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Arid Land Geography ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (5): 1396-1406.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.05.20

• Earth Information Sciences • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Changes of ecological security pattern in Kalamaili region based on MCR models

ZHAO Xiaofeng1,2,3,4(),WANG Jinlin1,2,3,4(),WANG Shanshan1,2,3,4,WANG Quan5   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources and Digital Geology, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    3. Xinjiang Research Centre for Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    5. Shizuoka University, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan
  • Received:2020-09-22 Revised:2020-11-10 Online:2021-09-25 Published:2021-09-22
  • Contact: Jinlin WANG E-mail:464592044@qq.com;wangjinlin@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

The Kalamaili Mountain Ungulate Nature Reserve (Kalamaili Reserve) is an important wildlife reserve in northern Xinjiang, China with high ecological conservation values. From 2005 to 2015, intense human development in Kalamaili region severely damaged the local ecological environment, dramatically reducing the number of khulan (Equus hemionus) and other large wildlife. Since 2015, the quality of the Kalamaili region ecology has improved dramatically due to the development of ecological protection and restoration. Against this backdrop, the article is based on Landsat images of 1990, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019 and data on the natural and human condition in the study area. In addition, the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model was used to study changes in the ecological security patterns of Kalamaili Reserve from 1990 to 2019. Furthermore, the cellular Automata-Markov (CA-Markov) model was combined to predict the ecological security pattern of the region in 2025. Next, important factors affecting the ecological security of Kalamaili Reserve were analyzed. There is specific guiding importance for preserving the ecological environment and wildlife in Kalamaili Reserve. The results suggest that (1) ecological security patterns can be divided into safe, low-safe, and unsafe zones. The safe zone shrank to 3237.31 km2 from 2010 to 2015, changing mainly to low-safe and unsafe zones. Human activity during this period had a severe impact on the ecological environment of the region. (2) The area of the safe zone was 6265.91 km2 in 2019. Low-safe and unsafe zones have basically been restored to their natural state, indicating good results based on ecological governance efforts. (3) The Kalamaili Region landscape pattern is not expected to change significantly by 2025. Grasslands and unused land still dominate the region. The area of ecologically safe zone will increase to 6421.88 km2, and the low-safe and unsafe zones will continue to decrease. (4) A belt of the low-safe zone will be formed near the traffic route in the middle of the Kalamaili Reserve, which will be the focus of future ecological monitoring and protection of the Kalamaili Reserve. (5) Human activity is a sensitive factor that affects the ecological environment of Kalamaili Reserve. It has been suggested that future conservation efforts should continue to limit human economic development activities in Kalamaili Reserve. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring and inspection works around the roads in the Kalamaili Reserve, accumulate data on wildlife near the road, and provide the scientific basis for the future construction of the Kalamaili Reserve.

Key words: the cellular automata-Markov (CA-Markov) model, ecological security pattern, the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, Kalamaili region