Suitability Assessment of Pastoral Human Settlements in Xilingol League Based on an Optimized MaxEnt Model

Assessing the suitability of human settlements is of great significance for promoting pastoral development, improving herders’ livelihoods, and advancing the construction of beautiful villages in agro-pastoral regions. Focusing on ten pastoral banners within Xilingol League, a representative pastoral region in northern China, this study employed the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform combined with statistical datasets to evaluate settlement suitability using an optimized MaxEnt model. Fourteen key influencing factors were identified, and the spatiotemporal dynamics of settlement suitability in 2017 and 2024 were analyzed, together with predictions of suitable area distribution. The results showed that the model achieved the highest accuracy when using a linear combination of linear, quadratic, hinge, product, and threshold features with a regularization multiplier of 5.0. Suitable areas were mainly located in the southern part of the League, characterized by higher elevation, moderate temperatures, sufficient water resources, and relatively developed economies, while unsuitable areas were concentrated along the northwestern and northeastern borders with Mongolia. Spatially, settlement suitability exhibited a decreasing gradient from the southwest to the northeast. Furthermore, the dominant driving factors have gradually shifted from ecological conditions to socio-economic conditions. Overall, the suitability of pastoral human settlements in Xilingol League has continued to improve, providing new insights for suitability evaluation and spatial restructuring in pastoral regions.