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Comprehensive eco-geo-environmental assessment of the Sichuan–Yunnan ecological barrier zone using a random forest model

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Abstract

To address the contradiction among “high-intensity development, high ecological value, and high geological risk” in the Sichuan–Yunnan Ecological Barrier Zone, this study constructs an integrated assessment framework that incorporates geological, ecological, and human activity dimensions, in response to limitations of existing evaluation systems such as subjective weighting, inadequate characterization of ecological functions, and weak spatial integration. This framework consolidates nearly 25 years of data into 13 indicators covering geological disaster susceptibility, ecosystem service functions, and human engineering activity intensity. By coupling a Random Forest-weighted information value model with the InVEST model, it achieves dynamic weighting of multi-source data and analysis of nonlinear relationships. Assessment results show that the regional eco-geological environment exhibits a spatial pattern of “three belts and two cores,” with overall quality at an upper-medium level. Based on this, the study proposes a coordinated governance pathway of “geological risk mitigation, ecological value enhancement, and industrial structure optimization,” providing systematic decision-making support for regional ecological security maintenance and sustainable spatial utilization.

Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

The custom code developed for this study is available via the following DOI link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18932368. The code will be maintained in the Zenodo repository and also provided as supplementary material for permanent preservation.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to all the students in the lab for their help.

Funding

This work was supported by the Yunnan Province Education Department’s Science and Technology Innovation Team Program (Grant No. CY22624109), and the Graduate Tutor Team Program of Yunnan Province Education Department (Grant No. CY22622205) provided funding for this project.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Xiaolin Yang and Pengwei Wang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China

    Xiaolin Yang, Shucheng Tan, Churan Feng, Rongxue Fan & Hao Tang

  2. Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Critical Mineral Resource, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China

    Xiaolin Yang, Pengwei Wang, Shucheng Tan, Churan Feng, Rongxue Fan & Hao Tang

  3. Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China

    Pengwei Wang

Authors

  1. Xiaolin Yang
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  2. Pengwei Wang
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  3. Shucheng Tan
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  4. Churan Feng
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  5. Rongxue Fan
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  6. Hao Tang
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Contributions

X.Y., conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, software, visualization, writing—original draft; P.W., data curation, resources, supervision, validation, writing—review and editing, grammar checking; S.T., funding acquisition, investigation, project administration, supervision, writing—review and editing; C.F., data curation, software, writing—review and editing; R.F, data curation, methodology, writing—review and editing; H.T, data curation, visualization, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to
Shucheng Tan.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Yang, X., Wang, P., Tan, S. et al. Comprehensive eco-geo-environmental assessment of the Sichuan–Yunnan ecological barrier zone using a random forest model.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45455-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45455-8

Keywords

  • Eco-geo-environmental comprehensive assessment
  • Random forest
  • InVEST model
  • Sichuan–Yunnan ecological barrier zone
  • Geological disaster susceptibility

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