Ecologically Sensitive Research Articles

Theoretical analysis and model design of search for ecological conservation redlines based on the sensitivity assessment of ecosystem services

Most small-scale social economies are characterised by their deficiency, lack, and/or difficulty in matching natural data. Against this backdrop, this paper builds a relatively uniform theoretical framework and designs a more economical and objective method for demarcating ecological conservation redlines (ECR) based on sensitivity assessment of ecosystem services. The results show that the sensitivity assessment model designed in this study can identify sensitive zones effectively, and that the ECR in Hubei Province are well within the sensitive zones so identified. The delimited areas based on the sensitive assessment of ecosystem services have great similarities (95%) with the actual ECR areas in Hubei Province. The most ecologically important functional zones (EIFZ) can also be identified using the regional ecological sensitivity coefficient. When the threshold of EIFZ is set higher, the probability that it falls within the ecologically sensitive areas is greater and the ECR delimited by the method proposed in this study will be more reliable. Theoretically, the delimitation of ECR can be inserted at any evaluation level with a grid resolution higher than that of the land use data, which can be used as a supplement to the ECR delimitation method in ecology or geography.

Assessing the Ecological Sensitivity of Coastal Marine Ecosystems: A Case Study in Xiamen Bay, China

Coastal marine ecosystems are sensitive to anthropogenic stressors and environmental change. The Chinese Government proposed an ecosystem-based marine spatial planning scheme called the “Marine Ecological Red Line” (MERL), aimed at protecting ecologically sensitive areas. The assessment and mapping of ecosystem sensitivity provide important tools for regional MERL and setting conservation priorities. In this study, an integrated framework for the comprehensive sensitivity assessment of coastal marine ecosystems was proposed. This framework had two components: endogenous sensitivity and exogenous sensitivity. A weighted summation method was used along with a GIS-based spatial analysis to calculate regional sensitivity quantitatively. Taking Xiamen Bay in China as a case study, the approach integrated spatial data on the distribution of marine habitats and multiple human activities. An index system (including 26 indicators) was established for the case study. Five areas with different levels of sensitivity were delineated. In the study region of 1281 km2, areas with extremely high and high sensitivity covered 87 km2 and 235 km2, respectively, and were hypothesized to be priority areas of conservation and regulation. Areas with the highest sensitivity were located closer to Jiulongjiang Estuary and along the coastline of Xiang’an. Areas with lower sensitivity were also mapped in Tong’an Bay, representing possible areas that could accommodate future industrial or intensive human use. Comparative analyses between endogenous sensitivity and exogenous sensitivity allowed the presence of development-protection conflict zones to be identified. The results provide an important scientific basis for MERL decisions. In addition, targeted management strategies were proposed for Xiamen Bay. This study presents an operational approach to provide relevant scientific knowledge on the process of ecosystem-based marine spatial planning, facilitating policy-making decisions in sustainable coastal and marine management.

Toward GIS-Based Approach for Identification of Ecological Sensitivity Areas: Multi-Criteria Evaluation Technique for Promotion of Tourism in Soon Valley, Pakistan

Ecologically sensitive areas are sensitive regions which provide natural habitat to native and migratory wildlife. The area under study is Soon Valley which is of significant value since it is rich in natural resources and an important tourist attraction. It has the potential to benefit the communities’ environment, along with providing aesthetic, recreational and economical benefits. Special attention is required for the preservation of these areas to develop the tourism industry in this region. This paper aims to highlight the spatial locations of Soon Valley according to the ecological sensitivity. To achieve this purpose, ecological knowledge is integrated with geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques. An ecological assessment study was conducted based on the ecological indicators and their synthesis to identify ecologically significant and preference areas within the area under study. For this purpose, eight ecological indicators were defined and the spatial extent for each indicator was mapped in GIS. For analysis purpose, weightage factor and buffer area for each class were defined in accordance with the significance of the feature. The final analysis revealed four classes including very high (6%), high (20%), moderate (39%) and low (34%) ecological sensitive areas.

Delimiting Future Urban Sprawl Boundaries Using a GIS-based Model for Ecological Sensitivity Index Assessment and Optimization Techniques. The Case of Mytilene (Lesvos Island, Greece)

Delimiting urban sprawl boundaries have been generally regarded as a regulatory policy measure to control chaotic and sparse urban expansion and for the protection of ecological areas towards sustainable development. The conservation of ecologically sensitive areas plays a key role in environmental protection; so, harmonizing urban sprawling with nature conservation can be viewed as a binary compatibility planning problem. This study aims to employ a geographical allocation model, based on the minimization of the environmental cost in order to apply complex spatial clustering techniques. Firstly, five ecological sensitivity factors affecting the ecological footprint of the study area are modeled through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method in order to evaluate the Ecological Sensitivity Index. Then, several spatial objectives and constraints such as distance from the shoreline, continuity, and compactness are applied and finally, the most optimal areas are extracted for future urban sprawl. Spatial regulations, siting rules considerations and scenarios based on the parameters of the spatial clusters outputs are tested to the commune of Mytilene, located on Lesvos Island, Greece, where strong land use changes have been recorded by the urban sprawl over the last three decades.

海岛型城市生态安全格局研究——以平潭岛为例

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 海岛型城市生态安全格局研究——以平潭岛为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201611212363 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（41401213）；福建省自然科学基金青年基金项目（2014J05051） A study on urban ecosecurity pattern of island city: a case study of Pingtan Island Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:在快速城市化带来的城市生态安全严重威胁着城市可持续发展的这一时代背景下，构建城市生态安全格局是实现区域和城市生态安全的基本保障和重要途径。结合平潭综合实验区总体规划，从城市生态安全角度出发，在对平潭岛生态环境本底条件的调研基础上，选取与平潭岛的城市生态安全关系密切的6个关键生态因子进行深入分析，并通过层次分析法和GIS空间叠置法综合多要素分析了平潭岛的生态敏感性，最终有针对性地提出了面向新一轮大规模城市开发热潮的平潭岛城市生态安全格局。研究成果可为平潭岛的城市开发建设提供决策支持，对维护平潭岛城市生态安全、促进平潭岛可持续发展具有重要的理论和现实意义，同时也对其它海岛型城市的生态安全格局研究具有一定的借鉴意义。 Abstract:The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. More than half of the world's population now lives in towns and cities, and the proportion of the global population in urban areas has increased conspicuously from 30% in 1950 to 54% in 2014. Urbanization is projected to increase even further to 60% in 2030. Though the process of urbanization provides comfortable and convenient living conditions for human beings, it also makes our country face a series of serious urban ecological security issues (such as environmental pollution and diminishing resources) because of the high-intensity of human activities and unreasonable land use. Nowadays, urban ecological security brought by the rapid urbanization is posing a serious threat to urban sustainable development. Against this background, constructing the urban ecological security pattern is the basic guarantee and important way to realize regional and urban ecological security. Based on the eco-environmental background conditions of Pingtan Island, this study first investigated the perspective of urban ecological security and considered the overall plan of Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone to better understand six key ecological sensitive factors that were closely related to the urban ecological security of Pingtan Island. These six key ecological sensitive factors were drinking water resources, coastal shelterbelt, scenic spots and forest parks, natural mountain, cultivated land, and coastline resources. Thereafter, a comprehensive evaluation model was established by the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and geographical information system (GIS) spatial overlay method to comprehensively evaluate the ecological sensitivity of Pingtan Island. The specific analysis process was as follows:First, an evaluation index system of Pingtan Island's ecological sensitivity by means of data collection, field investigation, remote sensing image interpretation and analysis, and expert reviews was established. These indices were classified according to their sensitivity. Second, the judgment matrix was constructed and consistency checks were performed in accordance with the AHP method, then the weight of each index was calculated according to the square root method. Finally, considering that scenic spots covered with natural mountain forest have the highest ecological sensitivity, and that other areas may not be ecologically sensitive or may be insensitive, the Pingtan Island was divided into five grades (extreme sensitivity, high sensitivity, moderate sensitivity, low sensitivity, and insensitive grades) according to their respective ecological sensitivity indices. We propose an ecological security pattern for Pingtan Island in order to adapt to the new round of large-scale urban development boom, and this pattern is mainly composed of ecological security barrier ring, ecological water system, ecological conservation area, ecological coastal zone, urban construction area, and the ecological promotion area. These components play different roles in maintaining ecological safety on Pingtan Island, and they must be rationally developed and utilized on the basis of their respective functions. Generally, the results of this study would help to provide decision support for urban planning, and could be of great theoretical and practical significance to maintain Pingtan Island's ecological security and promote the sustainable development of Pingtan Island. Moreover, these results may also be useful for ecosecurity pattern research on other island cities. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Evaluation of the ecological sensitivity and security of tidal flats in Shanghai

As the data acquisition is difficult, not only the ecological sensitivity study of tidal flats is relatively less, moreover, ecological sensitivity analysis is rarely correlated with ecological safety evaluation, and the temporal and spatial correlation of adjacent mudflats is rarely focused on. In the present study, we build a new index system integrated biological, ecological process and development and utilization sensitivities, to evaluate the ecological sensitivity of the seven main tidal flats of Shanghai. Then, we associate ecological sensitivity with ecological security and construct an index system for evaluating their ecological security based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model, using the entropy method and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the weights. The results were as follows: (1) Chongming East beach and Jiuduansha are the highly ecologically sensitive type, Chongming North beach and Nanhui beach are the medium ecologically sensitive type, Hengsha and Changxing beaches are the relatively low ecological sensitive type, and the North beach along Hangzhou Bay is the low ecological sensitive type. The ecological security indices of these seven beaches from high to low are: Chongming East, Jiuduansha, Changxing, North beach along Hangzhou Bay, Hengsha, Chongming North and Nanhui. (2) There is a close relationship between the ecological sensitivity and ecological security index of the tidal flats. (3) There is the temporal and spatial relevance of adjacent tidal flats.

Embedding ecological sensitivity analysis and new satellite town construction in an agent-based model to simulate urban expansion in the beijing metropolitan region, China

As the national center for politics and culture, Beijing’s urbanization level is very high. Many policies within the proposed Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region coordinated development plan affect the expansion of urban land. Therefore, it is very important to predict urban land use changes in Beijing for planning and management purposes. In this paper, we integrated of MAS (multi-agent system) and CA (cellular automata) to simulate new satellite towns construction and ecological sensitivity impact on land use change. Physical and social driving factors were used in the combined model. The MAS involved the actions of three types of agent: regional authorities, property developers, and residents. The study used the CA model to simulate the neighborhood effects of urban land use, and the MAS model to simulate agents’ decisions. The new satellite towns and an ecological sensitivity analysis were embedded in the model to simulate the impact of decision making by the Beijing government on urban land expansion. Based on the land use data of 2005, the urban land area in 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025 was predicted using the CA-MAS model. Urban expansion occurred faster during 2015–2025 than during the previous 10 years. Three land use types, i.e., cropland, woodland, and rural residential land, were the major sources of urban expansion. With respect to government decision making, the satellite towns were the priority areas of urban development, and urban development was restricted in ecologically sensitive areas. The New Districts of Urban Development were projected to become the main areas of future urban expansion in Beijing. The area designated for urban expansion around the ecologically sensitive areas was small. The results demonstrate that satellite towns and ecological sensitivity have large impacts on urban expansion. The results of this study will help to protect ecologically sensitive land, while enabling harmonious expansion of the city.

Evaluating Urban Land Carrying Capacity Based on the Ecological Sensitivity Analysis: A Case Study in Hangzhou, China

Abstract: In this study, we present the evaluation of urban land carrying capacity (ULCC) based on an ecological sensitivity analysis. Remote sensing data and geographic information system (GIS) technology are employed to analyze topographic conditions, land-use types, the intensity of urban development, and ecological environmental sensitivity to create reasonable evaluation indicators to analyze urban land carrying capacity based on ecological sensitivity in the rapidly developing megacity of Hangzhou, China. In the study, ecological sensitivity is grouped into four levels: non-sensitive, lightly sensitive, moderately sensitive, and highly sensitive. The results show that the ecological sensitivity increases progressively from the center to the periphery. The results also show that ULCC is determined by ecologically sensitive levels and that the ULCC is categorized into four levels. Even though it is limited by the four levels, the ULCC still has a large margin if compared with the current population numbers. The study suggests that the urban ecological environment will continue to sustain the current population size in the short-term future. However, it is necessary to focus on the protection of distinctive natural landscapes so that decision makers can adjust measures for ecological conditions to carry out the sustainable development of populations, natural resources, and the environment in megacities like Hangzhou, China.

Risk assessment of episodic exposures to chemicals should consider both the physiological and the ecological sensitivities of species

In flowing water pollution regularly occurs in short pulses (hours to days). Populations of species affected by pulses have the potential to recover in the absence of further disturbance but recovery rates will vary between species due to resilience (e.g. generation time and dispersal ability) and avoidance traits. Current assessments of the risks of chemicals to community structure – predominantly based on species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) – only consider physiological sensitivity and do not give any consideration as to the rate at which populations will recover. We constructed SSDs of ecologically sensitive and tolerant stream invertebrate assemblages (based on 3 traits previously shown to be important in determining how species relative abundances respond to pesticide toxicity) from south-east Australia and in regions of Finland, Germany and France. There were differences in SSDs of a generic measure of physiological sensitivity to organic chemicals between ecologically sensitive and tolerant species, though these differences were not consistent between the regions studied. We conclude that it is important for community level risk assessments of pulses of chemicals that the ecological sensitivity of the regional species assemblage is considered and discuss several options as to how this could be achieved.

Evaluation of ecological sensitivity in Karamay, Xinjiang, China

Karamay City is a typical mining city, relying on oilfield exploration and development. After 60 years of construction and development, Karamay has become the first large oilfield and an important base of the national petroleum and petrochemical industry in China. Based on spatial analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) grid computing and overlay techniques, whilst considering the effect of oilfield development and aimed at the ecological problems of Karamay City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, we conducted research on the spatial characteristics of the comprehensive ecological sensitivity of Karamay. The ecological problems of natural environment evolution include soil erosion, land desertification, soil salinization, and biodiversity reduction. The most significant disturbance factor from the activities of humans in this area is oilfield exploitation. This study carries out an analysis of single factor ecological problem sensitivity and integrated ecological sensitivity. The results of the research are as follows: (1) Soil erosion is relatively sensitive, especially in Karamay district, Dushanzi district, north of Urho district and west of Baijiantan district, which is mainly a result of the vertical dropping slopes, serious rainfall erosion and the distribution of scattered woodland. (2) The main types of land desertification are represented by high and moderate grade sensitivities, and high and extremely high sensitive areas are distributed in the intersection of Karamay and Baijiantan districts. This is due to evaporation exceeding rainfall in these areas, and the soil mainly consists of sand and is seldom covered by vegetation. (3) The soil salinizatiion sensitivity grades are mainly moderate, high and extremely high. The highly sensitive areas are mainly distributed in southeast of Baijiantan district, north and east of Karamay district and east of Urho district. The primary causes are evaporation exceeding rainfall and extreme human activities. (4) The main types of biodiversity sensitivity are light and moderate grade. Highly sensitive areas are located in the east and south of Karamay district, north of the Baiyang River basin and parts of the wetland areas. (5) Oil fields development areas are highly ecologically sensitive, which are located in the northern oilfields of Urho district, western oilfields of Baijiantan district, northwestern oilfields of Karamay dis trict and central oilfields of Dushanzi district. (6) The main types of integrated ecological sensitivity are high and moderate. The high and extremely highly sensitive areas are located in the central and northern parts of Karamay district, and southwest of Baijiantan district. The evaluation results will provide guidance for the future planning and development, the protection of the ecological environment and the realization of harmonious social, economic, and ecological development in Karamay City.

Study on the Ecologically Sensitive Tourism Development of Suburban Scenic

This paper aims at solving the development problem between the inner ecological sensitivity of scenic and the its exploitation given by the city. In this paper, by taking the master planning of Dragon mountain scenic for example, we propose principles of dynamic progressive development, also we try to find Series of develop Strategies to achieve the goal which scenic goes well with the development of city

Sewage-effluent phosphorus: A greater risk to river eutrophication than agricultural phosphorus?

Phosphorus (P) concentrations from water quality monitoring at 54 UK river sites across seven major lowland catchment systems are examined in relation to eutrophication risk and to the relative importance of point and diffuse sources. The over-riding evidence indicates that point (effluent) rather than diffuse (agricultural) sources of phosphorus provide the most significant risk for river eutrophication, even in rural areas with high agricultural phosphorus losses. Traditionally, the relative importance of point and diffuse sources has been assessed from annual P flux budgets, which are often dominated by diffuse inputs in storm runoff from intensively managed agricultural land. However, the ecological risk associated with nuisance algal growth in rivers is largely linked to soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations during times of ecological sensitivity (spring/summer low-flow periods), when biological activity is at its highest. The relationships between SRP and total phosphorus (TP; total dissolved P + suspended particulate P) concentrations within UK rivers are evaluated in relation to flow and boron (B; a tracer of sewage effluent). SRP is the dominant P fraction (average 67% of TP) in all of the rivers monitored, with higher percentages at low flows. In most of the rivers the highest SRP concentrations occur under low-flow conditions and SRP concentrations are diluted as flows increase, which is indicative of point, rather than diffuse, sources. Strong positive correlations between SRP and B (also TP and B) across all the 54 river monitoring sites also confirm the primary importance of point source controls of phosphorus concentrations in these rivers, particularly during spring and summer low flows, which are times of greatest eutrophication risk. Particulate phosphorus (PP) may form a significant proportion of the phosphorus load to rivers, particularly during winter storm events, but this is of questionable relevance for river eutrophication. Although some of the agriculturally derived PP is retained as sediment on the river bed, in most cases this bed sediment showed potential for removal of SRP from the overlying river water during spring and summer low flows. Thus, bed sediments may well be helping to reduce SRP concentrations within the river at times of eutrophication risk. These findings have important implications for targeting environmental management controls for phosphorus more efficiently, in relation to the European Union Water Framework Directive requirements to maintain/improve the ecological quality of impacted lowland rivers. For the UK rivers examined here, our results demonstrate that an important starting point for reducing phosphorus concentrations to the levels approaching those required for ecological improvement, is to obtain better control over point source inputs, particularly small point sources discharging to ecologically sensitive rural/agricultural tributaries.