Coupling of human activity intensity and ecosystem health in Shaanxi: a state-process dual-dimensional evaluation

Intense human activities pose continuous threats to regional ecological security. However, current assessments of human-ecosystem interactions predominantly build upon static spatial correlations, which inherently fail to capture complex, nonlinear evolutionary trajectories. To fill this research gap, this study constructs an innovative dual-dimensional diagnostic framework named “State-Process”, integrating static and dynamic analytical paradigms. By coupling the Human Footprint Index with the Vigor-Organization-Resilience-Services (VORS) framework, we adopt the four-quadrant method and decoupling model to synthesize spatial mismatch and temporal response elasticity throughout the period 2002–2022. Taking Shaanxi Province as an ideal empirical testbed to validate this methodology, we found that both the ecosystem health index (EHI) and human activity intensity (HAI) rose over the past 20 years and generally exhibited an apparent synchronous upward trend. However, the application of our dual-dimensional approach indicates a potential risk of “pseudo-stable” ecological states, suggesting that seemingly positive short-term indicators might obscure underlying structural vulnerabilities associated with intense human disturbances. Furthermore, distinct regional differences were observed, and the grid scale showed greater sensitivity than the county scale in reflecting these mesoscale nonlinear fluctuations. Specifically, urban and suburban areas exhibited degradation in ecosystem health due to rapid urbanization, while rural areas maintained relatively higher ecological resilience. The heterogeneous changes across different geographical units collectively shape the overall spatial differentiation pattern of EHI, with an expanding trend in regional disparities. This dual-dimensional diagnostic framework establishes an integrated analytical pathway from spatial matching to process responses, more comprehensively revealing the decoupling pathways between human activities and ecological health. By identifying distinctive response characteristics across multiple geographical units, our multi-scale analysis proposes zoned management strategies. Ultimately, this study aims to characterize patterns of ecological security under anthropogenic disturbances, while offering an original theoretical perspective and scientific foundation for targeted regional ecological restoration worldwide.