Effect of climate change on the vulnerability of a socio-ecological system in an arid area

• We present a complex index system to analyze vulnerability at a regional scale.
• We evaluate the vulnerability of a socio-ecological system.
• We analyze the vulnerability of socio-ecological system under different climate scenarios.
• The socio-ecological system will undergo a worsening trend as a whole.
• We simplify how to solve the problem of a socio-ecological system in the future.

The vulnerability of arid areas threatens ecosystems and human existence. With climate change and increasing human activities, addressing this vulnerability has become an important concern. To support this objective, we present a complex index system to analyze vulnerability at a regional scale with a 1 km × 1 km resolution. Based on the evaluation framework, which includes natural resources, the natural environment and the social economy, the results indicate that an ecosystem in a mountainous area is more vulnerable than it is in a plain. Land desertification will worsen from 2014 to 2099 under the RCP4.5 scenarios and improve slightly under the RCP8.5 and RCP2.6 scenarios, while the suitable land for agriculture increased slightly under the three scenarios. In addition, a regional sensitivity analysis of vulnerability to climate change shows that the improving region and the worsening region will occupy 1.30% and 74.51%, respectively. In view of this, the socio-ecological system will undergo a worsening trend as a whole. Finally, we simplified how to solve the problem of a socio-ecological system in the future. This research method and results would generate new insights with respect to planning for sustainable development and provide a reference for decision-making.