Does the Regional Ecological Security Pattern Benefit Eco-Environmental Protection? A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta

Abstract

The construction of regional ecological security patterns (RESPs) has practical significance in guiding cross-regional synergistic ecological conservation; however, quantitative comparative studies within and beyond RESPs are lacking. Here, RESPs were constructed using the minimum cumulative resistance model for the Yangtze River Delta region as the case area, and land use and eco-environmental quality indices within and beyond RESPs were quantitatively analyzed. Ecological land dominated the land use categories within RESPs, with forestland and water bodies accounting for 40.93% and 32.46% of the total area, respectively. Land use within and beyond the RESP region differed in high-intensity land use regions, and the eco-environmental quality index (EQI) variations were notable. Among the analyzed cities, land use intensity within the RESP region was lower than that beyond the RESP region, and the EQI within the RESP region was generally higher than that beyond the RESP region. Land use intensities were typically less than 2% in southeastern Zhejiang and southern Anhui. The EQI data were supported by the examination of the remote sensing ecological index. The established RESP restricts the expansion of construction land and encourages ecological protection, according to the comparative analysis of land use transitions.