Construction and Analysis of Ecological Security Patterns in the Southern Anhui Region of China from a Circuit Theory Perspective

Abstract

Located in an important biodiversity conservation area in the Yangtze River Delta, the habitats of many species have been severely eroded because of human activities such as tourism development. There is no relevant species conservation plan in place in the region, and scientific guidance on ecosystem change and corridor construction is urgently needed. In this study, we first assess ecosystem service functions based on the InVEST model; then, we assess ecological sensitivity and identify landscape resistance surfaces by constructing ecosystem sensitivity indicators; finally, we construct ecological security patterns by combining landscape resistance surfaces and circuit theory identification. The main results are as follows: (1) The high value area of ecosystem services is located in the southwest, while the northeast part of the study area has lower ecosystem services, and there is a trade-off between the ecosystem services in the study area. (2) There are 38 ecological sources in southern Anhui, with a total area of more than 5742.79 km2, that are the basic guarantees of ecological security, mainly located in the northeast of the study area, and woodland and grassland are the most important components, accounting for 18.4% of the total study area. (3) The ecological security pattern in the study area consists of 63 ecological sources, 37 important corridors, and 26 potential corridors, of which there are 28 pinch point areas and 6 barrier point patches in the study area, mainly located within Huangshan City and Xuancheng City. We recommend that when implementing restoration and rehabilitation measures in the future, policy makers should give priority to pinch points and barrier areas.