Socio-Ecological Driving Mechanism of Ecological Resilience in Alpine Ecologically Fragile Regions: A Case Study of Tibet

Against the backdrop of intensifying global climate change and increasing tensions in human-land relationships, the sustainable development of alpine ecologically fragile regions faces severe challenges. Investigating the complex and multifaceted impacts of socio-ecological factors on the ecological resilience of alpine ecologically fragile regions is of great significance for regional sustainable development. This study takes Tibet Autonomous Region, a typical alpine ecologically fragile area, as the research area. Based on the multi-source data of the study area in 2000,2010 and 2020, including remote sensing images, meteorological data, socio-economic data and environmental monitoring data, this research quantitatively evaluates the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of ecological resilience in the study area. Subsequently, the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to explore the mechanism of social-ecological factors on ecological resilience. The principal findings of this study are threefold. ① From 2000 to 2020, the spatial distribution of ecological resilience in the study area exhibited a pattern of “high in the southeast and low in the northwest” in the whole. It is worth noting that although the vegetation coverage in the study area increased steadily ( an increase of 9.03% ) during the study period, the total water conservation capacity decreased by 22.67%, and the average habitat quality index decreased by 29.85% in the past ten years.This reveals that there is a problem of synchronization between quantity and quality of ecosystem restoration in the study area, which results in a profound structural contradiction of “greening but functional degradation”. ②The PLS-SEM analysis elucidates that climatic and topographic foundations are confirmed as the dominant positive factors influencing ecological resilience in the study area, while the extreme topographic and climatic conditions, as well as socio-economic pressures and atmospheric pollution forms a key negative transmission path by inducing soil degradation and aggravating natural disaster risk. Among them, natural disaster risk prevention and control and soil health maintenance are pinpointed as the most critical links for enhancing regional ecological resilience. ③Significant spatial heterogeneity exists in the driving mechanism of ecological resilience. The uninhabited area is predominantly governed by natural processes, the agro-pastoral ecotone is significantly affected by human-land interaction, and the urban area is affected by land use intensity and environmental pollution stress. Based on this, the study proposes a differentiated management strategy. The uninhabited area should focus on climate adaptation and disaster prevention and control, the agro-pastoral ecotone should focus on grass-livestock balance and soil remediation, and the urban area should prioritize spatial structure optimization and pollutant control. By adopting a coupled social-ecological system perspective, this research systematically explains the response law of ecological resilience in alpine ecologically fragile areas, and provides empirical support for understanding its internal mechanism. The proposed “zoning and classification” precision governance model not only offers a scientific basis for the implementation of ecological security barrier protection and construction projects in Tibet, but also provides a practical path and decision support for ecological protection and high-quality development in Tibet and even analogous alpine ecologically fragile regions.