[Construction of ecological network in Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi, China based on MSPA and MCR model.]

Abstract

Rapid urbanization destroys the ecological network connectivity among habitat patches. The research on the construction of regional ecological network at the patch level is obviously insufficient. The morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) were used to identify ecological sources and to extract potential ecological corridors in Qinling Mountains, respectively. The ecological network was effectively constructed. We analyzed the structural characteristics and landscape compositions of the network. Based on the gravity model, the importance of patches in the ecological network was graded and the structural characteristics and landscape composition of the network were analyzed. The results showed that there were 10 ecological sources, 45 potential ecological corridors and 38 stepping stones in the ecological network of Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province, with a total area of 29686.15 km2. There were good connectivity in potential ecological corridors and ecological network nodes as indicated by network closure (0.11), line point rate (1.18), network connectivity (0.42) and cost ratio (0.99). The connectivity between ecological source was low, but the cost of network reconstruction was high. The important ecological corridors were mainly composed of forest, grassland, and cultivated land. Fore-sts accounted for 89.2% of the total corridor area (571.00 km2), indicating the good landscape structure in Qinling Mountains. The protection of ecological source areas must be strengthened, and priority should be given to the establishment and protection of important ecological corridors and ecological nodes. Our results would provide the scientific reference and basis for the ecological environment protection and high-quality development in Qinling Mountains.