Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2023, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (4): 504-513.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.2.48

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Evaluation of ecological resilience in terrestrial ecosystems in Gansu, China-an empirical study

MAO Long1(), WANG Shenglan2,3, QIU Xiaoyi1, TAO Zhuolin1, FENG Yongzhong1,2,*(), HUANG Yinzhou2   

  1. 1. Department of Natural Resources of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000, China
    2. College of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
    3. College of Resource and Tourism, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441053, China
  • Received:2022-08-07 Revised:2022-09-16 Online:2023-07-25 Published:2023-07-07

Abstract:

With the full implementation of ecosystem restoration program in China, the evaluation of ecological resilience has become an integral part of the regional restoration efforts. Due to diverse terrain conditions at provincial level it is extremely important for each province to build regional resilience models and choose suitable evaluation methods to evaluate the resilience models. Taking the example of Gansu Province which has the highest terrain diversity in the country, based on climate, vegetation and land use data for 87 counties, using Fragstats, ArcGIS and Geoda softwares, this paper evaluates ecological resilience in Gansu terrestrial ecosystems as a whole and in ecosystems of five regions with different terrain types, and discusses the difference in regional ecological resilience and its influencing factors. Gansu Province has an average resilience index score of 0.45 and is rated “average” in overall ecological resilience, where resilience indicators (ecological resilience intensity/limit, ecological resilience index) show trends of decreasing ecological resilience from the southeast to northwest. The calculated value of Moran’s I is 0.95 and obvious spatial clustering of high-high and low-low resiliency areas is detected; high-high clusters are mainly in the southeast and low-low clusters mainly in the northwest of Gansu. These results, combined with the suggestions put forward in this paper on ecosystem restoration for different terrain types, provide a frame of reference for decision-making in the regional terrestrial spatial planning and ecological restoration in Gansu.

Key words: ecosystem, resilience, spatial differentiation, ecological restoration, Gansu

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