Ecological Sensitivity Research Articles

Spatio-temporal changes in ecological vulnerability and its driving factors in western jilin, china in the last 30 years

In order to explore the quality of the ecological environment in the interlaced zone of agriculture and animal husbandry in western Jilin, this study used the vulnerability domain map evaluation model to select evaluation indicators based on GIS and RS technology. The principal component analysis method was used to carry out research on the ecological sensitivity of western Jilin from 1990 to 2020. Results showed that in terms of space-time distribution, severe and moderate vulnerability is mainly distributed in the northern part of the research area, and the moderate vulnerability area accounts for more than 73.13% of the area of the research area. From 2000 to 2020, the ecological vulnerability gradually decreased, and the overall ecological environment tended to improve, severe vulnerability is mainly distributed in unused land, and changes in different land types affect changes in ecological vulnerability, the ecological vulnerability in western Jilin has a strong correlation and is mainly located in the northern part of the research area. The area of high-high aggregation, hot spots and cold spots areas accounts for 1.84, 15.54 and 6.68% of the area of the research area, respectively. Bangladesh J. Bot. 52(2): 585-593, 2023 (June) Special

Spatio-temporal changes in ecological vulnerability and its driving factors in western jilin, china in the last 30 years

In order to explore the quality of the ecological environment in the interlaced zone of agriculture and animal husbandry in western Jilin, this study used the vulnerability domain map evaluation model to select evaluation indicators based on GIS and RS technology. The principal component analysis method was used to carry out research on the ecological sensitivity of western Jilin from 1990 to 2020. Results showed that in terms of space-time distribution, severe and moderate vulnerability is mainly distributed in the northern part of the research area, and the moderate vulnerability area accounts for more than 73.13% of the area of the research area. From 2000 to 2020, the ecological vulnerability gradually decreased, and the overall ecological environment tended to improve, severe vulnerability is mainly distributed in unused land, and changes in different land types affect changes in ecological vulnerability, the ecological vulnerability in western Jilin has a strong correlation and is mainly located in the northern part of the research area. The area of high-high aggregation, hot spots and cold spots areas accounts for 1.84, 15.54 and 6.68% of the area of the research area, respectively. Bangladesh J. Bot. 52(2): 585-593, 2023 (June) Special

Regulation and optimization of cultivated land in different ecological function areas under the guidance of food security goals-a case study of Mengjin County, Henan Province, China

China’s arable land is facing the dual constraints of increasing “non-grain” and tightening ecological control. However, extreme emphasis on food production or excessive attention to ecological protection cannot effectively solve the practical problems of cultivated land utilization. In this paper, evaluation indexes were selected from the aspects of ecological service, landscape integrity, ecological sensitivity, etc., and ecological importance evaluation system for territory space was constructed. The ecological importance of territorial space was divided into three ecological functional areas, namely, the extremely important regions, the relatively important regions and the general regions. The morphological characteristics of cultivated land use in different ecological function areas were described systematically, and the main problems of cultivated land use in different regions were analyzed. On the basis of ensuring the ecological security of territorial space, this paper puts forward the regulation and control plan of cultivated land in different ecological functional areas aiming at food security, and makes an empirical study with Mengjin County as the case area. The results showed that: under the guidance of food security objectives, the implementation of different types of cultivated land remediation programs according to the problems existing in different ecological functional areas could guarantee food security to the greatest extent and amplify the ecological and environmental effects of land remediation. By means of land consolidation and ownership adjustment, the abandoned farmland in general and relatively important ecological regions can be restored for food use, which can not only enhance the food supply capacity, but also without causing damage to the ecological environment. There is a large area of arable land in the ecologically extremely important regions. Large-scale ecological conversion will have a certain impact on food security supply. Promoting ecological farming is an important way to resolve the contradiction between food safety production and ecological environment protection. This study can provide reference for decision making of arable land consolidation in the new period.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Ecological Sensitivity in the Desert of China from 1981 to 2022

The northern desert of China plays an important strategic role in land resource security and national economic development. Research on the spatio-temporal changes of ecological sensitivity can provide a scientific reference for desert management and ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid areas in northern China. This paper takes the northern desert of China as the research area, uses the spatial distance model to build a comprehensive ecological sensitivity evaluation index system, and discusses the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of ecological sensitivity in the area from 1981 to 2022. The results show the following: (1) The land use types in the northern desert of China are mainly sandy land, grassland and other lands. The changing areas of grassland and other lands are 74,353.14 km2 and 50,807.97 km2, which is an important factor affecting the ecological sensitivity in the northern desert of China. (2) Five aspects, including terrain, climate, hydrology, soil and vegetation, influence and restrict each other, and jointly create the background conditions for the distribution and change of ecological sensitivity in the northern desert of China. Climate and terrain are the most important influencing factors affecting the ecological sensitivity of northern desert of China. Vegetation is the most active and basic factor affecting the ecological sensitivity of northern desert of China. Hydrology and soil have a certain limiting effect on the ecological sensitivity of northern desert of China. (3) The spatial heterogeneity of ecological sensitivity in the northern desert of China is significant, showing the characteristics of high volatility in the west, low volatility in the central region and low volatility in the east. (4) For nearly 42 years, ecological sensitivity of the northern desert of China shows first increasing and then decreasing characteristics. The area of the fluctuation reduction zone accounts for 26.34% of the total research area, of which the area of extreme sensitivity and mild sensitivity varies by 11.84% and 65.28%, respectively. (5) The spatial aggregation characteristics of ecological sensitivity have changed significantly, and the area of high–high and low–low agglomeration areas has also been decreasing, indicating that the environment is obviously improving. In the future, we should pay attention to the efficient use of natural resources in the northern desert of China and strengthen the protection of all kinds of land to achieve the sustainable development of the regional environment.

Quantitative Model Construction for Sustainable Security Patterns in Social–Ecological Links Using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning

With the global issues of extreme climate and urbanization, the ecological security patterns (ESPs) in the Qinling Mountains are facing prominent challenges. As a crucial ecological barrier in China, understanding the characteristics of ESPs in the Qinling Mountains is vital for achieving sustainable development. This study focuses on Yangxian and employs methods such as machine learning (ML), remote sensing (RS), geographic information systems (GISs), analytic hierarchy process and principal component analysis (AHP–PCA), and the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model to construct an ecological security network based on multi-factor ecological sensitivity (ES) and conduct quantitative spatial analysis. The results demonstrate that the AHP–PCA method based on ML overcomes the limitations of the single-weighting method. The ESPs of Yangxian were established, consisting of 21 main and secondary ecological sources with an area of 592.81 km2 (18.55%), 41 main and secondary ecological corridors with a length of 738.85 km, and 33 ecological nodes. A coupling relationship among three dimensions was observed: comprehensive ecological sensitivity, ESPs, and administrative districts (ADs). Huangjinxia Town (1.43 in C5) and Huayang Town (7.28 in C4) likely have significant areas of ecological vulnerability, while Machang Town and Maoping Town are important in the ESPs. ADs focus on protection and management. The second corridor indicated high-quality construction, necessitating the implementation of strict protection policies in the study area. The innovation lies in the utilization of quantitative analysis methods, such as ML and RS technologies, to construct an ecological spatial pattern planning model and propose a new perspective for the quantitative analysis of ecological space. This study provides a quantitative foundation for urban and rural ecological spatial planning in Yangxian and will help facilitate the sustainable development of ecological planning in the Qinling region.

Spatiotemporal variations of ecosystem security pattern in Horqin sandy dune meadow alternating area, China.

The natural and geographical environment of ecologically fragile areas in northern China is complex. Due to heavy human disturbance and impacts of climate change, the sustainable development of ecosystems is facing serious challenges. Constructing ecological security pattern can provide decision-making basis for ecological environment protection in desertification areas. Based on land use change data of Horqin dune-meadow interphase area from 1985 to 2021, we identified ecological sources with the importance of ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity, and constructed the ecological security pattern using the minimum cumulative resistance model. We further analyzed the ecological security pattern and its development trend in 1985, 1995, 2005, 2015 and 2021, and explored the ecological spatial layout adjustment strategy. The results showed that the proportion of source area in the ecological security pattern of the study area was always small and scattered from 1985 to 2021, the network of ecological corridors was low, and the connectivity between ecological patches was lacking. The ecological security pattern had experienced a trend of deterioration first and then gradually improving. Ecological policies such as returning farmland to forest and grassland and afforestation had significantly improved the environmental security. We optimized the study area by combining the cultivated land suitability evaluation method. The ecological security pattern showed a spatial trend of 'dual-core, scattered and semi-surrounded'. The results could provide references for the construction of county-scale ecological security pattern in ecologically fragile areas and the ecological management of Horqin sands.

Constructing ecological security patterns based on ecosystem services trade-offs and ecological sensitivity: A case study of Shenzhen metropolitan area, China

Ecological security pattern (ESP) is an effective way to integrate landscape patterns and ecological processes from the perspective of ecological connectivity. Its scientific construction can promote the coordinated development of social system and ecosystem. However, the construction methods of ESP still need to be explored, most studies assume that different ecological processes do not interfere with each other, and then spatial overlay different types of ecosystem services to determine the ecological source. Metropolitan area is an important space carrier for the high-quality development of Chinese urban agglomeration. Taking Shenzhen metropolitan area as the target area, we identified ecological sources according to the ecosystem services trade-offs and ecological sensitivity assessment system and OWA algorithm, revised the basic resistance surface by using the night light data, and simulated and extracted ecological corridors by combining the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and potential model. We identified 13 important ecological sources with a total area of 9938.23.23 km2. The spatial distribution of them was concentrated in Huizhou and Shanwei, as well as the junctions of mountain woodlands in Huizhou, Heyuan, and Shanwei. Notably, 66 ecological corridors were simulated, including 26 important and 40 general corridors. The ecological corridors generally exhibited a spider web radial distribution with substantial spatial heterogeneity and were densely distributed in the suburbs and northern hilly regions far from urban areas. Aggregated ecological elements were used to build a comprehensive ESP for the Shenzhen metropolitan area, which comprises 13 ecological sources, 26 important ecological corridors, 40 general ecological corridors, 4 security levels of resistance surface, and 24 ecological strategic nodes. This study comprehensively considered the ecosystem services interactions and the environmental sensitivity of ecological processes, provided an effective quantitative framework for constructing the ESP, and the results can provide decision-making reference for territorial ecological protection and restoration planning of Shenzhen metropolitan area.

Optimizing ecological security patterns considering zonal vegetation distribution for regional sustainability

The construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) has practical significance in mitigating the growing conflict between the social economy and environmental sustainability. In northeast China, there is a pressing need to reach synergy between food and ecological security. Taking Jilin Province, which is a key ecological node in northeast China, as a case study, this study aimed to explore ESP construction and propose ecological protection, restoration, and spatial optimization schemes. Ecological sources were identified with ecosystem service importance and ecological sensitivity. The resistance surface was modified using nighttime light and population density. Ecological corridors and ecological nodes were extracted using the minimum cumulative resistance model and landscape connectivity. The ecological source area is 41,530 km2, accounting for 22.2% of the land area of Jilin, dominated by woodland and wetlands. There were 77 ecological corridors with a total length of 7813.38 km and 36 important ecological nodes. Corridors are intertwined, while the ecological network in the east and west is stable and the connectivity in the central region is low. The ESP of Jilin was divided into five security levels. The areas with relatively high and high security, accounting for 49.8% and 22.2%, respectively, were mainly concentrated in the eastern and western regions of the province. This study explored ESP construction and optimization strategies within regions with heterogeneous ecosystem distributions and growing environmental pressures. The results reconfirm the importance of IUCN sites and nature reserves in terms of ecological corridor construction, which provides scientific guidance for managing regional sustainability and a reference for similar research.

Strategies to Manage Ecotourism Sustainably: Insights from a SWOT-ANP Analysis and IUCN Guidelines

Protected areas are prime areas for ecotourism development, attracting large numbers of visitors to an abundance of ecologically significant and often sensitive flora and fauna. The current study identified adverse impacts of ecotourism in four prominent tourist hotspots in Iran, namely Lar National Park, Jajrud Protected Area with Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, Tangeh Vashi National Natural Monument, and Kavdeh Wildlife Refuge. Impacts were compared against the IUCN guidelines according to the degree of ecological sensitivity and multiple managerial objectives. In addition, an analytic network process (ANP) was applied within a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis to identify optimal strategies for reducing threats and weaknesses and improving opportunities and strengths for sustainable ecotourism management. We found the greatest negative impacts of ecotourism in a Jajrud that was exposed to rapidly expanding urbanisation and the corresponding development of economic and physical activities. Conversely, the least negative impact occurred in a national park (Lar) that was managed based on conservation approaches, accounting for high ecological sensitivities, and adapting legal prohibitions. The SWOT-ANP analysis demonstrates that certain strategies can minimise impacts and should be adopted as conservation tools by protected area managers and land planners.

Ecological sensitivity and its driving factors in the area along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway

Ecological sensitivity and its driving factors in the area along the Sichuan–Tibet Railway

Ecological Security Assessment Based on the “Importance–Sensitivity–Connectivity” Index and Pattern Construction: A Case Study of Xiliu Ditch in the Yellow River Basin, China

Resource, environmental, and ecological issues have become major constraints to the development of many regions. The Yellow River Basin is an important barrier for maintaining ecological security in northern China, but it has been impacted by problems such as severe soil erosion and declining biodiversity. The rational construction of ecological security patterns is important to enhance ecosystem functions and maintain regional ecological security. In this study, a comprehensive ecological security assessment system was constructed by selecting ecosystem service importance, ecological sensitivity, and landscape connectivity to assess the ecological security of Xiliu Ditch, an ecologically fragile region of the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin in China. The assessment results showed significant spatial heterogeneity, with medium- and low-security value areas dominating, while high-security value areas accounted for only 18.7% of the study area. Seventeen ecological sources were identified from the high-security areas, which were mainly composed of grassland, woodland, and water bodies, most of which are distributed in the southern part of the study area. Twenty ecological corridors were selected by the minimum cumulative resistance model and gravity model and classified into 15 construction corridors and 5 potential corridors. Forty-six ecological nodes were defined, including twenty strategic points, nine potential strategic points, and seventeen break points. On this basis, we constructed an ecological security pattern of “two belts, three cores, six zones, multiple corridors and multiple nodes” and proposed corresponding ecological governance measures. This study explores the ecological security pattern at the small watershed scale, which helps to realize the fine management of the Xiliu Ditch basin and, on this basis, can provide scientific support for the ecological protection and sustainable development of the Yellow River basin. In addition, the ecological security assessment system proposed in this study can provide new ideas for the construction of ecological security patterns in similar ecologically fragile areas around the globe.

The construction of an ecological security pattern based on the comprehensive evaluation of the importance of ecosystem service and ecological sensitivity: a case of Yangxin County, Hubei Province

An ecological safety pattern is the basic guarantee for pollution control, ecological environmental protection, economic construction, and sustainable social development, and is an important means of integrated and coordinated development, protection, and governance. This study proposes a research method to identify ecological source sites based on the evaluation of the importance of ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity, and to identify ecological corridors using the minimum cumulative resistance model. The empirical analysis was carried out in Yangxin County, Hubei Province, as an example. The results show that the study area has 16 key corridors and 29 potential corridors, a total of 45 ecological corridors, with a total length of 452 km. In addition, these ecological corridors present a network-like intertwined distribution, connecting various ecological source sites and ensuring the connectivity between ecological source sites, while the well-developed water source sites in the study area provide excellent ecosystem service functions such as water containment for the area.

A framework of ecological sensitivity assessment for the groundwater system in the Mi River basin, Eastern China

A framework of ecological sensitivity assessment for the groundwater system in the Mi River basin, Eastern China

Economic growth, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and environmental quality: Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve and load capacity curve hypothesis

Multiple human activities influence the physical environment, interacting with humans and their surroundings. Our existence depends on various natural resources harvested or extracted from the environment, such as food, materials, and energy. This paper examines the environmental impact modeling and efficient use of nuclear and renewable energy while considering the roles of energy efficiency under the assumptions of EKC and LCC hypotheses in BRICS countries from 1990 to 2018. The long-run estimates are based on LM-Bootstrap Cointegration tests and Drisscoll-Kraay regressions. Financial development has been observed to have a negative relationship with the load capacity factor. However, interestingly, financial development has been found to have a positive relationship with CO2 emissions. Our findings indicate that the load capacity factor negatively correlates with economic growth in the long run—an increase in economic growth results in a reduction in load capacity. The long-term impact of economic expansion is a decline in environmental quality. Moreover, economic growth square is positive in the load capacity factor and negative in the case of CO2 emissions. This situation reflects the EKC and LCC hypothesis in the BRICS countries. When income increases, environmental quality initially decreases, and once a certain level of income is reached, ecological sensitivity and green technologies increase the load capacity factor. The negative coefficient value in the case of economic growth and the positive coefficient value of the square root of economic growth determines the LCC hypothesis, which is U shape relationship. On the other hand, the negative coefficient value of economic growth followed by the positive coefficient value of the square root of economic growth determines the existence of the EKC hypothesis in the BRICS countries, which is an inverse relationship. Research limitations and future directions are discussed.

Construction and optimization of the Saihanba ecological network

Since its establishment, the ecosystem of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm has begun to be restored. The extraction of ecological corridors and identification of ecological nodes based on the minimum cumulative resistance model and the gravity model are important for improving regional ecological connectivity and maintaining ecological service functions. This study took the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm as the study area. Based on the landscape pattern index analysis of Fragstats and the ecological sensitivity analysis of the minimum resistance surface, the ecological source area was selected according to the patch areas, and the ecological corridors and ecological nodes in the study area were extracted. We combined the road network and ecological nodes to build stepping stones for ecological node construction to promote biological migration, improved forest landscape patch structure through important ecological corridors, and finally built a woodland network structure. The results show that the areas with high ecological sensitivity were concentrated in the road network, water area, and construction land area. Additionally, we identified 20 ecological sources distributed in the central and north–south vertical areas of the Saihanba Forest Farm. We also extracted ninety-six key ecological corridors distributed in the central area, thirty-nine important ecological nodes, and thirteen stepping stones for construction. Through the adjustment of patches along the corridor, the overall connectivity significantly increased. This study can provide a reasonable reference for the optimization of forest landscape in the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm.

Urban ecological network construction in Loess Plateau regions in China-case study of Huanxian city

Cities in ecologically vulnerable areas have high ecological sensitivity, and the balance between urban expansion and the ecological environment is easily broken, leading to various environmental problems. These problems seriously interrupt the sustainable health development of urban ecosystems. Studying urban ecological network construction from the perspective of multifactor ecological processes is of important significance to the ecological safety and resource management of cities. In this study, an analysis of ecological elements was conducted separately to account for the “vertical” and “horizontal” ecological processes present in the ecological network. By using the superposition mode of vertical ecological processes, the composition of vital ecological patches was analyzed, and important ecological patches within the ecosystem were identified through ecological sensitivity evaluation index system. On the other hand, the composition of ecological corridors was analyzed through the use of horizontal ecological processes. The biological corridor was determined by source identification of biological processes and resistance surface analysis while the catchment corridor was determined through runoff simulation. Based on these findings, it was possible to propose an urban ecological network construction system specifically designed for Loess Plateau regions using a superposition of ecological sensitivity, biological processes, and catchment processes. Finally, a case study of the urban ecological network system of Loess Plateau regions was conducted in Huanxian City. Comparing the proposed urban ecological network of the Loess Plateau regions and the generated scheme with the overall planning scheme of 2016, the patch density and the largest patch index decreased by 1.522 and 13.794, respectively, while the fractal dimension, interspersion and juxtaposition index, the contagion index, and the connectivity index increased by 0.003, 2.188, 14.076, and 1.366, respectively. This trend proves that the research scheme improved in terms of ecological performance. Research conclusions can provide useful references for the construction of urban ecological networks in underdeveloped and ecologically vulnerable areas in China while offering guidelines for making decisions on the green development and management of urban spaces.

Diversity of Spontaneous Plants in Eco-Parks and Its Relationship with Environmental Characteristics of Parks

Suburban areas connect the city and the natural land. This kind of area is subject to high ecological sensitivity. To give full play to the ecological value of spontaneous plants, it was applied to the construction of suburban parks. We need to explore the influence factors of park characteristics on spontaneous plants. This study takes Jiangyangfan Ecological Park as the main research object. We have investigated the spontaneous plants in it and the surrounding parks. Hence, 16 kinds of park environmental characteristic factors were selected to explore their effects on the composition and diversity of spontaneous plants. The results showed that: (1) There were 138 species of spontaneous plants belonging to 126 genera and 62 families in Jiangyangfan Ecological Park. Native plants accounted for 88.10%. (2) The Shannon-Wiener diversity index of spontaneous plants was ranked as Jiangyangfan Ecological Park > White Pagoda Park > Eight Diagrams Field Relic Park > Haiyue Waterscape Park. (3) Among the overall characteristic factors, the park perimeter and the actual accessible area had the most significant positive correlation to the diversity of spontaneous plants (p < 0.05). Among the environmental element characteristic factors, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index of cultivated plants had the strongest positive correlation with the diversity of spontaneous plants (p < 0.01). The number of water bodies presented the strongest negative correlation (p < 0.01). This study provides a useful reference for the rational planning of parks in suburban areas and the construction of sustainable urban and rural landscapes. The research results will contribute to the restoration of the ecological environment.

Ecological Security Pattern Construction in Rural Settlements Based on Importance and Vulnerability of Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Southeast Region of Chongqing, China

With the development of urbanization, a large number of village settlements have disappeared. As important carriers of ethnic and cultural heritage, village settlements are important for the continuation of folk culture and farming spirit. Building a regional ecological security pattern helps to protect the integrity of village settlements and promote the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. In this work, the importance of ecosystem services was first obtained by using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model (In-VEST) and the revised universal soil loss equation model (RUSLE) to evaluate the regional ecosystem services in the southeastern region of Chongqing (SRC). Then, the ecological importance evaluation results were combined with the sensory evaluation results to derive ecological conservation importance areas and identify ecological source points in their high-value areas. Finally, the ecological corridors were obtained by the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR). The regional ecological security pattern was constructed, i.e., the triangular protection area strategy of “one screen, one belt, and three cores”. The results show the following: the total area of ecological source sites larger than 20 km2 in SRC is 436.02 km2, accounting for 2.28% of the area of SRC. The largest ecological patch is 69.93 km2, accounting for 16.04% of the total area of ecological source sites. Thirteen ecological source sites were identified as follows: four in Youyang County, three in Shizhu County, three in Wulong County, and one in Pengshui County. There are 78 ecological corridors with a total length of 4832.82 km, including 32 important ecological corridors with a length of about 1544.53 km and 46 potential ecological corridors with a length of about 3288.29 km. Based on the minimum cumulative model constructed by eight resistance factors, the spatial variation of the ecological resistance surface was analyzed, showing a trend of being high in the west and central part and low in the surrounding area. There are one high-value area of the resistance surface of Wulong County Nature Reserve and one high-value area of ecological sensitivity that overlap to the extreme, and which should be given sufficient protection attention. The core protected areas consist of three mountains including the Qiyao Mountain Range, the Wuling Mountain Range, and the Wulong County Nature Reserve. The ecological security pattern in SRC based on the mode of “source–ecological corridor–ecological node” can identify important ecological function areas, providing scientific guidance for sustainable development and ecological security protection in the ethnic village settlements in China.

Vulnerability assessment of urban remnant mountain ecosystems based on ecological sensitivity and ecosystem services

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.

Screening of urban environmental vulnerability indicators based on coefficient of variation and anti-image correlation matrix method

A scientific evaluation indicator system is critical for assessing and predicting urban environmental vulnerability. This study establishes an indicator system of urban environmental vulnerability based on ecological sensitivity, resilience, and pressure and proposes a comprehensive screening method using the coefficient of variation and anti-image correlation matrix to improve the evaluation result of urban environmental vulnerability. The indicator screening method improves the reliability of the evaluation results. The proposed method is compared with Pearson correlation analysis to demonstrate the advantages of our method for calculating the information interpretation intensity and the cumulative contribution rate. The calculated results are compared with the threshold values to verify the suitability of the constructed index system. The results show that the information interpretation intensity of the selected indicators system is 1.061, and the cumulative information contribution rate is 89.78%. The selected indicators system accurately reflects urban environmental vulnerability.