Abstract: As a type of ecosystem that plays an indispensable role in conserving regional environments and boosting regional economies, scenic spots have recently been confronted with several ecological problems, such as soil erosion and vegetation degradation. There are critical needs to monitor and evaluate the ecological vulnerability at a scenic spot scale. We established a remote-sensing-based ecological vulnerability index (RSEVI) based on multi-source remote sensing imagery. This index was applied to the 12 national 5A scenic spots in Anhui Province, China, to investigate the spatiotemporal changes of ecological vulnerability for the years 2010, 2015, and 2020. The driving factors of these changes were analyzed using a Geodetector model. The overall distribution of ecological vulnerability differed greatly among the national 5A scenic spots in Anhui Province, with the level of vulnerability classified as moderate for most areas. Most of the scenic spots consisting of landscape geography and cultural relics demonstrated an overall alleviation in ecological vulnerability, while that of the water scenery and entertainment and shopping exhibited a worsening trend over these years. Differences among different scenic spots varied in the dominant and interactive factors, among which human disturbance index had a significant interaction with other evaluation factors. Our results could offer methodological reference for the evaluation and preservation of the ecological environment in scenic spots, and provide a basis for regional ecological construction and management planning.

Key words: ecological vulnerability, remote sensing based index, geographic detector, scenic spot