Ecological security assessment and pattern construction in arid and semi-arid areas: A case study of the Hexi Region, NW China

•Established an ecological security evaluation framework based onLULC data.•The ecological security index increased from 2000 to 2010, and decreased afer 2010.•Using the results of ecological security assessment to extract ecological sources in Hexi Region.•The protection of ecosystems in areas with intensive human activities should be strengthened. Ecological security assessments are used to reflect the regional ecological security situation because they can provide a basis for the construction of regional ecological security patterns (ESPs). Using the land use/land cover (LULC) data, the ecological security status of the Hexi Region was analyzed. On this basis, the ecological source was extracted, the ecological resistance surface was established, and the ecological corridor and node were identified, and constructed the ESP of the Hexi Region. The results show that: 1) During 2000–2015, approximately 70% of the study area’s ecological security index values were