Spatial distance-based integrated evaluation of environmentally sensitivity for ecological management in northwest China

Identifying environmentally sensitivity regions and levels is an important aspect of resource management, especially in large arid ecosystems that exhibit sensitivity to climate change. This paper selected northwest China with complex and diverse environmental problems as the study area, and constructed the environmental sensitivity index (ESI) system including human intervention, disaster risk, land environment, biological and climate indicators, which were composed of thirteen factors. Then the environmental sensitivity was analyzed through using geographic information system (GIS) technology and spatial distance index (SDI) method. The temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of environmental sensitivity in Northwest China in the past 16 years were discussed. The results showed that: (1) the environmental sensitivity in the study area was in the medium level and its spatial heterogeneity was significant. The high and extremely sensitivity were mainly concentrated in the western and central areas, while the normal and low sensitivity were mainly distributed in the southeast of northwest China. (2) The ESI value decreased from 0.477 in 1987 to 0.429 in 2016, which reflected that the environmental conditions in northwest China have improved in the past 17 years, but not obviously. The regional sensitivity was still unstable, and the fluctuation change area was 232,136.28 km², accounts for7.71% of the total area. This showed that local government had made some progress in environmental protection, but it still has a long way to go because of the deterioration of the regional environment in northwest China. (3) The SDI method can simply and directly inflect the environmental sensitivity distribution and change patterns, which provided management partitions with well-founded and more viable for planning and implementing effective environmental management.