Ecologically Vulnerable Zones (EVZs) in Focus: Remote Sensing and AI for Sustainable Futures

Dear Colleagues,

Background

Ecologically Vulnerable Zones (EVZs) span diverse landscapes—arid and semi-arid lands, coastal regions, wetlands, forests, and polar ecosystems—with each playing a pivotal role in global ecological resilience. These fragile environments sustain rich biodiversity, regulate climate systems, and support millions of livelihoods. Yet, they face mounting threats from climate change, land degradation, deforestation, and unsustainable resource exploitation, jeopardizing both ecological integrity and human well-being.

In this context, remote sensing technologies, augmented by advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics, provide an unprecedented opportunity to monitor, assess, and manage these sensitive ecosystems. From tracking desertification in drylands to detecting deforestation in rainforests and monitoring ice loss in polar regions, these tools offer precise environmental insights across multiple scales—local, regional, and global.

This Special Issue will place EVZs at the forefront of research, leveraging cutting-edge remote sensing and AI methodologies to illuminate ecological dynamics, predict environmental risks, and chart pathways toward sustainable futures. By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue among scientists, technologists, and policymakers, we will advance knowledge and drive transformative solutions that safeguard these vulnerable ecosystems in a rapidly changing world.

We invite original research, reviews, and case studies that leverage remote sensing data (e.g., satellite, UAV, hyperspectral, LiDAR, SAR) and AI-driven methods (e.g., machine learning, deep learning, data fusion) to advance the monitoring, assessment, and management of Ecologically Vulnerable Zones (EVZs). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
Scope and Topics：

1. Monitoring and Change Detection:

• Vegetation dynamics, soil moisture, and land degradation in EVZs;
• Remote sensing-based assessment of deforestation, desertification, and ecosystem shifts.

2. AI-driven time-series analysis for early warning systems:

• AI and Machine Learning for ecosystem modeling;
• Predicting ecological changes under climate variability;
• Multi-source data fusion for environmental forecasting;
• AI-enhanced approaches for fire risk assessment and post-disturbance recovery,

3. Biodiversity, Habitat Fragmentation, and Conservation:

• Remote sensing of biodiversity and wildlife corridors in fragile ecosystems;
• AI-assisted detection of habitat loss and ecological connectivity;
• Impact assessment of human activities on protected areas.

4. Climate Change, Water Resources, and Disaster Resilience:

• Drought prediction and water resource management using satellite indicators;
• Remote sensing for permafrost monitoring and polar ice melt detection;
• Extreme weather event analysis and climate resilience planning.

Land Use, Sustainable Development, and Policy Applications:

5. Land-use/land-cover change analysis and its implications for ecosystem services

• AI-supported decision-making tools for land management and conservation policies;
• Remote sensing applications for Indigenous and local community resilience in EVZs;
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) alignment in vulnerable landscapes.

6. Emerging Technologies and Future Directions:

• Novel remote sensing sensors and AI frameworks for EVZ applications;
• Edge computing, cloud-based geospatial analytics, and real-time monitoring;
• Advances in explainable AI (XAI) for ecological decision-making.

Dr. Alim Samat
Prof. Dr. Jianli Ding
Prof. Dr. Yuemin Yue
Dr. Junli Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• remote sensing
• ecologically vulnerable zones
• AI/ML applications
• climate change
• land degradation
• biodiversity monitoring
• disaster resilience
• sustainable development
• multi-source data fusion
• environmental forecasting