Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis Research Articles

Greenbelt's Impact on Urban Forest Habitat: Insights from Morphological Analysis in Quantifying Conservation Effects

Urban forests play a crucial role in preserving biodiversity in highly urbanized areas by providing habitats for various species and promoting ecological connectivity. However, managing urban forests presents challenges such as low habitat quality and fragmentation risks. To address these challenges, protected areas serve as a fundamental policy tool. This study analyzes the effect of Greenbelt areas, protected spaces within urban settings, on future land-use and habitat changes. Through morphological analysis of forest areas, this study attempts to analyze the current status of habitats in cities affected by fragmentation and derive the effects of green belts, thereby presenting the direction of biodiversity conservation for city habitats. The Slope, Land-use, Excluded area, Urban, Transportation, Hillshade (SLEUTH) land-use change model was used to predict future land-use changes by applying a scenario that adjusts weights within the Greenbelt areas. In addition, the Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) Tool was used to derive changes by habitat type, which aided in deriving the implications of the Greenbelt regulation on the habitat. Our findings indicate that Greenbelt regulation effectively prevents the reduction of critical Core areas and minimizes damage to Islets, small patches. Comparisons between Core and Edge areas reveal that Edge areas are more vulnerable to development, and the impact of regulating the Greenbelt area is significant. In addition, Greenbelt regulations can help prevent habitat fragmentation by reducing Perforation, which creates cavities within Core areas. This study quantitatively demonstrated that the Greenbelt can play an important role not only in preventing urban expansion but playing an important role in habitat conservation in cities.

Construction of ecological network in Qujing city based on MSPA and MCR models.

With the rapid advancement of urbanization and industrialization, ecological patches within cities and towns are fragmented and ecological corridors are cut off, regional ecological security is threatened and sustainable development is hindered. Building an ecological network that conforms to regional realities can connect fragmented patches, protect biodiversity and regional characteristics, and provide scientific reference for regional ecological protection and ecological network planning. By taking Qilin District, the main urban area of Qujing City as an example, and using geospatial data as the main data source, based on morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR), this study identified ecological source areas, extracted ecological corridors, and build & optimize ecological networks. (1) All landscape types are identified based on MSPA, the proportion of core area was the highest among all landscape types, which was 80.69%, combined with the connectivity evaluation, 14 important ecological source areas were selected. (2) 91 potential ecological corridors were extracted through MCR and gravity models, there were 16 important ones. (3) The network connectivity analysis method is used to calculate the α, β, and γ indexes of the ecological network before optimization, which were 2.36, 6.5, and 2.53, while after optimization, α, β and γ indices were 3.8, 9.5 and 3.5, respectively. The combined application of MSPA-MCR model and ecological network connectivity analysis evaluation is conducive to improving the structure and functionality of ecological network.

Construction of Cultivated Land Ecological Network Based on Supply and Demand of Ecosystem Services and MCR Model: A Case Study of Shandong Province, China

The research on the ecological protection of cultivated land has gradually become a focus and frontier of cultivated land protection. Constructing an ecological network of a cultivated land system is important to improve the effect of cultivated land ecological protection. In this study, the supply-demand ratio of five ecosystem services was calculated from 2000 to 2020 in Shandong Province, a major grain-producing area in China. The morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) model was used to construct the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. The conclusions of the study are as follows: (1) the areas with a higher supply and demand ratio of various ecosystem services of cultivated land in Shandong Province are distributed in southern and southwestern areas. (2) The ecological source of cultivated land in Shandong Province has decreased by about 7000 km2 from 2000 to 2020, and the fragmentation trend is obvious. (3) The total length of the ecological corridors is 798.5 km2. The majority of these corridors are located in central and southern Shandong. The ideas and conclusions of this study are important for the formulation of ecological protection policies for regional cultivated land systems.

Assessing landscape fragmentation and ecological connectivity to support regional spatial planning: A case study of Jiangsu province, China

Urbanization in China has led to land-use changes resulting in landscape fragmentation, natural habitats loss and ecological connectivity decline. Aiming to support sustainable landscape planning, we proposed an integrated method for ecological structure assessment and optimization including morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), minimal cumulative resistance (MCR) model and circuit theory to assess landscape fragmentation and ecological connectivity change at regional scale. A modified connectivity index is also proposed by employing the index of relative quality of ecological patches and corridors. We applied the combined methods to Jiangsu province in eastern China for multi-temporal landscape analysis and optimization. The results showed that the combined analysis revealed both fragmentation trend of ecological patches and ecological connectivity reduction with regard to all the species as a whole in the study area from 2000 to 2018. While, the trend has been slowed down to a certain extent lately, which is related to a series of ecological protection policies implemented in the study area, including ecological redlines policy, national park construction and returning marginal farmland into forest or grassland. Furthermore, suggestions for improving the ecological network in the study area were proposed. We proposed to improve the ecological network by fostering twenty-five potential ecological sources, maintaining twenty-five pinch points, restoring eleven dredging corridors and planning fifty-three stepping stones. Overall, we argue that the combined method can reveal both structural connectivity and functional connectivity, and the time series analysis can provide dynamics situation for better understanding and planning landscape process. It can also provide planners with a valuable strategic tool that advances the practical utility of landscape ecology techniques for spatial planning, and the combined application of the method helps to reduce some of the limitations of each individual method.

Habitat connectivity of threatened ungulate species in a native savanna landscape of northern South America

AbstractThe native savanna ecosystem of the Orinoquia region is the habitat of 50% of the wild ungulate species reported for Colombia. Over the last 20 years, this high species diversity has been strongly threatened by the human transformation of the natural land cover causing connectivity loss of the habitats. The Orinoquia region lacks a biological connectivity analysis with a multi-species approach involving species groups that are representative of the savanna ecosystem such as the ungulates. Understanding the spatial distributions of suitable areas and the main habitats that act as primary habitats for ungulate species in these landscapes is fundamental for the design of conservation strategies. We use an occurrence dataset for lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) in the development of species’ potential distribution models, binarization process, and morphological spatial pattern analysis. This information was used for the modeling of dispersal corridors connecting the core habitats of the ungulate focal species using the randomized shortest path algorithm and quantifying the weighted global connectivity metrics. Our results suggest an integral corridor with potential least-cost dispersal routes between the native savanna landscape on the middle basins of the savanna rivers and the Meta River. These areas associated with the fluvial dendritic systems are connected, while the core habitats in the eastern part of the savanna landscape are disconnected. We discuss how the application of such knowledge on the spatial ecology of ungulate focal species might improve the management of the metapopulations in the Orinoquia region.

Research on the Construction of a Composite Humanistic Forest Ecological Corridor in the Main Urban Area of Daqing City

The essential significance of forest ecological corridors primarily revolves around their role in enhancing and maintaining balance in the ecological environment. However, an aspect that has not been adequately addressed is their potential in terms of recreational services. Focusing on the main urban area of Daqing City, this research investigates the integration of ecological and recreational objectives, adopting an “ecology-humanity” composite perspective. (1) Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and connectivity analyses were employed to identify ecological sources and construct an ecological resistance framework, and potential corridors were then delineated under ecological scenarios using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model; (2) then, the resistance system was refined using ArcGIS network analysis to identify potential corridors for recreational scenarios; (3) finally, this study examined the network layout of ecological and recreational routes, aiming to integrate an optimal humanistic configuration of forest ecological corridors that aligns with dual objectives. The spatial distribution of forest ecological corridors in Daqing City’s main urban area reveals a pattern where densely constructed areas predominantly feature recreational corridors and less-developed regions are characterized by ecological corridors. Ecological composite corridors serve as crucial links between these types of areas, mainly enhancing the urban layout and refining its structure.

Enhancing the MSPA Method to Incorporate Ecological Sensitivity: Construction of Ecological Security Patterns in Harbin City

China’s urban development has reached a stage where green sustainable development must be considered. Constructing an ecological security pattern (ESP) can effectively contribute to maintaining sustainable development and ecological safety in a city. Harbin, a significant city in northeastern China, serves as the study area with a focus on its urban central district. To construct and optimize Harbin’s ESP, this study utilized ecological sensitivity assessment, MSPA (morphological spatial pattern analysis), the gravity model, landscape connectivity assessment, and the MCR (minimum cumulative resistance) model to identify source areas, corridors, and nodes. Research reveals that there are 23 ecological source areas within the study area, primarily situated along the Songhua River and in the mountain woodlands of the A-cheng District. This study identified 48 corridors, predominantly situated in the Daowai District, A-cheng District, and the eastern part of Xiangfang District. Among these, 8 are deemed significant ecological corridors, along with 10 important connecting corridors. We propose the structure of ecological security pattern optimization, referred to as the “two axes, two belts, and four areas”, and present corresponding ecological management recommendations. The analytical framework provides a valuable method for constructing ecological security patterns and selecting source areas at the regional scale in Harbin City, particularly in complex plain urban areas.

Quantifying landscape fragmentation and forest carbon dynamics over 35 years in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest (AF) covers 13% of Brazil but retains only 26% of its original forest area. Utilizing a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), we generated 30 m spatial resolution fragmentation maps for old-growth and secondary forests across the AF. We quantified landscape fragmentation patterns and carbon (C) dynamics over 35 years using MapBiomas data between the years 1985 and 2020. We found that from 1985 to 2020 the forest suffered continuous fragmentation, losing core (nuclei forest fragments) and bridge (areas that connect different core areas) components of the landscape. About 87.5% (290 468.4 km2) of the remaining forest lacked core areas, with bridges (38.0%) and islets (small, isolated fragments) (35.4%) being predominant. Secondary forests (1986–2020) accounted for 99 450.5 km2 and played a significant role in fragmentation pattern, constituting 44.9% of the areas affected by edge effects (perforation, edge, bridge, and loop), 53.7% of islets, and comprising only 1.4% of core forest. Additionally, regeneration by secondary forests contributed to all fragmentation classes in 2020. Even with the regrowth of forests, the total forested area in the biome did not increase between 1985 and 2020. Deforestation emissions reached 818 Tg CO2, closely paralleled by edge effects emissions at 810 Tg CO2, highlighting a remarkable parity in C emissions between the two processes. Despite slow changes, AF biome continues to lose its C stocks. We estimated that around 1.96 million hectares (19 600 km2) of regenerated forest would be required to offset the historical C emissions over the analysed period. Hence, MSPA can support landscape monitoring, optimizing natural or active forest regeneration to reduce fragmentation and enhance C stocks. Our study’s findings are critical for guiding land-use policies focusing on minimizing emissions, promoting forest regrowth, and monitoring its permanence. This study offers biome scale, spatially explicit information, critical for AF conservation and management.

Application of MSPA-MCR models to construct ecological security pattern in the basin: A case study of Dawen River basin

Building an ecological security pattern (ESP) can safeguard and improve the structure, functions and services of regional ecosystems. Furthermore, it is also one of the significant spatial methods to mitigate the conflict between ecological conservation and economic growth. Most previous researches on the construction of ESP have directly utilized extensive regions of forestland, grassland, water area or nature reserves as ecological sources (ESs) without weighing the habitat quality (HQ) and ecological protection red line (EPRL). The ES of the Dawen River basin (DRB) was identified through morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and landscape connectivity index. By employing the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), the potential ecological corridor (EC) was identified, and its importance was evaluated by gravity model. Simultaneously, the spatial properties of HQ and ecological resistance (ER) were analyzed. Finally, this paper proposed an optimization strategy for ESP in accordance with the EPRL. The results indicate that: (1) The DRB contained 15 important ESs, mainly concentrated in water and mountain forest areas. (2) 105 ECs were extracted by MCR and gravity model, including 35 level 1 corridors and 70 level 2 corridors, which were primarily concentrated in the eastern region of the basin. (3) Based on the spatial characteristics of HQ and ER, as well as the EPRL in the research, the ESP of “one axis, two belts and five zones” in the DRB was constructed and control strategies were proposed. This research offers some reference for ecological environment protection and restoration and regional sustainable development in the Yellow River basin.

Analysis of Linkage between Long-Term Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis and Vegetation Carbon Storage of Forests in Hunan, China

The carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems plays a pivotal role in constraining global warming and mitigating climate change. The landscape pattern of forests is being altered due to the combined effects of climate change and human interference. Furthermore, the relationship between forest pattern changes and carbon storage distribution in a long time series remains unclear. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the relationship between forest patterns and carbon density, investigating the variations and similarities in the changes in carbon density across different modes of pattern change over time, and suggestions for forest planning were provided from a perspective focused on pattern change to enhance carbon storage. The Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform’s random forest model was used to map the spatial distribution of forests in Hunan Province for 1996 and 2020, followed by analyzing the correlation between the changes in forest patterns using the morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and carbon density simulated by the model. Results show that the net growth rate ((area in 2020-area in 1996)/area in 2020) of the forest in Hunan increased 26.76% between 1996 and 2020. The importance scores for the decade average temperature, short-wave length infrared band 1 (SWIR-1), and slope were the highest metrics in the model of carbon density, and were 0.127, 0.107 and 0.089, respectively. The vegetation carbon storage in Hunan Province increased by 31.02 Tg, from 545.91 Tg to 576.93 Tg in 25 years. This study demonstrates that vegetation carbon storage is influenced by the pattern type in both newly established and pre-existing forests (p < 0.05). The findings of this study offer empirical evidence to support forest management strategies targeted at enhancing carbon sequestration.

Understanding habitat isolation in the context of construction land expansion using an ecological network approach

ContextThe impact of construction land expansion on regional landscape sustainability received significant attention, but the habitat isolation caused by such expansion across the urban-rural continuum calls for a closer examination.ObjectiveThis study aims to use the ecological network approach to assess the isolation effect imposed by urban areas and rural settlements on habitat patches in the Nanjing Metropolitan Area during 2000, 2010, and 2020.MethodsWe first extracted the habitat patches by applying morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), then identified the ecological networks based on the comprehensive resistance surface and circuit theory. Finally, we constructed two indices, the isolation effect index (IEI) and isolation degree (ID), and evaluated the differential contributions of urban areas and rural settlements to habitat isolation.ResultsOur results showed a total of 129 habitat patches within our study area. These patches were linked by 188, 186, and 183 ecological corridors in the years 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively. Further analysis revealed that habitat patches were strongly isolated by the expansion of construction land and increasing human activities. Remarkably, both urban areas and rural settlements played pivotal roles in exacerbating this isolation, with urban areas showing a striking surge in their isolation impact, while rural settlements continued to be the predominant driver of habitat isolation.ConclusionsSustainable landscape planning should consider how land uses may cause habitat isolation. Our study utilizes the ecological network approach to evaluate habitat isolation and introduces applicable indicators for estimating the isolation effects attributed to construction land expansion. Our findings hold significant implications for informing landscape planning and shaping ecological conservation policies.

Evolution and Optimization of an Ecological Network in an Arid Region Based on MSPA-MCR: A Case Study of the Hexi Corridor

Under the background of climate change, the problems of water resource allocation and desertification in arid areas are becoming increasingly prominent, which seriously threatens the sustainable development of society. Constructing an ecological network is an important measure to improve the ecological environment and maintain ecological service function. This study takes the Hexi Corridor as an example and relies on land use data from 2000 to 2020, and comprehensively applies methods, such as morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), and the network evaluation index to construct and optimize the ecological network of the Hexi Corridor. Our results show: (1) the spatial distribution of the landscape elements in the Hexi Corridor was not uniform and that the ecological foundation in the north was poor; (2) the resistance surface was “low in the south and high in the north”, with low-value areas mainly located to the south of Jiuquan City, Zhangye City, and Wuwei City, and the high-value areas were mainly located in the middle and to the north of Jiuquan City and Wuwei City; (3) the ecological source areas, corridors, and nodes showed a fluctuating upward trend, and they were mainly located to the southwest of Zhangye City, Jiuquan City, and Wuwei City; (4) the network closure (α), line point rate (β), and network connectivity (γ) showed a W-shaped change trend; (5) after the ecological network optimization, 22 new ecological source areas, 78 new corridors, and 61 new nodes were added, as a result, the α, β, and γ indices all increased. Our results provide a reference for ecological environment restoration research and serve as a regionally balanced means of sustainably developing the Hexi Corridor.

Large-scale cultural heritage conservation and utilization based on cultural ecology corridors: a case study of the Dongjiang-Hanjiang River Basin in Guangdong, China

In the field of world heritage conservation, there has been broad consensus on carrying out heritage conservation research on the basis of spatial integration and interregional and international cooperation. However, there are still many deficiencies in the integration of culture with the environment, regional economic and social development, and the regional, holistic and multimodal conservation and utilization of cultural heritage sites. In China, the Dongjiang-Hanjiang River Basin is a representative area of substantial cultural and ecological value for both Guangdong Province and the whole country. This paper uses the morphological spatial pattern analysis and the minimum cumulative resistance model to integrate cultural ecology sources and establish a cross-regional and large-scale cultural ecology network system that includes 1 main corridor, 22 important corridors and 17 secondary corridors. In addition, based on identified cultural landscape nodes and cultural ecology services, the economy of the cultural ecology corridor could be developed with large-scale co-construction, co-governance and shared working mechanisms to overcome administrative limits and realize the conservation and utilization of multimodal and large-scale heritage sites. This approach has strong theoretical and practical significance for innovative methods in cultural ecology research, as well as for new content in the research of Lingnan culture, ecosystem restoration, and the economic and social development of towns and villages. This article supplements unilateral studies of regional culture and ecology and demonstrates an in-depth application of cultural ecology theory.

Construction and optimization of ecological network based on morphological spatial pattern analysis and minimum cumulative resistance models in Haihe River basin

AbstractIn recent years, landscape fragmentation has become increasingly serious due to the impact of human activities. The ecological network can ensure the ecological function of the region through linearly connecting ecological corridors and effectively solving the problem of landscape fragmentation that occurs in the evolution of landscape patterns. Based on MSPA and MCR models, the article analyses the distribution and changes of landscape types in the Haihe River basin and constructs an ecological network in the study area by combining the local ecological characteristics of the basin. The network structure is optimized in the end by selecting three large stepping stones, constructing 69 internal ecological stepping stones, identifying 212 fracture points, and adding seven ecological corridors to build a point–line surface network structure with an internal and external double‐loop structure. The connectivity of the network structure is evaluated by using complex network method. It is calculated that the network connectivity performance is improved by 13.95% after optimization, which means the species exchange in the study area is closer.

Impact of different grade roads on ecological networks: A case study of Fuzhou City, China.

The expansion of roads exacerbates the fragmentation of ecological networks and obstructs landscape connectivity. Scientific analysis of the impacts of different grades of roads on landscape connectivity and ecological networks is crucial for guiding road planning and ecological conservation. Based on the data of 2020 road network, land cover types, and digital elevation models, we used morphological spatial pattern analysis and circuit theory to construct ecological networks within different species dispersal distances (1, 3, 5, 10 km) in Fuzhou. We analyzed the impacts of roads of different grades (motorway, urban expressway, primary and secondary highway) on landscape connectivity at the landscape-patch-corridor scale. The results showed that at the landscape scale, overall landscape connectivity was significantly positively correlated with species dispersal distance. The motorway, urban expressway, primary and secondary highway had the lowest decline rate of overall landscape connectivity within a 10 km species dispersal range, being reduced by 15.6%, 5.3%, 1.5% and 5.2%, respectively. At the patch scale, in the comparison of roads of different grades, motorway led to the highest decline rate of patch connectivity within 1 and 5 km species dispersal range, while primary highway led to the highest decline rate of patch connectivity within 3 and 10 km species dispersal range. At the corridor scale, urban expressway led the highest increase rate of indices. The cost-weighted distance of the overall least-cost path, the ratio of cost-weighted distance to length, ove-rall effective resistance, and total corridor length within 5 km species dispersal range were increased by 43.4%, 33.2%, 57.3%, and 7.3%, respectively. As the distance of species dispersal increased, the patches with high importance were reduced from the northern, central, and northwestern regions to the northern regions, leading to a decrease in the living space of species, and the key corridors were gradually extending from the northwestern and southern regions to the central regions. Our results can guide the construction and optimization of Fuzhou's ecological network from an overall perspective, and provide a scientific basis for biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, and road network planning under the context of limited land resource utilization.

Construction of Karst Landscape Ecological Security Pattern Based on Conflict between Human and Nature in Puzhehei

A key means of promoting the high-quality development of karst areas is the maintenance of the area’s ecological security. A full recognition of the special ecological function of karst areas, as well as their significance to the surrounding region’s ecological, economic, and social development, is crucial in strengthening the overall strategic deployment of the national ecological construction and the protection and sustainable development of karst landscapes around the globe. In this study, the karst landscape of Puzhehei, Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, was used as the research object. This study identified ecological source sites through a combination of morphological spatial pattern analysis and landscape connectivity assessment. As a result, 10 factors were selected to construct a comprehensive ecological resistance surface from the natural environment and socio-economic perspective; the resistance surface was corrected by combining the sensitivity of rocky desertification. An ecological corridor and ecological nodes were identified to construct the ecological security pattern based on the minimum cumulative resistance model and circuit theory. The results show that (1) the source areas of the Puzhehei karst landscape ecological protection comprised 11 core area patches with the landscape connectivity index of (dPC) ≥ 10, with a total area of 166.6572 km2, which constituted 46.06% of the total study area, and the ecological source area totaled 77.275 km2, or 21.36% of the total study area; (2) there were 78 potential ecological corridors in the Puzhehei karst region, with a total length of 545.186 km, including 12 key corridors and 66 general corridors; (3) a total of 51 ecological nodes were identified, including 11 “source-type ecological nodes”, 30 “ecological pinch points”, and 10 “ecological obstacles”, including 16 key ecological nodes. This study provides a theoretical basis for the integration of Puzhehei Nature Reserve, as well as a reference for the ecologically sustainable development of similar karst areas.

Optimizing the construction of ecological networks in Beijing using a morphological spatial pattern analysis—minimal cumulative resistance model

Introduction: With the increasing fragmentation of landscapes caused by rapid urbanisation, constructing ecological networks strengthen the connectivity between fragmented habitat patches. As the capital of China, Beijing has a rapid development, resulting in a serious landscape fragmentation, and needing an urgent demand for this study to improve the ecological network system.Methods: In this study, we choose the elevation, slope, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and land use data of Beijing in 2020 as the data use. Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) was used to identify ecological source areas for Beijing, Minimal cumulative resistance (MCR) and gravity models were used to construct ecological network, and stepping stones to improve it.Results: The core area of Beijing had the highest proportion (96.17%) of all landscape types, forest accounting for 82.01% thereof. Ten core areas were identified as ecological source areas. Forty-five ecological corridors (8 major and 37 ordinary) were constructed. The ecological corridors are mainly concentrated in the middle and eastern regions where ecological mobility is limited. Constructing stepping stones would help uphold the region’s ecological service functions and ecosystem balance. Twenty-nine stepping stones and 32 ecological obstacles were used to create the optimised ecological network, consisting of 171.Discussion: The results provide an optimised ecological model for Beijing and a reference constructing ecological spatial networks for the sustainable development of ecological environments in high-density urban areas.

Establishing an Ecological Network to Enhance Forest Connectivity in South Korea’s Demilitarized Zone

This investigation delineated an ecological network within South Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to enhance ecosystem functionality, with a focus on forest landscape connectivity. The study employed spatial autocorrelation analysis and the minimum cumulative resistance model to identify key source patches. These patches are vital for maintaining connectivity across various topographies and land uses in the DMZ. Morphological spatial pattern analysis in the DMZ’s forest area showed a variation in forest patch types. The core class, less affected by external influences, was more prevalent in the eastern part. In contrast, the edge class, influenced by different environmental boundaries, was dominant in the western part. A 452.36 km long ecological network was constructed, serving as an essential corridor linking habitats of endangered species. This network covers a total forest area of 730.17 km2, which includes an existing forest protection area of 165.84 km2 (22.7%). The study also identified 564.33 km2 (77.3%) of previously non-designated forest regions as potential conservation areas. This aims to significantly increase forest connectivity within the DMZ. The research highlights the effectiveness of spatial planning tools in promoting ecosystem integrity in politically sensitive and restricted-access areas.

Evaluation and optimization of ecological spatial resilience of Yanhe River Basin based on complex network theory

The loess hilly and gully areas have broken terrain, vertical and horizontal ravines and fragile ecological environments. Improving the resilience of the regional ecological space is conducive to improving the quality of the local ecological environment. With the ecological space of the Yanhe River Basin selected as the research object, this paper constructs a research framework of "network identification topology-resilience evaluation-spatial optimization" and uses morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) to identify ecological spatial networks. Based on circuit theory, the ecological pinch point is identified, the ecological spatial network is optimized, and scenario simulation is performed. Through complex network theory and related indicators, the ecological spatial resilience of the basin is evaluated, and the hierarchical optimization strategy of the ecological space is confirmed. According to the ecological function of the source area and the results of the resilience evaluation, the boundaries of the protected control area, guidance development area, remediation area, and maintenance and improvement area of the basin are delineated. The importance of ecological source and corridor protection is classified, and corresponding protection strategies are proposed. The research results can provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the territorial spatial planning and ecological space construction of the Yanhe River Basin and provide a reference for the ecological restoration, resource development and environmental governance of the Yanhe River Basin.

Construction of a cold island network for the urban heat island effect mitigation

The urban heat island (UHI) effect seriously challenges sustainable urban development strategies and livability. Numerous studies have explored the UHI problem from the perspective of isolated blue and green patches, ignoring the overall function of cold island networks. This study aims to explore the construction method of cold island network by integrating scattered cold island resources, rationally guiding urban planning and construction, and providing effective ideas and methods for improving the urban thermal environment. Taking the central city of Fuzhou as an example, the identification of the cold island core source (CICS) was optimized by applying relative land surface temperature (LST), morphological spatial pattern analysis, and landscape connectivity analysis. The combined resistance surface was constructed based on a spatial principal component analysis. Subsequently, the cold island network was constructed by applying circuit theory and identifying the key nodes. The results showed that the central and eastern parts of the study area experienced the most significant UHI effects and there was a tendency for them to cluster. Overall, 48 core sources, 104 corridors, 89 cooling nodes, and 34 heating nodes were identified. The average LST of the CICSs was 28.43 °C, significantly lower than the average LST of the entire study area (31.50 °C), and the 104 cold corridors were classified into three categories according to their importance. Different targeting measures should be adopted for the cooling and heating nodes to maintain the stability of the cold island network and prevent the formation of a heat network. Finally, we suggest a model for urban cold island network construction and explore methods for mitigating issues with UHI to achieve proactive and organized adaptation and mitigation of thermal environmental risks in urban areas, as well as to encourage sustainable urban development.