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Sustainability
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Advancing Sustainable Ecological Environmental Monitoring: Strategies and Innovations
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Advancing Sustainable Ecological Environmental Monitoring: Strategies and Innovations

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 809

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Xiuhong Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Interests: remote sensing; ecological monitoring; machine learning; IoT platforms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global climate change and intensified human activities are exerting unprecedented pressure on ecosystems, posing severe challenges to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context, the integration and application of innovative methods such as remote sensing, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics provide critical technical support for accurately monitoring ecological dynamics, quantifying ecological risks, tracking pollution distribution, and assessing the impacts of climate change. These technologies are increasingly becoming vital forces in promoting sustainable ecological development.

This Special Issue aims to systematically explore the key roles and application potential of cutting-edge technologies—including remote sensing, AI, and big data analytics—in global ecological environment monitoring and assessment. The scope encompasses technology-enabled environmental state monitoring, ecological evaluation, risk assessment, and conservation planning, among other areas. The Issue will focus on how to deeply integrate advanced technologies into the entire "monitoring–assessment–decision-making" chain of ecological management. This will strengthen the scientific foundation for environmental governance, ecological restoration, and sustainable development policy-making.

By introducing innovative technologies, representative case studies, and forward-looking strategies, this Special Issue seeks to advance the field of ecological and environmental monitoring toward greater efficiency, intelligence, and sustainability, thereby providing a valuable supplement to existing research. We welcome submissions of original research articles and reviews for this Issue.

Prof. Dr. Xiuhong Li
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • sustainable development
  • remotely sensed big data
  • environmental monitoring
  • dynamic evolution
  • risk monitoring and identification
  • resilience and sustainability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 23359 KB  
Article
Ecological Vulnerability Assessment in Hubei Province, China: Pressure–State–Response (PSR) Modeling and Driving Factor Analysis from 2000 to 2023
by Yaqin Sun, Jinzhong Yang, Hao Wang, Fan Bu and Ruiliang Wang
Sustainability 2026, 18(3), 1323; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18031323 - 28 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 506
Abstract
Ecosystem vulnerability assessment is paramount for local environmental stability and lasting economic progress. This study selects Hubei Province as the research area, applying multi-source spatiotemporal datasets spanning the period 2000–2023. A pressure–state–response (PSR) framework, incorporating 14 distinct indicators, was developed. The selection criteria [...] Read more.
Ecosystem vulnerability assessment is paramount for local environmental stability and lasting economic progress. This study selects Hubei Province as the research area, applying multi-source spatiotemporal datasets spanning the period 2000–2023. A pressure–state–response (PSR) framework, incorporating 14 distinct indicators, was developed. The selection criteria for these indicators adhered to principles of scientific rigor, all-encompassing scope, statistical representativeness, and practical applicability. The chosen indicators effectively encompass natural, anthropogenic, and socio-economic drivers, aligning with the specific ecological attributes and key vulnerability factors pertinent to Hubei Province. The analytic network process (ANP) method and entropy weighting (EW) method were integrated to ascertain comprehensive weights, thereby computing the ecological vulnerability index (EVI). In the meantime, we analyzed temporal and spatial EVI shifts. Spatial autocorrelation analysis, the geodetic detector, the Theil–Sen median, the Mann–Kendall trend test, and the Grey–Markov model were employed to elucidate spatial distribution, driving factors, and future trends. Results indicate that Hubei Province exhibited mild ecological vulnerability from 2000 to 2023, but with a notable deteriorating trend: extreme vulnerability areas expanded from 0.34% to 0.94%, while moderate and severe vulnerability zones also increased. Eastern regions demonstrate elevated vulnerability, but they were lower in the west, correlating with human activity intensity. The global Moran’s I index ranged from 0.8579 to 0.8725, signifying a significant positive spatial correlation of ecological vulnerability, with the highly vulnerable areas concentrated in regions with intense human activities, while the less vulnerable areas are located in ecologically intact areas. Habitat quality index and carbon sinks emerged as key drivers, possibly stemming from the forest–wetland composite ecosystem’s high dependence on water conservation, biodiversity maintenance, and carbon storage functions. Future projections based on Grey–Markov models indicate that ecological fragility in Hubei Province will exhibit an upward trend, with ecological conservation pressures continuing to intensify. This research offers a preliminary reference basis of grounds for ecological zoning, as well as sustainable regional development in Hubei Province, while also providing a theoretical and practical framework for constructing an ecological security pattern within the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) and facilitating ecological governance in analogous river basins globally, thereby contributing to regional sustainable development goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Sustainable Ecological Environmental Monitoring: Strategies and Innovations)
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