Evaluation of the impact of climate change on the ecological network of the Yangtze River Economic Belt

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) not only plays a crucial role in promoting economic globalization, but also holds an irreplaceable position in global ecological protection. Ecological issues caused by climate change have become a bottleneck that hinders YREB’s sustainable development. However, the impact of climate change on YREB’s ecological network is not yet clear. Hence, based on the index evaluation method, a model is designed to quantify the impact of climate change on the YREB’s ecological network. The evaluations are as follows. The YREB is identified with 28 ecological sources covering an area of 850,641.48 km2, with a “less in the sides and more in the middle” spatial layout. The proportion of areas with “Low”, “Considerable”, and “High” levels of ecological resistance (ER) for future scenarios will increase, with higher value in upstream and downstream areas, and lower in midstream. The value for evaluating the impact of climate change on ER is between 0.0895 and 0.9184 in future scenarios. Climate change is degrading the ecological corridors(EC) connectivity and security in YREB, except for a few years, with the evaluation index EC ranging from −1.4499 to 0.9279. And, climate change affects α more than β and γ. This model has been validated for validity and feasibility at both theoretical and practical levels.