Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality and Its Driving Factors Based on the Coupled NDVI-InVEST Model: A Case Study from the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China

Habitat quality (HQ) in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, has declined by 4.8% over two decades (1995–2015), with significant spatial variation and strong correlations to terrain gradients, soil types, land-use changes, precipitation, temperature, and grazing intensity. The study employed a coupled NDVI-InVEST model to improve HQ estimation accuracy, identifying the Ili River Valley and Kaidu River Basin as hotspots for biodiversity conservation. Protected areas play a crucial role in mitigating degradation, while interaction effects of influencing factors further emphasize the need for targeted ecological restoration strategies. These findings provide actionable insights for climate-resilient conservation planning in arid mountain ecosystems.

Lu, Y., Zhao, J., Qi, J., Rong, T., Wang, Z., Yang, Z., & Han, F. (2022). Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality and Its Driving Factors Based on the Coupled NDVI-InVEST Model: A Case Study from the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China. Land, 11(10), 1805. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101805