Driving Factors of Habitat Quality and Degradation Revealed by GeoDetector-Based Analysis: A Coastal District of Çeşme, İzmir (Türkiye)

Habitats are fundamental for maintaining biodiversity, supporting ecological processes, and delivering essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water regulation, and soil conservation. Habitat degradation has become an increasingly critical environmental concern, particularly in coastal regions where anthropogenic pressures intersect with natural dynamics under the accelerating impacts of climate change. (1) This study explores the spatially stratified heterogeneity and underlying driving factors of habitat quality and degradation in Çeşme, a rapidly developing coastal district in western Türkiye. (2) The InVEST Habitat Quality model was applied to assess both habitat quality and habitat degradation across the study area for the years 2017 and 2024. The GeoDetector method was applied to analyze the spatial heterogeneity in habitat quality and degradation, enabling the assessment of dominant environmental and anthropogenic drivers, including urban development pressure, tourism activities, energy-related infrastructure, road density, and vegetation conditions. (3) Night-time light intensity showed the highest explanatory power among the tested variables, although its absolute explanatory power for habitat degradation remained limited, while protection status represented a contrasting human-related factor associated with higher habitat quality. (4) These findings underscore the importance of carefully directing human interventions to balance development pressures with effective conservation strategies.