Linking endangered species protection to construct and optimize ecological security patterns in the National ecological Civilization construction Demonstration Zone: A case study of Yichang, China

Abstract

Constructing an ecological security pattern (ESP) is an effective measure to ensure environmental safety and urban development. With the establishment of national ecological civilization construction demonstration zone in China, higher requirements are put forward for biodiversity conservation. Previous studies have focused on the identification and construction of ESPs, while few studies have optimized ESPs based on endangered species protection. This study took Yichang as the research object, and used geospatial data and endangered species data to construct and optimize ESPs. We identified ecological sources through ecological sensitivity assessment and extracted ecological corridors based on minimum cumulative resistance model. On this basis, this study innovatively introduced endangered species information, optimized an ESP and discussed ecological function zones in order to play a greater role in biodiversity conservation. The results showed that: (1) The ESP of Yichang includes 12 ecological sources with a total area of 2,186.34 km2, 30 ecological corridors with a total length of 1120.44 km and 15 ecological nodes. (2) The optimization of ESP connects important nature reserves and scenic tourist areas, bringing endangered species into the corridor network. The corridors importance evaluation delineated 8 Level I corridors focusing on biological protection and 22 Level II corridors focusing on landscape construction. (3) The ecological function zones of Yichang are divided into ecological conservation zone, ecological control zone and ecological restoration zone, and the spatial control principles of each zone are clearly defined. The results can provide a reference for biodiversity conservation in species-rich cities.