Identifying Key Sites of Green Infrastructure to Support Ecological Restoration in the Urban Agglomeration

Abstract

The loss and fragmentation of natural space has placed tremendous pressure on green infrastructure (GI), especially in urban agglomeration areas. It is of great importance to identify key sites of GI, which are used to economically and efficiently restore urban ecological network. However, in the existing research, few scholars have explored the identification and application of GI key sites. Taking the Southern Jiangsu Urban Agglomeration as an example, based on the ecosystem service assessment and landscape connectivity analysis, we identified the multi-class key sites of GI in the study area by MSPA, InVEST model, MCR model, and Linkage mapper. The results showed that: (1) a total of 60 GI sources and 130 GI corridors were extracted. The ecological resources of the study area were densely distributed in the north and south and sparsely in the middle. (2) Three-hundred eighty GI key sites were identified, including 53 water ecological points, 251 ecological fracture points, and 76 ecological pinch points. The GI key sites we identified were large in number and widely distributed, yet were hardly included in the existing ecological protection policies. These key sites should be prioritized in GI planning and differentiated for management strategies, ensuring that limited land resources and public funds can be directed to where restoration is really needed. The present study provides land managers and urban planners with additional tools to better understand how to effectively restore and develop the ecosystems of urban agglomerations in the context of scarce land resources.

Review on Grid-based system and applied GIS in Natural Resource management: A Comparative Analysis

“…This strategy guarantees the integration of the opinions and requirements of regional stakeholders, resulting in more sustainable resource management techniques (Ahamed et al, 2009). GIS has been used in urban agglomerations to locate important green infrastructure (GI) areas for ecological restoration and protection (Sun et al, 2021). GIS aids in identifying priority sites for GI planning and restoration activities by assessing ecological services, landscape connectivity, and spatial data .…”

“…GIS aids in identifying priority sites for GI planning and restoration activities by assessing ecological services, landscape connectivity, and spatial data . In order to solve the problems of few land resources and environmental deterioration, this encourages the incorporation of ecological factors into urban planning (Sun et al, 2021). In addition, GIS has been used in forestry, land cover change studies, and management of water resources (Twumasi & Merem, 2007;Landres et al, 2001;Pasho et al, 2011).…”

Changes and Characteristics of Green Infrastructure Network Based on Spatio-Temporal Priority

“…where n represents the total number of patches in the landscape; a i and a j are the patch i and patch j areas, respectively; P ij * represents the maximum potential for species to spread directly in patch i and patch j; A L represents the total landscape area; I is an index value when all initially existing patches are present in the landscape; and I remove represents the index value after the removal of a single patch from the landscape [31].…”

“…Some experts have focused on source determination and corridor construction to try to realize the smooth flow of ecological process [24,29,30]. Other experts think that GI key code identification plays an important role, and it should be applied to urban ecological network planning as soon as possible [31,32]. In the previous research, Green Infrastructure element extraction methods mainly included morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), the InVEST model, the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, the circuit theory model [33], and Linkage Mapper [12,28,34].…”

Optimization and Construction of Ecological Security Patterns Based on Natural and Cultivated Land Disturbance

“…However, human activities and over-exploited modern agricultural bases inevitably threaten ecological security and lead to ecosystem services degradation problems such as loss of ecological species diversity, landscape fragmentation, and habitat destruction [3,4]. In China, with the implementation of the national strategy for spatial ecological restoration of the country in the new era, it is urgent to carry out ecological restoration work and protect the ecological environment [5,6]. Providing comprehensive and targeted spatial heterogeneity solutions to ensure human living standards and maintain stable social development is the key to ecological security.…”