Journal of Geographical Sciences >
Evaluating changes in ecological land and effect of protecting important ecological spaces in China
Gao Jixi (1964-), PhD and Professor, specialized in regional ecological protection and restoration. E-mail: gjx@nies.org |
Received date: 2020-11-30
Accepted date: 2021-07-10
Online published: 2021-11-25
Supported by
National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC0506506)
National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFC0500206)
Copyright
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.
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 . DOI: 10.1007/s11442-021-1896-y
Figure 1 Distribution map of three types of natural ecological spaces in China |
Table 1 Correspondence among non-ecological land, ecological land and different land use types |
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 |
Urban land | Urban and rural residential areas, other construction land |
Table 2 The area and ratio of different lands in three important natural ecological spaces in 2018 (km2, %) |
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 |
Note: The content in brackets is area percentage |
Figure 2 Distribution of different kinds of lands in three important natural ecological spaces of China in 2018 (a. national nature reserves; b. key ecological function zones; c. biodiversity priority areas) |
Figure 3 The area variation of different kinds of lands in important natural ecological spaces in China from 1980 to 2018 |
Table 3 Area transfer of different lands in three important natural ecological spaces from 1980 to 2018 (km2) |
Important ecological spaces | 1980 | 2018 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ecological land | Non-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 | |
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 | |
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 | |
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 | |
Urban land | 3576.60 | 4793.95 | 10614.58 |
Figure 4 Charts showing the changing trend of ecological land in important natural ecological spaces in China from 1980 to 2018 (a. national nature reserves; b. key ecological function zones; c. biodiversity priority areas) |
Figure 5 Reduced area and annual reduction rate of ecological land in the three important natural ecological spaces in different monitoring periods from 1980 to 2018 (a. reduced area of ecological land; b. annual reduction rate of ecological land) |
Table 4 Area variation and ratio of ecological land in important natural ecological spaces from 1980 to 2018 (km2) |
Changes | National nature reserves | Biodiversity priority areas | Key ecological function zones | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Figure 6 Maps showing ecological land in three important natural ecological spaces in China from 1980 to 2018 (a. national nature reserves; b. key ecological function zones; c. biodiversity priority areas) |
Figure 7 Area ratio of different lands inside and outside three important natural ecological spaces in China |
Figure 8 Reduction rate of ecological land area in different important natural ecological spaces from 1980 to 2018 |
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