Optimizing ecological security pattern in the coal resource-based city: A case study in Shuozhou City, China

AbstractThe construction of ecological security pattern is one of the important ways to alleviate the contradiction between economic development and ecological protection, as well as the important contents of ecological civilization construction. How to scientifically construct the ecological security pattern of small-scale counties, and achieve sustainable economic development based on ecological environment protection, it has become an important proposition in regulating the ecological process effectively. Taking Fengxian County of China as an example, this paper selected the importance of ecosystem service functions and ecological sensitivity to evaluate the ecological importance and identify ecological sources. Furthermore, we constructed the ecological resistance surface by various landscape assignments and nighttime lighting modifications. Through a minimum cumulative resistance model, we obtained ecological corridors and finally constructed the ecological security pattern comprehensively combining with ecological resistance surface construction. Accordingly, we further clarified the specific control measures for ecological security barriers and regional functional zoning. This case study shows that the ecological security pattern is composed of ecological sources and corridors, where the former plays an important security role, and the latter ensures the continuity of ecological functions. In terms of the spatial layout, the ecological security barriers built based on ecological security pattern and regional zoning functions are away from the urban core development area. As for the spatial distribution, ecological sources of Fengxian County are mainly located in the central and southwestern areas, which is highly coincident with the main rivers and underground drinking water source area. Moreover, key corridors and main corridors with length of approximately 115.71 km and 26.22 km, respectively, formed ecological corridors of Fengxian County. They are concentrated in the western and southwestern regions of the county which is far away from the built-up areas with strong human disturbance. The results will provide scientific evidence for important ecological land protection and ecological space control at a small scale in underdeveloped and plain counties. In addition, it will enrich the theoretical framework and methodological system of ecological security pattern construction. To some extent, it also makes a reference for improving the regional ecological environment carrying capacities and optimizing the ecological spatial structure in such kinds of underdeveloped small-scale counties.

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Quantitative Analysis of the Ecological Security Pattern for Regional Sustainable Development: Case Study of Chaohu Basin in Eastern China

Journal of Urban Planning and Development ◽

10.1061/(asce)up.1943-5444.0000508 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 145 (3) ◽

pp. 04019009 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Sucui Li ◽

Wu Xiao ◽

Yanling Zhao ◽

Jianfei Xu ◽

Hongzhi Da ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Quantitative Analysis ◽

Eastern China ◽

Ecological Security ◽

Security Pattern ◽

Regional Sustainable Development

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Recognition of Landscape Key Areas in a Coal Mine Area of a Semi-Arid Steppe in China: A Case Study of Yimin Open-Pit Coal Mine

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12062239 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 2239 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shougang Wang ◽

Jiu Huang ◽

Haochen Yu ◽

Chuning Ji

Keyword(s):

Coal Mine ◽

Open Pit ◽

Ecological Security ◽

Recognition Model ◽

Security Pattern ◽

Arid Steppe ◽

Landscape Types ◽

Total Study Area ◽

Semi Arid

The ecological integrity and biodiversity of steppes were destroyed under the long-term and high-intensity development of open-pit coal mines in China, causing desertification, steppe degradation, landscape function defect, and so on. As a source of species maintenance and dispersal, an ecological source is a key area for preservation in order to restore the ecological security pattern of the larger landscape. The purpose of this study was to establish a landscape key area recognition model to identify the landscape key areas (LKA) surrounding an open pit coalmine located in semi-arid steppe. This study takes the Yimin open pit mining area as a case study. We assessed Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) remote sensing images taken during the peak season of vegetation growth from July to August in 1999, 2006, 2011, and 2017. From these images, we identified the main landscape types and vegetation coverage grades in order to identify the ecological land. Next, we applied the three indices of Importance of Patch Connectivity, Habitat Quality, and Ecosystem Service Value to calculate the comprehensive results that identify ecological land. Finally, the ecological land quality results of different years are superimposed and averaged, and then Very Important Patch (VIMP), Important Patch (IMP), and General Patch (GEP) areas were used for LKA extraction. Our results showed LKA to cover 177.35 km2, accounting for 20.01% of the total study area. The landscape types identified as LKA are primarily grassland (47.37%), wetland (40.27%), and shrubland (11.88%), indicating that landscape type correlates strongly with its value as a landscape key area. The proposed landscape key area recognition model could enrich the foundations for ecological planning and ecological security pattern construction in order to support ecological protection and restoration in semi-arid steppe areas affected by coal mining.

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