Evaluating changes in ecological land and effect of protecting important ecological spaces in China

doi:10.1007/s11442-021-1896-y

Abstract

Abstract:

It is important to quantitatively analyze the effects of protection of important ecological spaces in China to ensure national ecological security. By considering changes in the ecological land, this study examines the effects of protecting three types of important natural ecological spaces in China from 1980 to 2018. Moreover, considering important ecological spaces and their surroundings yields differences in the effects of protection between internal and external spaces, where this can provide a scientific basis for the categorization and zoning of China’s land. The results show the following: (1) In 2018, the ratio of ecological land to important natural ecological spaces accounted for 92.64%. This land had a good ecological background that reflects the developmental orientation of important ecological spaces. (2) From 1980 to 2018, the area of ecological land in important ecological spaces shrank but the rate of reduction was lower than the national average, which shows the positive effect of regulating construction in natural ecological spaces. The restorative effects of ecological projects to convert farmland into forests and grasslands have been prominent. The expanded ecological land is mainly distributed in areas where such projects have been implemented, and the reduced area is concentrated in grain-producing areas of the Northeast China Plain and agricultural oases of Xinjiang. In the future, the government should focus on strengthening the management and control of these areas. (3) The area ratio of ecological land was the highest in national nature reserves. The rate of reduction in its area was the lowest and the trend of reduction was the smallest in national nature reserves, which reflects differences in the status of ecological protection among different spaces. (4) The ratio of ecological land to important ecological spaces was higher than that in the surrounding external space, and the rate of reduction in it was lower. Thus, the effects of internal and external protection had clear differences in terms of gradient.

Key words: ecological spaces, ecological land, spatial and temporal dynamic changes, protection effect, categorized and zoned governance

GAO Jixi, LIU Xiaoman, WANG Chao, WANG Yong, FU Zhuo, HOU Peng, LYU Na. Evaluating changes in ecological land and effect of protecting important ecological spaces in China[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2021, 31(9): 1245-1260.

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Land type	Corresponding land use types
Ecological land	Woodland, shrubland, open woodland and other woodland
	High-coverage grassland, medium-coverage grassland, low-coverage grassland
	Canals, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, permanent glaciers and snowfields, beaches, mud flat
	Sandy land, Gobi, saline land, marsh land, bare land, bare rocky land
Non-ecological land	Agricultural land	Paddy field, dry land
Non-ecological land	Urban land	Urban and rural residential areas, other construction land

Important ecological spaces	Area and proportion of non-ecological land	Area and proportion of ecological land	Total
National nature reserves	22631.59 (2.32)	951925.26 (97.68)	974556.85
Biodiversity priority areas	175290.14 (6.35)	2583678.34 (93.65)	2758968.48
Key ecological function zones	354825.50 (9.40)	3418135.78 (90.60)	3772961.29
Three types of important ecological spaces (Total)	552747.24 (7.36)	6953739.38 (92.64)	7506486.62

Important ecological spaces	1980		2018
			Ecological land	Non-ecological land
			Ecological land	Agricultural land	Urban land
National nature reserves	Ecological land		947542.01	9781.70	483.03
	Non-ecological land	Agricultural land	3777.17	11505.56	304.24
	Non-ecological land	Urban land	606.08	197.91	359.15
Biodiversity priority areas	Ecological land		2540382.94	57294.11	4470.45
	Non-ecological land	Agricultural land	42325.72	105758.69	3239.70
	Non-ecological land	Urban land	969.69	1232.51	3294.68
Key ecological function zones	Ecological land		3350262.44	114485.76	6224.55
	Non-ecological land	Agricultural land	65872.51	217470.71	6320.22
	Non-ecological land	Urban land	2000.84	3363.53	6960.74
Three types of important ecological spaces (Total)	Ecological land		6838187.39	181561.56	11178.03
	Non-ecological land	Agricultural land	111975.40	334734.96	9864.15
	Non-ecological land	Urban land	3576.60	4793.95	10614.58

Changes	National nature reserves		Biodiversity priority areas		Key ecological function zones
Changes	Area	Percentage (%)	Area	Percentage (%)	Area	Percentage (%)
Unchanged	947542.01	98.9	2540382.94	97.6	3350262.44	96.5
Reduced	10264.73	1.1	61764.55	2.4	120710.31	3.5
Expanded	4383.25	0.5	43295.40	1.7	67873.34	2.0