Ecological Land Suitability for Arid Region at River Basin Scale:Framework and Application Based on Minmum Cumulative Resistance(MCR) Model

As an important and typical arid inland region in China,Shiyang River Basin plays an important role in maintaining the sustainable development of eco-environment,whose ecological land suitability restricts the development of the local human activities.Therefore,Shiyang River Basin was selected as the case study,the minimum cumulative resistance(MCR)model and GIS technique were integrated to create land suitability evaluation map.We calculated the MCR value of ecological source and living source,and divided the whole basin into five partitions according to the difference between ecological source and living source,and analyzed the patterns and characteristics of the ecological land suitability evaluation(ELSE)regions,respectively.The results showed that:1)The suitable ecological land includes prohibited development region and restricted development region,which accounts for 15.45%and 23.35%of the total land area of the Shiyang River Basin,respectively.These two regions mainly distributed high altitude region in the southern Qilian Mountain and low altitude region where had high density of rivers.2)The protection of ecological land requires not only conserving existing ecological land but also focusing on ecological buffer belts around ecological sources and improving ecological land service ability.3)Ecological networks should be constructed through artificial planting trees around the boundary of oasis and ecological restoration region.Buffer greenbelts should also be established between optimized development region and ecological restoration region.

Dual-objective pattern optimization method for land suitability zoning in mountain counties

As the basic administrative unit of China,counties have grown rapidly in recent years in the context of rapid urbanization,especially for counties located in mountainous areas.The drastic changes in land in mountainous areas can easily cause irreversible damage to the sensitive ecological environment.Through the dual-objective suitability zoning of ecological and construction balance,regional sustainable land use patterns can be realized.In this study,Hantai District in Southern Shaanxi province,China,was chosen as the research area aiming at creating a balance between ecological supply and the development of construction in spatial planning.A dual-objective process evaluation system for ecological protection and construction development was proposed with 15 resistance factors selected from three attributes:natural ecology,economic society,and policy.The minimum resistance surface discrimination methods for ecological land and construction development land were proposed based on vertical space superposition and horizontal minimum cumulative resistance models.Finally,the land in Hantai District was divided into four development grades from the optimal angle of dual goals,i.e.,the construction core zone being 134.56 km^(2),the suitable construction zone 115.77 km2,the ecological buffer zone 153.74 km^(2),and the ecological control zone 151.93 km^(2),using the method combining resistance difference and threshold division.In addition,the development direction of each town under jurisdiction was identified.This study compensates for the deficiency of traditional methods that evaluate land only from a single vertical or horizontal process.

Evaluation of Land Reclamation and Implications of Ecological Restoration for Agro-pastoral Ecotone: Case Study of Horqin Left Back Banner in China

The agro-pastoral ecotone has been recognized as the main distribution area of reserved land resource for cultivation. Accordingly, clarifying this assumption, as well as concerting land reclamation and ecological restoration, is important to ensure food security and environmental improvement in the agro-pastoral ecotone. We selected Horqin Left Back Banner(HLBB) as the subject of our case study. The landscape ecological security pattern of this area was determined using the minimum cumulative resistance model. Over-cultivation, quantity of reserved land resource for cultivation, and changes in landscape indexes before and after land use adjustment were then analyzed. Over-cultivation is a serious problem in the agro-pastoral ecotone. Reserved land resource for cultivation is less than that considered previously, and the area of reserved land resource for cultivation in HLBB only accounts for 11.50% of total uncultivated land. With regard to changes in landscape indexes, the adjusted land use pattern is effective for anti-desertification. The compensation standard for abandoned cultivated land should be improved and the comprehensive results of ‘Grain for Green' should be evaluated to further implement ecological restoration in the agro-pastoral ecotone.