A weight-adaptive updated method for grasshopper habitat mapping at the national scale using remote sensing: Combined with spatial heterogeneity and landscape

Grasshoppers pose a significant threat to agriculture and animal husbandry by causing grassland degradation and desertification, which further increase the frequency and severity of grasshopper outbreaks. Therefore, implementing scientific control measures to maintain grasshopper populations within reasonable ecological thresholds is essential for the sustainable development of grassland ecosystems. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the interactions between grasshoppers, host plants, and environmental factors and monitoring suitable habitats is critical for effective grasshopper prevention and control. However, the relative weights of these environmental factors vary depending on the grasshopper species and regional environment. This study focused on the occurrence of seven dominant grasshopper species in China’s grasslands. Based on the developmental mechanisms of grasshoppers, representative monitoring indicators of habitats were identified using difference testing, correlation analysis, and importance evaluation. Subsequently, the spatiotemporal patterns and hotspots of grasshopper occurrence were analyzed using historical occurrence data from 2019 to 2023. Finally, considering the landscape and spatial heterogeneity, we developed a large-scale habitat monitoring model with weight-adaptive updating. These results indicated that meteorological conditions significantly influenced the occurrence of Oedaleus species. Terrain factors are crucial for determining the distribution of grasshoppers on the Tibetan Plateau, particularly Chorthippus dubius and Locusta migratoria tibetensis . Soil factors have the greatest influence on the distribution of Dasyhippus barbipes in Hulunbuir and Oxya chinensis in Heilongjiang. Furthermore, the occurrence of grasshoppers exhibited a significant spatial autocorrelation with hotspot areas primarily located in eastern Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The habitat monitoring results showed that models incorporating both landscape and spatial heterogeneity outperformed models that considered only one of these factors. The most suitable areas are primarily located in the western and northern regions of the Kerqin Grassland, northern and eastern parts of Xilingol, the western region of Hulunbuir, the northern and western parts of Xinjiang, the southwestern region of Gansu, and northwestern parts of Tibet. These findings provide crucial support for the scientific control of grasshoppers and contribute significantly to the sustainable development of agriculture and animal husbandry.