Construction and Optimisation of Ecological Networks in High-Density Central Urban Areas: The Case of Fuzhou City, China

Abstract

Constructing and optimising ecological networks in high-density cities plays an important role in mitigating urban ecological problems. Our study uses comprehensive evaluation methods such as Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI), and Connectivity to identify ecological source areas in Fuzhou City, and constructs and optimises the network using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model, current theory, and other methods. Meanwhile, the changes in urban landscape connectivity under different development scenarios were explored. The results show that the following: (1) the identification of ecological source sites based on the integrated approach is better than the single MSPA method; (2) the ecological network of Fuzhou City consists of 44 ecological source sites and 92 corridors; and (3) among the various development modes, transforming the top 30% of the bare land patches in Fuzhou City into green spaces improves the overall connectivity of the ecological network the most. The results can provide auxiliary decision-making for ecological construction in high-density cities.