The Effect of the Human Footprint and Climate Change on Landscape Ecological Risks: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau, China

The increase in ecological risks caused by human activities has become a global concern in recent years. The Landscape Ecological Risk Index based on the theory of landscape ecology is more suitable for assessing large-scale ecological risks. Assessing landscape ecological risks and the mechanisms by which humans directly or indirectly affect them will help to manage and control the regions’ ecological risks through scientific and policy methods. In this study, a new model of landscape ecological risk assessment based on the moving window method is proposed. The Loess Plateau of China is used as an example, and the Human Footprint Index dataset of the Loess Plateau is constructed. Different human footprint factors and climate factors are applied, and the human direct and indirect effects on the landscape ecological risks of the Loess Plateau are explored based on the geographical detector model. The results show that, in 2000, 2010 and 2020, the landscape ecological risks of the Loess Plateau are currently in an unstable state, and the highest value area of the Landscape Ecological Risk Index continues to expand, with values of 113,566.1553 km², 114,575.6772 km² and 120,718.5363 km², respectively. Among all the human footprint factors, the population density factor has the highest effect on the landscape ecological risks of the Loess Plateau. Among the climate factors, both the average temperature factor and the average lagged temperature factor have significant effects on the landscape ecological risks of the Loess Plateau. With the interaction of any two human footprint factors and climate factors, the effect of these factors on the landscape ecological risks of the Loess Plateau is enhanced.