The relationship between structure and ecosystem services of forest and grassland based on pattern analysis method: A case study of the Mongolian Plateau

Promoting ecological conservation through multi-objective ecological early warning and network regulation in the Karst Plateau, China

Ecological security networks (ESN) offer viable solutions to promote a synergistic development between ecological conservation and economic growth. However, human perceptions of ecosystem degradation often fail to keep pace with the rapid evolution of ecological damage. Therefore, we take the Karst Plateau (KP), which is a typical ecologically fragile area, as a research object, and select the SSP1-RCP1.9 (SSP119), SSP2-RCP4.5 (SSP245), and SSP5-RCP8.5 (SSP585) scenarios. The future evolutionary trends of ESN are predicted from the scarcity of ecosystem services (ES). Introduces the complex network theory to analyze the ESN microstructure's topological characteristics. Through classified regulation and zoning management to achieve early warning of ecological security. The study found that: (1) High-quality supply space is gradually shrinking owing to the ES demand shock. (2) The spatial distribution of ecological source sites is uneven, with the original large-scale ecological source areas shifting to small and dispersed ones. The area of ecological source areas will decrease significantly over time, especially in the SSP245 scenario. (3) As ecological source areas are subjected to increased incision, communities with more ecological nodes are more likely to form in future scenarios, with a tendency for important nodes to migrate southwards. (4) KP faces the challenge of rational configuration of landscape structure and ES sustainability, which needs to strengthen the supervision and protection of ecological warning zones, construct buffer zones to maintain the structural and functional integrity of ecological protection zones, and pay attention to the role of ecological improvement zones in providing sustained human well-being for the future. KP is a typical ecologically fragile zone, and the multi-objective ecological security early warning provides a strong decision-making basis for further ecological protection, as well as an ESN construction scheme that can be used as a reference for other ecologically fragile zones.

Optimising node-based strategies for enhanced carbon sequestration in mining cities

Continuous exploitation of mineral resources has had a significant impact on natural ecosystems. This makes it imperative to address problematic nodes in order to restore and improve ecosystem functions within mining areas. However, only a few studies have systematically discussed how to achieve regional carbon sequestration benefits at the regional level, using optimising node-based strategies and taking the impacts of external risk into account. This study develops 'structure-risk' node optimisation strategies that could be employed to improve regional carbon sequestration using ecological network theory. Using Xinzhou City, in Shanxi Province, as a case study, the approach ranks carbon nodes by linking node topology features to the landscape risk index. Our results show that from 2000 to 2020, the network exhibited stronger cohesion (clustering: 0.34 to 0.37; degree: 4.80 to 5.27) but reduced efficiency (closeness: 28.70 to 24.87; path length: 0.49 to 0.52) and key node importance (eigenvector: 2.98 to 2.72). Ecological nodes vary in correlation with 'structure' and 'risk', and thus require targeted optimisation. Node topology positively correlates with carbon sequestration (p < 0.001) and negatively with risk (p < 0.001), with key-linked nodes being crucial and high-risk areas offering limited storage potential. Subsequently, we delineate the optimisation sequence of these nodes to facilitate the restoration of urban areas impacted by mining. This study contributes to enhancing understanding of the intricate interplay between ecological networks and carbon sequestration dynamics under risk interference, thus providing valuable insights for sustainable urban transformation in mining regions.

The relationship between ecosystem functions and air pollutants based on spatial distribution patterns of forest and grassland: A case study of the Mongolian Plateau

Revealing how spatial distribution patterns of forest and grassland affect ecosystem functions (EF) and hence control air pollutant (AP) concentrations is a key precondition for the development of ecological spatial layouts. However, there are not enough large-scale studies analyzing this interaction. Firstly, this study is based on the topological properties of forest and grass spatial distribution patterns to establish the relationship between EF and AP. The EAsim (Vegetation patterns-Ecosystem function - Air pollutant Simulation) model was then constructed to simulate the effects of changes in spatial distribution patterns of forest and grass on EF and AP concentration. The results showed that the spatial distribution of the forest and grassland on the Mongolian Plateau (MP) exhibited four basic patterns. Among them, the Core-Linked Ring pattern (CLR) accounted for the highest proportion of 40.74% and showed the highest stability. When all the spatial distribution patterns of forest and grass in the region are in CLR pattern, the water use efficiency of vegetation in the region will be increased by 39.60%, the wind and sand control function will be enhanced by 7.74%, while the concentration of AP will be reduced by 22.21%. The study confirms that by adjusting the distribution pattern of forest and grassland sources, the EF can be effectively enhanced and the concentration of AP can be reduced. This finding may provide a strategy for the enhancement of EF and management of AP in arid and semi-arid regions.