[Spatial-temporal Evolution and Driving Force Analysis of Habitat Quality in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2022].

Abstract

The ecological environment of Inner Mongolia plays a significant role in the construction ecological community of northern China. Utilizing Google earth engine （GEE） and MODIS data， this study developed the annual remote sensing ecological index （RSEI） long time-series for Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2022. Combined with the Theil-sen & Mann-Kendall trend test and Hurst and Moran's I， the spatial and temporal evolution pattern of habitat quality in Inner Mongolia was comprehensively analyzed， and the influencing factors of RSEI were quantified from the perspective of spatial differentiation by using a geographical detector and a multi-scale geographically weighted regression model （MGWR）. The results indicated： ① There was a slight improvement in habitat quality in Inner Mongolia over the past 23 years， although the overall quality remains low. The annual growth rate was 0.0006 a^-1 （P>0.05）， showing a nonsignificant upward trend and spatially decreasing from northeast to southwest. ② Improved habitat quality areas over the past 23 years made up 62.90% of the region， with a future trend likely dominated by continued degradation. Although 9.16% of the area is expected to see improvement. ③ The global Moran's I exceeded 0.9240， signifying a high positive spatial correlation in RSEI distribution. The eastern region predominantly exhibited high-high clustering， whereas the western region showed low-low clustering. ④ The habitat quality of Inner Mongolia was mostly affected by temperature， precipitation， evaporation， elevation， and land use， and the interaction between them had stronger explanatory power than a single factor. ⑤ The explanatory power of various driving factors significantly varied across regions， with each playing a dominant role in the spatial differentiation of RSEI. Therefore， zoning management is essential for achieving sustainable habitat quality.