Delineation of Ecological Management Zones from an Ecological Resilience Perspective: A Case Study of the Yellow River Basin in Shanxi Province

Understanding regional ecological resilience is important for mitigating ecological risks, safeguarding ecological security, and optimizing territorial spatial planning. From the perspective of ecological resilience, this study constructed an ecological management zoning framework based on three dimensions: “resistance–adaptability–recovery”. This framework was used to comprehensively interpret the ecological characteristics of the Yellow River Basin in Shanxi Province and to further develop ecological management zoning. The main results are as follows: (1) The five ecosystem services remained generally stable during the study period. CS and WR increased slightly, whereas HQ, CY, and SC declined. High-value areas were mainly concentrated in mountainous regions such as the Lüliang, Taiyue, and Zhongtiao Mountains, while low-value areas were mainly distributed in the central basins. The OWA-based multi-scenario simulation showed that Scenario 3 achieved a better balance between representing the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services and maintaining a balanced weight allocation among services. (2) Landscape indices showed no obvious fluctuations during the study period. SHDI increased slightly, COHESION remained consistently high, and PD changed only marginally. (3) Ecological recovery exhibited significant spatial heterogeneity. Low-recovery areas were mainly concentrated in the Taiyuan and Yuncheng Basins, while relatively high-recovery areas were mainly distributed in the northern Lüliang Mountains and along parts of the Qinhe River. The mean ecological recovery decreased from 0.254 in 2010 to 0.242 in 2015 and further to 0.237 in 2020. (4) Based on the integrated analysis of ecological resistance, ecological adaptability, and ecological recovery, the study area was divided into three ecological management zones: Ecological Restoration Zones, Development Trade-off Zones, and Comprehensive Regulation Zones. Differentiated ecological governance strategies were then proposed for each zone. Overall, this study developed a multidimensional ecological management zoning framework from the perspective of ecological resilience, which can improve the targeting and adaptability of regional ecological governance and provide scientific support for ecological protection, spatial optimization, and coordinated sustainable governance in the Yellow River Basin in Shanxi Province.