Assessing an ecological security network for a rapid urbanization region in Eastern China

Abstract

Rapid urbanization leads to fragmentation of landscape and destruction of the ecological security network. A sound ecological security network promotes connectivity between ecological sources and mitigates the degradation of an ecological system. However, when identifying the ecological sources of the ecological network, studies available in the current literature did not simultaneously consider the structures, functions, and values of ecological patches. Our study aimed to fill this research gap, and our objective was to improve the framework for assessing the ecological security network. We demonstrated the application of the proposed framework through a case-study of the urban agglomeration around Hangzhou Bay (UAHB), a rapid urbanization region in Eastern China. We improved the identification method of ecological sources by integrating the evaluations of ecosystem services value and ecological sensitivity, while we screened ecological sources by using the rank-size rule and the natural breaks method. Based on the screened ecological sources, the ecological corridors were reconstructed and optimized for the UAHB region. The results from this study showed that ecological network has actually improved in the UAHB in the last 20 years. However, the structure and function of the ecological security network were strongly influenced by human activities and urban sprawl. The ecological security network has deteriorated locally in eastern coastal areas of UAHB during the past 20 years with strong spatial variability in ecological security patterns. To maintain an environment with well-protected ecological quality, we proposed a set of five measures to improve the sustainable development of the ecological system.

Impact of Cropland Reclamation on Ecological Security in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

“…In addition, the CVOR framework is advantageous in its flexibility, as it can include indicators specific to a study's aims and the local characteristics of the study area, enabling it to be used widely to evaluate ecological security in different regions [11]. For example, [38,39] have applied ecosystem service value (ESV) as an approach to reflect contributions to the ecological security evaluation, rather than our qualification of specific ecosystem services. However, if ecological security needs to focus on the demographic aspect, this framework performs more poorly because socio-economic data tend to be available at the municipal scale rather than at the grid scale.…”

Linking Ecosystem Service and MSPA to Construct Landscape Ecological Network of the Huaiyang Section of the Grand Canal

“…The research scale has covered different countries [30,31], provinces [32,33], cities [34,35], urban central district [36], counties [37,38], and other administrative division scales. The study area has involved desert oasis [39], plateau [40], mountainous area [41], estuary delta [42], watershed [43,44], urban agglomerations [45,46], and other different types of regional spaces. In terms of research topics, many scholars have focused on the structure of ecological networks [25,28], identification of ecological networks [47,48], ecological network evaluation [45,49], and ecological network optimization measures [36,50] conducted in a series of studies.…”

“…The study area has involved desert oasis [39], plateau [40], mountainous area [41], estuary delta [42], watershed [43,44], urban agglomerations [45,46], and other different types of regional spaces. In terms of research topics, many scholars have focused on the structure of ecological networks [25,28], identification of ecological networks [47,48], ecological network evaluation [45,49], and ecological network optimization measures [36,50] conducted in a series of studies. Among the functional components of the ecological network, scholars pay more attention to the identification of the ecological sources and the construction of the ecological corridors.…”

Does Green Innovation Promote New Urbanization development? From the Perspective of Coupling Coordination between Green Innovation and New Urbanization

“…Judging from the existing literature, most researches are focused on unilateral analysis through all kinds of models, for example, the impact of new urbanization development on economic growth [4], the mutual impact of the green innovation system and traditional urbanization [5,6], and the impact of environmental regulations on green innovation development and new urbanization level [7]. In addition, studies based on innovation and traditional urbanization have also drawn some useful conclusions.…”