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Spatial analysis enables priority selection in conservation practices for landscapes that need ecological security
Abstract and Figures
Global urbanization has not only promoted social and economic development, but also contributed to seriously ecological challenges. As a type of sustainable landscape patterns, ecological security pattern is considered as an effective spatial pathway to simultaneously conserve ecological security and maintain social-economic development. However, the fragmentation issue of ecological sources of ecological security pattern has not been effectively addressed, although many case studies have been conducted to identify ecological security pattern. In this study, we used spatial conservation prioritization to identify the ecological security pattern of the city belt along the Yellow River in Ningxia, China. Ecological sources were selected using Zonation model while ecological corridors and key ecological nodes were identified with circuit model. The results showed that the ecological security pattern was composed of 97 ecological sources, 226 ecological corridors, 267 pinch points and 22 barriers, covering a total area of 7713.1 km2 and accounting for 34% of the study area. Ecological sources were concentrated in the Helan Mountain, Xiang Mountain and along the Yellow River. Besides, ecological corridors were dense in the southern and eastern part of the study area. Both indicated that the Yellow River and Helan Mountain were the conservation hotspots. Landscape connectivity of ecological sources identified through Zonation-based spatial conservation prioritization was better than that with the scoring approach based on ecosystem service importance. Particularly, in the Zonation approach the landscape connectivity increased with 44% while the average patch area increased with 28% when comparing with the scoring approach. The spatial conservation prioritization approach proposed in this study provides a new effective tool to construct ecological security pattern, which is conducive to the synergic enhancement of landscape connectivity and ecosystem services conservation.
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... Lately, some studies modified the assessment framework with the indicators of human activity such as nighttime light (Zhang et al., 2017;Shuai et al., 2023) or impervious surface (Huang et al., 2020). At present, the extraction of ecological corridors mainly used related spatial models such as minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) (Wang and Pan, 2019) and circuit theory (Peng et al., 2018;Li J. W. et al., 2023;Tang et al., 2023). Although MRC has been used widely in quickly extracting the optimal path of ecological flow, it cannot identify the migration path of species exactly, including the width of corridors and key nodes (Peng et al., 2018;Xu et al., 2019). ...
... Although MRC has been used widely in quickly extracting the optimal path of ecological flow, it cannot identify the migration path of species exactly, including the width of corridors and key nodes (Peng et al., 2018;Xu et al., 2019). Recently, with the Ohm's Law being innovatively applied in studying ecological process, circuit theory has been used to simulate the path of random migration of biological species, which can effectively extract corridor width and identify key nodes for reconstructing ESP (Peng et al., 2018;Xu et al., 2019;Gao J. et al., 2021;Li WJ. et al., 2023;Tang et al., 2023). ...
... Ecological corridors are the important channels of material, energy, and information exchange in an ecosystem or landscape, and can enhance ecological connectivity and then maintain ecosystem integrity (Wang and Pan, 2019;Huang et al., 2020;Zhang et al., 2021;Li J. W. et al., 2023;Tang et al., 2023). Generally, pinch-points and barrier points appear nearby ecological corridors. ...
Introduction
With the acceleration of urbanization, human population and built surface in urban areas have increased rapidly, triggering numerous environmental problems. Identification of ecological security pattern (ESP) can be helpful to optimize the interaction and relationship between ecological conservation and socioeconomic development in a given region. In this study, taking Chengdu City as an example, a methodology was used to analyze the city’s ESP.
Methodology
Ecological sources were identified based on their ecological security values, which were derived from the spatio-temporal evaluation of ecosystem services and ecological health. The ecological resistance surface was revised with nighttime light index. Linkage Mapper combined with circuit theory was used to extracted ecological corridors and key ecological nodes.
Results
The results showed that the mean values of ecological security in Chengdu City presented a downward and then upward trend from 2000 to 2018. In 2018, the ESP in Chengdu City was formed by 140 ecological sources with the total area of 8,819.78 km², 302 ecological corridors with the area of 456.91 km², as well as 61 pinch-points and 17 barrier points. The ecological sources in Chengdu City were mainly distributed in or nearby Longmen Mountain and Longquan Mountain, two flanks of the Chengdu Plain, and connected each other with hundreds of ecological corridors. Most of ecological sources and corridors were composited of forests in mountainous areas and linpan units (wooded lots) in rural plain areas. On the contrary, pinch-points and barrier points were mainly distributed in the districts nearby the metropolitan urban center.
Conclusion
Finally, this study proposed that constructing ESP must adopt a dynamic and holistic approach in considering the change of restoring ecosystems, shift of urban demands for ecosystem services and transformation of urban-rural land use/cover. Restoring and managing corridors sustainably are important for improving the ecological connectivity of all over ecological sources in a city, all of which together, if functioning well, could further support the realization of sustainable urbanization.
... ESV provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of ecosystem functioning and serves as one of the foundational datasets for identifying ES [53]. The equivalent factor method is one of the mainstream ESV assessment approaches and has been widely used [54]. ...
... Balancing numerous considerations and ensuring the continuity of ESs is vital for ES identification, and previous studies have achieved this goal using ZONATION models in different aspects [5,53,68]. Thus, accounting for the interaction of ecosystem service and vegetation productivity, we integrated normalized ESV and normalized kNDVI as input data for spatial conservation prioritization in the decision support software ZONATION (v.4.0). Zonation software (v.4.0) assumes that ecological priority values of all areas need to be protected and range from 0 (cannot provide ecological value, e.g., urban areas) to 1 (provide multiple ecological value areas) [69]. ...
... Selecting critical patches with ecological advantages is the basis for enhancing the connectivity and integrity of ecosystems [53]. However, the current identification mechanism fails to model and quantify the continuity of ecosystems. ...
As a crucial component of the ecological security pattern, ecological source (ES) plays a vital role in providing ecosystem service value (ESV) and conserving biodiversity. Previous studies have mostly considered ES only from either landscape change pattern or ecological function perspectives, and have ignored their integration and spatio-temporal evolutionary modeling. In this study, we proposed a multi-perspective framework for the spatio-temporal characteristics of ES by ESV incorporating landscape aesthetics, carbon sink characteristics, ecological quality, and kernel NDVI (kNDVI). By integrating the revised ESV and the kernel normalized difference vegetation index as a foundation, we employed the spatial priority model to identify ES. This improvement aims to yield a more practical and specific ESV result. Applying this framework to the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR), a significant spatio-temporal change in ecological sources has been observed from 2000 to 2020. This performance provided a reference for ecological conservation in the TRHR. The results indicate that this ecological source identification framework has reliable accuracy and efficiency compared with the existing NRs in the TRHR. This method could reveal more precise spatio-temporal distributions of ES, enhancing ecosystem integrity and providing technical modeling support for developing cross-scale spatial planning and management strategies for nature reserve boundaries. The framework proposed in our research could serve as a reference for building ecological networks in other ecologically fragile areas.
... However, it has also led to crucial ecological challenges, including the loss of biodiversity, habitat fragmentation, and the degradation of ecosystem services [2]. These issues require prompt attention as they hinder the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [3,4]. Properly understanding and managing the relationship between ecosystems and urbanization is essential to achieving sustainable human development [5][6][7]. ...
... (accessed on 20 October 2022)). (4) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data were acquired from the Geospatial Data Cloud (http://www.gscloud.cn/ (accessed on 20 October 2022)). ...
Understanding ecosystem service characteristics along urban-rural gradients is vital for enhancing the well-being of urban and rural residents. Despite this importance, prior research has neglected the dynamic evolution of urban-rural gradients during urbanization. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variations of four ecosystem services—habitat quality, carbon sequestration, water yield, and soil retention—along the urban-rural gradient in Jinghong City, China. We propose a method for identifying the gradient using the inverse S function of urban land density distribution and concentric analysis. From 2000 to 2020, ecosystem service supply capacity in Jinghong City continuously declined, indicating degradation over the two decades. The urban-rural gradient zone is classified as core area, inner urban area, suburban area, and urban periphery, each experiencing outward expansion, reflecting significant urbanization. Changes in ecosystem services along the gradient revealed consistently high losses in habitat quality, carbon sequestration, and overall services in the inner urban area, while water yield and soil retention suffered the greatest losses in the urban periphery. As urbanization expanded outward, the loss of these services shifted from the inner urban area to the suburban and urban periphery. These results support decision-making in urban planning and sustainable development for urban-rural regions.
... The city belt along the Yellow River in Ningxia is located in Northwestern China and comprises of the cities of Shizuishan, Yinchuan, Wuzhong and Zhongwei (Fig. 1). The population and the gross domestic product (GDP) of 2020 accounted for 70% and 82% of Ningxia's total amount, respectively (Tang et al., 2023). The city belt serves as the focal region for promoting the ecological civilization and leading the high-quality development of Ningxia. ...
... Water and soil loss is a problem due to the ecological vulnerability of the city belt, making water conservation and soil retention important for regional ecological security (Du et al., 2016). Therefore, the four ecosystem services mentioned above were assessed according to Tang et al. (2023) to define ecological background and identify ecological sources after being normalized. Ecological sources, as important component of ESP, should have patches with the best condition of ecological background, which are frequently represented by the comprehensive importance of ecosystem services. ...
The trade-off of ecosystem services should be considered in ecological security pattern (ESP) construction, which can be reflected in landscape multifunctionality and comprehensive importance. Multi-intensity ESPs management is also required to achieve effective ecological planning. In this study, we proposed an approach of multi-intensity ESPs construction that integrated multifunctional landscape identification and multi-criteria decision-making into ecological source identification, and categorized ecological sources based on the "trend-status-risk" framework, with a case study in the city belt along the Yellow River in Ningxia. The results showed that the optimal weights of the four ecosystem services of habitat maintenance, water conservation, carbon sequestration and soil retention based on multi-criteria decision making were 0.5000, 0.2071, 0.1589 and 0.1340, respectively. The trade-off degree of the ecosystem services was 0.6612, and the overall conservation efficiency was 1.5212. Conservation priority areas based on multifunctional landscape identification and multi-criteria decision-making had an overlapping area of 2189.38 km 2 , accounting for 84.86% of that identified through landscape multi-functionality. The comprehensive ESP of the study area included 45 ecological sources covering a total area of 6067.14 km 2 and 91 ecological corridors with a total area of 3331.62 km 2. Multi-intensity ESPs aiming at conservation, prevention, restoration and reconstruction were established with corresponding management suggestions. The approach to constructing multi-intensity ESPs proposed in this study has application potential in ecological planning of ecologically vulnerable regions, facilitating differentiated ESP management.
... Ecological security refers to the ability of an ecosystem to support social and economic development, as well as human well-being and sustainability. This is specifically reflected in ecosystem services and ecological health (Tang et al., 2023;Chen et al., 2023a, b, c;Zhu and Cai, 2023). In the context of urban ecological security, assessed by two dimensions: the availability of ecosystem services and their affordability for humans . ...
Purpose-With rapid urbanization, cities are facing various ecological and environmental problems. Living in harmony with nature is more important than ever. This paper aims to evaluate the ecosystem and ecological features of Azheke village, a key component of the Hani Rice Terraces World Cultural Heritage in China. The focus is on exploring effective ways to improve the relationship between humans and the natural environment through urban design in order to create a livable and sustainable city that can promote the development of sustainable smart urban ecology design. Design/methodology/approach-This study conducted a systematic literature review to answer the following research questions: (1) How does Azheke design achieve harmony between humans and nature? (2) What are the effective approaches to improve the relationship between humans and nature within urban ecosystems? (3) How can urban design learn and integrate from Azheke's ecological features to improve the relationship between humans and nature? Findings-Azheke sustains long-term human-nature harmony through traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and efficient natural resource use. By incorporating biophilic design and nature-based solutions from Azheke, along with biodiversity-friendly urban planning, we can boost urban ecosystem health and create unique Azheke-inspired urban designs. Research limitations/implications-This research primarily focuses on the human-nature relationship, exploring design strategies based on biodiversity without delving into the interactions between other components of urban ecosystems, such as social-cultural and economic components. Originality/value-This paper provides a new perspective and strategies for developing sustainable and smart urban ecology design. These findings can provide theoretical references for urban planners, designers and decision-makers.
... There are also many scholars conducting cross-border ESP and comparing the construction of ESP in large cities in 2 countries [47,48]. The construction of ESP is important for spatial governance nowadays, which is conducive to the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature [49]. The supply-demand dynamics of GI incorporated into the construction of ESP proved to be useful in alleviating the inherent tension between economic development and environmental protection [50]. ...
The escalating degradation of urban eco-environments has underscored the significance of ecological security in sustainable urban development. Green infrastructure bridges green spaces in cities and increases ecosystem connectivity, thereby optimizing urban ecological security patterns. This study uses Nanjing as a case study and adopts a research paradigm that involves identifying ecological sources, constructing resistance surfaces, and subsequently extracting corridors within the ecological security pattern. This method amalgamates the evaluation of green infrastructure supply and demand, leading to the identification of both ecological corridors and nodes. The findings reveal that while the supply of green infrastructure in Nanjing is low in the city center and high in the suburbs, demand is high in the central area and low in the periphery, indicating a spatial mismatch between supply and demand. Ecological corridors and nodes are categorized into the core, important, and general levels based on their centrality and areas of supply–demand optimization. The connectivity, supply capacity, and supply–demand relationship of green infrastructure in Nanjing have been enhanced to varying degrees through the ecological security pattern optimization. The results of this study can serve as a decision-making reference for optimizing green infrastructure network patterns and enhancing urban ecological security.
... Circuit model, taking ecological sources and ecological resistance surface as inputs, is proposed based on graph theory and has been widely applied for ecological corridor extraction (Pomianowski and Solon 2020). Ecological resistance is a representation of the obstruction of landscape surface to ecological flow, which is generally assigned based on land use types, and modified by nighttime light intensity, impervious area ratio, and other indicators reflecting human activities (Peng et al. 2018a;Tang et al. 2023). ...
Context
Designing and optimizing ecological security pattern (ESP) is an effective solution to formulate landscape planning. The commonly used network analysis for ESP optimization abstracts ecological sources and ecological corridors as homogeneous nodes and edges, ignoring the differentiated landscape pattern and patch stability.
Objectives
It is aimed to construct ESP considering pattern and function, to explore the relationship of patch stability and network connectivity conservation objectives, and to optimize ESP with the integration of the two objectives.
Methods
We proposed a framework for constructing ESP based on ecosystem health and human footprint, and optimizing ESP with network robustness analysis. Land use conflict analysis and node/ edge removal method were further used to assess patch stability and network connectivity, respectively.
Results
ESP of Ningxia was composed of 71 ecological sources covering an area of 10970.25 km², and 150 ecological corridors covering an area of 3950.88 km². The ecological sources and ecological corridors along the Yellow River had high patch stability but low network connectivity, while the largest ecological source had both high values of the two indicators. With the removal of nodes and edges, connectivity robustness, global efficiency, and equivalent connectivity of the ESP decreased from 1, 0.29, and 342.80 to 0, respectively. The variation trends of the three indicators under different removal scenarios were inconsistent. There was a distinct trade-off between the conservation objectives of patch stability and network connectivity.
Conclusions
This study highlighted how to balance different conservation objectives in landscape planning. Our framework can provide guidance for conservation planners to construct and optimize ESP without losing information due to the element abstraction in network analysis.
... So must be to persist in the principle of making use of the water and mountain resources,grow crops,and develop agriculture,industry of business,where conditions permit,and to protect mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands,lakes and grassland and address their degradation at the source in a coordinated way for the ecological restoration and ecological protection . It is necessary to trade-off the multiple scenarios of ESPs to suitable sustainability development and keep harnessed for urban agglomerations along the YRB in Ningxia in practise (Guan et al.,2023;Tang et al.,2023). ...
Land use change can often threaten ecological space and cause enormous impacts on the ecosystem sustainability, and ecological security patterns (ESPs) had been received more attention in spatial planing. Thus,this paper simulated land use change in future under four development scenarios for the urban agglomerations along the Yellow River Basin(YRB) in Ningxia, identified the ESPs,and assessed the stability of network connectivity for each scenario.The result showed that areas of ecological sources in 2035 under the natural development scenario(NDS),economic development scenario(EDS),food security scenario(FSS),and ecological protection scenario(EPS) are 834.82km ² ,715.46km ² ,785.56km ² ,and 1091.43km ² ,and the values of overall connectivity（ O G ）are 0.351,0.466,0.334,0.520,respectively.Under the EPS,the construction of ESPs will have the biggest ecological land use and the best network structure,not only can effectively protect natural ecological,but also reduce the cost of construction in reality.This study provides a valuable reference for diversity and uncertainty of future development,and helps decision-makers management different scales and development scenarios to improve the ecological level of the study area.
... Ecosystem conservation has multiple objectives, such as enhancing water conservation, protecting biodiversity and increasing ecosystem resilience (Mokany et al., 2020;Peng et al., 2018b;Simonson et al., 2021). In ecological conservation planning, trade-offs are commonplace, not only between protected objectives such as herbivore protection and grassland restoration, but also between comprehsive and specific ecosystem characteristics conservation (Chen et al., 2022;Tang et al., 2023). The high comprehensive conservation value area is extracted by summing the values of each ecosystem characteristic and represents the overall state of ecosystem, but does not reflect the state of specific ecosystem characteristic (Montesino Pouzols et al., 2014). ...
Since the Anthropocene, global natural ecosystems have suffered more severe and accelerating harm than at any other period in history. The growing conflict between urban expansion and ecological conservation highlights the importance of finding a balance. Ecological security pattern (ESP) focuses on minimizing the cost-benefit ratio of ecological conservation while maintaining a minimum level of land use demand. It is an effective spatial tool for balancing urban sprawl and ecological conservation, sustaining regional ecological security and safeguarding human well-being, and thus fostering sustainable development. However, when identifying ESP, it is still unclear whether core areas of specific or comprehensive ecosystem characteristics should be highlighted. In this study we established three ESP construction scenarios to explore the trade-off between the conservations of comprehensive and specific ecosystem characteristics. Scenario 1 and Scenario 3 respectively tended to prioritize the conservation of comprehensive and specific ecosystem characteristics respectively, while Scenario 2 represented an intermediate approach. Furthermore, conservation effectiveness of the three scenarios were assessed to choose the best solution under the objectives of ecosystem health, landscape connectivity and integrated conservation . The results showed that Scenario 3 had the largest number of ecological sources and ecological corridors, being 5.82 times and 7.48 times of that in Scenario 1, respectively. The total area of ecological sources in each scenario was 1626 km2, accounting for 24% of the study area. Besides, Scenario 3 had the largest area of ecological corridors, with a total area of 705 km2. Natural reserves of Helan Mountain, Sha Lake, and Baijitan were identified as ecological sources in all the three scenarios, emphasizing their conservation importance. The ESP identified in Scenario 1 exhibited better representativeness of ecosystem health, while the ESP identified in Scenario 3 demonstrated the highest level of landscape connectivity and integrated conservation. Scenario 2 was not the optimal solution under all conservation objectives. The results suggested that the scenario for the conservation of specific ecosystem characteristic had better conservation benefits. This study highlights the conservation trade-off between comprehensive and specific ecosystem characteristics, which will help to identify opitimal ESP construction solution.
... Conservation priority areas are key ecological patches that maintain ecosystem integrity, provide sustainable ecosystem services, which are critical to maintaining regional ecological security (Peng et al., 2018;Tang et al., 2023). Therefore, ecological restoration is urgently required in neighboring damaged areas as well as damaged areas within conservation priority areas. ...
Widespread degradation of natural ecosystems around the globe has resulted in several ecological problems. Ecological restoration is considered a global priority as an important means of mitigating ecosystem degradation and enhancing ecosystem services provision. Regarding ecosystem reference state is a prerequisite for ecological restoration. However, there were few studies focusing on how to regard reference state for ecological restoration, especially under a changing climate. Taking Guizhou Province, a typical karst region in China, as a case study area, in this study we firstly assessed ecosystem services under homogeneous climate conditions. Secondly, we defined the optimal ecosystem services as ecosystem reference state, and then evaluated restoration suitability under a comprehensive framework. Finally, ecological restoration priority areas (EPRAs), which included ecological reconstruction areas, assisted regeneration areas and conservation priority areas needing restoration, were identified by integrating restoration suitability and conservation priority areas. The results showed that the services of water conservation and habitat maintenance only increased less than 10% from 2001 to 2018. Identified ecological reconstruction areas and assisted regeneration areas covered 1078 km 2 and 1159 km 2 respectively. Additionally, 15 conservation priority areas with the total area of 18,507 km 2 were identified as conservation priority areas needing restoration. Accounting for 11.78% of the total area, ERPAs were mostly located in the eastern part of Guizhou, including Qiandongnan, Tongren, and Zunyi. The approach proposed here for regarding ecosystem reference state after controlling climate variables and the framework for identifying ERPAs can provide a scientific reference for large-scale ecological restoration planning.
Background
The World Health Organization declared mpox an international public health emergency. Since January 1, 2022, China has been ranked among the top 10 countries most affected by the mpox outbreak globally. However, there is a lack of spatial epidemiological studies on mpox, which are crucial for accurately mapping the spatial distribution and clustering of the disease.
Objective
This study aims to provide geographically accurate visual evidence to determine priority areas for mpox prevention and control.
Methods
Locally confirmed mpox cases were collected between June and November 2023 from 31 provinces of mainland China excluding Taiwan, Macao, and Hong Kong. Spatiotemporal epidemiological analyses, including spatial autocorrelation and regression analyses, were conducted to identify the spatiotemporal characteristics and clustering patterns of mpox attack rate and its spatial relationship with sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors.
Results
From June to November 2023, a total of 1610 locally confirmed mpox cases were reported in 30 provinces in mainland China, resulting in an attack rate of 11.40 per 10 million people. Global spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that in July (Moran I=0.0938; P=.08), August (Moran I=0.1276; P=.08), and September (Moran I=0.0934; P=.07), the attack rates of mpox exhibited a clustered pattern and positive spatial autocorrelation. The Getis-Ord Gi* statistics identified hot spots of mpox attack rates in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Hainan. Beijing and Tianjin were consistent hot spots from June to October. No cold spots with low mpox attack rates were detected by the Getis-Ord Gi* statistics. Local Moran I statistics identified a high-high (HH) clustering of mpox attack rates in Guangdong, Beijing, and Tianjin. Guangdong province consistently exhibited HH clustering from June to November, while Beijing and Tianjin were identified as HH clusters from July to September. Low-low clusters were mainly located in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Xizang, Qinghai, and Gansu. Ordinary least squares regression models showed that the cumulative mpox attack rates were significantly and positively associated with the proportion of the urban population (t0.05/2,1=2.4041 P=.02), per capita gross domestic product (t0.05/2,1=2.6955; P=.01), per capita disposable income (t0.05/2,1=2.8303; P=.008), per capita consumption expenditure (PCCE; t0.05/2,1=2.7452; P=.01), and PCCE for health care (t0.05/2,1=2.5924; P=.01). The geographically weighted regression models indicated a positive association and spatial heterogeneity between cumulative mpox attack rates and the proportion of the urban population, per capita gross domestic product, per capita disposable income, and PCCE, with high R2 values in north and northeast China.
Conclusions
Hot spots and HH clustering of mpox attack rates identified by local spatial autocorrelation analysis should be considered key areas for precision prevention and control of mpox. Specifically, Guangdong, Beijing, and Tianjin provinces should be prioritized for mpox prevention and control. These findings provide geographically precise and visualized evidence to assist in identifying key areas for targeted prevention and control.
Exploring the impacts of landscape pattern on ecosystem services (ESs) and their trade-offs could provide a new way to improve ESs without largely altering land use types. Using the City Belt along the Yellow River in Ningixa (CBYN) as a case study, we quantified five critical ESs (one provision service of crop production, three regulating services of carbon sequestration, nutrient retention and sand fixation, and one cultural service of recreational opportunity) in 1989–2019 through CASA model, InVEST model and empirical equations. Then we calculated landscape pattern metrics at landscape and class level through Fragstats 4.3 across multiple scales and quantified their impacts on each ES and ES trade-offs through random forest analysis, self-organizing mapping analysis and multivariable regression tree. The results suggested that 3 km is more suitable for analyzing the impacts of landscape pattern on ESs in the CBYN. The nonlinear relations between landscape pattern metrics and each ES were fitted with adjusted R² ranging from 0.26 to 0.51, indicating the significant but limited impacts of landscape pattern on ESs. Specially, landscape-level metrics of CONTAG, SHDI and FRACMN have higher impacts on ESs than class-level ones. Significant synergies existed among agricultural production, carbon sequestration and nutrient retention, except in mountain region with higher or lower fragmentation. Sand fixation has synergy relations with the former three ESs, which would be altered in situations with higher or lower diversity. Our results provide a new direction for land use management to achieve high-quality development without largely altering existing land use situation.
ContextSpatial planning system needs the support of approaches toward achieving sustainability, with sustainable landscape pattern (SLP) for one potential spatial approach. However, the scientific definition of SLP has not been clarified in previous studies, and the support of SLP for spatial planning is also few summarized.Objectives
The scientific definition and conceptual connotation of SLP were proposed, and its application status and development directions of theory and practice in spatial planning were further summarized.Methods
We systematically reviewed the literature on landscape sustainability, urban growth boundary, ecological network, green infrastructure, ecological security pattern, ecological red line and others close to SLP, and qualitatively summarized the key theoretical and practical support of SLP for spatial planning.ResultsSLP is defined as a certain combination of composition and configuration of landscape elements that enables social-ecological processes to sustainably provide stable ecosystem services for promoting human well-being in a particular region. SLP effectively supports spatial planning to determine planning targets, analyze spatial patterns, and compare and select schemes by assessing target landscape elements, identifying key spatial areas, and simulating future development scenarios. It is proposed that frontier concepts (i.e. spatial resilience, metacoupling framework and landscape multifunctionality) provide new research perspectives for SLP, and that SLP can also be applied to ecological restoration, urban agglomeration coordinated development, and nature-based solution in the future.Conclusions
Clarifying the scientific connotation of SLP can provide theoretical and methodological support for spatial planning practice and also a spatial approach for sustainable development.
ContextEcological security pattern (ESP) can maintain regional ecological security and thus support sustainable development. ESP should not only protect regional ecological processes, but also meet human demand for ecosystem services.Objectives
It is aimed to propose a new method of identifying ecological sources in consideration of ecological background and demand, with a case study across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in view of interregional ecological conservation cooperation.Methods
Ecological sources were identified with high supply and high comprehensively ecological supply–demand ratio (CESDR) of ecosystem services. Land use based resistance surface was modified using nighttime light intensity. Ecological corridors and potential ecological corridors were extracted using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model.ResultsEcological sources were mainly distributed in the north, accounting for 13.46% of the total area. Macao and Dongguan had no ecological sources, due to the high level of land urbanization, and the mismatch between high supply and high CESDR patches, respectively. Ecological sources in Hong Kong were connected with that in Shenzhen, showing good background of natural ecosystem connectivity as the foundation for interregional ecological conservation cooperation. Ecological corridors were mainly distributed in the periphery of the study area, connecting most cities except for Macao. The overall ESP showed a spatially circular pattern around the Greater Bay Area.Conclusions
The new method for ecological source identification could effectively enhance the sustainability of ecosystem conservation in view of integrating supply and demand of ecosystem services. It was necessary for all the three regions to strengthen ecological conservation cooperation.
ContextAs an important type of sustainable landscape patterns, ecological security patterns focus on the spatial assessment of landscape function importance. However, there is a lack of attention to the scale effect, one of core cognitions of landscape ecology, especially the impact of extent changes on sustainable landscape patterns.Objectives
Taking Weifang City and its surrounding six cities as the study area, this study was aimed to integrate regional and interregional approaches to identify ecological security patterns with a special focus on the effect of spatial extent changes.Methods
We assessed the ecosystem service importance and integrated the ecological sources identified in view of regional and interregional perspectives. The key or fragile ecological corridors were then identified and the differences of ecological security patterns in different approaches were explored through several landscape metrics.Results11 central ecological sources and 21 surrounding ecological sources were identified. 70% key ecological corridors were the interregional ecological corridors across Weifang City and other cities. Different study extents would cause up to about 24% of the difference in high ecosystem service importance areas of Weifang City, and the corridor connectivity could be improved in the ecological security patterns by integrating the regional and interregional approaches.Conclusions
This study made up for the shortcomings of identifying sustainable landscape patterns within the single spatial extent, especially the discontinuity of ecological sources between the adjacent areas through regional approach, and the neglected local ecological land conservation through interregional approach.
Global and national commitments to slow biodiversity loss by expanding protected area networks also provide opportunities to evaluate conservation priorities in the face of climate change. Using recently developed indicators of climatic macrorefugia, environmental diversity, and corridors, we conducted a systematic, climate‐informed prioritization of conservation values across North America. We explicitly considered complementarity of multiple conservation objectives, capturing key niche‐based temperature and moisture thresholds for 324 tree species and 268 songbird species. Conservation rankings were influenced most strongly by climate corridors and species‐specific refugia layers. Although areas of high conservation value under climate change were partially aligned with existing protected areas, ∼80% of areas within the top quintile of biome‐level conservation values lack formal protection. Results from this study and application of our approach elsewhere can help improve the long‐term value of conservation investments at multiple spatial scales.
ContextSpatial prioritization is an analytical approach that can be used to provide decision support in spatial conservation planning (SCP), and in tasks such as conservation area network design, zoning, planning for impact avoidance or targeting of habitat management or restoration.Methods
Based on literature, we summarize the role of connectivity as one component of relevance in the broad structure of spatial prioritization in both marine and terrestrial realms.ResultsPartially diffuse, directed connectivity can be approximated in Zonation-based multi-criteria SCP by applying hydrodynamic modelling, knowledge on species traits, and information on species occurrences and quality of habitats. Sources and destinations of larvae or propagules can be identified as separate spatial layers and taken into account in full-scale spatial prioritization involving data on biota, as well as economic factors, threats, and administrative constraints. While population connectivity is an important determinant of metapopulation persistence, the importance of marine connectivity depends on species traits and the marine environment studied. At one end of the continuum are species that occupy isolated habitats and have long pelagic larval durations in deeper sea areas with strong directional currents. At the other extreme are species with short pelagic durations that occupy fragmented habitats in shallow topographically complex sea areas with weak and variable currents.Conclusions
We conclude that the same objectives, methods, and analysis structures are applicable to both terrestrial and marine spatial prioritization. Marine spatial conservation planning, marine spatial planning, marine zoning, etc., can be implemented using methods originated in the terrestrial realm of planning.
Context
Spatial conservation prioritization (SCP) has most often been applied to the design of reserve network expansion. In addition to occurrences of species and habitats inside protected area candidate sites, one may also be interested about network-level connectivity considerations.
Objectives
We applied SCP to the identification of ecological networks to inform the development of a new regional plan for the region of Uusimaa (South-Finland, including the Finnish capital district).
Methods
Input data were 59 high-quality layers of biotope and species distribution data. We identified ecological networks based on a combination of a Zonation balanced priority ranking map and a weighted range size rarity map, to account for both relative and absolute conservation values in the process. We also identified ecological corridors between protected areas and other ecologically high-priority areas using the corridor retention method of Zonation. Furthermore, we identified candidate sites for habitat restoration.
Results
We found seven large ecological networks (132–1201 km²) which stand out from their surrounding landscape in terms of ecological value and have clear connectivity bottlenecks between them. Highest restoration needs were found between large high-priority sites that are connected via remnant habitat fragments in comparatively highly modified areas.
Conclusions
Land conversion should be avoided in areas of highest ecological priorities and network-level connectivity. Restoration should be considered for connectivity bottlenecks. Methods described here can be applied in any location where relevant spatial data are available. The present results are actively used by the regional council and municipalities in the region of Uusimaa.
Context
Protecting wetlands in cities is challenging. A cost-effective spatial prioritization approach taking into account stakeholder motivations is needed to identify wetlands of conservation interest.
Objectives
This study aims to optimize the efficiency of a systematic conservation planning (SCP) approach to protect nine urban wetland ecosystem services (ES) and biodiversity.
Methods
First, we mapped ES supply and demand to capture their spatial variation as they occur at the wetland scale. Secondly, using wetland property value as cost data, we compared the efficiency of SCP to two multicriteria scoring approaches. Thirdly, we compared SCP alternatives by changing the planning unit scale and conservation objectives (i.e. emphasizing ES demand and focusing on the most important ES).
Results
The total cost of the scoring approach networks was minimally 13 times higher, when compared to the SCP approaches. Consequently, the scoring approaches were at least five times less efficient than SCP per unit of network area ($/m²). Decreasing the size of planning units resulted in further cost reduction, with networks that were up to 92% less costly. We also highlighted that beneficiary demand fulfillment in networks could be optimized without a loss in efficiency. Finally, SCP secured nine ES for the same expenditure as that required to protect four public safety related ES. However, planning solely for these four important ES failed to represent those of other ES.
Conclusions
Our results may provide a tool to better inform land use decision planning in order to mitigate the impacts of urban growth on ES.
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are sites identified as globally important for bird species conservation. Marine IBAs are one of the few comprehensive multi-species datasets available for the marine environment, and their use in conservation planning will likely increase as countries race to protect 10% of their territorial waters by 2020. We tested 15 planning scenarios for Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone to guide best practice on integrating marine IBAs into spatial conservation prioritization. We found prioritizations based solely on habitat protection failed to protect IBAs, and prioritizations based solely on IBAs similarly failed to meet basic levels of habitat representation. Further, treating all marine IBAs as irreplaceable sites produced the most inefficient plans in terms of ecological representativeness and protection equality. Our analyses suggest that marine spatial planners who wish to use IBAs treat them like any other conservation feature by assigning them a specific protection target. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Significance
Despite the critical threat of habitat fragmentation, global patterns of fragmentation and its relationship to extinction risk have not been quantified for any major taxon. We developed high-resolution models that provide a global assessment of the degree of habitat fragmentation impacting the world’s terrestrial mammals. Results demonstrate that mammals with more fragmentation are at greater risk of extinction, even after accounting for the effects of key macroecological predictors, such as body size and geographic range size. Species with higher fragmentation had smaller ranges and a lower proportion of high-suitability habitat within their range, and most high-suitability habitat occurred outside of protected areas, further elevating extinction risk. Quantification of habitat fragmentation will help guide strategic priorities for global mammal conservation.
Significance
Approximately a quarter of all land mammals are currently threatened, mostly by human activities including habitat loss and harvesting. Here, we provide the first biological map of priority areas that captures all three dimensions of mammalian biodiversity: taxonomic, phylogenetic, and traits. We find limited overlap in priority regions across the three dimensions and with currently protected areas, indicating that conservation planning should consider multiple dimensions of biodiversity to maximize biodiversity conservation. Our complementarity-based prioritization provides a conservation solution that can be incorporated in future conservation planning efforts aimed at helping protect not only species but also evolutionary potential and ecosystem function.
Designing connected landscapes is among the most widespread strategies for achieving biodiversity conservation targets. The challenge lies in simultaneously satisfying the connectivity needs of multiple species at multiple spatial scales under uncertain climate and land-use change. To evaluate the contribution of remnant habitat fragments to the connectivity of regional habitat networks, we develop a framework integrating uncertainty in climate and land-use change projections with the latest developments in network connectivity research and spatial, multi-purpose conservation prioritization. We apply this framework to a set of fourteen vertebrate focal species in peri-urban Montreal, Canada. We show that accounting for connectivity in spatial prioritization strongly modifies conservation priorities, and that these priorities are robust to uncertain climate change. We use land-use change simulations to explore the robustness of species' habitat networks to alternative development scenarios. Setting conservation priorities based on habitat quality and connectivity maintains a large proportion of the region's connectivity despite anticipated habitat loss due to climate and land-use change. We found that the application of connectivity criteria alongside habitat quality criteria for protected-area design is area-efficient and does not necessarily amplify trade-offs among conservation criteria. Our approach and results are now being applied in and around the city of Montreal and are well suited to the design of ecological networks and green infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem services in other regions, in particular regions around large cities, where connectivity is critically low. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The expansion of large-scale plantations has a major impact on landscapes in the Tropics and Subtropics. Crops like soy bean, oil palm and rubber have led to drastic changes in land cover over the past decades, thereby altering ecosystem functions and services (ESS). Associated shifts in ESS such as climate regulation, erosion and water cycles, biodiversity as well as soil fertility or the provisioning of raw materials have been assessed through several models and software solutions (InVEST, ARIES, MIMES). However, suitable methods for the integration of a range of biodiversity assessments in agricultural landscapes are scarce.
Landscape ecological security pattern (LESP) can effectively safeguard urban ecological security, which is vital for urban sustainable development. Previous studies have not adequately considered the ability to fulfill people’s demand for ecosystem services when identifying sources of LESP. To address this gap, we sought to develop a more comprehensive approach coupling ecosystem services supply and human ecological demand to construct LESP for Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. We proposed a new evaluation framework integrating ecosystem services importance assessment and landscape connectivity analysis with human ecological demand importance assessment to identify ecological sources. Afterwards, ecological corridors were identified using Minimum Cumulative Resistance model based on sources and resistance surface modified through nighttime light data. Combined with ecological sources and corridors, LESP for Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region can be constructed. The ecological sources are mainly located in western Beijing and southwestern Chengde. The ecological source area totals 36,245.50 km2, accounting for 21.26% of the ecological land in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. The ecological corridors cross the whole region, from northeast to southwest, similar to the direction of the Yanshan–Taihang Mountain Chain. All the national nature reserves and 91.4% of the provincial nature reserves are distributed within the LESP. The validity of our methodology is confirmed by the distribution of the nature reserves. This study adds new insights into the methodology of LESP construction, and its results provide information about local ecological characteristics that can provide an important reference for decision-making concerning urban planning and ecological conservation.
ContextSpatial conservation prioritization (SCP) concerns, for example, identification of spatial priorities for biodiversity conservation or for impact avoidance in economic development. Software useable for SCP include Marxan, C-Plan and Zonation. SCP is often based on data about the distributions of biodiversity features (e.g., species, habitats), costs, threats, and/or ecosystem services (ES). Objectives and methodsAt simplest ES can be entered into a SCP analysis as independent supply maps, but this is not very satisfactory because connectivity requirements and consequent ideal spatial priority patterns may vary between ES. Therefore, we examine different ES and their connectivity requirements at the conceptual level. ResultsWe find that the ideal spatial priority pattern for ES may differ in terms of: local supply area size and regional network requirements for the maintenance of ES provision, for flow between provision and demand, and with respect to the degree of dispersion that is needed for ES provision and access across different administrative regions. We then identify existing technical options in the Zonation software for dealing with such connectivity requirements of ES in SCP. Conclusions
This work helps users of SCP to improve how ES are accounted for in analysis together with biodiversity and other considerations.
Note first author is K.L. Larson, not S.J. Hall -- this needs to be fixed in ResearchGate.
We conducted an analysis of global forest cover to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation. A synthesis of fragmentation experiments spanning multiple biomes and scales, five continents, and 35 years demonstrates that habitat fragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75% and impairs key ecosystem functions by decreasing biomass and altering nutrient cycles. Effects are greatest in the smallest and most isolated fragments, and they magnify with the passage of time. These findings indicate an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity, which will reduce extinction rates and help maintain ecosystem services.
Time is divided by geologists according to marked shifts in Earth's state. Recent global environmental changes suggest that Earth may have entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Here we review the historical genesis of the idea and assess anthropogenic signatures in the geological record against the formal requirements for the recognition of a new epoch. The evidence suggests that of the various proposed dates two do appear to conform to the criteria to mark the beginning of the Anthropocene: 1610 and 1964. The formal establishment of an Anthropocene Epoch would mark a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system.
Protected areas are one of the main tools for halting the continuing global biodiversity crisis caused by habitat loss, fragmentation and other anthropogenic pressures. According to the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the protected area network should be expanded to at least 17% of the terrestrial world by 2020 (http://www.cbd.int/sp/targets). To maximize conservation outcomes, it is crucial to identify the best expansion areas. Here we show that there is a very high potential to increase protection of ecoregions and vertebrate species by expanding the protected area network, but also identify considerable risk of ineffective outcomes due to land-use change and uncoordinated actions between countries. We use distribution data for 24,757 terrestrial vertebrates assessed under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 'red list of threatened species', and terrestrial ecoregions (827), modified by land-use models for the present and 2040, and introduce techniques for global and balanced spatial conservation prioritization. First, we show that with a coordinated global protected area network expansion to 17% of terrestrial land, average protection of species ranges and ecoregions could triple. Second, if projected land-use change by 2040 (ref. 11) takes place, it becomes infeasible to reach the currently possible protection levels, and over 1,000 threatened species would lose more than 50% of their present effective ranges worldwide. Third, we demonstrate a major efficiency gap between national and global conservation priorities. Strong evidence is shown that further biodiversity loss is unavoidable unless international action is quickly taken to balance land-use and biodiversity conservation. The approach used here can serve as a framework for repeatable and quantitative assessment of efficiency, gaps and expansion of the global protected area network globally, regionally and nationally, considering current and projected land-use pressures.
Spatial conservation prioritization concerns the effective allocation of conservation action. Its stages include development of an ecologically based model of conservation value, data pre-processing, spatial prioritization analysis, and interpretation of results for conservation action. Here we investigate the details of each stage for analyses done using the Zonation prioritization framework. While there is much literature about analytical methods implemented in Zonation, there is only scattered information available about what happens before and after the computational analysis. Here we fill this information gap by summarizing the pre-analysis and post-analysis stages of the Zonation framework. Concerning the entire process, we summarize the full workflow and list examples of operational best-case, worst- case, and typical scenarios for each analysis stage. We discuss resources needed in different analysis stages. We also discuss benefits, disadvantages, and risks involved in the application of spatial prioriti- zation from the perspective of different stakeholders. Concerning pre-analysis stages, we explain the development of the ecological model and discuss the setting of priority weights and connectivity re- sponses.We also explain practical aspects of data pre-processing and the post-processing interpretation of results for different conservation objectives. This work facilitates well-informed design and application of Zonation analyses for the purpose of spatial conservation planning. It should be useful for both sci- entists working on conservation related research as well as for practitioners looking for useful tools for conservation resource allocation
Human activities are rapidly changing ecosystems, landscapes and ecosystem service provision, yet there remain significant gaps in our understanding of the spatial ecology of ecosystem services. These gaps hinder our ability to manage landscapes effectively for multiple ecosystem services. In particular, we do not fully understand how changes in landscape connectivity affect ecosystem service provision, despite theory suggesting that connectivity is important. Here, we perform a semi-quantitative review of the literature that investigates how landscape connectivity affects the provision of specific ecosystem services. The vast majority of studies, including reviews, models, and field studies, suggest that decreased connectivity will have negative effects on ecosystem service provision. However, only 15 studies provided empirical evidence of these effects. Average effect sizes from these 15 studies suggest negative effects of connectivity loss on pollination and pest regulation. We identify a number of significant gaps in the connectivity-ecosystem services literature, including: a lack of multiple service studies, which precludes identification of trade-offs between services as connectivity changes; few studies that directly measure organism movement and its effects on ecosystem services; and few empirical studies that investigate the importance of abiotic flows on service provision. We propose that future research should aim to understand how different aspects of connectivity affect ecosystem service provision; which services are most influenced by connectivity; and how connectivity influences how humans access and benefit from ecosystem services. Studies that answer these questions will advance our understanding of connectivity-ecosystem service provision relationships and allow for better ecosystem and landscape management and restoration.
Landscape connectivity is crucial for many ecological processes, including dispersal, gene flow, demographic rescue, and movement in response to climate change. As a result, governmental and non-governmental organizations are focusing efforts to map and conserve areas that facilitate movement to maintain population connectivity and promote climate adaptation. In contrast, little focus has been placed on identifying barriers-landscape features which impede movement between ecologically important areas-where restoration could most improve connectivity. Yet knowing where barriers most strongly reduce connectivity can complement traditional analyses aimed at mapping best movement routes. We introduce a novel method to detect important barriers and provide example applications. Our method uses GIS neighborhood analyses in conjunction with effective distance analyses to detect barriers that, if removed, would significantly improve connectivity. Applicable in least-cost, circuit-theoretic, and simulation modeling frameworks, the method detects both complete (impermeable) barriers and those that impede but do not completely block movement. Barrier mapping complements corridor mapping by broadening the range of connectivity conservation alternatives available to practitioners. The method can help practitioners move beyond maintaining currently important areas to restoring and enhancing connectivity through active barrier removal. It can inform decisions on trade-offs between restoration and protection; for example, purchasing an intact corridor may be substantially more costly than restoring a barrier that blocks an alternative corridor. And it extends the concept of centrality to barriers, highlighting areas that most diminish connectivity across broad networks. Identifying which modeled barriers have the greatest impact can also help prioritize error checking of land cover data and collection of field data to improve connectivity maps. Barrier detection provides a different way to view the landscape, broadening thinking about connectivity and fragmentation while increasing conservation options.
The aim of this study is to propose the application of landscape ecology in planning urban ecological networks to conserve
nature in urban landscapes and to develop a sustainable use of urban lands. Compared to the classical planning approach based
on socio-economic land suitability, the principles of landscape ecology are helpful simultaneously conserving the ecological
processes of landscapes and their steady changes. This approach could help in defining sustainable landscape development,
aiming for a balance between both physical and natural systems in urban areas. This research is focused on the ecological
networks in Tehran’s metropolitan area as a case study to provide a model for network planning in other urban areas, where
urbanization seriously threats the natural environment. In concluding this research, the spatial structure and function of
the area are studied and categorized based on the patch-corridor-matrix model. The paper concludes with methods of intervention
and suggestions for the structural and functional improvement of urban landscapes towards achieving a more sustainable form
of land use planning.
Ecological restoration policies and their implementation are influenced by ecological and socioeconomic drivers. Top-down approach-based spatial planning, emphasizing hierarchical control within government structures, and without a comprehensive consideration of social-ecological interactions may result in implementation failure and low efficiency. Although many researchers have indicated the necessity to engage social-ecological interactions between stakeholders in effective planning processes, socioeconomic drivers of ecological restoration on a large scale are difficult to quantify because of data scarcity and knowledge limitations. Here, we established a new ecological restoration planning approach linking a social-ecological system framework to large-scale ecological restoration planning. The new spatial planning approach integrates bottom-up approaches targeting stakeholder interests and provides social considerations for stakeholder behavior analysis. Based on this approach, a meta-analysis is introduced to recognize key socioeconomic and social-ecological factors influencing large-scale ecological restoration implementation, and a stochastic model is constructed to analyze the impact of socioeconomic drivers on the behavior of authorities and participants on a large scale. We used the Yangtze River Basin-based Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP), one of the largest payments for ecosystem service programs worldwide, to quantify the socioeconomic impacts of large-scale ecological restoration programs. Current CCFP planning without socioeconomic considerations failed to achieve large-scale program goals and showed low investment efficiency, with 19.71% of the implemented area reconverting to cropland after contract expiry. In contrast, spatial matching between planned and actual restoration increased from 61.55% to 81.86% when socioeconomic drivers were included. In addition, compared to that with the current CCFP implementation, the cost effectiveness of spatial planning with social considerations improved by 46.94%. Thus, spatial optimization planning that integrates both top-down and bottom-up approaches can result in more practical and effective ecological restoration than top-down approaches alone. Our new approach incorporates socioeconomic factors into large-scale ecological restoration planning with high practicality and efficiency.
Exploring the factors influencing ecosystem services (ESs) is crucial for protecting them. Habitat fragmentation is a critical factor that has been proved to have positive or negative effects on various ESs. However, the detailed effects of different habitat fragmentation processes have not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to explore the complicated influences of different habitat fragmentation processes on the variations in ESs, and identify the most significant influencing processes. The Yangtze River Delta region of China was selected as the study area. Three basic habitat fragmentation processes were quantified: a decrease in habitat area, an increase in habitat isolation, and an increase in habitat edge. Generalized additive models and a geographical detector were adopted to explore the influences of different fragmentation processes on the variations in the four ESs. The results suggested that different habitat fragmentation processes had linear/nonlinear/combined effects on different ESs, and the decrease in habitat area was the most significant fragmentation process. Carbon storage and habitat quality were affected significantly by habitat fragmentation. However, habitat fragmentation contributed less to the variations in water yield and soil retention, because they were more closely associated with climate factors. The influences of these fragmentation processes exhibited a positive and nonlinear interaction. These findings suggest that integrating the nonlinear effects of fragmentation in practical ESs management and landscape planning might be essential. Moreover, our study provides a fundamental reference for related research.
Well-functioning ecological corridors are critical for conserving biodiversity in areas undergoing increasing habitat losses and ecosystem fragmentation. Although it is essential to rebuild broken corridors by land use adjustments, related discussions of spatially explicit delineations of to-be-adjusted lands and quantitative adjustment costs are rare. Based on a widely adopted minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, we simulated the potential ecological processes and identified ecological corridors in a rapidly urbanized city, namely, Nanjing, in eastern China. We then analysed the corresponding land use and cover changes (LUCCs) from 2000 to 2015 and quantitatively calculated the costs of rebuilding the indicated corridors based on the indication of the amount/spatial distribution of to-be-adjusted lands and their different standards of related adjustment. The results indicated that most obtained corridors were along continuous waters, but LUCCs still occurred within them; the spatial expansion of urban lands dominated, especially in the suburban areas and outer buffers of the ecological corridors. The rebuilding costs increased significantly, and urban land adjustments dominated these increases. Spatially, most costs were associated with suburban areas, and the costs increased obviously as the corridor width increased. Based on the comprehensive consideration of ecological suitability and economic rationality, we found that 200 m was the most appropriate width for rebuilding ecological corridors, as it can both meet the demands of local species and balance the local public budget. We explored methodologies used to identify potential ecological corridors and quantitatively evaluate the costs of rebuilding them, thus providing a basis for implementing practical and feasible land use adjustments addressing ecological suitability and economic rationality.
Global policies call for connecting protected areas (PAs) to conserve the flow of animals and genes across changing landscapes, yet whether global PA networks currently support animal movement-and where connectivity conservation is most critical-remain largely unknown. In this study, we map the functional connectivity of the world's terrestrial PAs and quantify national PA connectivity through the lens of moving mammals. We find that mitigating the human footprint may improve connectivity more than adding new PAs, although both strategies together maximize benefits. The most globally important areas of concentrated mammal movement remain unprotected, with 71% of these overlapping with global biodiversity priority areas and 6% occurring on land with moderate to high human modification. Conservation and restoration of critical connectivity areas could safeguard PA connectivity while supporting other global conservation priorities.
Ecological security is the basis for ecosystems to provide various ecosystem services (ESs) to humans. Identifying ecological security patterns (ESPs) is an effective approach to determine the priority conservation areas and ensure regional ecological security. However, most previous studies on ESPs were based mainly on the supply of ESs, while the demand and sensitivity of ESs were not fully considered. In this study, a comprehensive ESP identification framework was developed by integrating the supply, demand and sensitivity of ESs with the fuzzy multicriteria decision-making and circuit theory. Taking the Yellow River Basin (YRB) as a case study, our results show that the ecological sources (139,633 km² or 17.3%) of the YRB were located mainly in the transition area between the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and Loess Plateau, and in the Qinling Mountains and eastern plains; these areas reliably exhibited high conservation efficiency and low decision-making risk and tradeoff levels. However, the northern and western YRB had few ecological sources due to mismatches among the supply, demand and sensitivity of ESs. Based on circuit theory, ecological corridors (36,905 m and 76,878 km²) effectively connected the western, southern and eastern parts of the YRB. These ecological sources and corridors were both dominated by grassland, forest and cropland. However, ten pinch points, primarily covered by cropland, were also recognized in the eastern YRB and should be considered as priority areas for ecological conservation. Moreover, our results indicate that this comprehensive ESP identification framework could provide useful guidance to decision-makers for maintaining ESs and ecological conservation.
Ecosystem services (ES) clarifies nature's contribution to human in an intuitive way, and aims at fully recognizing the importance of nature in the decision-making of social-ecological system management. However, in order to improve the ability of ES to guide decision-making in practice, the ES-based decision-making (ESDM) needs to be further explored. Thus, this study summarized the connotation of ESDM, and clarified development approach of ESDM. Further, the ESDM framework was demonstrated in a structured approach. The results showed that although ESDM has been developing rapidly, the key components of ESDM have not been fully integrated in decision-making practice. This framework integrated key ES components (ES supply-demand, flow, disservice, stakeholders, tradeoff, and feedback) with their correlations and decision makers. The ESDM framework includes five components: ES supply assessment, stakeholder identification and ES demand assessment, ES flow path identification, target selection and multi-dimensional tradeoff, and decision-making and adaptive feedback. This ESDM framework enriches the multi-dimensional tradeoff of stakeholders’ preference facing the ES delivery process, and provides comprehensive and scientific information for social-ecological system decision-making. The key issues that should be further investigated in ESDM are the mediating factors of ES flow, fairness among stakeholders, and multi-dimensional targets integration in decision-making. The important approaches for improving the efficiency and operability of ESDM include improving the ES assessment precision and strengthening spatial-temporal scale coupling analysis.
Spatial (conservation) prioritization integrates data on the distributions of biodiversity, costs and threats. It produces spatial priority maps that can support ecologically well‐informed land use planning in general, including applications in environmental impact avoidance outside protected areas. Here we describe novel methods that significantly increase the utility of spatial priority ranking in large analyses and with interactive planning.
Methodologically, we describe a novel algorithm for implementing spatial priority ranking, novel alternatives for balancing between biodiversity features, fast tiled FFT transforms for connectivity calculations based on dispersal kernels, and a novel analysis output, the flexibility map.
Marking by N the number of landscape elements with data, the new prioritization algorithm has time scaling of less than N log 2 N instead of the N ² of its predecessor. We illustrate feasible computation times with data up to billions of elements in size, implying capacity for global analysis at a resolution higher than 0.25 km ² , or close to 1‐ha resolution for a continent.
The algorithmic improvements described here bring about improved capacity to implement decision support for real‐world spatial conservation planning problems. The methods described here will be at the technical core of forthcoming software releases.
The development of urban agglomeration in aquatic areas is premised on ecological security. The construction of ecological security network is an effective measure to reduce ecological resistance and guarantee economic development. In this study, a comprehensive ecological security network (ESN) evaluation approach is developed by integrating the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model and Duranton and Overman Index (DOI). Taking the urban agglomeration around Poyang Lake in 2015 as a case, the MCR model showed the ecological landscape pattern of discrete connection and large overall ecological resistance. The DOI model indicated that the industries of moderately polluted were global localization, while heavily polluted were small-scale localization and large-scale dispersion. Accordingly, the ESN consisting of 35 ecological sources, 34 ecological corridors, 57 artificial corridors, and 39 eco-economic strategic nodes can avoid the threat of industrial layout to the ecological landscape. The results of this study complemented the guidance of industrial agglomeration theory on the basis of “source-sink” theory. The dual evaluation approach of landscape ecology and economic agglomeration proposed in this study explores interdisciplinary data fusion of different scales, and also provides a reference for inter-municipal coordinated ecological management and restraining urban excessive expansion.
We are approaching a reckoning point in 2020 for global targets that better articulate the interconnections between biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable development. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD’s) post-2020 global biodiversity framework and targets will be developed as we enter the last decade to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. Despite recent findings of unprecedented declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services and their negative impacts on SDGs, these declines remain largely unaccounted for in the SDG’s upcoming ‘decade of action’. We use a social–ecological systems framework to develop four recommendations for targets that capture the interdependencies between biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable development. These recommendations, which are primarily aimed at the CBD post-2020 process, include moving from separate social and ecological targets to social–ecological targets that: account for (1) the support system role of biodiversity and (2) ecosystem services in sustainable development. We further propose target advances that (3) capture social–ecological feedbacks reinforcing unsustainable outcomes, and (4) reveal indirect feedbacks hidden by current target systems. By making these social–ecological interdependencies explicit, it is possible to create coherent systems of global targets that account for the complex role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in sustainable development. This Perspective uses a social–ecological systems framework to make recommendations for global targets that capture the interdependencies of biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable development to inform the Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 process and the future of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Ecological corridors are effective to prevent ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss through promoting the connection among discrete habitat patches. Identifying ecological corridors is of great importance for biodiversity conservation and landscape planning. Previous studies mainly focused on the directions of ecological corridors among habitat patches and the boundaries of ecological corridors were usually subjectively identified. In this study a new approach integrating spatial continuous wavelet transform and kernel density estimation was proposed to objectively identify the width thresholds of ecological corridors in the megacity of Beijing City, with the application of InVEST model to extract core habitat patches, and constructing the ecological resistance surface based on natural conditions and human activities. The restoration coefficient was also defined and applied to determine the key restoration areas. The results showed that the total area of core habitat patches in Beijing City was 3652.75 km², with 1414.67 km² for ecological corridors, mainly distributed in the western and northern mountainous areas. 36 key restoration areas were also extracted, mainly located in the narrow areas with large resistance. Identifying the range and key restoration areas of ecological corridors can provide spatial guidelines for ecological conservation and restoration, thus ensuring regional ecological security in megacities.
Conservation resource allocation involves a complex set of considerations including species, habitats, connectivity, local to global biodiversity objectives, alternative protection and restoration actions, while requiring cost-efficiency and effective implementation. We present a national scale spatial conservation prioritization analysis for complementing the network of protected mires in Finland. We show how spatial prioritization coupled with regional targets and expert knowledge can facilitate structured decision-making. In our application, discussion between experts was structured around the prioritization model enabling integration of quantitative analysis with expert knowledge. The used approach balances requirements of many biodiversity features over large landscapes, while aiming at a cost-effective solution. As a special analytical feature, mire complexes were definedpriorto prioritization to formhydrologically functional planning units, including alsotheir drained parts that require restoration for the planning unit to remain or potentially increase in value. This enabled selection of mires where restoration effort is supporting and benefitting from the core mire areas of high conservationvalue.Wefoundthatakeytosuccessfulimplementationwasearlyonstructuredco-producingbetween analysts, mire experts, and decision-makers. This allowed effective multidirectional knowledge transfer and evaluation of trade-offs related to the focal conservation decisions. Quantitative trade-off information was seen especially helpful by the stakeholders to decide how to follow the analysis results. Overall, we illustrate a realistic and applicable spatial conservation prioritization case supporting real world conservation decisionmaking. The introduced approach can be applied globally to increase effectiveness of large-scale protection and management planning of the diverse wetland ecosystem complexes.
Ecological security patterns composed of ecological sources and corridors provide an effective approach to conserving natural ecosystems. Although the direction of ecological corridors has been identified in previous studies, the precise range remains unknown. To address this crucial gap, ant colony algorithm and kernel density estimation were applied to identify the range and restoration points of ecological corridors, which is important for natural conservation and ecological restoration. In this case study of Beijing City, ecological sources were identified based on habitat importance and landscape connectivity. The results showed that, in total 3119.65 km ² of ecological land had been extracted as ecological sources, which were mainly located in the northern, northwestern and northeastern mountainous areas. The identified key ecological corridor covered an area of 198.86 km ² , with 567.30 km ² for potential ecological corridors, both connecting the ecological sources. 34 key points were also identified with priority in restoring ecological corridors.
Policy guidelines for creating new protected areas commonly recommend larger protected areas be favored. We examine whether these recommendations are justified, providing the first evaluation of this question to use return-on-investment (ROI) methods that account for how protected area size influences multiple ecological benefits and the economic costs of protection. We examine areas acquired to protect forested ecosystems in the eastern US that are rich in endemic species. ROI analyses often alter recommendations about protected area size from those obtained when considering only ecological benefits or only economic costs. Large protected areas offer a greater ecological return per dollar invested if the goal of protecting sites is to reduce forest fragmentation on the wider landscape, whereas smaller sites offer a higher ROI when prioritizing sites offering protection to more species. A portfolio of site sizes may need to be included in protected area networks when multiple objectives motivate conservation.
Ecological security patterns (ESPs) aim to provide an effective spatial approach for maintaining urban ecological security based on the relationship between landscape patterns and ecological processes. However, the methods of selecting ecological security sources and evaluating resistance surfaces for ESPs construction are not well developed and lack consideration of land degradation and spatial heterogeneity. Using Shenzhen City, a fast-growing city in a rapidly urbanizing region, as a case study area, this study evaluated two types of land degradation risk for ecological land: type transformation risk and functional damage risk. Both two kinds of risk were combined with ecological functional importance, which was composed of habitat quality and landscape connectivity, so as to quantify the comprehensive reserve value of ecological land to identify the ecological security sources. Ecological corridors were established with the application of remotely-sensed impervious surface area in the ecological resistance surface evaluation. In all, 477.43 km² ecological land were identified as ecological security sources, with 278.1 km and 197.5 km for the length of group corridors and landscape corridors respectively. The ecological corridors spatially presented a radiation pattern of one axis and three strips. The majority of both ecological security sources and corridors was located within the existing ecological protection boundary, confirming its ecological significance. This study provided an effective quantification framework to identify urban ESPs, and ESPs mapping could make a fundamental support to urban planning.
Due to increasing habitat fragmentation and concern about its ecological effects, there has been an upsurge in the use of landscape connectivity estimates in conservation planning. Measuring connectivity is challenging, resulting in a limited understanding of the efficacy of connectivity estimation techniques and the conditions under which they perform best. We evaluated the performance of four commonly used connectivity metrics – Euclidean distance; least-cost paths (LCP) length and cost; and circuit theory’s resistance distance – over a variety of simulated landscapes. We developed an agent-based model simulating the dispersal of individuals with different behavioural traits across landscapes varying in their spatial structure. The outcomes of multiple dispersal attempts were used to obtain ‘true’ connectivity. These ‘true’ connectivity measures were then compared to estimates generated using the connectivity metrics, employing the simulated landscapes as cost-surfaces. The four metrics differed in the strength of their correlation with true connectivity; resistance distance showed the strongest correlation, closely followed by LCP cost, with Euclidean distance having the weakest. Landscape structure and species behavioural attributes only weakly predicted the performance of resistance distance, LCP cost and length estimates, with none predicting Euclidean distance’s efficacy. Our results indicate that resistance distance and LCP cost produce the most accurate connectivity estimates, although their absolute performance under different conditions is difficult to predict. We emphasise the importance of testing connectivity estimates against patterns derived from independent data, such as those acquired from tracking studies. Our findings should help to inform a more refined implementation of connectivity metrics in conservation management.
Although networks provide a powerful approach to study a large variety of ecological systems, their formulation does not typically account for multiple interaction types, interactions that vary in space and time, and interconnected systems such as networks of networks. The emergent field of ‘multilayer networks’ provides a natural framework for extending analyses of ecological systems to include such multiple layers of complexity, as it specifically allows one to differentiate and model ‘intralayer’ and ‘interlayer’ connectivity. The framework provides a set of concepts and tools that can be adapted and applied to ecology, facilitating research on high-dimensional, heterogeneous systems in nature. Here, we formally define ecological multilayer networks based on a review of previous, related approaches; illustrate their application and potential with analyses of existing data; and discuss limitations, challenges, and future applications. The integration of multilayer network theory into ecology offers largely untapped potential to investigate ecological complexity and provide new theoretical and empirical insights into the architecture and dynamics of ecological systems.
Landscape structure and fragmentation have important effects on ecosystem services, with a common assumption being that fragmentation reduces service provision. This is based on fragmentation's expected effects on ecosystem service supply, but ignores how fragmentation influences the flow of services to people. Here we develop a new conceptual framework that explicitly considers the links between landscape fragmentation, the supply of services, and the flow of services to people. We argue that fragmentation's effects on ecosystem service flow can be positive or negative, and use our framework to construct testable hypotheses about the effects of fragmentation on final ecosystem service provision. Empirical efforts to apply and test this framework are critical to improving landscape management for multiple ecosystem services.
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The limited availability of resources for conservation has led to the development of many quantitative methods for selecting reserves that aim to maximize the biodiversity value of reserve networks. In published analyses, species are often considered equal, although some are in much greater need of protection than others. Furthermore, representation is usually treated as a threshold: a species is either represented or not, but varying levels of representation over or under a given target level are not valued differently. We propose that a higher representation level should also have higher value. We introduce a framework for reserve selection that includes species weights and benefit functions for under- and overrepresentation (number of locations for each species). We applied the method to conservation planning for herb-rich forests in southern Finland. Our use of benefit functions and weighting changed the identity of about 50% of the selected sites at different funding levels and improved the representation of rare and threatened species. We also identified a small area of additional land that would substantially enhance the existing reserve network. We suggest that benefit functions and species weighting should be considered as standard options in reserve-selection applications.
The most widespread reserve selection strategy is target-based planning, as specified under the framework of systematic conservation planning. Targets are given for the repre-sentation levels of biodiversity features, and site selection algorithms are employed to either meet the targets with least cost (the minimum set formulation) or to maximize the number of targets met with a given resource (maximum coverage). Benefit functions are another recent approach to reserve selection. In the benefit function framework the objective is to maximize the value of the reserve network, however value is defined. In one benefit function formulation value is a sum over species-specific values, and spe-cies-specific value is an increasing function of representation. This benefit function approach is computationally convenient, but because it allows free tradeoffs between spe-cies, it essentially makes the assumption that species are acting as surrogates, or samples from a larger regional species pool. The Zonation algorithm is a recent computational method that produces a hierarchy of conservation priority through the landscape. This hierarchy is produced via iterative removal of selection units (cells) using the criterion of least marginal loss of conservation value to decide which cell to remove next. The first var-iant of Zonation, here called core-area Zonation, has a characteristic of emphasizing core-areas of all species. Here I separate the Zonation meta-algorithm from the cell removal rule, the definition of marginal loss of conservation value utilized inside the algorithm. I show how additive benefit functions and target-based planning can be implemented into the Zonation framework via the use of particular kinds of cell removal rules. The core-area, additive benefit function and targeting benefit function variants of Zonation have interest-ing conceptual differences in how they treat and trade off between species in the planning process.
Habitat patches situated amidst an otherwise inhospitable landscape are often considered as islands in the sense of the equilibrium theory of insular zoogeography. Their species richness can be affected by isolation from other areas of suitable habitat. However, the isolation of habitat islands is not only dependent on the distance from the source area, as with oceanic islands, but also on the characteristics of the interjacent landscape. To account for the latter, the use of a measure of isolation termed ‘minimal cumulative resistance’ (MCR) is proposed. A simple model is described for calculating MCR from a grid-based map on which estimated dispersal resistances are assigned to landscape types. Application of the model is illustrated with a specific case: the allocation of new forests in the western part of the Netherlands. Although its application is bound by a number of restrictions, it is concluded that the model can be a useful aid in physical planning and nature conservation.
The rapid growth of cities around the world is now seen as a major contributor to global biodiversity loss and many governments include biodiversity conservation as an explicit policy goal. To help prevent further loss of biodiversity, there is an urgent need for more strategic approaches to conservation planning in urban environments based on a scientific understanding of landscape patterns, species requirements and development pressures. In this study, we demonstrate the use of new conservation planning tools to better integrate information on threatened species into landuse planning. We present a case study in the Greater Melbourne area that utilises the Zonation conservation planning tool with data for 30 threatened fauna species. We perform a multi-species spatial prioritisation that incorporates species-specific connectivity requirements and demonstrate the use of this information in a number of landuse planning contexts. First, we quantitatively assess the differences between Melbourne's current conservation areas with the locations prioritised by Zonation and determine priority areas for their extension. We then show how the prioritisation can be used in decisions regarding Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary and in rezoning land for development. Finally, we demonstrate how the prioritisation can be used to identify areas of conservation significance within individual developments that account for the wider landscape context. These results demonstrate how conservation planning tools can be better integrated into the different stages of landuse planning for future urban growth.
Pressure on ecosystems to provide various different and often conflicting services is immense and likely to increase. The impacts and success of conservation prioritization will be enhanced if the needs of competing land uses are recognized at the planning stage. We develop such methods and illustrate them with data about competing land uses in Great Britain, with the aim of developing a conservation priority ranking that balances between needs of biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, agricultural value, and urban development potential. While both carbon stocks and biodiversity are desirable features from the point of view of conservation, they compete with the needs of agriculture and urban development. In Britain the greatest conflicts exist between biodiversity and urban areas, while the largest carbon stocks occur mostly in Scotland in areas with low agricultural or urban pressure. In our application, we were able successfully to balance the spatial allocation of alternative land uses so that conflicts between them were much smaller than had they been developed separately. The proposed methods and software, Zonation, are applicable to structurally similar prioritization problems globally.
Aggregation of reserve networks is generally considered desirable for biological and economic reasons: aggregation reduces negative edge effects and facilitates metapopulation dynamics, which plausibly leads to improved persistence of species. Economically, aggregated networks are less expensive to manage than fragmented ones. Therefore, many reserve-design methods use qualitative heuristics, such as distance-based criteria or boundary-length penalties to induce reserve aggregation. We devised a quantitative method that introduces aggregation into reserve networks. We call the method the boundary-quality penalty (BQP) because the biological value of a land unit (grid cell) is penalized when the unit occurs close enough to the edge of a reserve such that a fragmentation or edge effect would reduce population densities in the reserved cell. The BQP can be estimated for any habitat model that includes neighborhood (connectivity) effects, and it can be introduced into reserve selection software in a standardized manner. We used the BQP in a reserve-design case study of the Hunter Valley of southeastern Australia. The BQP resulted in a more highly aggregated reserve network structure. The degree of aggregation required was specified by observed (albeit modeled) biological responses to fragmentation. Estimating the effects of fragmentation on individual species and incorporating estimated effects in the objective function of reserve-selection algorithms is a coherent and defensible way to select aggregated reserves. We implemented the BQP in the context of the Zonation method, but it could as well be implemented into any other spatially explicit reserve-planning framework.
Habitat loss and deterioration, climate change, and economic pressures for resource extraction have all led to a global loss of biodiversity. The limited resources available for conservation need to be used both effectively and efficiently in order to minimise further losses. Spatial conservation prioritization addresses the question of how we should allocate conservation effort and funds in space and time. While the benefits of quantitative conservation prioritization methods have been widely promoted, adoption of these methods in "real-world" planning and implementation is still in its infancy, partly due to the difficulty of identifying which methods and tools (if any) are suited to specific planning problems. Spatial Conservation Prioritization brings together a team of leading scientists to introduce the conceptual and methodological aspects of how to undertake spatial conservation planning in a quantitative manner. It provides the reader with information on when, why, and how to use which statistical and computational methods for conservation prioritization. Important topics underlying spatial prioritization including metapopulation modelling, population viability analysis modelling, species distribution modelling, and uncertainty analysis are discussed, as well as operational definitions and methods. The book includes chapters on the most widely used and latest software, and concludes with an insight into the future of the field.