Construction of Coastal Ecological Network in the Bohai Rim Region From the Perspective of Land-Sea Coordination

Abstract

The scientific construction of an ecological network is an important means to effectively connect the terrestrial and marine habitat patches in the coastal zone, and has a key significance in ensuring the biodiversity and ecological security of the coastal zone. This paper takes the Bohai Rim Economic Zone as the study area and uses morphological spatial analysis to supplement the ecological red line data. The results of the comprehensive evaluation of habitat quality, landscape connectivity, and ecological sensitivity are used to identify its ecological source. Based on the influence of natural and human activities, a land-sea integrated resistance surface is constructed, and, based on the circuit theory, the ecological corridor is extracted. Hence, the optimization measures for the ecological network are proposed. The results showed that the ecological source area was mainly distributed in important ecological functional areas or highly sensitive areas, such as Taihang Mountain, Yanshan Mountain range, Liaodong Hills, and Shuangtaizi River Estuary Protection area. The ecological corridors were primarily distributed in the Liaoxi Corridor, Taihang-North China Plain, and the lower Yellow River. Coastal ecological corridors were mainly concentrated at the mouths of the Liao River, Yellow River, and Yalu River. They were distributed parallel to the coastline and had enormous ecological potential. However, attention should be paid to the risks caused by excessive human activities leading to the fragmentation and distribution of ecological corridors. The results provide scientific guidance for the construction of an ecological network for coastal zones and the overall management of land-sea ecosystems.