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Arid Land Geography ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (9): 1826-1839.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.703

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal evolution and driving factors of landscape ecological risk in the middle section of the Tianshan Mountains based on the XGBoost-SHAP method

BI Wenjun1,2(), YAN Qingwu1,3(), ZHAO Fuxin3, YI Minghao3, WU Zihao1,3   

  1. 1 Research Base of Jiangsu Land Resource Think Tank in China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu, China
    2 School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu, China
    3 School of Public Policy & Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2025-10-30 Revised:2025-11-21 Online:2026-09-25 Published:2026-09-07
  • Contact: YAN Qingwu E-mail:ts24160142p31@cumt.edu.cn;yanqingwu@cumt.edu.cn

Abstract:

Landscape ecological risk refers to the potential adverse effects on ecological processes due to changes in regional landscape structure. Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of landscape ecological risk is crucial for optimizing territorial spatial planning. Focusing on the middle section of the Tianshan Mountains, this study applied a landscape ecological risk assessment model to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of risk from 2005 to 2023. The extreme gradient boosting-Shapley additive explanations method was employed to identify the driving factors and their interactions. The results revealed the following: (1) Temporally, landscape ecological risk in the study area remained generally stable between 2005 and 2023, with a slight decrease in the ecological risk index. Although 66.12% of the area maintained consistent risk levels, 33.88% experienced transitions between risk levels, indicating overall stability with localized sensitivity. (2) Spatially, landscape ecological risk exhibited a polarized “low in the north, high in the south” pattern, roughly delineated by the main ridge of the Tianshan Mountains in a “人”-shaped configuration. High-risk areas were concentrated in the southern Taklimakan Desert, whereas low-risk areas were predominantly in the northern Ili River Valley. Landscape composition significantly influenced this spatial differentiation. (3) In terms of driving factors, single-factor analysis indicated that natural geographical factors, particularly the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and temperature, primarily determined the spatial pattern of landscape ecological risk in the middle Tianshan Mountains. Interaction analysis showed that high-risk areas are collectively driven by the coupled effects of “low NDVI and relatively high temperature” and “low GDP and high population density”. These multi-threshold nonlinear feedback mechanisms warrant particular attention for ecological risk management in arid regions.

Key words: landscape ecological risk, XGBoost-SHAP, spatiotemporal evolution, driving factors, middle section of the Tianshan Mountains