Explore the vast range of titles available.

The unprecedented regional urbanization has brought great pressure on the ecological environment. Building an ecological security pattern and guide regional land and space development is an important technique to ensure regional ecological security and stability to achieve sustainable development. In this study, the Pingtan Island of China and the Durban city of South Africa were chosen as case study area for a comparative study of different scales. The importance of ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity were evaluated, respectively. The core area of landscape which is vital for ecological function maintenance was extracted by morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and landscape connectivity analysis. Furthermore, the ecological sources were determined by combining the results of ecological protection redline delimitation and core area landscape extraction. The potential ecological corridors were identified based on the minimum cumulative resistance model, and the ecological security pattern of study areas was constructed. The results showed that the ecological protection redline areas of Pingtan and Durban were 42.78 km2 and 389.07 km2, respectively, which were mainly distributed in mountainous areas with good habitat quality. Pingtan ecological security pattern is composed of 15 ecological sources, 16 ecological corridors, 10 stepping stone patches and 15 ecological obstacle points. The total length of corridors is 112.23 km, which is radially distributed in the form of “one ring, three belts”. The ecological security pattern of Durban is composed of 15 ecological sources, 17 ecological corridors, 11 stepping stone patches and 18 ecological obstacle points. The total length of corridors is 274.25 km, which is radially distributed in the form of “two rings and three belts”. The research results can provide an important reference for the land space construction planning and ecological restoration projects in Pingtan and Durban.

With the development of urbanization, a large number of village settlements have disappeared. As important carriers of ethnic and cultural heritage, village settlements are important for the continuation of folk culture and farming spirit. Building a regional ecological security pattern helps to protect the integrity of village settlements and promote the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. In this work, the importance of ecosystem services was first obtained by using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model (In-VEST) and the revised universal soil loss equation model (RUSLE) to evaluate the regional ecosystem services in the southeastern region of Chongqing (SRC). Then, the ecological importance evaluation results were combined with the sensory evaluation results to derive ecological conservation importance areas and identify ecological source points in their high-value areas. Finally, the ecological corridors were obtained by the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR). The regional ecological security pattern was constructed, i.e., the triangular protection area strategy of “one screen, one belt, and three cores”. The results show the following: the total area of ecological source sites larger than 20 km2 in SRC is 436.02 km2, accounting for 2.28% of the area of SRC. The largest ecological patch is 69.93 km2, accounting for 16.04% of the total area of ecological source sites. Thirteen ecological source sites were identified as follows: four in Youyang County, three in Shizhu County, three in Wulong County, and one in Pengshui County. There are 78 ecological corridors with a total length of 4832.82 km, including 32 important ecological corridors with a length of about 1544.53 km and 46 potential ecological corridors with a length of about 3288.29 km. Based on the minimum cumulative model constructed by eight resistance factors, the spatial variation of the ecological resistance surface was analyzed, showing a trend of being high in the west and central part and low in the surrounding area. There are one high-value area of the resistance surface of Wulong County Nature Reserve and one high-value area of ecological sensitivity that overlap to the extreme, and which should be given sufficient protection attention. The core protected areas consist of three mountains including the Qiyao Mountain Range, the Wuling Mountain Range, and the Wulong County Nature Reserve. The ecological security pattern in SRC based on the mode of “source–ecological corridor–ecological node” can identify important ecological function areas, providing scientific guidance for sustainable development and ecological security protection in the ethnic village settlements in China.

Under the influence of human activities, landscape fragmentation in the Wei River Basin (WRB) has become increasingly severe. Upstream development has intensified soil erosion, and industrial and agricultural pollution in the middle reaches has degraded water quality. Rapid urbanization has further caused habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss. Collectively, these challenges threaten human well-being and hinder sustainable development, making the construction and optimization of an ecological security pattern (ESP) urgently necessary. However, existing studies often fail to systematically integrate future landscape ecological risk (LER) assessment with ESP optimization. This study evaluated regional LER using the “ecological patches–ecological resistance surface (ERS)–ecological corridor” framework, combined with land-use predictions under three development scenarios, and optimized the ESP by adjusting the ERS and extracting ecological corridors. The results indicate that the LER in the WRB follows an “inverted N” distribution, with low-risk areas concentrated in forested mountain regions and high-risk areas mainly in cultivated land subject to intensive human activity. Across future scenarios, ESPs showed fewer ecological breakpoints and improved landscape connectivity than the 2020 baseline. Scenario-based differences emerged in the spatial configuration of ERS adjustments, with the ecological protection scenario yielding the lowest LER and most favorable ESP. This study demonstrates the deep integration of multi-scenario simulation with LER assessment, providing a new framework for ESP optimization. The findings have guiding significance for ecological protection and coordinated development in the WRB and offer a novel paradigm for sustainable development in ecologically fragile basins worldwide.

ContextEcological security pattern (ESP) can maintain regional ecological security and thus support sustainable development. ESP should not only protect regional ecological processes, but also meet human demand for ecosystem services.ObjectivesIt is aimed to propose a new method of identifying ecological sources in consideration of ecological background and demand, with a case study across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in view of interregional ecological conservation cooperation.MethodsEcological sources were identified with high supply and high comprehensively ecological supply–demand ratio (CESDR) of ecosystem services. Land use based resistance surface was modified using nighttime light intensity. Ecological corridors and potential ecological corridors were extracted using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model.ResultsEcological sources were mainly distributed in the north, accounting for 13.46% of the total area. Macao and Dongguan had no ecological sources, due to the high level of land urbanization, and the mismatch between high supply and high CESDR patches, respectively. Ecological sources in Hong Kong were connected with that in Shenzhen, showing good background of natural ecosystem connectivity as the foundation for interregional ecological conservation cooperation. Ecological corridors were mainly distributed in the periphery of the study area, connecting most cities except for Macao. The overall ESP showed a spatially circular pattern around the Greater Bay Area.ConclusionsThe new method for ecological source identification could effectively enhance the sustainability of ecosystem conservation in view of integrating supply and demand of ecosystem services. It was necessary for all the three regions to strengthen ecological conservation cooperation.

ContextMost researchers focus on the identification of ecological security pattern. However, there is a lack of research on the ecological security pattern of karst fragile area with significant human-land conflict and important ecological shelter function.ObjectivesThe main objectives of this paper were to add the rocky desertification to the construction of ecological security pattern and provide reference for ecological reconstruction of karst ecological fragile area.MethodsBased on the rocky desertification in karst area, this study added a new index in resistance surface correction, and put rocky desertification in the analysis of ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity. Corridors were identified by the least-cost path and circuit theory. Combined with the expansion probability of construction and cultivated land, this study developed a classification system of ecological source area and corridor.ResultsThe ecological source areas is 24,254 km2 and account for 48.4% of the total area. There are 19 corridors, including 6 least-cost path corridors, 10 optimal current density corridors, and 3 river corridors. A total of 18 ecological barrier points and 8 ecological nodes are distributed on the corridors. The study area consisted of four ecological functional areas: ecological core area, ecological buffer area, ecotone area, and living-productive area, with areas of 32,044 km2, 9542 km2, 6811 km2, and 1398 km2, respectively.ConclusionsThe construction of the ecological security pattern enhances the function of ecological barriers and provides a scientific basis for ecological conservation and restoration in a later stage of the karst area in the Wujiang River basin.

The construction of ecological security pattern is one of the important ways to alleviate the contradiction between economic development and ecological protection, as well as the important contents of ecological civilization construction. How to scientifically construct the ecological security pattern of small-scale counties, and achieve sustainable economic development based on ecological environment protection, it has become an important proposition in regulating the ecological process effectively. Taking Fengxian County of China as an example, this paper selected the importance of ecosystem service functions and ecological sensitivity to evaluate the ecological importance and identify ecological sources. Furthermore, we constructed the ecological resistance surface by various landscape assignments and nighttime lighting modifications. Through a minimum cumulative resistance model, we obtained ecological corridors and finally constructed the ecological security pattern comprehensively combining with ecological resistance surface construction. Accordingly, we further clarified the specific control measures for ecological security barriers and regional functional zoning. This case study shows that the ecological security pattern is composed of ecological sources and corridors, where the former plays an important security role, and the latter ensures the continuity of ecological functions. In terms of the spatial layout, the ecological security barriers built based on ecological security pattern and regional zoning functions are away from the urban core development area. As for the spatial distribution, ecological sources of Fengxian County are mainly located in the central and southwestern areas, which is highly coincident with the main rivers and underground drinking water source area. Moreover, key corridors and main corridors with length of approximately 115.71 km and 26.22 km, respectively, formed ecological corridors of Fengxian County. They are concentrated in the western and southwestern regions of the county which is far away from the built-up areas with strong human disturbance. The results will provide scientific evidence for important ecological land protection and ecological space control at a small scale in underdeveloped and plain counties. In addition, it will enrich the theoretical framework and methodological system of ecological security pattern construction. To some extent, it also makes a reference for improving the regional ecological environment carrying capacities and optimizing the ecological spatial structure in such kinds of underdeveloped small-scale counties.

Landscape ecological security pattern (LESP) can effectively safeguard urban ecological security, which is vital for urban sustainable development. Previous studies have not adequately considered the ability to fulfill people’s demand for ecosystem services when identifying sources of LESP. To address this gap, we sought to develop a more comprehensive approach coupling ecosystem services supply and human ecological demand to construct LESP for Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. We proposed a new evaluation framework integrating ecosystem services importance assessment and landscape connectivity analysis with human ecological demand importance assessment to identify ecological sources. Afterwards, ecological corridors were identified using Minimum Cumulative Resistance model based on sources and resistance surface modified through nighttime light data. Combined with ecological sources and corridors, LESP for Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region can be constructed. The ecological sources are mainly located in western Beijing and southwestern Chengde. The ecological source area totals 36,245.50 km 2 , accounting for 21.26% of the ecological land in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. The ecological corridors cross the whole region, from northeast to southwest, similar to the direction of the Yanshan–Taihang Mountain Chain. All the national nature reserves and 91.4% of the provincial nature reserves are distributed within the LESP. The validity of our methodology is confirmed by the distribution of the nature reserves. This study adds new insights into the methodology of LESP construction, and its results provide information about local ecological characteristics that can provide an important reference for decision-making concerning urban planning and ecological conservation.

With accelerating urbanization, the regional ecological security pattern (ESP) faces unprecedented threats. The situation is particularly serious in the Loess plateau of China (LPC) due to the fragile ecological environment and poor natural conditions. Constructing an ecological network and optimizing the ESP is significant for guiding regional development and maintaining the stability of the ecological process. This study constructed an ecological security network by integrating the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and morphological spatial-pattern-analysis approach in LPC. Additionally, the optimization scheme of the regional ESP has also been proposed. Results show that the ecological source area is about 57,757.8 km2, 9.13% of the total area, and is mainly distributed in the southeast of the study area. The spatial distribution of ecological sources shows specific agglomeration characteristics. The ecological security network constructed contains 24 main ecological corridors, 72 secondary ecological corridors, and 53 ecological nodes. Referring to the identified ecological sources area, corridors, nodes, and other core components, the “two barriers, five corridors, three zones and multipoint” ESP optimization scheme was presented. This research hopes to provide a valuable reference for constructing the ecological security network and optimizing ecological space in ecologically fragile areas of western China.

The rapid development of urbanization has caused many ecological issues and greatly threatened the sustainable development of human society. The construction of ecological security patterns (ESPs) offers an effective way to balance ecological conservation and urbanization. This study aimed to take the highly urbanized city of Shenzhen, China, as a study area to construct an urban ESP and put forward suggestions for the urban development of ecological security. Ecological sources were identified through the Habitat Quality module in the InVEST model, and ecological corridors, strategic ecological nodes, and stepping-stone patches were extracted based on the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. These elements together constituted the ESP. In particular, with the results of the continuous decline in the overall habitat quality, this study identified ten ecological sources with superior habitat quality, mainly distributed in rural woodlands, in urban green land, and in forest park patches. An optimized pattern for Shenzhen City with one axis, three belts, and four zones is proposed, with the study area divided into an ecological preservation zone, a limited development zone, an optimized development zone, and a key development zone. Moreover, forty-five ecological corridors were extracted and graded into three levels, presenting a spatial pattern of one axis and three belts. The appropriate widths of these ecological corridors were suggested to be between 30 and 60 m in Shenzhen City. In addition, we identified twenty-five ecological nodes, sixteen ecological fracture points, and sixteen stepping stones to improve the maintenance and construction of the ecological corridor network. More generally, this study demonstrates a scientific approach to identifying ESPs based on habitat quality, and can serve as a reference for the planning of urban ecological function regionalization.

ContextAs an important type of sustainable landscape patterns, ecological security patterns focus on the spatial assessment of landscape function importance. However, there is a lack of attention to the scale effect, one of core cognitions of landscape ecology, especially the impact of extent changes on sustainable landscape patterns.ObjectivesTaking Weifang City and its surrounding six cities as the study area, this study was aimed to integrate regional and interregional approaches to identify ecological security patterns with a special focus on the effect of spatial extent changes.MethodsWe assessed the ecosystem service importance and integrated the ecological sources identified in view of regional and interregional perspectives. The key or fragile ecological corridors were then identified and the differences of ecological security patterns in different approaches were explored through several landscape metrics.Results11 central ecological sources and 21 surrounding ecological sources were identified. 70% key ecological corridors were the interregional ecological corridors across Weifang City and other cities. Different study extents would cause up to about 24% of the difference in high ecosystem service importance areas of Weifang City, and the corridor connectivity could be improved in the ecological security patterns by integrating the regional and interregional approaches.ConclusionsThis study made up for the shortcomings of identifying sustainable landscape patterns within the single spatial extent, especially the discontinuity of ecological sources between the adjacent areas through regional approach, and the neglected local ecological land conservation through interregional approach.