Climate suitability zoning of white pear planting in Liaoning province based on GIS and fuzzy membership function

To address the lag in climate suitability zoning research for white pear cultivation in Liaoning Province under climate change and the limitations of traditional zoning indicators in accurately depicting regional constraints, this study innovatively introduced two key ecological indicators—annual dryness and frost-free days—based on data from 45 meteorological stations and white pear growth characteristics between 1993 and 2022. A comprehensive evaluation index system aligned with regional climate features was established. Leveraging the ArcGIS platform, the study integrated multiple regression spatial interpolation with fuzzy set linear membership function methods to achieve high-resolution (100m×100m) climate suitability simulation and refined zoning expression. Results indicate that the climate suitability indicators for white pear cultivation include annual average temperature, annual precipitation, January average temperature, relative humidity from June to August, average minimum temperature from June to August, frost-free days, and annual dryness. The most suitable climate zones for white pear cultivation are concentrated along the Bohai Sea coast and parts of eastern Liaoning (e.g., most of Dalian and northern Yingkou), while the suitable zones are mainly located in western Liaoning and the Liaodong Bay area. The sub-suitable and unsuitable zones exhibit significant latitudinal differentiation. Field validation at 24 sampling points showed that the zoning results achieved an 83.3% consistency rate with actual pear tree growth conditions, representing a 25-percentage-point improvement over conventional zoning methods.