Construction of Multi-Level Ecological Security Pattern for World Natural Heritage Sites from the Perspective of Coupling and Coordination between Humans and Nature: A Case Study of Shilin Yi Autonomous County, China

Abstract

Building ecological networks (ENs) is an important means to guarantee regional ecological security and achieve sustainable urban development. Development of ENs usually occurs at the county- or urban-area-scale, and there is a lack of linkage between ENs at different levels. Based on the systematic analysis of local environmental characteristics and ecological mechanisms of action in karst areas, the ENs at the county and urban areas levels are combined to build an ecological security pattern (ESP) for Shilin Yi Autonomous County (SYAC), a World Natural Heritage site. The results show that there are 18 Ecological resources in SYAC, with a total area of 326.512 km2 and 29 ecological corridors. In the northern part of the county, an absence of ecological resources and corridors occurred due to the fragmentation of landscape patches and poor ecological service functionality. In this study, three new ecological resources and seven corridors were added in the northern part of the county according to the patch area and landscape connectivity index (PALCI) to balance the layout of ecological resources and corridors in SYAC and improve regional habitat quality. In addition, a total of eight cultural and natural resources were identified in the urban areas of SYAC, and ten cultural and natural landscape corridors were identified. By overlaying the ENs of the county and the urban areas, we identified 3.977 km2 of Material Exchange Conversion Zone, 12.6593 km2 of Priority Restoration Zone, and ten Ecological Stepping Stones. This work helps to establish the interface between the upper and lower levels of the network, and correct for deficiencies of conflicting ecological processes at different levels, and integrate existing green-space system planning research about karst terrains.