Ecological Indicators (Aug 2022)
Quantitative evaluation of the rebuilding costs of ecological corridors in a highly urbanized city: The perspective of land use adjustment
Abstract
Well-functioning ecological corridors are critical for conserving biodiversity in areas undergoing increasing habitat losses and ecosystem fragmentation. Although it is essential to rebuild broken corridors by land use adjustments, related discussions of spatially explicit delineations of to-be-adjusted lands and quantitative adjustment costs are rare. Based on a widely adopted minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, we simulated the potential ecological processes and identified ecological corridors in a rapidly urbanized city, namely, Nanjing, in eastern China. We then analysed the corresponding land use and cover changes (LUCCs) from 2000 to 2015 and quantitatively calculated the costs of rebuilding the indicated corridors based on the indication of the amount/spatial distribution of to-be-adjusted lands and their different standards of related adjustment. The results indicated that most obtained corridors were along continuous waters, but LUCCs still occurred within them; the spatial expansion of urban lands dominated, especially in the suburban areas and outer buffers of the ecological corridors. The rebuilding costs increased significantly, and urban land adjustments dominated these increases. Spatially, most costs were associated with suburban areas, and the costs increased obviously as the corridor width increased. Based on the comprehensive consideration of ecological suitability and economic rationality, we found that 200 m was the most appropriate width for rebuilding ecological corridors, as it can both meet the demands of local species and balance the local public budget. We explored methodologies used to identify potential ecological corridors and quantitatively evaluate the costs of rebuilding them, thus providing a basis for implementing practical and feasible land use adjustments addressing ecological suitability and economic rationality.
