Abstract: In order to systematically reveal the spatial distribution patterns and driving mechanisms of geological hazards in the national key ecological function zone of southwestern Hubei, and to provide a scientific basis for grassroots disaster prevention and mitigation and regional ecological security maintenance, this study took Changyang County of Hubei Province, a typical geological hazard-prone area, as a case area and investigated the spatial pattern of geological hazards and the spatial heterogeneity of influencing factors at the village scale. Standard deviational ellipse analysis, kernel density estimation, and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) were comprehensively employed to characterize the spatial differentiation features of the hazards, and the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model and the geographical detector model were used to quantitatively analyze the spatial heterogeneity of the core influencing factors and their interaction mechanisms. The results showed that the geological hazards in Changyang County were mainly distributed in a banded cluster along the Qingjiang River in an east (slightly north) - west (slightly south) orientation, with strong centrality and pronounced directionality. The hazard distribution at the village scale exhibited significant spatial autocorrelation, presenting a block-like pattern of three major hot spots and two major cold spots, with the highest point density of hazards along the Qingjiang River and in densely populated areas. Road network density, relief amplitude, elevation, population density, and vegetation coverage were the main driving factors. The cold and hot spot areas exhibited a coexistence of nonlinear enhancement and bi-factor enhancement, with significant spatial differentiation in interaction intensity. This study could provide decision-making references for the precise prevention and control of geological hazards, the optimization of spatial planning, and the coordination of human-land relationships in the key ecological function zone of southwestern Hubei, and it was recommended that monitoring, early warning, and comprehensive management in hot spot areas be strengthened according to local conditions, and that the intensity of human engineering activities in highly geological hazard-sensitive areas be strictly controlled.

Key words: geological hazards, spatial pattern, influencing factors, spatial heterogeneity, national key ecological function zone, southwestern Hubei