Ecological geological vulnerability assessment in Northern Shanxi Province (China) based on sensitivity resilience pressure (SRP) model

Abstract Assessing ecological geological vulnerability is crucial for the protection and restoration of regional ecological environments. Considering the strategic ecological importance of Northern Shanxi Province in China, this study undertakes a thorough regional ecological geological vulnerability assessment, aiming to devise specific countermeasures and generate insightful research contributions. This methodology guides ecological environment evaluations and restorations in Northern Shanxi Province and similar Northwestern Chinese regions. Centering on Northern Shanxi Province, the study utilizes the Sensitivity–Resilience–Pressure (SRP) model to meticulously select 11 indicators, encompassing slope, soil erosion intensity, and the Enhanced Vegetation Indicator (EVI). The study establishes the ecological geological vulnerability index (EGVI) and the ecological geological vulnerability comprehensive index (EGVCI) for the first time, employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), to perform the ecological geological vulnerability assessment. The study results show that the EGVCI index for Northern Shanxi Province is approximately 3.96, which represents the ecological geological vulnerability of Northern Shanxi Province residing at a mild level. Regions with the moderate to extreme vulnerability represent about 23.7% of the total area, mainly distributed in the basin-mountain transition zones and the western low-mountain areas, with the primary ecological geological issues of environmental problems caused by open-pit mining activities, soil erosion, and land salinization. The driving factors of the vulnerability are soil erosion intensity, mineral exploitation intensity, water conservation capacity, land use type, slope, and EVI.