Spatial and Temporal Changes in Habitat Quality and Driving Forces in Typical Loess Hill and Gully Areas：A Case Study of the Zuli River Basin

Abstract

Loess hills and gully areas are one of the important ecological barriers in China, and the study of the spatial and temporal changes of its habitat quality and its driving force is of great significance to guaranteeing the ecological security of China and safeguarding the national ecological rights and interests. Taking the Zuli River Basin as an example, the spatiotemporal distribution of the remote-sensing ecological index （RSEI） from 2000 to 2020 was systematically investigated using the Google Earth Engine platform and Landsat remote-sensing data. Combined with the coefficient of variation CV, the Theil-Sen Median slope estimation, the Mann-Kendall test of significance, and the Hurst index, the spatial and temporal changes of habitat quality in the study area were analyzed over a period of 20 years, and the effects of six major driving factors on the spatial distribution of RSEI were investigated using the geodetector method. The results of the study showed that： ① From 2000 to 2020, the value of the RSEI showed a downward and then upward trend, with an average annual increase of 0.084 5·（10 a）-1. ② During the 20-year period, the habitat quality improvement area accounted for 92.06%, of which the significant improvement area accounted for 28.49%, and the improvement area was mainly in Huining County, whereas the habitat degradation area only accounted for 7.82%. The trend of future ecological conditions showed that 74.98% of the areas would show a trend of continuous improvement or future improvement, but there would still be a potential risk of ecological degradation in 23.48% of the areas in the future. ③ Climate factors such as precipitation were the key factors affecting the habitat quality in the Zu Li River Basin； the interaction between factors had a higher explanatory power than that of any single factor on the habitat quality, among which the interaction between the precipitation factor and the elevation factor had the strongest explanatory power. The interaction between the terracing factor and the environmental factor significantly increased the explanatory power of the spatial variance, which indicated that terracing played an important role in improving habitat quality. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis for the management and sustainable development of the ecological environment in the loess hills and gullies.