Construction of an Ecological Security Barrier for Sea and Land in Bohai Bay

Abstract

[Objective] An ecological barrier area that combined positive and negative action areas was constructed to fully realize the protection and defense goals of an ecological barrier in order to provide a reference for scientific planning and implementation of ecological barrier distinction goals and differentiated management. [Methods] Positive and negative effect areas for the Bohai Bay ecosystem were extracted based on a hotspot analysis of waterbird diversity, ecosystem service value assessment, and ecosystem quality evaluation of the nearshore marine ecosystem. In combination with the marine protection planning objectives of each province, the Bohai Bay sea-land coordinated ecological security barrier was finally constructed. [Results] ① The hotspots of waterbird diversity were located in coastal mudflats, wetlands, and water ecosystems. The cold spots were located in areas frequently affected by human activities such as construction land and cultivated land. The ecosystem service value showed an increasing trend from north to south, and the service value of the water conservation function was the highest. ② The overall quality of the near-shore seawater environment was improving, but there were still places with frequent marine disasters such as severe eutrophication and red tides. From north to south, the carrying capacity of the marine environment gradually decreased, and the intensity of marine fishery development slowly increased. ③ The ecological security barrier area consisted of 16 areas, including 11 positive-acting areas and five negative-acting areas. These areas were mainly located at the land-sea intersection on the offshore side, and generally presented the characteristics of interval distribution. [Conclusion] The ecological barrier will be used as a guide to carry out planning and management and ecological governance. The positive-acting areas are aimed at achieving the protection goal, and the negative-acting areas are aimed at attaining the defense goal so as to promote the construction of an integrated ecological civilization on sea and land.

Keywords

• land and sea coordination
• ecological security barrier
• positive effect area
• negative effect area
• spatial distribution