Ecological vulnerability Assessment in the Heilongjiang-Amur River Transboundary Basin
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5564/mjgg.v62i46.4064Keywords:
Ecological vulnerability assessment, Heilongjiang-Amur River Basin, CRITIC-AHP framework, Transboundary basinAbstract
The Heilongjiang–Amur River Basin (HARB) is an important transboundary basin in Northeast Asia, characterized by complex and diverse ecosystems and facing significant environmental pressures. Assessing ecological vulnerability in this region is of great importance. This study adopts the Exposure–Sensitivity–Adaptive capacity (ESA) framework and applies the CRITIC–AHP weighting method to evaluate the spatial pattern of ecological vulnerability (EVI) in HARB in 2020 and identify its main influencing factors. The results show that the overall ecological vulnerability of the basin is relatively high, the average EVI in 2020 was 31.0. Areas with high vulnerability are mainly concentrated in the Gobi region of Mongolia, the Northeast China Plain, and parts of southern Russia. Soil retention, net primary productivity (NPP), and habitat quality index (HQI) are the key factors contributing to the spatial variation of EVI, which explained 63%, 42% and 40% of the variation, respectively. The Mongolian part of the basin shows relatively higher ecological vulnerability, which reflects the significant influence of arid climate and fragile land resources. These findings provide a scientific basis for ecological vulnerability management and transboundary cooperation in the HARB, and offer useful reference for developing sustainable ecological strategies in other transboundary river basins.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Xinyuan Wang, Hao Cheng, Li Fujia, Dashtseren Avirmed, Kirill Ganzey
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