Balancing tourism development and habitat conservation in fragile ecosystems: A case study of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

As a typical representative of global ecologically fragile areas and emerging tourism hotspots, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has important research value in its collaborative path between ecosystem protection and tourism development. We take Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (GTAP) in the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a case, and use InVEST model, kernel density estimation and geodetector methods to reveal the spatial distribution of habitat quality from multiple scales, quantify the intensity of tourism activities, and explore the impact of tourism activities on fragile ecosystems. The results show that: (1) Habitat quality shows significant gradient characteristics, and the overall decreases from southeast to northwest. At the county scale, Diebu County in the southeast (0.82) and Maqu County in the northwest (0.31) form a polar contrast; the differences in township scales are more significant, and Chagang Township in the Zhouqu County (0.89) and Yuzhong Street in the Hezuo city (0.18) respectively represent the optimal and worst habitat units. (2) Tourism development presents a “core-transition- marginal” circle structure, Xiahe, Hezuo and other northern counties and cities to form the core of the development of factor concentration (kernel density value > 3.5), Luqu County for the transition zone, Maqu County is in the development of the marginal area. (3) Analysis of geodetector shows that topographic factors (elevation q = 0.62, slope q = 0.58) dominate the natural background distinction, while tourism factors (q = 0.71) become the primary man-made driving force in the core development area. It is worth noting that the interaction between nature and man-made elements shows a nonlinear enhancement effect (interaction q value > 0.85). (4) The intensity of tourism activities in GTAP is negatively correlated with habitat quality. Tourism activities are an important artificial driving force for the different spatial distribution of habitat quality in the tourism areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This case study reveals that the differences in spatial development caused by tourism fever on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are reshaping the ecosystem pattern. This study proposes a two-dimensional assessment framework of “ecological sensitivity-tourism pressure”, which provides scientific support for the development of differentiated ecotourism management strategies. Recommends that dynamic monitoring of ecological carrying capacity be implemented in the core area of the development, strengthen natural restoration and tourism relocation in the marginal areas, and explore ecological tourism models with community participation in the transition zone. This paper has important practical value for the synergistic promotion of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development of tourism in the plateau region of the Tibetan Plateau.