Ecological connectivity analysis of typical coastal areas in China: The case of Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Abstract

As a rapidly urbanizing coastal area, Zhangzhou experiences tension in the human-environment relationship, leading to issues such as fragmented landscape patterns and hindered connectivity of ecological elements. These problems pose serious threats to biodiversity conservation and the construction of ecological networks. Analyzing ecological network connectivity is essential in spatial planning and promoting ecological protection, restoration, and sustainable development. This study considered Zhangzhou as an example and used the method “Source Identification - Resistance Surface Construction - Extraction Corridor - Node Identification” to analyze the ecological network connectivity from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) overall ecological sources in the study area are significantly fragmented but the fragmentation trend has slowed down. (2) With rapid urbanization and increasingly intensive human activities, the high-value areas of the resistance surface in the east and southeast of the study area continue to expand. (3) The spatial distribution of corridors has shifted from the pattern of “densely distributed in the central and southern regions, sparse in the northern region” in 2000 towards a more spatially balanced trend. (4) The decrease in the number of ecological pinch points and increase in the number of ecological barriers indicate a threat to ecological balance. The results revealed changes in corridors and identified key areas for ecological restoration, thereby providing a scientific reference for ecological protection and restoration work in Zhangzhou and other rapidly urbanizing coastal areas.