[Ecological network construction and optimization in Foshan City, China]

Area of Science:

• Urban Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Landscape Ecology

Background:

• Rapid urbanization leads to habitat fragmentation, threatening biodiversity in developed areas.
• Ecological networks are crucial for connecting habitat patches and conserving biodiversity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct and optimize an ecological network in Foshan City.
• To enhance habitat connectivity and biodiversity protection in an urbanizing landscape.

Main Methods:

• Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and connectivity index for source area extraction.
• InVEST model and Minimal Cumulative Resistance (MCR) for corridor identification.
• Hydrological analysis for radiation channels, network analysis, and circuit theory for optimization and evaluation.

Main Results:

• The initial ecological network comprised 10 source areas, 8 important corridors, 37 general corridors, and 11 radiation channels.
• Optimization added 7 new source areas, 17 planning corridors, 13 stepping stones, and identified 80 fracture points.
• Post-optimization, network closure (0.59), line rate index (1.94), and connection degree (0.73) improved, with maximum current density increasing from 1.39 to 9.66.

Conclusions:

• The optimized ecological network demonstrates a more perfect structure and higher connectivity.
• The study provides a robust framework for ecological network construction and optimization in rapidly urbanizing regions.
• Effective ecological network planning is vital for mitigating biodiversity loss due to habitat fragmentation.