Spatial-temporal variations of ecological vulnerability in the Tarim River Basin,Northwest China

As the largest inland river basin of China,the Tarim River Basin(TRB),known for its various natural resources and fragile environment,has an increased risk of ecological crisis due to the intensive exploitation and utilization of water and land resources.Since the Ecological Water Diversion Project(EWDP),which was implemented in 2001 to save endangered desert vegetation,there has been growing evidence of ecological improvement in local regions,but few studies have performed a comprehensive ecological vulnerability assessment of the whole TRB.This study established an evaluation framework integrating the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)and entropy method to estimate the ecological vulnerability of the TRB covering climatic,ecological,and socioeconomic indicators during 2000-2017.Based on the geographical detector model,the importance of ten driving factors on the spatial-temporal variations of ecological vulnerability was explored.The results showed that the ecosystem of the TRB was fragile,with more than half of the area(57.27%)dominated by very heavy and heavy grades of ecological vulnerability,and 28.40%of the area had potential and light grades of ecological vulnerability.The light grade of ecological vulnerability was distributed in the northern regions(Aksu River and Weigan River catchments)and western regions(Kashgar River and Yarkant River catchments),while the heavy grade was located in the southern regions(Kunlun Mountains and Qarqan River catchments)and the Mainstream catchment.The ecosystems in the western and northern regions were less vulnerable than those in the southern and eastern regions.From 2000 to 2017,the overall improvement in ecological vulnerability in the whole TRB showed that the areas with great ecological improvement increased by 46.11%,while the areas with ecological degradation decreased by 9.64%.The vegetation cover and potential evapotranspiration(PET)were the obvious driving factors,explaining 57.56% and 21.55%of the changes in ecological vulnerability across the TRB,respectively.In terms of ecological vulnerability grade changes,obvious spatial differences were observed in the upper,middle,and lower reaches of the TRB due to the different vegetation and hydrothermal conditions.The alpine source region of the TRB showed obvious ecological improvement due to increased precipitation and temperature,but the alpine meadow of the Kaidu River catchment in the Middle Tianshan Mountains experienced degradation associated with overgrazing and local drought.The improved agricultural management technologies had positive effects on farmland ecological improvement,while the desert vegetation in oasis-desert ecotones showed a decreasing trend as a result of cropland reclamation and intensive drought.The desert riparian vegetation in the lower reaches of the Tarim River was greatly improved due to the implementation of the EWDP,which has been active for tens of years.These results provide comprehensive knowledge about ecological processes and mechanisms in the whole TRB and help to develop environmental restoration measures based on different ecological vulnerability grades in each sub-catchment.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Landscape Ecological Vulnerability in the Three-River-Source National Park Region

The increasing impact of global warming and human activities has exacerbated the ecological environment in the Three-RiverSource National Park Region(TNPR). Understanding the temporal and spatial evolution of landscape ecological vulnerability(LEV)and its influencing factors are crucial to the implementation of environmental management. Here, we aimed to: 1) construct a LEV assessment model integrating landscape structure and function;2) analyze the temporal and spatial evolution of TNPR’s LEV from 1995to 2015;3) use geographic detectors to reveal the regional influence factors of TNPR’s LEV. The main findings were: 1) grasslands, water, and bare land are important landscapes of TNPR, accounting for 98.37% of the total area. During the study period, there were significant differences in the area of different landscapes;except for desert, shrub, and urban land, the other landscape areas showed a decreasing trend. 2) During the study period, the LEV of TNPR showed a downward trend;except for grasslands, the ecological vulnerability of the other landscapes decreased steadily. Furthermore, a pattern of conversion from high to low vulnerability grade was observed in the study area. In terms of spatial distribution, the LEV level shows a trend of high at both ends(east and west) and low in the middle.3) Overall, the impact of natural factors on the ecological vulnerability of the TNPR was significantly higher than that of human factors.In conclusion, our study provides a scientific basis for landscape structure optimization and the management of regional ecological vulnerability.

A new perspective on ecological vulnerability and its transformation mechanisms

Ecological vulnerability refers to the degree of ecosystem disturbance,system damage,and the ability of system restoration.Although case-specific evaluations of ecological vulnerability are progressing rapidly,they have been carried out mainly in areas with intensive human activities or in harsh natural environments.Using the Web of ScienceTM core collection,this review paper summarized studies on ecological vulnerability published from 2000 to 2022 and analyzed in depth major case studies.It was found that traditional ecological vulnerability research has been addressed largely in terms of assessment models,data processing models,and analysis of influencing factors,however there was a lack of research on the process of vulnerability transformation.Because the vulnerability transformation in a hierarchical vulnerability index system is regulated by multiple factors in a heterogeneous region,it is urgent to understand how the ecological vulnerability in a region evolves from one level to another over time.Therefore this paper put forward the new perspective of research,i.e.,applying quantitative analysis to identification of regulating factors and exploring the mechanisms of ecological vulnerability transformation.This new perspective could assist in monitoring the complex spatiotemporal changes in ecological vulnerability and taking necessary measures to prevent from decline of ecological stability.

Assessing the ecological vulnerability of protected areas by using Big Earth Data

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.

Variability in Regional Ecological Vulnerability: A Case Study of Sichuan Province, China

Rapid urbanization and natural hazards are posing threats to local ecological processes and ecosystem services worldwide.Using land use,socioeconomic,and natural hazards data,we conducted an assessment of the ecological vulnerability of prefectures in Sichuan Province for the years 2005,2010,and 2015 to capture variations in its capacity to modulate in response to disturbances and to explore potential factors driving these variations.We selected five landscape metrics and two topological indicators for the proposed ecological vulnerability index(EVI),and constructed the EVI using a principal component analysis-based entropy method.A series of correlation analyses were subsequently performed to identify the factors driving variations in ecological vulnerability.The results show that:(1)for each of the study years,prefectures with high ecological vulnerability were located mainly in southern and eastern Sichuan,whereas prefectures in central and western Sichuan were of relatively low ecological vulnerability;(2)Sichuan’s ecological vulnerability increased significantly(p=0.011)during2005–2010;(3)anthropogenic activities were the main factors driving variations in ecological vulnerability.These findings provide a scientific basis for implementing ecological protection and restoration in Sichuan as well as guidelines for achieving integrated disaster risk reduction.

Dynamic Assessment on Ecosystem Vulnerability in Dashanbao Wetland

[Objective] The aim was to assess the ecosystem vulnerability of Dashanbao wetland.[Method] The evaluation index system of ecosystem vulnerability of Dashanbao wetland was constructed by using analytic hierarchy process(AHP),and the ecosystem vulnerability of Dashanbao wetland from 2002 to 2008 was assessed based on vulnerable degree of ecosystem.[Result] The vulnerable degree of ecosystem of Dashanbao wetland from 2002 to 2008 was 0.560 0,0.513 7,0.516 4,0.465 4,0.476 0,0.449 2 and 0.400 6 respectively,that is,showing decreasing trend on the whole,and the vulnerability of wetland ecosystem transformed from moderate vulnerability to mild vulnerability,and it showed that the ecological environment quality of Dashanbao wetland was better.[Conclusion] The study could provide references for wetland restoration,protection,ecological environment planning and management.