Arid Zone Research ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (9): 1742-1752.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2025.09.17

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles    

Spatial autocorrelation between ecological sensitivity and landscape pattern in the Yanhe River Basin

JIANG Yongqing1(), LUO Fujia1, LI Jiong1, LIU Guangquan2, LIU Changhai1, AI Ning1()   

  1. 1. ​Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Ecology for Loess Plateau​, College of Life Sciences, Yan'an University, Yan'an 716000, ​Shaanxi​​, China
    2. China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
  • Received:2025-01-22 Revised:2025-03-21 Online:2025-09-15 Published:2025-09-16
  • Contact: AI Ning E-mail:18286035283@163.com;aining_office@126.com

Abstract:

To explore the distribution and intrinsic connections between ecological sensitivity and landscape patterns in the Yanhe River Basin, this study employed ArcGIS 10.8 and Fragstats 4.2 to analyze their spatial autocorrelation. The results demonstrated that (1) Ecological sensitivity in the Yanhe River Basin exhibits significant spatial variation. The extremely, moderately, and highly sensitive areas spanned 473.04 km2, 1921.21 km2, and 1272.15 km2, accounting for 6.12%, 24.87%, and 16.47% of the total area, respectively, and primarily consisting of water areas, forestlands, and cultivated lands. (2) The spatial autocorrelation between ecological sensitivity and landscape pattern was significant. The number of patches (NP) and edge density (ED) were positively correlated with ecological sensitivity, indicating that higher landscape fragmentation in the Yanhe River Basin led to stronger ecological sensitivity. The largest patch index (LPI) and average patch area (Area_Mp) were negatively correlated with ecological sensitivity. The implementation of forestry ecological projects such as converting farmland to forests (grassland), increased the proportion of large patches in the Yanhe River Basin, effectively reducing ecological sensitivity. Therefore, future ecological protection strategies for the Yanhe River Basin should consider the spatial autocorrelation pattern and tailor measures to different regions, thereby further enhancing ecological protection and promoting high-quality development in the Basin.

Key words: ecological sensitivity, landscape pattern, mobile window method, spatial autocorrelation