Search Results (515)

(1) Background: Identifying ecological security patterns and restoring the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in Shandong is vital for future ecological conservation and maintaining ecosystem sustainability. (2) Methods: The study area was selected, and the InVEST3.9.0 model was used to assess natural-environment ecosystem services. An optimal evaluation approach based on the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model was developed to define the ecological security pattern. (3) Results: There were 20 ecological source areas in the lower and east portions of the study area, mainly grasslands, forests, and water areas. Additionally, 40 ecological corridors, 48 ecological pinch points, and 75 ecological barrier points were generated, densely distributed in the east. The area was divided into five core functional zones. (4) Conclusions: Establishing ecological function zones and considering landscape changes from high-frequency human activities in spatial planning can lead to a more reasonable division of ecological restoration areas. Ecological function zone construction can enhance understanding of implementing ecological security patterns in national land planning and support national ecological security goals. Full article

Exploring the spatiotemporal evolution pattern of agricultural functions, analyzing their tradeoff and synergies, carrying out multifunctional zoning, and determining the combination and expansion direction of agricultural functions in combination with regional development strategies are conducive to guiding the adjustment of agricultural structure and promoting the sustainable development of regional agriculture. In this context, based on the county scale and statistical data, this paper uses the agricultural function evaluation index system to measure and analyze the agricultural function index of Sichuan Province and its mutual relations. Spatial overlay analysis is used to analyze the agricultural function index for agricultural leading function zoning. Cluster analysis is used to evaluate the agricultural function results to explore the agricultural multifunctional zoning scheme of Sichuan Province. The results show that the spatial and temporal distribution of agricultural product supply, agricultural leisure, ecological services, employment and social security services are heterogeneous, and the agricultural multifunction index of Sichuan Province shows a spatial distribution pattern of high in the east and low in the west. The synergistic effect between the supply function of agricultural products and the function of employment and life security is the strongest. From 2010 to 2020, the relationships between the ecological service function and the supply function of agricultural products, the agricultural leisure function, employment, and the social security function change from irrelevant or there being a tradeoff effect to there being a significant synergistic effect. The leading areas of the ecological service function are mainly distributed in western and northern Sichuan. The leading areas of the agricultural product supply function are mainly distributed in eastern and southern Sichuan. Agricultural multifunctional zoning in Sichuan Province is divided into the agricultural leisure function, the agricultural product supply cooperative functional area, the weak cooperative functional area, the strong cooperative functional area, and the agricultural leisure priority functional area. The spatiotemporal heterogeneity of agricultural functions and the changes in tradeoffs and synergies in Sichuan Province have a significant impact on the development of agricultural functions. The research results can provide s theoretical reference for agricultural multifunctional zoning in the study area and provide guidance and suggestions for the sustainable development of agricultural economy and society in Sichuan Province. Full article

Since entering the process of industrialization, human activities have interfered with the original ecological environment, and the expansion of cities has also impacted the ecological service function. In order to maintain the balance of the ecosystem and the stability of ecological security, it is very important to establish an ecological security network (ESN), particularly in transitional geospace. To address this, we proposed a framework for mountainous transitional geospace by morphological spatial pattern analysis and circuit theory. Taihang Mountain area is applied as a case, establishing a suitable evaluation system for the mountainous transitional geospace. Using circuit theory to quantitively construct the ESN, it was found that there are 34 ecological sources in the Taihang Mountain area. The corridors primarily run north–south in the east and west but display a mesh-like layout in the central and southern parts. These elements integrated an ESN of “four zones and three lines”. Key ecological pinch point areas are primarily in plains or plateaus, and ecological barrier restoration areas are mainly in basins and mountainous areas. The study provides recommendations for protection and restoration work in the Taihang Mountain area, which hold both theoretical and practical significance for ecological planning. Full article

High-altitude mountainous regions are highly vulnerable to climate and environmental shifts, with the current global climate change exerting a profound influence on the ecological landscape of the Tianshan Mountains in China. This study assesses the ecological security quality in the Tianshan Mountains of China from 2001 to 2020 by employing various remote sensing techniques such as the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) for evaluation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for fractional vegetation cover (FVC) analysis, the CASA model for estimating vegetation primary productivity (NPP), and a carbon source/sink model for calculating the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of vegetation. The research also delves into the evolutionary trends and impact mechanisms on the ecological environment using land use and meteorological data. The findings reveal that the RSEI’s principal component (PC1) exhibits significant explanatory power, showing a notable increase of 5.90% from 2001 to 2020. Despite relatively stable changes in the RSEI over the past two decades covering 61.37% of the study area, there is a prevalent anti-persistence pattern at 72.39%. Notably, NDVI, FVC, and NPP display upward trends in vegetation characteristics. While most areas in the Tianshan Mountains continue to emit carbon, there is a marked increase in NEP, signifying an enhanced carbon absorption capacity. The partial correlation coefficients between the RSEI and temperature, as well as precipitation, demonstrate statistically significant relationships (p < 0.05), encompassing 6.36% and 1.55% of the study area, respectively. Temperature displays a predominantly negative correlation in 98.71% of the significantly correlated zones, while precipitation exhibits a prevalent positive correlation. An in-depth analysis of how climate change affects the quality of the ecological environment provides crucial insights for strategic interventions to enhance regional environmental protection and promote ecological sustainability. Full article

Forestry enterprises play a pivotal role in economic development, ecological civilization construction, and sustainable development. This study employs GIS-based spatial analysis to examine the distribution patterns and interrelationships of forestry enterprises, investigating their key determinants and spatial heterogeneity. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers aiming to optimize industrial structures and enhance national ecological security. This research develops a comprehensive evaluation index system to assess the factors influencing forestry industry development in China. Nine factors are considered: human resources, economic development, industrial structure, technological support, trade development, financial environment, natural conditions, urbanization, and transportation. Using panel data from 367 cities in 2020, the Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) method quantifies the influence of these factors and their spatial variations. The results show the following. (1) Forestry enterprises in China exhibit persistent spatial clustering. The eastern regions have a notably higher concentration than the western regions, and new enterprises are increasingly concentrated in a few hotspot cities in the east. (2) The spatial center of forestry enterprises has steadily moved southeast. Initially, the distribution was balanced in the eastern regions, but it has become highly concentrated in the southeastern coastal areas. (3) Regarding spatial autocorrelation, regions within the northwest cold spot cluster have been disappearing entirely. The northeast and southwest hotspot clusters have shrunk significantly, while the southeast hotspot cluster has remained large. (4) Permanent population size and green land area are the most strongly positively correlated with forestry enterprise distribution. Patent authorizations, orchard area, and forest land area also show positive effects. In contrast, road density and total import/export volume are negatively correlated with the number of forestry enterprises. This aligns with the structure of China’s forestry industry, which relies more on natural resources and market demand than on economic development level or financial environment. (5) The factors influencing forestry enterprise distribution show significant spatial variation, driven by regional factors such as resources, economy, and population. These factors ultimately determine the spatiotemporal distribution of forestry enterprises. This study provides data-driven insights to optimize the distribution of forestry industries and formulate more effective ecological protection policies. Full article

Quantifying the dynamic changes and relationships between ecosystem services (ESs) and land use change is critical for sustainable ecosystem management and land use optimization. However, comprehensive discussions on the spatiotemporal variations of ESs and their relationships with land use intensity (LUI) are lacking, particularly in the context of significant climate warming. Systematic analyses of the forestry management unit scale are limited, leading to considerable uncertainty in sustainable ecosystem management, especially in alpine ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere, where ESs have significantly degraded. The study focuses on the Daxing’anling forest area, Inner Mongolia (DFIAM), a representative sensitive alpine ecosystem and crucial ecological security barrier in Northern China. Utilizing the InVEST model, we analyzed the spatiotemporal variations in land use and four essential ESs, water yield (WY), carbon storage (CS), soil conservation (SC), and habitat quality (HQ), from 2013 to 2018. We also assessed the dynamic relationships between LUI and these ESs using a four-quadrant model. Our findings indicate the following: (1) Land use types in DFIAM remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2018, with forest being the dominant type (approximately 93%). During this period, areas of forest, cropland, impervious surfaces, and bare land increased, while areas of grassland, water, and wetland decreased. Although the overall change of LUI was gentle, a spatial pattern of “high in the southeast and low in the northwest” emerged, with low LUI areas showing slight expansion. (2) WY, SC, and HQ decreased, while CS increased from 2013 to 2018. The spatial distributions of these ESs showed higher values in the center and lower values at the edges, with forests demonstrating a strong capacity to provide multiple ESs. (3) The relationship between LUI and the four ESs from 2013 to 2018 was predominantly negative, primarily situated in Quadrant II, indicating that increased LUI inhibited ES supply capacity. Within Quadrant II, the distribution range of LUI, WY, and HQ decreased, while CS remained stable and SC increased. Furthermore, Quadrant III (positive correlation) accounted for a large proportion (19.23%~42.31%), highlighting the important role of non-anthropogenic factors in ES changes. Overall, most ESs in the DFAIM showed a decline while LUI remained relatively stable, with predominantly negative correlations between LUI and ESs. The increased LUI driven by human activities, and other non-human factors, may have contributed significantly to ES degradation. To improve ESs, we proposed implementing differentiated land use planning and management, systematic ecological protection and restoration strategies, a multi-level ecological early-warning monitoring and evaluation network, ecological corridors and buffer zones, and a collaborative management system with multiple participation. These results provide scientific guidance for the sustainable management of alpine ecosystems, enhancement of ESs, and formulation of land resource protection policies. Full article

In the context of rapid urbanization and extreme climate change globally, balancing ecological resources and economic development for land spatial planning has become one of the pressing issues that need to be addressed. This study proposes a composite model to construct a spatial ecological security pattern. It identifies restoration areas with different risk levels based on the spatial distribution of land use, offering suggestions for optimizing spatial configuration. Focusing on the central Shaanxi region of the Yellow River Basin in China, ecological sources are identified by integrating ecological factors, and ecological corridors and restoration zones are extracted using the minimum cumulative resistance difference and circuit theory. The results indicate significant improvements in ecological quality and desertification in the study area from 2000 to 2020. Currently, the core area covers 51,649.71 km², accounting for 62.18% of all landscape types; the total ecological source area covers 31,304.88 km², representing 18.84% of the entire area. These ecological source areas are mainly distributed in the northern Loess Plateau and the southern mountainous regions. The area has 26 important ecological corridors, identifying 16 ecological pinch points and 12 ecological barriers, presenting an ecological security pattern characterized by a grid-like structure in the northern region and a dispersed pattern in the southern region. Additionally, 273.72 km² of ecological restoration priority areas and 197.98 square kilometers of ecological restoration encouragement areas are proposed as key planning regions for ecological environmental protection. This study provides references for optimizing spatial configuration to promote the sustainable development of urban and rural living environments in the Yellow River Basin. Full article

The Yangtze River Basin serves as a vital ecological barrier in China, with its water conservation function playing a critical role in maintaining regional ecological balance and water resource security. This study takes the Minjiang River Basin (MRB) as a case study, employing fractal theory in combination with the InVEST model and the SWAT-BiLSTM model to conduct an in-depth analysis of the spatiotemporal patterns of regional water conservation. The research aims to uncover the relationship between the spatiotemporal dynamics of watershed water conservation capacity and its ecosystem service functions, providing a scientific basis for watershed ecological protection and management. Firstly, fractal theory is introduced to quantify the complexity and spatial heterogeneity of natural factors such as terrain, vegetation, and precipitation in the Minjiang River Basin. Using the InVEST model, the study evaluates the water conservation service functions of the research area, identifying key water conservation zones and their spatiotemporal variations. Additionally, the SWAT-BiLSTM model is employed to simulate the hydrological processes of the basin, particularly the impact of nonlinear meteorological variables on hydrological responses, aiming to enhance the accuracy and reliability of model predictions. At the annual scale, it achieved NSE and R² values of 0.85 during calibration and 0.90 during validation. At the seasonal scale, these values increased to 0.91 and 0.93, and at the monthly scale, reached 0.94 and 0.93. The model showed low errors (RMSE, RSR, RB). The findings indicate significant spatial differences in the water conservation capacity of the Minjiang River Basin, with the upper and middle mountainous regions serving as the primary water conservation areas, whereas the downstream plains exhibit relatively lower capacity. Precipitation, terrain slope, and vegetation cover are identified as the main natural factors affecting water conservation functions, with changes in vegetation cover having a notable regulatory effect on water conservation capacity. Fractal dimension analysis reveals a distinct spatial complexity in the ecosystem structure of the study area, which partially explains the geographical distribution characteristics of water conservation functions. Furthermore, simulation results based on the SWAT-BiLSTM model show an increasingly significant impact of climate change and human activities on the water conservation functions of the Minjiang River Basin. The frequent occurrence of extreme climate events, in particular, disrupts the hydrological processes of the basin, posing greater challenges for water resource management. Model validation demonstrates that the SWAT model integrated with BiLSTM achieves high accuracy in capturing complex hydrological processes, thereby better supporting decision-makers in formulating scientific water resource management strategies. Full article

This study focuses on the Xiaoxing’an Mountains, examining the evolution of ecological security patterns and suggesting optimization strategies by integrating carbon storage and landscape connectivity, using multi-source data from 2000, 2010, and 2020. The study provides a comprehensive assessment of the region’s ecological security by estimating carbon stocks using the InVEST model, analyzing landscape connectivity through MSPA, and spatially extracting ecological corridors and nodes using circuit theory. The key findings are as follows: (1) High-value areas for carbon storage and landscape connectivity are primarily concentrated in the southeastern and northwestern forested mountain regions; (2) Ecological source areas are predominantly concentrated in the southeast and dispersed in the north, with the total area peaking in 2010 at 47,054.10 km²; (3) Northern ecological corridors are dense, radiating in a spider-web pattern, with pinch points concentrated at the corridor termini; southeastern corridors are sparse, mainly short, with fewer pinch points; (4) The area of ecological barriers increased by 280% over the past 20 years. Four major barrier zones were identified, all located at the junction of forest and farmland in the northwest, primarily composed of wetlands, drylands, and rural residential areas; (5) Based on the evolutionary characteristics of the Ecological Security Pattern over the past 20 years, an “axis, two belts, four zones, and multiple cores” ecological security planning framework was proposed, along with corresponding strategies. This study provides theoretical support and practical guidance for enhancing regional ecological network stability, optimizing landscape connectivity, and strengthening carbon sink functions. Full article

Balancing socio-economic development with ecological protection amid rapid urbanization is a pressing global issue. The ecological security pattern (ESP) follows the reciprocal relationship between pattern and function to conserve ecological processes, providing an effective approach to address this problem. However, most studies have adopted a single subjective assignment method for resistance factors, lacking the exploration of the impact of various assignment methods on the ESP. Taking the Fuzhou metropolitan area as a case, this study proposes different resistance assignment methods: favorable, moderate, and unfavorable. By applying circuit theory, it constructs the ESP and identifies critical areas for protection and restoration. The findings show that (1) as the cumulative resistance threshold increases, the area of ecological corridors expands from 171.36 km² to 1439.24 km², with the moderate method identified as the optimal resistance assignment approach; (2) significant differences exist in the identification of key corridors under different resistance assignment methods. The moderate method identifies 26 key corridors, spanning a total length of 41.29 km; (3) the key ecological protection areas cover 2469.79 km², including 13 patches and 26 pinch points, while the key ecological restoration areas cover 14.55 km², including 7 barriers and 21 breaking points. By pinpointing key ecological areas and proposing targeted strategies, this study can facilitate practical ecological protection efforts, thereby achieving the sustainable development goal of minimizing economic costs while maximizing ecological benefits. Full article

As the indispensable basic resource of agricultural production, cultivated land has always carried the important mission of maintaining food stability, promoting rural economic development, and maintaining ecological balance. However, in application, there is often a conflict between the multiple functions of cultivated land and the limited ability of cultivated land to perform multiple functions. Therefore, this paper uses hot spot analysis, the IUEMS model, the InVEST model, Pearson correlation coefficients and self-organizing feature maps (SOFMs) to explore the multifunctional trade-offs and synergistic relationships of cultivated land in the Hexi Corridor at the grid scale and the zoning optimization scheme. The results revealed that from 2000 to 2020, the cultivated land production functions and social security functions in the Hexi Corridor maintained a high level and continued to rise, and the hot spots exhibited a stable pattern of “central and southeast concentration”. The ecological function performance is relatively weak, and the hot spots are concentrated mainly in the southeast, whereas the landscape view recreational functions as a whole show a trend of gradual recovery after weakening. In terms of mutual relationships, there are significant synergies between cultivated land production and social security functions, whereas the trade-offs and synergies between other functions are complex and changeable. Production and social security show a coordinated spatial distribution pattern. Production, social security, and ecological functions are dominated by spatial trade-offs. The production and landscape recreation functions, social security and ecological functions, social security and landscape recreation functions, and ecological and landscape recreation functions are mainly synergistic in space. Through self-organizing feature map analysis, the cultivated land in the Hexi Corridor is divided into four functional areas: agricultural production-dominant areas, agricultural social security areas, ecological agriculture areas, and balanced development areas, and management objectives are proposed. This study can provide useful lessons and references for land use planning and management in other similar areas. Full article

The Huaihe River Eco-Economic Belt (HREEB) is a pivotal region in China’s national strategic planning. Land use in this region is crucial to improving ecological quality and ensuring food security. Using the PLUS model and Geodetector, we evaluated the contribution and interaction of 10 drivers to production–living–ecological land (PLEL) and performed multi-scenario simulations of PLEL. The results show that the following: (1) Ecological land is mainly affected by elevation (contribution value > 0.16 for forest, grassland, and water). Production land is influenced by topographic relief, elevation, and GDP per capita (contribution value > 0.13). Living land is driven by topographic relief, GDP per capita, elevation, and population density (contribution value > 0.13). Interaction analysis shows nonlinear or two-factor enhancement among factors. (2) Ecological land in the HREEB has a relatively stable spatial pattern. Simulation results indicate that ecological land will not exceed a 12% change in the next 50 years. (3) By 2075, simulations under various scenarios predict significant changes in land area. Compared with the natural development scenario, production land increased by 14.8% in the farmland protection scenario, and living land increased by 14.3% in the urban development scenario. This research is vital for managing and developing PLEL resources within the HREEB. Full article

The ability to achieve coordinated progress towards ecological protection has become an important ecological network, is the basic guarantee, and an important way to achieve regional and urban ecological security. This study takes Kuqa City as the research area, using the Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) method and the landscape connectivity index to extract the ecological source area. After establishing the comprehensive resistance surface, the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model is used to identify the ecological corridor, and the source area and the corridor are combined to construct the ecological network of the study area. The analysis results show that the area of cropland continued to rise in 2020, and the area of woodland and grassland decreased; the overall analysis of the ecological security pattern yielded good results, and the main influencing factors were terrain and altitude. We extracted eight ecological source areas, and the distribution structure of the source sites formed two large source site communities in the north and south, with a clear break in the middle. After establishing a comprehensive resistance surface, 28 general corridors were identified using the MCR model. Corridors are more scarce in the western part of the study area, so seven important corridors have been identified according to the gravity model, and four new sources have been added to expand the ecological network coverage area, which can solve the fault phenomenon between the southwest and middle east. Constructing a reasonable ecological network can significantly improve the landscape connectivity of the entire study area, which is conducive to promoting the construction of ecological civilization in Kuqa City, and is of great significance to sustainable development and the protection of the ecological environment. Full article

Plateau ecological vulnerability areas are experiencing substantial ecological challenges that threaten the integrity of ecological networks (ENs) due to irrational human activities, leading to habitat fragmentation and ecological connectivity degradation. The objectives of this study focus on understanding the structure, connectivity, and responses of ENs to construction land, crucial for maintaining ecological sustainability. Employing the circuit theory, the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model, and complex network analysis methods, the ENs are constructed and the evolution characteristics are analyzed. The Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model is used to explore the correlation between construction land and ecological pinch points. The number of ecological corridors increased by 42, and the total length was reduced by 432.85 km, for a reduction of 15.25%. The proportion of highest-level ecological pinch points declined from 0.95% to 0.67%, indicating enhanced overall connectivity. Complex network analysis showed declining betweenness centrality in eight ecological sources over two periods, indicating reduced connectivity in partial northern and central regions. Correlation analysis showed the interaction of regional economic development policies and regional ecological restoration measures on the ecological networks. In areas with positive correlations, six ecological conservation areas were designated to maintain existing connectivity. In regions with negative correlations, seven ecological restoration areas were planned to improve ecological connectivity through scientific ecological restoration methods. This research provides a framework for optimizing regional ecological networks and enhancing ecological connectivity in plateau ecological vulnerability areas. It offers significant insights into the optimization of the ecological security pattern and practical guidance for policymakers and planners seeking to maintain ecological sustainability and resilience. Full article

Rapid urbanization and land use changes have brought enormous pressure onto the ecological environment. Constructing ecological security patterns (ESPs) contributes to scientifically utilizing ecosystem functions, maintaining biodiversity, and protecting the ecological environment. Thus, this study proposed a regional ESP construction framework, which integrated circuit theory with an ecological security evaluation system composed of a landscape connectivity analysis, an ecosystem service evaluation, and an ecological sensitivity analysis, to generate the ESP of the national-level Chang-Zhu-Tan Metropolitan Area (CZTMA). The results showed that (1) there were 22 ecological sources mainly consisting of woodlands, grasslands, and water bodies and distributed heterogeneously from the eastern to western CZTMA; (2) 48 ecological corridors connected the large-scale ecological patches such as rivers, lakes, wetlands, and woodlands in the CZTMA, and the average distance of the east side was shorter, while the distance of the west side was longer; and (3) 13 ecological pinch nodes and 28 ecological barrier nodes were identified as important nodes. On this basis, this research constructed a multi-level ESP consisting of “one center and multiple cores, one belt and two screens, multiple corridors and multiple nodes” for the CTZMA, which not only guarantees the stability of ecosystems but also maintains their efficiency in providing ecological services and their resistance to the pressure of human activities. Moreover, a series of specific recommendations for the optimization of regional ESPs were provided, including protection of ecological sources and enhancement of their habitat quality, improvement of ecological corridor connectivity, maintenance of pinch nodes, and restoration of barrier nodes. Coordinated mechanisms at the provincial level were proposed. This study could help with ecological conservation and restoration, and strategic planning making in integrated nature–human systems that cross administrative boundaries. Full article