Pedosphere 18(2): 171--182, 2008
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2008 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Eco-environmental vulnerability evaluation in the Yellow River Basin, China |
| WANG Si-Yuan,2, LIU Jing-Shi1 and YANG Cun-Jian3 |
1 Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085 (China). E-mail: w_siyuan@126.com
2 Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080 (China)
3 Centrne of RS and GIS Applications, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Using remote sensing (RS) data and geographical information system (GIS), eco-environmental vulnerability and its changes were analyzed for the Yellow River Basin, China. The objective of this study was to improve our understanding of eco-environmental changes so that a strategy of sustainable land use could be established. An environmental numerical model was developed using spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) model. The model contains twelve factors that include variables of land use, soil erosion, topography, climate, and vegetation. Using this model, synthetic eco-environmental vulnerability index (SEVI) was computed for 1990 and 2000 for the Yellow River Basin. The SEVI was classified into six levels, potential, slight, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy, following the natural breaks classification. The eco-environmental vulnerability distribution and its changes over the ten years from 1990 to 2000 were analyzed and the driving factors of eco-environmental changes were investigated. The results show that the eco-environmental vulnerability in the study area was at medium level, and the eco-environmental quality had been gradually improved on the whole. However, the eco-environmental quality had become worse over the ten years in some regions. In the study area, population growth, vegetation degradation, and governmental policies for eco-environmental protection were found to be the major factors that caused the eco-environmental changes over the ten years. |
| Key Words: eco-environmental vulnerability, geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing (RS), spatial principal component analysis, Yellow River Basin |
| Citation: Wang, S. Y., Liu, J. S. and Yang, C. J. 2008. Eco-environmental vulnerability evaluation in the Yellow River Basin, China. Pedosphere. 18(2): 171-182. |
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