Integrating Ecological Assessments to Target Priority Restoration Areas: A Case Study in the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China

Abstract

The identification and management of ecological restoration areas play important roles in promoting sustainable urban development. However, current research lacks a scientific basis for the scope and scale of ecological restoration. Further, the absence of a framework to assess policy goals and public preferences that leads to identification of ecological restoration areas across the science-policy interface is difficult, and the existing frameworks’ performance has little applicability. We proposed a transdisciplinary framework to combine ecological quality, ecological health, and ecosystem services as an assessment endpoint to identify priority restoration areas. Further, we classified the ecological restoration areas on a township scale by K-means. Based upon policy goals and public preferences of the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration, we chose air quality, biodiversity, soil fragility, recreation quality, ecosystem vigor, landscape metrics, and the water supply ecosystem service as elements of the evaluation system. This study showed that priority restoration areas accounted for 10.8% of the urban agglomeration area and classified township, largely in the difference between natural and semi-natural ecosystems and the human environment. Policymakers can use this framework comprehensively and flexibly to identify and classify ecological restoration areas to achieve policy goals and fulfil public preferences.

Assessing Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Habitat Quality under Urbanization Stress in Guangdong Province: An inVEST-MGWR Analytical Approach

“…Elevation's influence, although less pronounced, grows from west to east [30]. The vegetation index, indicating the positive impact of forest cover and reforestation, shows the highest values in the Pearl River Delta and western regions [31]. These insights underscore the need for slope management and soil erosion prevention, especially in ecologically sensitive areas.…”

“…Additionally, the landscape diversity index shows a global negative trend, particularly in southeastern coastal areas. Strategic land-use planning in urban areas is crucial to mitigate these impacts and promote landscape diversity for ecosystem integrity [31].…”

Do Ecological Restoration Projects Improve Water-Related Ecosystem Services? Evidence from a Study in the Hengduan Mountain Region

“…Additionally, the sub-watersheds with greater water yield decline are located in the southwest and the middle-east (e.g., sub watersheds 6, 17, 20, 22, and 25), and the sustainable utilization of water resources can be ensured by strengthening water resource monitoring and early warnings in these sub-watersheds. The identification of regional priority restoration areas based on ecological quality, ecological health, and ESs can provide a scientific reference for the order of ecological restoration in different sub-watersheds [ 52 ].…”

Spatially Heterogeneity Response of Critical Ecosystem Service Capacity to Address Regional Development Risks to Rapid Urbanization: The Case of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration in China

“…Based on previous studies of ecological services in relevant regions, three criteria were adopted to determine ESs indicators of the study area [39][40][41][42]: (1) each selected ecological services evaluation factor was consistent with the type of ESs representing the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment System; (2) the selected indicators were consistent with the demand for the various types of ESs in the BTH; and (3) relevant data were accessible. According to the current problems of soil erosion, severe urban heat island effect, weak carbon se-questration capacity, vegetation degradation, poor biodiversity, and uneven distribution of recreational services in the BTH [43][44][45][46][47][48], an index system for ESs evaluation in the BTH study area was constructed, thereby identifying one provisioning services (net primary productivity (NPP)), four regulating services (soil and water conservation, carbon and oxygen sequestration, water conservation, and heat island mitigation), one supporting services (biodiversity conservation), and one cultural services (recreation suitability) (Table 1).…”