Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (9): 1509-1516.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.09.14

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Construction of the ecological network in the Aksu River Basin

SUN Maosen1(),WANG Ranghui1(),NING Husen2   

  1. 1. School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu, China
    2. Institute of Afforestation and Sand Control, Xinjiang Academy of Forestry Sciences, Urumqi 830063, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2023-04-01 Revised:2023-06-01 Online:2023-09-15 Published:2023-09-28
  • Contact: Ranghui WANG E-mail:20211207002@nuist.edu.cn;rhwang@nuist.edu.cn

Abstract:

The Aksu River Basin exhibits a typical oasis-desert pattern and is a significant ecological barrier along the Belt and Road. Rivers are crucial to the stability and development of ecosystems in arid regions. In the 1980s, the ecological environment of the Aksu River Basin faced severe environmental problems. Several ecological restoration projects have been implemented since 1986 to address these issues, resulting in improvements to the ecological environment. In this study, five counties and cities within the Aksu River Basin were selected as the study area to establish an ecological safety network. This network, which is of great research value and significance, was constructed by identifying ecological source areas, building an ecological resistance surface, extracting ecological corridors, and recognizing ecological pinch points and ecological barrier points in the Aksu River Basin. To identify and extract the ecological source areas, a morphological spatial pattern analysis was employed. Based on the physical geography and climate characteristics of the region, seven factors were selected to build an ecological resistance surface. Using the ecological sources and resistance surface as a foundation, the ecological corridors within the basin were identified. Furthermore, the data from five periods (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020) were compared and analyzed to reveal changes in the ecological safety network over time. Additionally, an ecological network optimization plan was developed by identifying ecological pinch points and obstacles within the basin as of 2020. The research findings indicated the following: (1) Over the 40-year period, ecological restoration, and afforestation projects positively impacted the ecological environment of the Aksu River Basin. The ecological source area increased by 6%, almost double its previous size. (2) Due to the process of urbanization and industrial development, the resistance value of the river basin generally increased slightly. Areas with high resistance values were evident around towns in the economically developed areas of Aksu City. (3) Ecological corridors were mainly concentrated in the central and northern parts of the basin, with six new corridors added during the study period, indicating a denser ecological network and a more stable ecosystem than before. (4) The ecological network included 12 pinch points and seven barrier points in 2020. Based on these points, the government could implement ecological restoration to improve the resilience of the ecological network and propose corresponding improvement measures for land cover types. This research can provide a reference for ecological network restoration, key area identification, and land space optimization along the Belt and Road against the background of dual carbon. Furthermore, this study provides new inspiration for green development in arid basins.

Key words: ecological networks, ecological sources, ecological corridor, Aksu River Basin