Structural Evolution and Stability Simulation of Wetland Ecological Network: A Case Study of Wuhan City, China

Abstract

The stability of the wetland ecological network (WEN) is affected by the population gathering and rapid urbanization in metropolises. The identification of wetland ecological nodes and corridors is the basic condition of wetland ecological protection and restoration planning and project promotion. Taking Wuhan City as the research area, the purpose is to quantify the change characteristics of the WEN structure and simulate the stability of the WEN when it is disturbed and propose optimization strategies. Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and Circuit theory were used to construct the regional WEN from 1978 to 2018 and analyze its changing trend, and the evolution characteristics of the topological structure of the WEN were analyzed combined with the complex network theory. The results show that: (1) The number of wetland ecological sources showed an "n"-shaped change during the study period, and the wetland ecological source was gradually fragmented. The resistance surface of the study area showed an evolutionary trend of spreading from the central urban area to the surrounding areas, and the main factor causing resistance has gradually changed from cultivated land in the late twentieth century to construction land in the early twenty-first century; (2) The spatiotemporal changes of wetland ecological corridors were highly coupled with the spatiotemporal changes of wetland ecological sources; (3) The total number of ecological nodes gradually increased during the study period, and the largest increase was the high obstacle points. The ecological nodes spread rapidly from the city center to the surrounding areas during the study period, and the spread of high-importance nodes was the most significant; (4) The connectivity and resilience of WEN in the twenty-first century were significantly weaker than those in the late twentieth century, whether random or malicious, and the stability of WEN in the twenty-first century was getting weaker; (5) We propose a nodes restoration and protection strategy for WEN based on stability simulation and the comprehensive importance of nodes. From a spatial point of view, Tongshun River and Houguan Lake near Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone are the focus of WEN node restoration and protection, of which there are 2 key protection nodes (100%) and 10 key restoration nodes (83.33%). In general, this study provides a new perspectives for conservation and restoration planning of the wetland ecological environment, providing specific construction references for Wuhan's WEN planning.

摘要

大都市人口聚集和快速城市化影响到湿地生态网络的稳定性, 识别湿地生态节点和廊道, 为保护和修复湿地生态系统的规划和工程提供科学依据。本文以武汉市为例, 量化湿地生态网络结构,并探究其演变特征, 模拟湿地生态网络在受到干扰时的稳定程度。利用形态学空间格局分析(MSPA)和电路理论构建1978-2018年武汉湿地生态网络并分析其变化趋势, 结合复杂网络相关理论分析该湿地生态网络拓扑结构的演变特征。结果表明:(1)研究期内湿地生态源数量呈 “n”型变化, 湿地生态源逐渐碎片化; 研究区阻力面呈现出由中心城区向郊区扩散的演化趋势, 阻力的主要构成因素由20世纪末的耕地逐渐转变为21世纪初的建设用地; (2)湿地生态廊道与湿地生态源的时空变化具有高度耦合关系; (3)研究期内生态节点总数逐渐增加, 其中高障碍点增加最多。生态节点从城市中心向周边区域扩散速度较快, 其中高重要节点扩散最显著; (4)在两种破坏情景下, 与20世纪末相比, 21世纪初的湿地生态网络连通性和恢复力显著减弱; (5)结合网络稳定性模拟和节点综合重要性提出了湿地生态网络节点恢复和保护策略。 从空间上看, 武汉经济技术开发区附**的通顺河和后官湖是湿地生态网络节点恢复和保护的重点, 该地区关键保护节点有2个(100%), 关键恢复节点有10个(83.33%)。 综上所述, 本研究为湿地生态环境保护与恢复规划提供了新的视角, 为武汉市湿地生态环境规划提供了具体的建设参考。