Study on the Spatial and Temporal Trends of Ecological Environment Quality and Influencing Factors in Xinjiang Oasis

Abstract

Human activities and climate change have profound impacts on the ecological environment of oases in Xinjiang, and it is of great significance to explore the spatial and temporal evolution patterns of ecological environment quality in this region for the sustainable development of Xinjiang. The remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) was extracted from the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform from 2000 to 2020, and the coefficient of variation and Hurst index were used to reveal the spatial and temporal characteristics and stability of the ecological environment quality of the artificial oasis and natural oasis in Xinjiang. The key factors affecting the ecological environment quality are explored through correlation analysis and geoprobes. The results show that the distribution of the ecological environment in Xinjiang oases is high in the north and low in the south, and the overall quality shows a fluctuating downward trend from 0.210 to 0.189. Artificial oases have higher RSEI values, stability, and sustainability than natural oases. The RSEI in the study area was mainly influenced by humidity, followed by greenness and heat, and dryness had the least influence on the RSEI model. Based on the geodetector, the top three highest contributors were found to be precipitation (PRE) (0.83) > relative humidity (RHU) (0.82) > evapotranspiration (ET) (0.57). Climate is the main factor affecting the ecological quality of oases, and the RSEI can be improved by increasing the proportion of artificial oases. The study aims to provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development of oases in arid zones.