Landscape ecological security response to urban growth in Southern Zagros biome, Iran

Abstract

Analyzing the relationship between urbanization and landscape ecological security (LES) is necessary for environmental protection during development. The concept of LES refers to the ecological state of the environment, which depends on the sustainability of ecosystem services and ultimately human well-being. Here, the effect of urban growth on the LES in Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province (KBP) was evaluated. Urbanization evaluation indicators were defined from demographic-spatial dimensions and the LES system defined the landscape approach. Decoupling theory and global and local Moran's correlation methods, and classical statistics were used to analyze the interaction between the urban growth index and the LES during 1990–2020. The results showed that the intensity of urban growth in the counties of KBP had an upward trend, in which the sprawl growth decreased by 67% and the average Landscape ecological security index (LESI) of the land surface decreased by 3.3%. In addition, 80 percent of the province's counties have reached or crossed the insecure threshold in terms of the LESI, while only Basht and Lendeh counties have been less destroyed. The evaluation of spatial patterns and analytical indices showed a negative relationship between urban growth and LESI. In terms of the decoupling theory, a strong relationship (ε = 0.03) was observed between them. Overall, monitoring and investigating the dimensions of urban growth and its effects on the LES can lead to sustainable spatial planning without destroying the environment.