Abstract: Research on the eco-environment vulnerability assessment is an important basis for the regional ecological environment restoration and governance. Based on the interaction between man-made and natural factors, 14 indices were selected which can represent the human activities, social economy, vegetation, meteorology, soil and terrain landforms to construct the ecological vulnerability evaluation index system for Jingle County in Shanxi Province. The quantitative assessment and zoning of ecological vulnerability in 2007 and 2017 was calculated with the aid of spatial principal component analysis method, remote sensing data and geographic information technology. The characteristics of the spatio-temporal evolution of ecological vulnerability were also revealed. The results show that:(1) Through the analysis of principal component characteristics, elevation deviate degree, soil erosion degree, per capita area of cultivated farmland, annual average precipitation, and GDP per capita indices were the main factors affecting the ecological vulnerability of the study area. (2) The ecological vulnerability types in Jingle County were mainly composed of four types:slight, light, moderate and severe vulnerability. In 2007, it was mainly characterized by light vulnerability and moderate vulnerability, and in 2017 it was mainly characterized by moderate vulnerability and severe vulnerability. Spatially, the central area was more vulnerable than the surrounding area showing a declining trend from center to both sides of the middle part of the study area. (3) The total area of mutual shift between various types of ecological vulnerability was 662.84 km² from 2007 to 2017. The mutual transfer was mainly happening for light and moderate vulnerability. The light vulnerability mainly shifted to moderate vulnerability and moderate vulnerability mainly shifted to severe vulnerability, with the transfer areas of 472.90 and 187.65 km², respectively. The basic trend of "light to moderate evolution, moderate to severe evolution" in space showed that the ecological situation was severe. (4) According to the characteristics of spatio-temporal evolution, the ecological restoration area, balance area and degradation area were divided. This study can provide scientific support and research ideas for the development of ecological restoration and governance in Jingle County and similar areas.

Key words: ecological vulnerability, spatial principal component analysis, spatio-temporal evolution, zoning, Jingle County