Study on the Spatial Pattern and Zoning of Ecological Vulnerability in Island and Territorial Waters Based on VSD Model—A Case Study of Juehua Island

Research on the ecological vulnerability of islands can identify ecologically fragile areas, thereby providing support for the refined management of the ecological and environmental protection of islands and the rational development and utilization of island spaces. Using the ecosystem of Juehua Island (China) in Liaodong Bay and its surrounding marine regions as the study target, this work develops an ecological vulnerability index system for island sea areas based on the VSD model. The analytic hierarchy approach is used to calculate the weights of the indices, and the geographical pattern, zoning, and driving reasons for the ecological vulnerability of Juehua Island and its marine regions in 2019 are investigated. The findings indicate that the regional distribution of ecological vulnerability on Juehua Island varies greatly. In general, the vulnerability of the island land is spatially distributed as “high around and low in the middle”, with the surrounding sea region being non-vulnerable. The regional distribution of ecological vulnerability has considerable spatial agglomeration properties. The ecological vulnerability in the research region is primarily driven by the net primary production of the island land and the environmental quality of the marine water. Furthermore, specific ideas and strategies for the overall administration of Juehua Island have been proposed.