Abstract: As a major type of terrestrial ecosystems, forests are an important foundation for high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, China. The assessment of forest ecological quality in the Yellow River Basin will help to elucidate the current situation and development trend, and provide a scientific basis for ecological protection and management. In this study, the forest ecological quality evaluation index system was established based on the DPSIR model with analytic hierarchy process, with which forest ecological quality in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2020 was evaluated and the spatiotemporal changes and correlation were analyzed. The major findings are as follows: (1) forest ecological quality in the Yellow River Basin showed spatial variation, with lower values in the west than in the east and lower values in the north than in the south. (2) In terms of spatial change, forest ecological quality improved overall in the Yellow River Basin, but degraded locally. During the first 15 years of the studied period, the forest ecological quality in the western part of the basin initially improved and then degraded, while the northern regions of the basin exhibited degradation followed by improvement. The forest ecological quality markedly improved during 2015-2020. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin, including some regions of Henan and Shanxi provinces, the forest ecological quality decreased significantly from 2000 to 2005, and gradually improved in the following 15 years. The forest ecological quality in the counties of Shandong Province slowly improved. The forest ecological quality in the southern region of Aba Prefecture of Sichuan Province, the Qinling Mountains, and the counties near Liangshan Mountain in Yan’an, remained stable and at the excellent level. (3) Forest ecological quality in the Yellow River Basin showed marked spatial agglomeration of similar values in the past 20 years, and the spatial agglomeration was weakened overall.

Key words: forest ecological quality, DPSIR model, analytic hierarchy process, spatiotemporal change, spatial autocorrelation