[Diagnosis and Regulation Pathways of Rural Ecosystem Health in the Henan Section of the Yellow River Basin]

This study integrates multi-source datasets from 24 counties （cities， and districts） in the Henan section of the Yellow River Basin to construct a composite rural ecosystem health （REH） assessment framework encompassing "resource-environment-social-economy" dimensions. Leveraging spatial Gini coefficient analysis， dominant factor identification， and Geographic Detector modeling， the spatiotemporal evolution， spatial differentiation patterns， and driving mechanisms of REH were systematically investigated. The results showed that： ① The comprehensive REH index in the study area ranged from 0.284 5 to 0.590 1， indicating moderate overall health levels with progressive improvement trends. Spatially， a distinct west-high， central-stable， east-low gradient emerged， characterized by environmental and social subsystem advancements offset by declining resource and economic subsystem performance. ② REH classification identified four primary categories （healthy， sub-healthy， unhealthy， and pathological） and seven subcategories. Healthy-type areas （20.83%） clustered in the western region， sub-healthy zones （37.50%） dominated central areas， while unhealthy （33.33%） and pathological-type systems concentrated in northern/eastern regions， notably in Wuzhi and Wen County. ③ Ecosystem service value per unit area emerged as the strongest single explanatory factor. Notably， socioeconomic drivers exhibited increasing influence on REH dynamics in recent years， with interactive factor effects demonstrating significantly higher explanatory power than individual factors. In summary， differentiated regulatory measures are proposed based on the above results： The development of healthy counties should be prioritized and "characteristic industries+ecological protection" should be continuously promoted. Sub-healthy counties should focus on improving the quality of arable land and promoting agricultural tourism. Unhealthy counties must highlight "cultural protection+comprehensive improvement，" and pathological counties should aim to implement targeted ecological restoration projects and socioeconomic revitalization programs to address systemic vulnerabilities.