Landscape ecological risk assessment of an ecological area in the Kubuqi desert based on Landsat remote sensing data

Conducting ecological risk assessment of fragile ecological landscapes is a prerequisite for building an ecological security pattern and a necessary consideration for sustainable development. Engebei ecological demonstration zone is a typical ecologically fragile area located in the Kubuqi Desert. To explore the ecological status of Engebei, an ecological risk assessment model is used to assess its ecological risk, and the spatial correlation analysis is conducted based on the Moran index. The optimal grain size is obtained through grain size effect analysis, which is the foundation of landscape pattern analysis. The landscape ecological risk assessment model is constructed by the landscape indexes. Based on the division of small ecological risk zones, a spatial correlation analysis of ecological risks is conducted on Engebei. Results manifest that: (1) Overall, from 2005 to 2021, its spatial distribution features of landscape ecological risk level are relatively-high and high in the middle, and gradually reduce in the north-south direction, as shown below: the relatively-low ecological risk areas are widely spread, and the overall risk index decrease from 0.1944 to 0.1940; the area of low and high-level ecological risk areas show a decreasing trend, which decrease by 5.0102 km2 and 1.3132 km2 respectively; the area of relatively-low, middle, and relatively-high-level ecological risk areas increase by 0.2655 km2, 3.7803 km2, and 2.4852 km2, respectively. (2) The ecological risk value is correlated positively with spatial distribution, and the spatial aggregation forms are primarily low-low and high-high. (3) The ecological risk values in Engebei have a significant spatial correlation, and the spatial distribution shows a clustering effect, which is consistent with the spatial distribution. The study has certain reference value for the development and comprehensive regulation of ecological construction in Engebei, even in other ecologically fragile areas.