Ecological Security Patterns analysis using ecosystem Services and circuit theory in Jeju island, Republic of Korea

As human demand for ecosystem services increases, the use of natural resources is consistently increasing. Recently, environmental measures have been implemented to identify protecting priority areas from an environmental management in order to achieve the sustainability. Rather than making management measures through Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes, we utilized Ecological Security Pattern (ESP) through connectivity analysis based on a comprehensive ecosystem service assessment and circuit theory. The aim of ESP is to achieve the sustainability of the local ecosystem by integrating landscape patterns, ecological processes and ecosystem services. In this study, Jeju Island, which has been designated as a UNESCO natural heritage in Republic of Korea, was selected to examine ESP and environmental management. The ecological source values used in the connectivity analysis were utilized by the Habitat Quality (HQ) and Carbon Stock (CS) models of the InVEST model, and the cultural service was reflected in the ecological source together. Resistance values were used for LULC and slope values. According to the results, the connectivity value of middle-mountain area of Jeju Island was high, and the coastal area was low. When the connectivity analysis was divided by quintiles (1-5), the highest area in the middle-mountain area was 211.12 km2 (35%) and the coastal area was 108.27 km2 (11%). This tendency seems to be due to the fact that the urban area is distributed in the coastal area, and the middle-mountain area plays an important role in connecting the central protected area, Mt.Halla. It also served as an ESP, with Gotjawal, located northeast and southwest of the site, extending to the coastal area. First of all, in establishing a protected area, it is necessary to adjust the protection policy around areas that can connect coastal and middle-mountain areas. Based on the results, management measures should be prepared to ensure ecosystem services and sustainability through comparison with previously established protected areas. Acknowledgments: This work was conducted with the support of the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through its Urban Ecological Health Promotion Technology Development Project, and funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) (2019002770001).