CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (2): 271-282.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.286

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Evaluation of ecological environment quality in the mainstream of Tarim River based on improved remote sensing ecological index

LIU Wei1(), LING Hongbo2(), GONG Yanming2, CHEN Fulong1, SHAN Qianjuan2   

  1. 1. College of Water Conservancy & Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, Xinjiang, China
    2. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2024-05-08 Revised:2024-06-02 Online:2025-02-25 Published:2025-02-25
  • Contact: LING Hongbo E-mail:liuwei999122@163.com;linghongbo0929@163.com

Abstract:

The mainstream area of the Tarim River is a crucial ecological barrier in northwest China’s arid region. As a key beneficiary of ecological water transfer, studying changes in its ecological environment quality is vital for assessing the impact of these projects. Using Landsat remote sensing data from 1998 to 2022, an improved remote sensing ecological index (RSEIS) was developed by combining five indicators: greenness (NDVI), humidity (WET), dryness (NDBSI), heat (LST), and salinity (SI_T). The trends and stability of the ecological environment quality were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test, Theil-Sen median trend analysis, Hurst exponent, and coefficient of variation. A geographic detector analyzed the influence of various driving factors on RSEIS. The results showed the following: (1) From 1998 to 2022, the overall ecological environment quality in the mainstream area of the Tarim River showed a fluctuating upward trend, with an average annual increase of 0.023·(10a)-1. The spatial distribution of the multiyear average RSEIS showed lower values in the south and east and higher values in the north and west. (2) Over 25 years, 55.06% of the basin area saw improvements in ecological environment quality, although 54.59% of the area remains at risk of ecological degradation. (3) Causality analysis revealed that land use type (0.534) had the strongest explanatory power for RSEIS spatial variation, and the interaction between land use type and potential evapotranspiration (0.659) was identified as the key driver of ecological environment quality in the study area. This study can provide scientific references for the sustainable development of the ecological environment quality of the Tarim River mainstream.

Key words: improved remote sensing ecological index, ecological environment quality, geodetector, the mainstream of Tarim River