Identifying Conservation Priority Areas of China: A methodological framework for ecosystem integrity and authenticity

Abstract

The protection and restoration of ecosystems are recognized as a crucial component of the global nature conservation and are essential to sustainable development worldwide. Ecosystem integrity and authenticity can well reflect the degree of stability of ecosystem structure, function and process, as well as the ability to resist disturbance, and have therefore become the core indicators in ecosystem assessment. However, no scientific and universal assessment method has been developed yet. In this study, we proposed a methodological framework for ecosystem integrity and authenticity assessment based on multiple dimensions including landscape, vegetation and wildlife, comprising 3 perspectives and 6 indicators. We have constructed a comprehensive index of key protection value, exploring the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem integrity and authenticity for the first time, and selected China as a case study. The results indicate that the ecosystems of the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, Changbai Mountains, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Hengduan Mountains, and some parts of the Zhejiang-Fujian hilly areas possess high key protection values. We have delineated conservation priority areas with the goal of protecting over 30 % of the national territory, and identified 70 regions with high conservation values among them that balance ecosystem typicality and representativeness, providing a basis for the next stage of national park construction in China. Linking ecosystem protection with the construction of protected areas, this methodological framework may serve as a useful paradigm for measuring the conservation value of natural ecosystems in countries worldwide.