Linking random forest and auxiliary factors for extracting the major economic forests in the mountainous areas of southwestern Yunnan Province, China

•The RF–AFs model was constructed to precisely extract economic forests.•The SCs and VIs effectively improved the extraction accuracy of economic forests.•TEM, EL, PRE, PSRI, EVI, and TSAVI were key factors in extracting economic forests.•It provides factors selection and method reference for the extraction of forests.