Landscape Risk Assessment of Ancient Sites Using PSR Framework: A Case Study of Yuncheng, China (1990–2024)

Ancient sites are vulnerable cultural heritage assets that are increasingly threatened by climate change, natural erosion, and anthropogenic pressures, posing significant challenges to the stability and integrity of their landscapes. Therefore, the identification and systematic assessment of landscape risks at ancient sites are essential for preventive conservation and sustainable landscape management. To address the limitations of risk assessment and long-term dynamic risk analysis of landscape risks at ancient sites, this study develops a landscape risk assessment indicator system based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework, incorporating three dimensions: natural environment, human activities, and site protection. The entropy weight method was employed to determine indicator weights from the relative dispersion of the standardized indicators. From a landscape-scale perspective, this study systematically analyses the landscape risk of ancient sites in Yuncheng City from 1990 to 2024. The results indicate the following: (1) The landscape risk of ancient sites in Yuncheng exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity. Very high, high, and medium risk levels are primarily distributed in the foothill transition zone, while low and very low risk levels are mainly found in the inland plain areas. This spatial differentiation remained generally stable throughout the study period. (2) The landscape risks associated with ancient sites in Yuncheng City exhibit significant positive spatial autocorrelation and clustering characteristics, and their clustering structure remained relatively stable throughout the study period. (3) The overall risk structure is dominated by low to medium risk levels, with risk-level transitions occurring primarily between adjacent levels in both directions. During the later stage of the study period, the risk structure showed a shift toward medium and high risk levels. The findings provide a scientific basis for risk management and the sustainable development of regional ancient site landscapes.