Analysis of ecological land stability and spatial pattern in western China

The western region of China is an important barrier for maintaining national ecological security. Since the implementation of the Western Development Strategy for more than 20 years, a series of major ecological construction projects have led to significant changes in the ecological conditions and services in the western region. Exploring the ecological stability pattern in the western region is of great significance for macro ecological land management. This article analyzes the spatiotemporal dynamic changes of the ecological land stability index in the western region from 2000 to 2020 based on remote sensing monitoring data of land use/land cover. The results show that: 1) From 2000 to 2020, the total amount of ecological land in the western region showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. From 2000 to 2010, the ecological land area decreased by 22 327 100 hm², and from 2010 to 2020, the area increased by 964 700 hm². The spatial distribution of stable ecological land during the two periods did not change significantly, with stable ecological land mainly consisting of grasslands and forests. 2) The overall ecological land stability indices in the western region from 2000 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2020 were 47.12% and 52.72%, respectively. There was a significant clustering of ecological stability indices from 2000 to 2020. The ecological land stability pattern was mainly composed of high high clustering areas and low low clustering areas, with the initial area accounting for 48.17% and the later area accounting for 46.708%. The areas of high high clustering areas and high low outlier areas showed an increasing trend, while the areas of low clustering areas The low high outlier area shows a downward trend. 3) The total area of the cold spot area has decreased by 1026 × 10⁴ hm², the total area of hot spots has increased by 206 × 10⁴ hm² indicates that while the ecological stability index in the western region is slowly improving, the agglomeration effect of stable ecological land has also improved.