Work

Development of an ecological security pattern framework by integrating multiple conservation-related data sources and models in infrastructure disturbance areas

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The intensity of anthropogenic disturbances profoundly affects the evolution of landscape patterns and habitat fragmentation, leading to the loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services. The construction of multiple objective synergistic ecological security patterns (ESPs) has emerged as a critical strategy for mitigating such ecological risks. However, traditional frameworks for constructing ESPs often remain constrained by their singular focus on protecting targeted species or key habitats while neglecting the spatially cumulative impacts of anthropogenic stressors, such as major infrastructure development, thereby affecting the effectiveness and adaptiveness of ESPs. In this study, an ESP framework was developed for analyzing the Pinglu Canal Economic Belt, Guangxi Autonomous Region. Specifically, the MaxEnt model was used to predict species habitat suitability for endangered mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. These predictions were integrated with ecosystem service assessments to identify priority ecological source areas. Then, circuit theory models were used to generate resistance surfaces for extracting corridors and identify barrier areas, ecological pinch points, and high-risk habitat patches to systematically construct multiple objective ESPs. The result showed: (1) certain differences in the spatial consistency of the ecological source areas of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, with 44.32 % overlap in spatial distribution; (2) Landscape elements demonstrated distinct distribution patterns. The ecological source areas and high-risk patches were concentrated in the northern and southern parts of the study area, whereas the ecological corridors and ecological pinch points were distributed mainly in the central region; (3) Within the canal basin, ecological source areas and ecological barrier areas, moderate-risk patches constituted substantial proportions of the basin, at 6.38 %, 6.00 %, and 7.40 %, respectively; (4) Aligning with the green development imperatives of the Pinglu Canal Economic Belt, the optimized ESP framework was conceptualized as a "two-shield, one-belt" configuration. Our study provides an effective ESP framework with global relevance for balancing infrastructure construction and ecological integrity in fragmented landscapes.

Source: Journal of Environmental Management

DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128153