Regional Ecological Security Evolution and Green Economy: An Empirical Study

How to maintain and improve ecological security in the process of green economy development is of great significance in terms of both theory and practice. Hence, in this paper, based on the framework of DPESAR (driving force-pressure-exposure-sensitivity-adaptation-response), we establish a structural model using SPASS and Eviews6 software to identify the contributing factors for green economy development. We use panel data of Liaoning Province, China, from 1995 to 2017 to analyze the relationships among these factors and their indicators. Furthermore, we simulate and identify the ideal evolution status of the ecological security and green economy development up to the year of 2022. Our results show that first, those adjusted indicators of ecological security can greatly promote green economy development. Second, specific regulation indicators and scope can be obtained by identifying the evolutionary state of ecological security. Third, the interactions among the government, firms, and the public should be considered to further develop regional ecological security and green economy.

Research on Landscape Pattern Construction and Ecological Restoration of Jiuquan City Based on Ecological Security Evaluation

Jiuquan City is a typical ecologically fragile area in the arid areas of Northwest China, and unreasonable human activities directly affect the regional ecological security. Scientifically, it is necessary to construct an ecological landscape pattern on the basis of ecological security evaluation. This paper selected evaluation factors based on the perspective of “environmental base and human interference”, used spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) to comprehensively evaluate the regional landscape ecological security, and used the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model to construct the regional ecological security pattern. The results show that the overall ecological security level of the study area is low, and the area with a moderate safety level and below is 122,100 km2, accounting for 72.57% of the total area of the study area. The total area of the identified ecological source area is 6683 km2, the spatial distribution is extremely uneven, and it is extremely concentrated in the southern region; 32 ecological corridors with a total length of 3817.8 km are identified, of which corridor NO. 1–4 run through the Qilian Mountains, 11 oasis areas, and 14 nature reserves. The length of ecological corridors is 1376.1 km, accounting for 36.04% of the total. Forty-two ecological nodes are identified, and the central corridor area is more distributed; four ecological restoration zones are divided, including an ecological conservation zone, ecological improvement zone, ecological control zone, and ecological restoration zone, with areas of 34,380.3 km2, 61,884.4 km2, 21,134.4 km2, and 50,648.3 km2, respectively. Through the delineation of the urban ecological network pattern composed of source areas, corridors, and nodes, as well as the delineation of ecological restoration zones, the ecological security level of the study area will be effectively improved. Furthermore, a new method of ecological restoration zoning will be used, hoping to provide a useful reference for improving the quality of the ecological environment in arid areas and optimizing the spatial pattern of the land.

Ecological security assessment for environmental restoration and management in SW China

<p>Regional ecological security diagnosis is the most basic prerequisite for environmental management and restoration. However, the traditional single method is greatly affected by human and difficult to quickly identify. Thus, This paper combined principal component analysis and unsupervised k-means clustering algorithm to provide a fast and efficient method for  safety evaluation of environmental management. Basing on this method, the clustering result was defined as five different levels of ecological safety zone combining with the principle of place name + landform + danger degree. The results showed that there were more than half of the study area were unsafe (56.3%), what was even more surprising was that there were many high-value of NDVI and NPP in these areas. The partition result was finally verified in order to ensure the accuracy of the partition, and it had been proved that the ecological environment is not necessarily safe where in the areas with good vegetation coverage. This article provided a new technical reference for the evaluation of ecological areas.</p>

Assessment of Soil Erosion in the Qinba Mountains of the Southern Shaanxi Province in China Using the RUSLE Model

The Southern Shaanxi Province, an important ecological security barrier area in central China, is the primary water source of the south-to-north water transfer project in China. However, severe soil erosion seriously affects the safety of regional ecological security and water quality of the water diversion project. To reveal the characteristics and variation of soil erosion in the southern Shaanxi Province after the implementation of a series of eco-environmental construction measures, in this study, the spatio-temporal characteristics of soil erosion from 2000 to 2014 were evaluated based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The average soil erosion of southern Shaanxi Province in China was characterized as slight (less than 500 t·km–2·a–1) and mild erosion (500–2500 t·km–2·a–1) with an average soil erosion modulus of 1443.49 t·km–2·a–1, 1710.49 t·km–2·a–1, 1771.99 t·km–2·a–1 and 1647.74 t·km–2·a–1 in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2014, respectively. The results revealed an increase in soil erosion until 2000 and a mitigation during the period of 2000 to 2014. After 2010, the soil erosion was controlled effectively. The spatial distribution of soil erosion displayed obvious spatial heterogeneity, and the high soil erosion (greater than 2500 t·km–2·a–1) was primarily distributed in the north-central and south counties of the study area. The soil erosion remained high and aggravated in six counties (i.e., Zhen’an, Zhashui, Ningshan, Ningqiang, Lueyang and Shanyang), and high erosion (greater than 5000 t·km–2·a–1) was found in the regions with slope gradients greater than 35 degrees and the middle mountainous (800–2000 m) regions. Therefore, the eco-environmental construction measures could effectively control soil erosion. However, unreasonable human activities remain the primary cause of soil erosion in the southern Shaanxi Province. In the future, more comprehensive and thorough ecological construction measures will be necessary to ensure regional ecological security and the eco-environmental quality of water sources.

Analysis on the Coupling Relationship between Urbanization and Regional Ecological Security and Empirical Analysis

With the acceleration of urbanization, regional ecological security issues have become increasingly prominent. There is a complex relationship between urbanization and urban ecological security. This paper uses the method of system analysis to qualitatively describe the coupling relationship between urbanization system and urban regional ecological security system, and quantitatively evaluate the coupling and coordination relationship between these two systems. The results show that the spatial urbanization subsystem is the most driven to the urbanization system, and the ecological security response system is an important factor to maintain and enhance the urban ecological security. Therefore, the spatial urbanization subsystem and the ecological security response subsystem have the greatest influence on the coupled system between urbanization and urban ecological security. Taking Shaanxi Province as an example, it is analyzed that the coordination degree between Shaanxi's urbanization system and regional ecological security system is increasing from 2005 to 2016, and has experienced four stages : uncoordinated recession, low coordination, moderate coordination and high coordination. The coordination degree between urbanization development and urban ecological security has been continuously improved, indicating that urbanization development has a positive role in promoting urban ecological security.

The Construction of a Regional Ecological Security Pattern Based on Circuit Theory

The construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) is one of the basic methods to protect regional ecological security and enhance people’s well-being. In the case of Anhui province, located in the Yangtze River Delta region of China, regional ecological sources were assessed and recognized in terms of ecosystem services, and regional ESP was then constructed based on circuit theory. Current density was applied to analyze the significance of patches and corridors and recognize sticking points, and thereby strategies were introduced to optimize regional ESP. Results of ecosystem services function assessment showed that there were 47 ecological patches, 107 ecological corridors, 16 pinch points, and six sticking points in the ESP of Anhui province. The watershed of the Yangtze and Huai rivers divides the ESP of the northern and southern Anhui, which has huge landscape spatial heterogeneity. Areas with relatively good ecological resources were basically located between Dabie Mountain area in the west and the low hilly area in the south of Anhui, with mostly woodland and farmland as ecological sources. However, cities in the northern Anhui, also in the north of the watershed of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, face severe situations in terms of environmental protection. This study conducted spatial analyses on ESP with different thresholds and proposed to classify different ESPs according to ecological control. This helps to alleviate the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection, and improve the supply capacity of regional ecosystem services, in order to satisfy the regional demand for ecosystem services. Meanwhile, this study offers more methods to construct regional ESP and introduces targeted measures to improve connectivity, which is of practical guidance for the connectivity and optimization of ecological patterns.

Ecological Conservation Redline (ECR) Delimitation—a CaseStudy of Heze in Shandong Province

With the overall trends of deterioration in resources and ecological environments not being completely reversed, the Chinese government has adopted the strategy of establishing the Ecological Conservation Redline (ECR). The ECR aims to define limits to the encroachment onto protected ecologically vulnerable and sensitive areas, to prohibit development in these areas, and to enforce strict protection to guarantee regional ecological security. Climate data, remote sensing data, and other related data were used to identify an ECR in Heze, thereby providing an example of principle and methodology for ECR delimitation. After assessment, comprehensive treatment, and coordination analysis, a total area of 924.17 km2, accounting for 7.55% of the city’s total area, was identified as an ECR in Heze. This mainly comprised the area around the Yellow River, the old course of the Yellow River, and the Dongyu River.

Soil conservation service on the Tibetan Plateau, 1984–2013

ABSTRACTSoil erosion can pose a serious problem to environmental quality and sustainable development. On the Tibetan Plateau, soil erosion is one of the main challenges to regional ecological security. Our analysis investigates soil erosion and evaluates its economic value in alpine steppe, alpine meadow, alpine desert steppe and forest ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. Analysis was carried out from 1984 to 2013. The results show that the annual average potential soil erosion, practical soil erosion and soil conservation calculated by the Revised University Soil Loss Equation model were 2.19×109ta–1, 2.16×109ta–1 and 2.72×107ta–1, respectively. The economic value of retaining soil nutrients, reducing the formation of wasteland and the economic benefit of reducing sediment deposition were 1.98×108RMBa–1, 2.55×1012RMBa–1 and 7.44×104RMBa–1, respectively. From comparing different ecosystems, we found that the forest ecosystem had the greatest soil retention and economic values. We also found that the potential and actual soil erosion values were extremely high on the Tibetan Plateau. The study highlights that state and local policymakers must give greater emphasis to ecological protection in the future.