Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China
Maintaining or improving habitat quality is essential for conserving biodiversity and ensuring the long-term survival of species. Nevertheless, increasing global warming and intensifying human activities have led to varying degrees of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, especially in semi-ari...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| author | Hao Yu Zhimin Liang Rong Zhang Mingming Jia Shicheng Li Xiaoyan Li Huiying Li |
| author_facet | Hao Yu Zhimin Liang Rong Zhang Mingming Jia Shicheng Li Xiaoyan Li Huiying Li |
| author_sort | Hao Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Maintaining or improving habitat quality is essential for conserving biodiversity and ensuring the long-term survival of species. Nevertheless, increasing global warming and intensifying human activities have led to varying degrees of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, especially in semi-arid regions. Focusing on China’s West Songnen Plain—the nation’s largest saline-alkali region confronting acute environmental challenges—this study introduced the soil salinization level and mean NDVI of farmland during the growing season as dynamic threat factors and systematically explored the spatiotemporal dynamic characteristics of habitat quality in the semiarid area of the West Songnen Plain from 1990 to 2020. The results showed the following: (1) Habitat quality exhibited a continuous decline during the study period, following a “degradation–recovery” trajectory with deterioration peaking in 2010; the low- and poor-quality habitats predominantly distributed in the central areas characterized by severe salinization, interspersed with patches of good-quality habitat. (2) The degradation of habitat quality was mainly concentrated in natural land cover types, whereas improvements were observed locally in farmland and bare land. However, slight opposite trends were detected between the mean habitat quality values and the habitat change areas in forests, waters, and bare land. As the elevation continuously increased, the habitat quality grade shifted towards better conditions. (3) A spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed a significant clustering of habitat quality, but the extent of hot spots and cold spots gradually shrank as grassland degradation and saline land management progressed. By incorporating dynamic threat factors and integrating multi-source data, this study improved the habitat quality assessment framework for semi-arid regions and provided scientific support for spatially stratified conservation strategies. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3f1147b04434a06a4f8b747a6f8c12e2025-08-20T03:48:02ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-05-011710166310.3390/rs17101663Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, ChinaHao Yu0Zhimin Liang1Rong Zhang2Mingming Jia3Shicheng Li4Xiaoyan Li5Huiying Li6Modern Industry College, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, ChinaModern Industry College, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, ChinaModern Industry College, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, ChinaSchool of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266520, ChinaMaintaining or improving habitat quality is essential for conserving biodiversity and ensuring the long-term survival of species. Nevertheless, increasing global warming and intensifying human activities have led to varying degrees of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, especially in semi-arid regions. Focusing on China’s West Songnen Plain—the nation’s largest saline-alkali region confronting acute environmental challenges—this study introduced the soil salinization level and mean NDVI of farmland during the growing season as dynamic threat factors and systematically explored the spatiotemporal dynamic characteristics of habitat quality in the semiarid area of the West Songnen Plain from 1990 to 2020. The results showed the following: (1) Habitat quality exhibited a continuous decline during the study period, following a “degradation–recovery” trajectory with deterioration peaking in 2010; the low- and poor-quality habitats predominantly distributed in the central areas characterized by severe salinization, interspersed with patches of good-quality habitat. (2) The degradation of habitat quality was mainly concentrated in natural land cover types, whereas improvements were observed locally in farmland and bare land. However, slight opposite trends were detected between the mean habitat quality values and the habitat change areas in forests, waters, and bare land. As the elevation continuously increased, the habitat quality grade shifted towards better conditions. (3) A spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed a significant clustering of habitat quality, but the extent of hot spots and cold spots gradually shrank as grassland degradation and saline land management progressed. By incorporating dynamic threat factors and integrating multi-source data, this study improved the habitat quality assessment framework for semi-arid regions and provided scientific support for spatially stratified conservation strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1663West Songnen PlainInVEST modelhabitat qualityspatiotemporal changesemi-arid regions |
| spellingShingle | Hao Yu Zhimin Liang Rong Zhang Mingming Jia Shicheng Li Xiaoyan Li Huiying Li Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China Remote Sensing West Songnen Plain InVEST model habitat quality spatiotemporal change semi-arid regions |
| title | Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality in Semi-Arid Regions: A Case Study of the West Songnen Plain, China |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal dynamics of habitat quality in semi arid regions a case study of the west songnen plain china |
| topic | West Songnen Plain InVEST model habitat quality spatiotemporal change semi-arid regions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1663 |
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