Establishing Ecological Security Patterns Based on Reconstructed Ecosystem Services Value in Rapidly Urbanizing Areas: A Case Study in Zhuhai City, China

• Main Authors: Yiming Liu, Nan Cui, Rui Han, Luo Guo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: dynamic reconstruction; ecosystem services value; minimum cumulative resistance model; ecological security pattern; land use change direction model; Sustainable Development Goals
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/16/6629

Rapid urbanization has caused a reduction in green lands, negatively affecting the functions of ecosystem services (ESs). The 11th goal and other goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have highlighted the importance of the balanced development of cities and the environment. ESs are essential for human well-being, so their application in sustainable development study is indispensable. The ecological security pattern (ESP) provides an integrated strategy for maintaining a balance between a sustainable supply of ESs and urbanization. However, establishing an ESP with the goal of satisfying human requirements for ESs in a rapidly urbanizing area has not been well studied. Thus, it is necessary to build an ESP based on ecosystem service value (ESV) reconstruction to manage urban ecosystems sustainably. Based on land use data and field data, this study approached the research gap by related analyses. The first analysis involved dynamic reconstruction of ESVs using the static ESV and importance indices of ESs from 1999–2013. The second analysis involved using hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi * statistics) to distinguish heterogeneous units of the dynamic ESV to identify ecological sources. The third analysis involved establishing the ESP in Zhuhai city, using the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. The results indicated that the ESV of Zhuhai city displayed an upward trend. The functions of water conservation and waste treatment contributed most to the total ESV, while grain production and raw material contributed least in the study area. In the restructuring of ESVs in 2005, 2009, and 2013, the per unit area of the ESV decreased slightly. The areas with high ESVs continued to shrink, while the areas with low ESVs gradually expanded. The ESP of Zhuhai city exhibits great connectivity and strong plasticity, which specifically provides a reliable and visual way to build sustainable cities from a quantitative perspective, generally consistent with the urban ecological planning of Zhuhai city. This study provides an important reference for the application of ESs to achieve SDGs in coastal, rapidly urbanizing regions.