Revealing the Ecological Security Pattern in China’s Ecological Civilization Demonstration Area

Xuelong Yang, Haisheng Cai, Xiaomin Zhao () and Han Zhang
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Xuelong Yang: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Watershed Agricultural Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
Haisheng Cai: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Watershed Agricultural Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
Xiaomin Zhao: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Watershed Agricultural Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
Han Zhang: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-27

Abstract: The construction and maintenance of an ecological security pattern (ESP) are important for promoting the regional development of ecological civilizations, realizing sustainable and healthy development, and creating a harmonious and beautiful space for human beings and nature to thrive. Traditional construction methods have the limitations of a single dimension, a single method, and excessive human subjective intervention for source and corridor identification, without considering the multidimensional quality of the sources and the structural connectivity and resilience optimization of the corridors. Therefore, an ecological civilization demonstration area (Jiangxi Province) was used as the study area, a new research method for ESP was proposed, and an empirical study was conducted. To evaluate ecosystem service (ES) importance–disturbance–risk and extract sustainability sources through the deep embedded clustering–self-organizing map (DEC–SOM) deep unsupervised learning clustering algorithm, ecological networks (ENs) were constructed by applying the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) gravity model and circuit theory. The ENs were then optimized to improve performance by combining the comparative advantages of the two approaches in terms of structural connectivity and resilience. A comparative analysis of EN performance was constructed among different functional control zones, and the ESP was constructed to include 42 ecological sources, 134 corridors, 210 restoration nodes, and 280 protection nodes. An ESP of ‘1 nucleus, 3 belts, 6 zones, and multiple corridors’ was constructed, and the key restoration components and protection functions were clarified. This study offers a valuable reference for ecological management, protection, and restoration and provides insights into the promotion of harmonious symbiosis between human beings and nature and sustainable regional development.

Keywords: ecological security pattern; importance–disturbance–risk; structural connectivity; ecological resilience; ecological network optimization; ecological civilization demonstration area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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