Constructing an integrated ecological security patterns (ESP) is an effective way to achieve higher and more comprehensive ecological goals in the future.
In a study published in Journal of Cleaner Production, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) sought to improve and optimize China's existing ESP research paradigm to accurately establish conservation and restoration priorities, intending to provide Chinese programs and demonstrations to contribute to the early realization of the objectives in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The study combined the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model with circuit theory to determine the optimal path, suitable width, and important nodes of the ecological corridor. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis of spatial relationships between sources and corridors' relative importance and connectivity was conducted to identify priority areas for conservation and restoration where priority ecological measures can be implemented.
Taking Xishuangbanna as a case study, the researchers attempted to solve the threat of habitat loss and fragmentation by improving the whole process of the ESP research paradigm to construct ecological network space based on important five functional groups (birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and endangered plants) that are indispensable in the ecosystem.
Overall, the researchers created cyberspaces centered on five taxa species of high biodiversity value. They identified biodiversity key areas (KBAs) important for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services, with a total area of 2768.19 km2 . They also identified 213 ecological corridors of high importance and connectivity facilitating species migration. In addition, ecological conservation and restoration priority areas were extracted, which were 2467.71 km2 and 514.67 km2, respectively.
Results showed the conserved status of each taxa in Xishuangbanna is different, but there are large conservation gaps in all species. There were relatively few ecological corridors with high importance and connectivity, so it is necessary to strengthen the construction of stepping-stone corridors to improve their effectiveness.
"Determining priority areas for ecological conservation and restoration is crucial to maintaining regional ecological security, which helps to maximize the use of limited ecological resources and funds,” said BAI Yang of XTBG.
Contact
BAI Yang Ph.D Principal Investigator
Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
E-mail: baiyang@xtbg.ac.cn
First published: 12 February 2024
