How the “One County, One Product” model reshapes regional ecological vulnerability : Evidence from Shunping county

Most existing studies on ecological vulnerability assessment focus on large-scale regions, which limits their ability to accurately capture the ecological specificity and underlying driving mechanisms of small-scale areas. Small-scale ecosystems, such as those at the county level, often exhibit pronounced regional characteristics. Their natural endowments, industrial structures, and socio-cultural factors not only shape local ecological conditions but also play an important role in the sustainable development of surrounding areas. Consequently, there is an urgent need for targeted research on such regions and for the formulation of corresponding management strategies.

Taking Shunping County as a case study, this research extends the traditional SRP (Sensitivity–Resilience–Pressure) framework by introducing a “Characteristic” dimension and develops a CSRP (Characteristic–Sensitivity–Resilience–Pressure) model. By integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the entropy weight method, the ecological vulnerability of Shunping County was quantitatively evaluated. The spatiotemporal evolution patterns and driving factors were further analyzed, and corresponding management strategies were proposed.

The results indicate that ecological vulnerability in Shunping County exhibited a “deterioration followed by improvement” trend in 2010, 2015, and 2020. These changes were influenced not only by natural factors but also closely associated with the implementation of local policies. Spatially, ecological vulnerability was relatively high in the southeastern plain areas due to intensive human activities and pollution from characteristic industries, whereas the northwestern mountainous and hilly areas showed comparatively lower vulnerability. The driving factor analysis reveals that the interactive effects of socioeconomic development, industrial structure, and population distribution exert a stronger influence on ecological vulnerability than any single natural factor. In addition, pollution control related to industrial activities remains a key issue requiring particular attention in the region.

The findings provide both theoretical and practical implications for ecological management and sustainable development in Shunping County. The proposed CSRP model offers a transferable analytical framework for assessing ecological vulnerability in small-scale regions with distinct local development characteristics. It is particularly useful for understanding socio-ecological interactions in urban areas and their surroundings under environmental pressures and adaptive governance processes, and it can serve as a reference for monitoring, assessment, and sustainable strategy design in the context of urban–rural coordinated transformation.