Abstract

Ecological protection and the restoration of full-array ecosystems is an important part of ecological civilization construction, which is a powerful measure to implement the concept of green development and help bridge the gap between the respective inevitable requirements of the current ecological environment and economic development. To solve this problem, a multi-scale index system was constructed to identify ecological sources comprehensively. The minimum-cost path method, the circuit theory, and the cyclic window search method were adopted to quantitatively identify the important ecological sources and corridors in scale nesting and pinch points and barrier points that affect multi-level connectivity. Furthermore, the specific optimization layout strategy of the ecological network structure of the Hefei metropolitan area was proposed. According to the results, if ecological sources and corridors at two scales are overlaid, the coincident area of ecological sources at two scales is 1719.95 km2. As important ecological sources, Chaohu Lake Basin, Niuwangzhai, and Wuding Mountain, which are important areas to maintain the ecological network, need to be protected. Ten overlapping ecological corridors, which are mainly distributed in Changfeng County, are easily damaged long term. As a result, ecological nodes should be set up as temporary habitats for species transfer. In addition, based on the circuit theory and the cyclic window search method, calculating areas of pinch points at two scales yields 1637.75 km2 and 434.22 km2, respectively, and for areas of barrier points yields 2182.75 km2 and 126.97 km2, respectively. The ecological pinch points at two overlapping scales among them are important areas for future protection. Due to the small and fragmented spatial distribution in the urban area, pinch points with an average size of 0.58 km2 are easy to be restored and will greatly improve the connectivity of the ecological network after restoration. Furthermore, through the quantitative identification of ecological network elements of two scales, the paper puts forward an optimization strategy for an ecological network in the Hefei metropolitan area from three aspects of “point-line-polygon.” The research results can reference decision-making concerning the delineation of urban growth boundary, regional ecological security pattern, land space renovation, and ecosystem restoration.

Highlights

  • The rapid development of urbanization caused an increasingly intense contradiction between economic development and ecological conservation

  • Ecological protection and the restoration of full-array ecosystems is an important part of ecological civilization construction, which is a powerful measure to implement the concept of green development and could solve the current ecological environment and economic development between the inevitable requirements

  • The Spatial Distribution Pattern of Ecosystem Services and Ecological Sensitivity EvaluaAccording to the calculation and evaluation of related models, it was found that the tions services ecological environment sensitivity of the the Hefei metropolitan area

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Summary

Introduction

The rapid development of urbanization caused an increasingly intense contradiction between economic development and ecological conservation. The ecological security pattern, the bridge between ecosystem services and societal development, is regarded as a crucial strategic tool to guarantee regional ecological security and increase well-being [1,2]. The planning of ecological security pattern (ESP) has become a key point for Chinese governments at all levels to ensure the sustainable development of the regional economy and coordinate the relationship between ecosystems and economic society. It is regarded as a fundamental and crucial method to achieve regional ecological security and one of the strategic modes for national land development and protection [2,3]. Ecological protection and the restoration of full-array ecosystems is an important part of ecological civilization construction, which is a powerful measure to implement the concept of green development and could solve the current ecological environment and economic development between the inevitable requirements

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