Link Ecological and Social Composite Systems to Construct Sustainable Landscape Patterns: A New Framework Based on Ecosystem Service Flows

Abstract

Integrating the flow of supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESs) into the ecological security pattern (ESP) of coastal ecosystems with extremely fragile ecological backgrounds and contradictory human–land relationships is beneficial to the coordinated development of human–land systems. However, existing studies ignore the issue of scales of supply–demand linkages, making the ESP not properly guide sustainable development. Based on ESs delivery chain theory and landscape ecology approaches, we developed a sustainable development framework consisting of coupled microscopic natural–social systems. The method was tested using data from the Liao River Delta. In this study area, the natural supply potential and demand mapping distribution of key ESs were assessed to identify ecological sources in the Liao River Delta, a typical coastal zone in northern China. The resistance surface based on land use type assignment was modified using hydrological connectivity frequency and nighttime light intensity. Ecological corridors were extracted and optimized using a minimum cumulative resistance model and connectivity evaluation. The study found that the high supply area and the high demand reflection area are not consistent in location and supply level. Ecological source areas are evenly distributed, accounting for 12% of the total area. The ecological corridors are mainly concentrated in the west and southeast and do not cross the built-up areas in the east. This ESP framework safeguards the local demand for natural products and the natural potential to maintain services over the longer term and to a larger scale while informing the development of environmental management measures.