnerability system including natural, social, and economic data and used the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to study the temporal and spatial evolution of ecological vulnerability from 2006 to 2018. A model for quantitative analysis of the evolution of ecological vulnerability and correlation of influencing factors was ultimately developed. The results showed that (1) from 2006 to 2018, the ecological vulnerability index (EVI) had a minimum value of 0.232 and a maximum value of 0.695. EVI was high in the northeast and southwest of Longdong area and low in the central region. (2) At the same time, the areas of potential vulnerability and mild vulnerability increased, and the areas of slight vulnerability, moderate vulnerability, and severe vulnerability decreased. (3) The correlation coefficient between average annual temperature and EVI exceeded 0.5 in four years, and the correlation coefficient between population density and per capita arable land area and EVI exceeded 0.5 in two years showed significant correlation. The results reflect the spatial pattern and influencing factors of ecological vulnerability in typical arid areas of northern China. Additionally, it served as a resource for researching the interrelationships of the variables affecting ecological vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the ecological vulnerability facilitates ecological protection and management. We presented a well-organized and comprehensive evaluation system and analysis method of ecological vulnerability. We used Fujian Province, China, as a case study and validated the reliability of evaluation results. The details are as follows. Based on the framework of sensitivity-resilience-pressure (SRP) coupled with the “social-environmental” system (SES), this study selected 23 indicators and determined their weights by a combination of subjective and objective weighting methods to systematically construct the ecological vulnerability evaluation system. By establishing a fuzzy evaluation model, the indicator data were fuzzily mapped into evaluation scores for the calculation of the ecological vulnerability index (EVI). Following the calculation results, the spatial clustering analysis based on K-means, driving factor analysis based on GeoDetector and spatial autocorrelation analysis were conducted. Finally, an ecological vulnerability analysis under multiple decision-making attitudes was conducted based on the ordered weighted average (OWA) operators. The results were as follows. (1) The ecological vulnerability of Fujian Province showed a trend of higher in the east and lower in the west, and there is an obvious spatial aggregation effect. The high-high aggregation areas mainly distributed in the eastern coastal areas of Fujian Province, and the low-low aggregation areas mainly distributed in the western and central areas. (2) Landscape pattern sensitivity had the highest degree of explanation for the EVI. The main driving factors of the EVI in coastal cities were different from those of the EVI in inland cities. (3) We divided the study area into four categories: high-quality development areas, transformational development areas, ecological-economic synergy areas and ecological function areas. (4) With an increase in the decision-making risk coefficient, the ecological vulnerability of Fujian Province gradually increased. The results of the study provide important guidance for ecological protection and sustainable development in Fujian Province. Moreover, the study framework has reference value for related studies of regional ecological vulnerability evaluation.

Urban remnant mountains (URMs) are precious natural green habitat patches that can provide a series of ecosystem services for multi-mountainous cities. The increase in ecological sensitivity and degradation of ecosystem services affected by urban expansion and climate change have led to an increasing vulnerability of urban remnant mountain ecosystems (URMEs). To explore the vulnerability of URMEs, taking the central urban built-up area of the Guiyang city as the study area and URMs as the research object, the vulnerability of URMEs under natural factors and human disturbance was analyzed based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model. The results showed that: (1) Karst rocky desertification, human disturbance, and road density within the buffer zones around URMs were the most important factors affecting the vulnerability of URMEs. Karst rocky desertification was the most likely eco-environmental problem of URMs, and carbon storage was the most important ecosystem service of URMEs. (2) Characteristics of fragile karst habitats in URMs and unreasonable human activities led to high ecological vulnerability, mainly with moderate and severe vulnerability predominating, and the low vulnerability of URMEs when they had moderate park utilization. (3) The ecological vulnerability of small URMs and those distributed in the urban center is higher, and the invulnerable URMEs and the slightly vulnerable URMEs are mainly distributed in the urban edge. The results of this study could provide references for ecological restoration and protection of URMs, and offer a basis for improving the resilience of multi-mountainous cities.

The necessity of plural valuation of costs for flood risk management is widely acknowledged, but practical case studies are still scarce. We developed a GIS-based plural valuation framework to determine spatially explicit priority categories for flood risk management intervention schemes on the Drava River, Southern Hungary. A conventional economic evaluation, including land market prices and additional costs due to legal conservation restrictions, was complemented by ecological valuation of vulnerability. The inclusion of ecological vulnerability significantly changed the proposed priority areas for flood risk management interventions: in this case, softwood riparian forests face far less threat, together with other Natura 2000 habitats, in comparison to unprotected wetlands and grasslands. This valuation framework also highlights priority habitats and areas for joint conservation and water management projects, utilising the synergies between several EU Directives as the Birds Directive, Habitats Directive, Flood Directive, and Water Framework Directive. Our framework is adaptable for the other floodplains along major or medium-sized European rivers, assuming that specific local settings are considered.

Recent urbanization and growing food consumption have had a severely detrimental effect on the ecological environment of the Jianghan Plain. The ecological fragility of the Jianghan Plain must be continually monitored for environmental conservation and sustainable development. This study utilized principal component analysis (PCA) to quantitatively assess the ecological vulnerability of the Jianghan Plain based on the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) and analyzed the space-time changes and drivers in the Jianghan Plain from 2000 to 2020 using the Google Earth Engine Platform (GEE). The findings of this research indicated that the ecological vulnerability of the Jianghan Plain from 2000 to 2020 was predominantly Moderate or Strong level. But still, the EVI displayed a changing decreasing trend, revealing a small development towards a healthier ecological environment. The most significant ecological vulnerability deterioration occurred between 2005 and 2010, accounting for roughly 44.90 percent, whereas the highest improvement occurred between 2000 and 2005, occupying approximately 37.52% of the area. Moran’s I of EVI was greater than 0 in Jianghan Plain and displayed a growing and subsequently a falling trend, representing that the spatial distribution of regional ecological vulnerability was strongly correlated and aggregated and that the degree of aggregation has declined. The effects of heat, greenness, wetness, and dryness on the ecological vulnerability of Jianghan Plain were all significant, with greenness and wetness being the primary determinants of the change in Jianghan Plain’s ecological vulnerability. The results of this study can offer a theoretical and scientific foundation for ecological protection and restoration in the Jianghan Plain. Meanwhile, this study also provides a practical and rapid method for monitoring regional ecological vulnerability using RSEI, GEE, and PCA, which can be applied elsewhere for ecological vulnerability evaluation.

China's urban economy has developed rapidly over the decades, and the Cheng-Yu urban agglomeration has become one of China's four typical urban agglomerations, with a large population and a high level of economic development. However, the conflict between humans and the environment is becoming increasingly prominent together with economic development. In order to protect the ecological environment in urban areas, thus scientific understanding and assessment of ecological vulnerability are beneficial to establishing regional conservation measures, and serve as a key means to maintain environmental health. Based on the “Sensitivity-Resilience-Pressure” (SRP) model, this study considered remote sensing, geographic and statistical data to construct an evaluation system for regional ecological vulnerability. In addition, the coupled AHP (Analytic hierarchy process)-Entropy weighting model was proposed to obtain the weight of each evaluation indicator and analyze the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of the ecological vulnerability of the study area during 2000–2020. The changes and the divergence pattern were depicted by the transfer matrix, dynamic degree and spatial auto-correlation. The results indicated that the ecological vulnerability of Cheng-Yu urban agglomeration is mainly mild and moderate, with an overall high distribution in Chongqing and Chengdu, while low in the central and north zone (e.g., Ziyang, Mianyang). It is consistent with the distribution of HH (High-High) and L-L (Low-Low) clusters, respectively, having a significant positive spatial correlation. In particular, the severely vulnerable area increased from 7059 km2 in 2000 to 23553 km2 in 2020, with an increased rate of 233.66 %. Combining the transfer matrix and dynamic degree, it was found that the ecological environment underwent a rapid deterioration followed by a slow recovery. This study provides a scientific reference for the ecological policy making which serves sustainable urban development.

Background: The ecological vulnerability assessment (EVA) is employed as a tool for integrated evaluation of the ecosystem with the help of indicators belonging to natural, social, and economy systems. The unavailability of suitable datasets has repeatedly been reported as an obstacle to conducting EVA on large spatial and temporal scales. The progress in remote sensing (RS) technology has aided the development of ecological vulnerability indicators (EVIs) from RS datasets. Scope and approach: This manuscript presents a comprehensive review of 80 peer-reviewed publications which uses RS for EVA. In this regard, the paper is divided into five main sections: First, the background and rationale of conducting this review is presented in the introduction. Second, the methodology for selection and interpretation of selected literature is discussed. Then, the results section presents findings from various dimensions: general trend of literature, spatial or temporal scale of EVA, analysis of targets systems, RS and Non-RS derived EVIs, sensors used for acquisition of RS data, conceptual models, weights determining mechanisms, and software. Next, multiple gaps in the body of knowledge are identified and general recommendations are formulated for future researchers. Finally, the link of EVA with sustainable development is highlighted in the conclusion section. Key findings: The overall trend shows that both the quantity and quality of research regarding EVA has increased over the past decades. It is observed that large number of studies report EVA on both temporal and spatial scale. Further, the results reveal 52 EVIs are derived from RS data and 101 EVIs are derived from non-RS data. The Landsat datasets are found most repeatedly used in EVA research. The remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) and principal component analysis (PCA) are prominent conceptual models and weighting mechanisms. Finally, ArcGIS software is most widely reported software in the EVA literature.

In the past two decades, China's urbanization has advanced rapidly. In 2018, Xi'an was successfully selected as a national central city, and the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration (GZPUA) is emerging rapidly due to Xi'an. This study focuses on the current ecological status of the region and how to strike a balance between economic development and ecological protection. This study uses the ecological vulnerability of the Guanzhong urban agglomeration as a starting point to investigate the changes in its spatial and temporal distribution of ecological vulnerability and the primary driving factors, as well as to investigate the interaction between the changes in ecological vulnerability and urban agglomeration development in the GZPUA region. Using the "sensitivity–elasticity–pressure (SEP)" assessment framework model, this paper selects the spatial distribution data of natural, social, and economic sources in 2000 and 2020 based on the ecological environment characteristics of GZPUA. By using spatial principal component analysis, this paper quantitatively evaluates the ecological vulnerability changes of GZPUA in two periods, 2000 and 2020, with 1000 m × 1000 m raster as the evaluation unit, classifies the ecological vulnerability of the area into levels, and conducts a sub-regional in-depth study from different administrative regions. This research helps to comprehend the change in ecological environment quality in the GZPUA and provides a basis for ecological environment management decisions in the region. The results showed that (1) the ecological vulnerability of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration as a whole is moderate, with the highest ecological vulnerability index (EVI) value of 0.89 and the lowest EVI value of 0.087 in 2000, and the highest EVI value of 0.93 and the lowest EVI value of 0.082 in 2020. The percentage of areas with the highest ecological vulnerability (moderate or severe) was 5.07% in 2000 and 15.11% in 2020. (2) The variation scope of the integrated EVI in the study region is 1.78–4.96 (2000) and 1.81–4.99 (2020), among which the EVI values in Xi'an, Bei Lin, Lian Hu, and Xin Cheng are the highest and the EVI values in Tai Bai, Zhou Zhi, and Feng Xian are the lowest. (3) In the central region of GZPUA, the spatial variation of CEVI is distributed in a circle that is highly congruent with the region's economic and population development characteristics, whereas the spatial variation of CEVI in the southern mountainous region of the study area is primarily constrained by the topography and natural conditions. This region has low CEVI because of the high mountains and thick forests, which is a crucial ecological barrier for the GZPUA. (4) The EVI, ecological sensitivity index (ESI), ecological elasticity index (EEI), and ecological pressure index (EPI) have a strong relationship with land use. Among them, farmland and built-up land showed highly significant correlations with the EVI, ESI, EEI, and EPI (p < 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The stability of Jiangsu coastline shows a rising trend in the past two decades. • Coastal ecological vulnerability assessment considers coastline change. • The ecological vulnerability of Jiangsu coastal zone is decreasing gradually. • Tidal action and geomorphology were the main factors affecting the vulnerability. Coastlines have experienced profound alterations due to human disturbances and ocean dynamics against the backdrop of climate change and intensified anthropogenic activities. Significant modifications have occurred within the muddy coastal ecosystem, rendering it extremely susceptible to heightened levels of vulnerability. However, existing studies on coastal eco-environmental vulnerability have often overlooked crucial factors such as coastline erosion and siltation, particularly concerning coastline change. In this study, we assess coastline stability utilizing Landsat remote sensing imagery to investigate the vulnerability of coastal ecology alongside 24 economic and natural parameters, serving as indices for the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) of the coastal eco-environment. Subsequently, we analyze the impact factors to vulnerability and predict trends in coastline change over the next 20 years to propose recommendations for sustainable development to safeguard the coastal eco-environment. Our findings reveal a trend towards coastline stabilization in Jiangsu, with significantly higher stability observed during 2010–2020 compared to 1985–2010. The overall CVI along the Jiangsu coast shows an downward trajectory over the past 15 years, primarily influenced by tidal action and coastal topography and geomorphology. Predictive modeling suggests Jiangsu coastline is bounded by the Sheyang estuary, with the coastline to the north dominated by stabilization and to the south dominated by siltation. Climate change, coupled with intensified human activities and future coastline alterations, may exacerbate vulnerability. Effective protection strategies for coastal ecosystems necessitate a comprehensive understanding of local natural conditions, resource availability, and socioeconomic dynamics. Governmental interventions should focus on reinforcing regulatory frameworks for coastal organism management, implementing coastal protection infrastructure, and enhancing supervision and management protocols for beachfront development, thereby fostering the sustainable management of muddy coastlines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developed sensitivity evaluation framework based on importance and vulnerability. • Constructed a land use neighborhood matrix based on the neighborhood effect method. • The ecological sensitivity corrected by neighborhood effect is more reasonable. • We found significant spatial variation in China's ecological sensitivity in 2020. In tandem with societal and economic progress, ecological and environmental issues have emerged as pivotal constraints to the sustainable development of China's economy and society. While the impacts of land use are widely acknowledged as a significant factor in ecological changes, studies on ecological sensitivity often overlook the effects of land use edge dynamics in rapidly urbanizing, fragmented landscapes, leading to inadequate evaluation frameworks. This paper establishes an evaluation framework encompassing ecosystem importance-vulnerability-sensitivity to assess China's ecological sensitivity in 2020 amid various external disturbances. The neighborhood effect method was employed to formulate a neighborhood matrix capturing interactions among various land use categories. This enabled the quantification of the impacts of interactions between different land use types on ecological sensitivity, subsequently leading to the correction of ecological sensitivity results in China. The findings indicate that the ecological sensitivity, when adjusted for the neighborhood effects method, offers more nuanced and reasonable details. The spatial variation of ecological sensitivity in China is noteworthy, with areas of extreme sensitivity and high sensitivity concentrated in the southeastern hills, northwestern mountains, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau-Hengduan Mountains, northeastern mountains, and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The comprehensive evaluation results of ecological sensitivity revealed a trend of spatial distribution fragmentation, with extremely sensitive and highly sensitive areas primarily distributed in woodland and grassland, and less sensitivity observed in artificial land, water, and cropland. Further factor analysis of ecological sensitivity results identified that the significance of wind and sand fixation and soil conservation are crucial factors influencing ecological sensitivity, and the superposition of these factors enhances the explanatory power of ecological sensitivity. This study provides a scientific basis for preserving natural resources and managing ecological environments in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An ecological vulnerability framework based on resilience-sensitivity was built. • The annual average stable value of the ecological vulnerability index is 0.56–0.57. • Vulnerability is more affected by sensitivity than resilience. • Urbanization rate and landscape composition were the main factors. • The framework is sophisticated especially in areas with extensive water networks. Ecosystems are vulnerable to accelerated climate change, population pressure, and urbanization, so ecological vulnerability assessments and impact analyses are essential if regional development is to be managed sustainably. This study develops a novel assessment framework based on resilience-sensitivity. Various techniques—including the landscape index, the ecological elasticity limit model, and the soil erosion equation—are incorporated to examine spatiotemporal variation characteristics across diverse ecological systems of China's Jiangsu province through the decade 2010–2020, to reveal mechanisms by which various factors influence vulnerability. We arrived at a stable average yearly ecological vulnerability index value of 0.56–0.57, and found high vulnerability concentrated in cities and townships, areas along the Yangtze River, and the province's northern coast. Results also show that vulnerability is affected more by ecological sensitivity than by ecological resilience. Stepping up from one ecological sensitivity class to another has the greatest impact on the probability of an upward step in ecological vulnerability class, accounting for 16.2% of the total area undergoing such a change. Urbanization rates and differences in human-induced landscape composition were the main factors, and their cumulative contribution to ecological vulnerability variations ranged from 59.3% to 65.8%. We found our proposed framework capable of enhancing the strength and applicability of ecological vulnerability assessments, specifically in areas with extensive river and lake networks. The framework could be used in assessments throughout China, and very likely beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological vulnerability evaluation index was established through Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Wetness (WET), Normalized Difference Build-up and Soil Index (NDBSI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) indicators, comprehensively evaluate the ecological vulnerability of Zhongxian County of Chongqing in 2002, 2009, and 2016 by Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and analyze its spatio-temporal evolution. The vulnerability areas of five levels were calculated respectively, and the overall index of ecological vulnerability was also calculated. The index of remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index decreased first and then increased; the Wetness index showed an upward trend; the Normalized Difference Build-up and Soil Index index increased first and then decreased; and the Land Surface Temperature index decreased. The ecological vulnerability body index (EVBI) shows a downward trend, and the incremental changes are mainly concentrated in the negligible vulnerability areas and light vulnerability area, while the medium vulnerability, strong vulnerability and extreme vulnerability area generally show a downward trend. Furthermore, the new increment of ecological vulnerability grade area concentrates on negligible vulnerability area and light vulnerability area from 2002 to 2016. In general, the ecological vulnerability gradually shifts to low vulnerability, and the ecological environment tends to develop healthily.

Studies that consider both the differences of evaluation systems and index weights among different ecological areas in different study periods for ecological vulnerability evaluation have not been reported yet. In addition, the comparability of vulnerability assessment results among different study areas is poor. This paper proposed a novel quantitative vulnerability evaluation method for multi-type and multi-temporal ecological functional areas using a dynamic weighting method: Three-River Source region grassland–wetland ecological functional area (TRSR), Guiqiandian karst rocky desertification control ecological functional area (GQD), Hunshandake desertification control ecological functional area (HSDK), and Chuandian forest and biodiversity ecological functional area (CD), and then introduced net primary productivity (NPP) to realize the determination of multi-type ecological vulnerability thresholds, which is helpful to compare the vulnerability evaluation results of different ecological functional areas in a unified and comparable level. The proposed novel quantitative vulnerability evaluation method had higher applicability in vulnerability assessment for multi-type ecological functional areas (91.1% for TRSR, 91.9% for HSDK, 91.7% for CD, and 94.2% for GQD) based on the dynamic weight determination method. The determination of vulnerability thresholds based on NPP could provide a comparable level to investigate the spatial distribution patterns of ecological vulnerability in multi-type ecological functional areas for different periods. The average ecological vulnerability of the TRSR, GQD, and CD was classified as mild vulnerability, while that of the HSDK was classified as moderate vulnerability. The research results could provide a novel method for the support of ecological protection for multi-type ecological zones on a national scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable restoration of degraded ecosystems is a major environmental concern in several regions of China. Changting is one of the severely affected water- and soil-loss areas in southern China that have been under continuous management for the last 30 years. Taking the typical red soil erosion area in Changting, Fujian, as the research object, an evaluation index system with 30 m resolution was developed based on the Sensitivity–Resilience–Pressure (SRP) model. Spatial principal component analysis, Global Moran's I, the LISA cluster map, and the CA-Markov model were employed to dynamically evaluate and predict the ecological vulnerability of the red soil erosion area in Changting. The findings revealed that the ecological vulnerability of the red soil erosion area in Changting has obvious spatial differences and topography, meteorological, and economic and social variables are the primary driving factors of ecological vulnerability. The analysis of spatial distribution of ecological vulnerability showed significant sets of contiguous locations of severe and mild ecological vulnerability. The total index of ecological vulnerability in the study area reduced by 9.49% from 2000 to 2020, yet it was still just mildly vulnerable. The proportion of severe and extremely vulnerable areas declined by 4.87% and 5.61%, respectively. The prediction results for the coming ten years showed that the ecological vulnerability of red soil erosion in Changting will tend to improve. In summary, it is found that after years of continuous ecological management in the red soil erosion area of Changting, the ecological restoration effect of the soil erosion area is obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prayagraj city (India) has been selected as a smart city by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India in 2015. However, long-term spatiotemporal seasonal Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) dynamics and Land Surface Temperature (LST) interactions with ecological vulnerability for different seasons are lacking. Accordingly, this research has been carried out to study the seasonal (summer and winter) LULC and its change pattern, thermal dynamics, and their role in exploring the ecological state over Prayagraj city and its surroundings using multi-temporal Landsat (1987–2018) and MODIS Terra data (2007–2018) at both diurnal and nocturnal scenarios. The LULC classification was carried out using Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC) by adopting the Anderson classification scheme with more than 85% of overall accuracy. The Landsat data–based LST has been estimated using Mono-Window Algorithm (MWA) for diurnal scenario whereas MODIS-based LST was calculated for nocturnal scenario. Ecological vulnerability state has been evaluated both in day-time and night-time using Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI) in summer and winter during 1987–2018 and 2007–2018, respectively. Overall, built-up land increased the most by 18.25% which was responsible for massive urbanization during 1987–2018. In contrast, forest land decreased by 2.22% during 1987–2018. The most vulnerable class was agriculture land followed by forest land irrespective of seasons. Thermal state was intensified by mean LST by 1.25 ℃ in summer and 0.58 ℃ in winter in day-time. However, in night-time, the mean LST intensified by 6.64 ℃ in summer and 1.86 ℃ in winter. The excellent ecological class having no SUHI effects declined in summer during 1988–2018 by 1.59% but surged in winter by 12.33% during 1987–2018 in north-west regions at day-time, whereas in night-time the excellent ecological class having no SUHI effects severely declined in summer as well as in winter during 2007–2018 by 11.1% and 1.32%, respectively. However, the worst ecological class having strongest SUHI effects severely spread in night-times compared to day-time which mainly concentrated in central core part of the city during 2007–2018 by 5.33%. The present study has generated a comprehensive long-term geospatial database which can be used for urban planning to achieve sustainable development to make Prayagraj city a truly smart city in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the implementation of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the land use problem and its ecological effects on the Danjiang River Basin (DRB), which is a water source in the project, have become some of the focal points of current research in ecology and environmental science. Selecting the DRB (Henan section) as the study area, an ecological vulnerability evaluation model based on the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation/catastrophe progression method was constructed to evaluate the ecological vulnerability of the study area. The spatiotemporal evolution patterns of ecological vulnerability in the study area were quantitatively analyzed, and the main evolutionary drivers were identified by using GeoDetector. The results showed that: (1) the ecological vulnerability of the DRB (Henan section) was mainly moderate and mild, with areas of 2535.26 km2 and 2717.33 km2, respectively, by 2020, accounting for 30.14% and 32.30%, respectively, of the total area of the basin, with an overall vulnerability distribution characteristic of "low in the north and high in the south"; (2) the ecological vulnerability indices of the DRB (Henan section) in 2000, 2010, and 2020 were 0.56, 0.61, and 0.58, indicating that the ecological quality first decreased and then increased; and (3) the influence of vegetation factors on ecological vulnerability was large, with explanatory power above 4%. The influence of economic pressures and surface factors on ecological vulnerability gradually increased. This study can provide a reference for ecological environmental protection in the water source of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Yancheng coastal wetland of China as the case, and using remote sensing images in 1997, 2007 and 2017 as the data sources, the spatial-temporal changes characteristics of landscape elasticity (LE) were analyzed from three dimensions of ecosystem service value (ESV), ecological vulnerability (EV) and human disturbance (H). From 1997 to 2017, Yancheng coastal wetland landscape structure showed a trend of increasing proportion of aquaculture ponds and construction land area, while decreasing proportion of natural wetland area The total ESV decreased first and then increased, the average ESV per unit area in 1997, 2007 and 2017 were 5.23 × 104 USD·hm-2, 4.28 × 104 USD·hm-2, 5.95 × 104 USD·hm-2, respectively. The average EV decreased from 0.182 to 0.170 during 1997 to 2017. The average H increased from 0.175 to 0.198 during 1997 to 2017. In terms of spatial differentiation, the ESV, the EV and the H all showed the characteristics of land-sea differences. The average LE increased from 0.263 in 1997 to 0.914 in 2017, showing a downward trend from land to sea and the southern region was better than the northern region. This study can provide reference for the sustainable construction and management in Yancheng Coastal wetland World Natural Heritage Site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the background of climate change and intensified human activities, environmental problems are becoming increasingly prominent on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). For the development of efficient environmental policies and protection measures, quick and accurate assessments of the spatiotemporal patterns in ecological vulnerability are crucial. Based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, we used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), and human footprint (HFP) datasets to analyze the spatiotemporal distributions and main driving factors of the remote sensing ecological vulnerability index (RSEVI) for the QTP. Moreover, spatial autocorrelation analysis and the standard deviational ellipse (SDE) were used to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics. Our results showed that the RSEVI gradually increased from the southeast to the northwest of the QTP. From 2000 to 2018, the potential vulnerability area increased by 6.59 × 104 km2, while the extreme vulnerability area decreased by 1.84 × 104 km2. Moran's I value of the RSEVI was greater than 0 and increased, indicating that the aggregation degree was increasing. The gravity center was located in Nagqu, Tibet, and shifted to the northwest from 2000 to 2015 and to the southeast from 2015 to 2018. The SDE rotated in a counterclockwise direction. The three most important driving factors of ecological vulnerability were wetness, land surface temperature (LST), and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), indicating that climate and vegetation were the dominant factors. Moreover, this study developed a promising method for the ecological vulnerability assessment of large-scale and long time series datasets, and it provides theoretical support for the ecological conservation and sustainable development of the QTP under global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tibet has a unique ecosystem and unique species resources and is an important ecological protection area in China and surrounding countries. Ecological protection in Tibet needs to be strengthened and targeted regionally. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the importance of ecological protection and its spatial difference for policy formulation. In this study, the importance of biodiversity conservation, water retention, soil retention, and sand prevention, as well as the vulnerability of soil erosion and land desertification, was assessed, and the importance of ecological protection was classified. The extremely important ecological protection areas covered an area of 615,000 km2, mainly located in the Northern Tibet Plateau, the southern foot of the Himalayas, the Hengduan Mountains, and the Gangdise-Nyainqentanglha Mountains. The relationship between land-use type, elevation, and ecological protection importance was studied. The results showed that the most important ecological protection area consisted of forest and grassland in low-altitude areas or uninhabited areas 5000 m above sea level. The spatial characteristics of dominant ecological functions in different regions were identified by comparing the importance of different factors. The study found that there are significant differences in the dominant factors of important ecological protection areas in Southeast Tibet, Northern Tibetan Plateau, and Central Tibet. The results provide an effective reference for ecological function zoning and ecological protection policy formulation in Tibet, as a scientific basis for promoting ecological protection and restoration in Tibet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological vulnerability of global protected areas (PAs) is linked to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We developed a novel degree of ecological vulnerability (DEV) index based on Big Earth Data to assess the ecological vulnerability of PAs. This is a transparent, repeatable, large-scale and rapid assessment method. We applied the method to case studies of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) PAs in the basins of the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the Lake Baikal. Between 2001 and 2015, the spatial pattern of ecological vulnerability in the study area was relatively stable. The Caspian Sea basin and protected landscape/seascape (category V) showed high ecological vulnerability, while the Black Sea basin and wilderness areas (category Ib) showed low ecological vulnerability. Big Earth Data shows great vitality in PAs ecological vulnerability assessment. Strengthening international cooperation is an important means to break the bottleneck of ecological environment and resource endowment in these important international basins.

Rational differentiated utilization of cultivated land can effectively coordinate the contradiction between ecological protection, cultivated land utilization, and urban development. Therefore, this article adopts the southern section of the Yellow River Basin as an example, starting with vulnerability and resilience and then formulating an index system for evaluating farmland ecological vulnerability and farmland resilience. Moreover, this article combines Future Land-Use Simulation–Urban Growth Boundaries (FLUS–UGBs) to conduct urban development boundary simulations, which take the urban development boundary as restrictions and comprehensive division and determine the differentiated utilization zoning strategies for cultivated land to achieve coordinated development between ecological protection, cultivated land use, and urban development. The following results are presented: (1) The ecological vulnerability of the research area mainly involves low-to-medium vulnerability; the western and middle sections of the research area demonstrate high and low ecological vulnerability, respectively. (2) Areas with high resilience of cultivated land are mainly located in the mid-eastern part of the research area, and those with low resilience mainly involve the western mountains. (3) The four-quadrant method, the PLUS model, and the FLUS-UGB module are employed to determine differentiated usage zones for cultivated land to achieve rational allocation and effective use of resources.

The assessment of population vulnerability under climate change is crucial for planning conservation as well as for ensuring food security. Coffea canephora is, in its native habitat, an understorey tree that is mainly distributed in the lowland rainforests of tropical Africa. Also known as Robusta, its commercial value constitutes a significant revenue for many human populations in tropical countries. Comparing ecological and genomic vulnerabilities within the species' native range can provide valuable insights about habitat loss and the species' adaptive potential, allowing to identify genotypes that may act as a resource for varietal improvement. By applying species distribution models, we assessed ecological vulnerability as the decrease in climatic suitability under future climatic conditions from 492 occurrences. We then quantified genomic vulnerability (or risk of maladaptation) as the allelic composition change required to keep pace with predicted climate change. Genomic vulnerability was estimated from genomic environmental correlations throughout the native range. Suitable habitat was predicted to diminish to half its size by 2050, with populations near coastlines and around the Congo River being the most vulnerable. Whole‐genome sequencing revealed 165 candidate SNPs associated with climatic adaptation in C. canephora, which were located in genes involved in plant response to biotic and abiotic stressors. Genomic vulnerability was higher for populations in West Africa and in the region at the border between DRC and Uganda. Despite an overall low correlation between genomic and ecological vulnerability at broad scale, these two components of vulnerability overlap spatially in ways that may become damaging. Genomic vulnerability was estimated to be 23% higher in populations where habitat will be lost in 2050 compared to regions where habitat will remain suitable. These results highlight how ecological and genomic vulnerabilities are relevant when planning on how to cope with climate change regarding an economically important species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's main grain-producing region, the ecological security pattern of Liaoning Province has an extremely important impact on the ecological security of Northeast China and even the whole country. Furthermore, the construction of the ecological security pattern is restricted by the ecological vulnerability assessment in order to explore the ecological vulnerability pattern of spatial distribution and the trend of future vulnerability development in Liaoning Province and guide how to formulate ecological protection policies scientifically. Based on the sensitivity–resilience–pressure (SRP) conceptual model which is combined with natural and socio-economic factors, the ecological vulnerability evaluation index system of Liaoning Province is established in this paper. This paper also evaluates the ecological vulnerability of Liaoning Province from 2010 to 2020 and analyzes the driving factors by using a geographic detector and the CA-Markov model. Moreover, the study forecasts the growing tendency of vulnerability in 2025. The results show that (1) the ecological vulnerability of Liaoning Province is mainly light and has medium vulnerability, which gradually decreases from northwest to southeast; (2) the spatial heterogeneity of the ecological vulnerability index (EVI) is very significant in the southeast and northwest region but not significant in the middle; (3) from the past decade to the next five years, the ecological vulnerability of Liaoning Province has been improving, and the overall distribution pattern of ecological vulnerability is relatively stable; (4) the analysis of driving factors indicates that the impact of natural environmental factors such as land-use type and habitat quality on EVI is more significant than socio-economic factors such as population density. The research results implicate that it is necessary to formulate an ecological protection and restoration plan in Liaoning Province to prevent further ecological degradation in high-value areas of northwest Liaoning, and to balance the relationship between human development and ecological protection and restoration in the metropolitan district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the survey data on animal husbandry from 1,689 households in semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral counties in Inner Mongolia, this paper applied the “buffer capacity–organizational capacity-learning capacity” framework to analyze the current livelihood resilience of farmers and herdsmen, as well as the impact of ecological vulnerability and disaster shocks on this resilience. The results show that, first, due to the vicious ecological environment and natural disasters, livelihood resilience among farmers and herdsmen is generally low in the region, but that of herdsmen is significantly higher than that of farmers. There are clear differences between the dimensions of livelihood resilience in different households. Second, natural disasters, of which drought is the most obvious, have a great impact on livelihood resilience. However, there is a significant positive correlation between ecological vulnerability and the livelihood resilience of farmers and herdsmen; thus, we should reflect on the past development model of the region. Third, In addition to the impact of ecological vulnerability and disaster shocks, per capita income, human capital, policy support, social networks, and information access are the main obstacles to livelihood resilience. Combined with these research findings, this paper seeks to improve livelihood resilience through the strategies of avoiding disaster risk, changing the development mode, reducing path dependence, and identifying obstacles.