Change Patterns of Desertification and Its Dominant Influencing Factors in China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor Based on MODIS and Feature Space Model

The desertification of the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC), one of the six major economic corridors in the Belt and Road Initiative, has posed a great challenge to the ecological environment protection and sustainable economic development of the region. In this work, two categories of feature space models based on point–point mode and point–line mode were constructed. The optimal feature space model was used to establish the spatial–temporal change patterns of desertification in the CMREC from 2001 to 2020, and then the dominant driving factors were quantitatively determined. The conclusions demonstrated the following: (1) the monitoring accuracy of the Albedo–MSAVI desertification model based on point–point mode was the highest, at 86.47%, followed by that of the TGSI–MSAVI model based on point–line mode, at 85.71%; (2) from 2001 to 2020, the spatial distribution of desertification in the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor region showed a decreasing trend radiating outwards from the Inner Mongolia Plateau and Gobi Desert; (3) the gravity center of desertification in Chinese parts in the CMREC migrated toward the northeast, while the Mongolia and Russia parts migrated toward the southwest and southeast, respectively; and (4) from 2001 to 2020, precipitation and land use change had the greatest impacts on the evolution patterns of desertification in China and Mongolia, while topography and land use contributed greatly to the change process of desertification in Russia. The research results could provide data support for desertification control in the CMREC.