Planning the urban ecological axis from landscape ecological connectivity analysis : a case study of Suwon city, South Korea
Abstract
Landscape connectivity, which is defined as the degree to which the landscape facilitates or im-pedes movement among resource patches by Taylor et al. (1993), is important for biodiversity conservation, and also for restraining global climate change. (Bennett 2003; Garcia-Lozano 2020). Conserving the nature in city where the majority of the population lives is crucial for the efficient provision of ecosystem services. In Korea, there is no link between the two so that urban planning and ecological planning can be created and carried out together, which is due to the lack of specific and quantitative ecological network presentation. In this study, in order to provide specific ecological axis in city, we used current-flow theory, in specific, Omniscape (McRae et al. 2016), which is used for analyzing the ecological connectivity in a city. We then estimated ecological axis in Suwon city in Republic of Korea, which covers 121km2 area. When determining degree of connectivity, the biotope and land cover map is used, including a 5-km buffer area from the city boundary. We found that Suwon City's ecological network leads to the south-central region, centered on the forests in north area. In the southwest of city, the main stream (Hwanggujicheon) and nearby agricultural land are linked to the mountainous areas, forming the core axis of ecological connectivity in that part. Within the central city center, several green patches work: fragmented forests, reservoirs and parks showed relatively higher connectivity values than the surrounding areas. Among the green areas in the city which contain reservoir, wetland, fragmented forest, cultivated forest, and grassland, fragmented forest showed high connectivity by penetrating into the city in connection with nearby forests. In the case of parks, despite its relatively small area compared to other types, it has been seen that it contributes to the connectivity of the detailed areas by reducing the number of isolated natural patches by distributing evenly within the developed area. By defining the spatial scope of the ecological axis in the city, the process of linking with the ecological core axis outside the city can be further embodied, which will provide basis that serve as an opportunity to preserve ecosystem diversity within the city in a more active way.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFMGC35L0838K