The northern desert of China plays an important strategic role in land resource security and national economic development. Research on the spatio-temporal changes of ecological sensitivity can provide a scientific reference for desert management and ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid areas in northern China. This paper takes the northern desert of China as the research area, uses the spatial distance model to build a comprehensive ecological sensitivity evaluation index system, and discusses the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of ecological sensitivity in the area from 1981 to 2022. The results show the following: (1) The land use types in the northern desert of China are mainly sandy land, grassland and other lands. The changing areas of grassland and other lands are 74,353.14 km(2) and 50,807.97 km(2), which is an important factor affecting the ecological sensitivity in the northern desert of China. (2) Five aspects, including terrain, climate, hydrology, soil and vegetation, influence and restrict each other, and jointly create the background conditions for the distribution and change of ecological sensitivity in the northern desert of China. Climate and terrain are the most important influencing factors affecting the ecological sensitivity of northern desert of China. Vegetation is the most active and basic factor affecting the ecological sensitivity of northern desert of China. Hydrology and soil have a certain limiting effect on the ecological sensitivity of northern desert of China. (3) The spatial heterogeneity of ecological sensitivity in the northern desert of China is significant, showing the characteristics of high volatility in the west, low volatility in the central region and low volatility in the east. (4) For nearly 42 years, ecological sensitivity of the northern desert of China shows first increasing and then decreasing characteristics. The area of the fluctuation reduction zone accounts for 26.34% of the total research area, of which the area of extreme sensitivity and mild sensitivity varies by 11.84% and 65.28%, respectively. (5) The spatial aggregation characteristics of ecological sensitivity have changed significantly, and the area of high-high and low-low agglomeration areas has also been decreasing, indicating that the environment is obviously improving. In the future, we should pay attention to the efficient use of natural resources in the northern desert of China and strengthen the protection of all kinds of land to achieve the sustainable development of the regional environment.
