Study on the spatiotemporal changes and driving factors of habitat quality in the Yarlung Zangbo River from 2000 to 2020

The Yarlung Zangbo River (YLZB), the world’s highest plateau river, possesses a particularly fragile ecosystem, making it highly vulnerable to global climate change. Understanding changes in YLZB habitat quality and their driving mechanisms is crucial for ecological protection and sustainable development in the region. Based on land use data from 2000 to 2020, we conducted a quantitative study on the spatiotemporal changes and driving mechanisms of habitat quality in the YLZB. This study employed habitat quality model, Land Use Transition Matrix , optimal parameter geographical detector and partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The results show that: 1) Forests, grasslands, and unused land account for 94.14% of the basin area. The areas of unused land, forest land, and water bodies have continuously increased, while the areas of grasslands, permanent glaciers, and snowfields have continuously decreased. The decline was most pronounced from 2005 to 2010. 2) The habit..., Data sources include land use data for five periods (2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020) in the study area, a digital elevation model (DEM), slope, natural environmental factors (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature,  normalized vegetation index (NDVI), and soil types), and socioeconomic data (population density, GDP, and nighttime lights) . Based on land use classification standards, the watershed land use types are divided into seven primary categories (cropland, forestland, grassland, water bodies, built-up land, unused land, and permanent glacier and snow cover) and 24 secondary categories . Slope data were extracted from DEM using the slope tool in ArcGIS 10.8. Combining previous research and practical conditions , a 9000×9000 grid was created using the fishnet tool in ArcGIS 10.8. The zonal statistics tool was used to obtain the mean values of various driving factors, serving as the smallest analysis unit and data carrier. To ensure spatial precision consistency across..., , # Study on the Spatiotemporal Changes and Driving Factors of Habitat Quality in the Yarlung Zangbo River from 2000 to 2020

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj74g](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj74g)

## Description of the data and file structure

This study obtained land use data for 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 from the Resource and Environment Science Data Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (https://www.resdc.cn/). The data were clipped using the boundary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River for habitat quality calculation, with threat sources identified based on relevant literature and sensitivity tables assigned values. Driving factors include natural environmental factors (digital elevation model (DEM), slope, annual precipitation, annual temperature, normalized vegetation index, and soil type) and socioeconomic factors (population density, GDP, and nighttime lights). These were masked, unified to the WGS_1984 coordinate system, and resampled to 30m in ArcGIS. A fishnet ...