Construction of island ecological security pattern under multi-circle development pattern: Evidence from Hainan Island

Global climate change and rapid urbanization have led to dramatic changes in the ecological quality and ecosystems of the islands, seriously affecting their biodiversity and ecological security. Hainan Island is a typical tropical island in China with rich and diverse species. Currently, Hainan Island is vigorously constructing a free trade port, and large-scale development and construction will certainly cause disturbance to the island ecosystem. In this study, the objective is to employ the RSEI index to expeditiously evaluate the quality of the ecological environment. The study will utilize multi-circle analysis to assess the ecological quality of the island. Additionally, it will rely on the circuit theory to identify the ecological elements of Hainan Island. The study will construct the ecological security pattern of Hainan Island and propose an optimization strategy. The results show that: (1) the area with excellent ecological grade in each circle decreases by circle, accounting for 40.02 % of Hainan Island; the area proportion of each ecological class at Circle VI approximates the whole island distribution proportion; (2) the source patches on the north side of the center of Hainan Island are severely fragmented, while the patches on the south side are close together. The total length of the 25 ecological corridors is 711.58 km, which is concentrated on the north and west sides of Hainan Island, and the number of L-EC, M-EC and H-EC are 3, 14 and 8 respectively. (3) with reference to the distribution of ecological elements, we have constructed the ecological security strategic pattern of Hainan Island as “one ring + two cores + three screens + four axes + N points”. In addition, based on relevant existing policies and regulations in Hainan Island and international case studies, methods for zoning control and optimization are proposed for each ecological element, with the aim of strengthening the island's resilience. In the process of island ecological protection and restoration, the results of this study can be used as a reference to develop island governance strategies and specific measures to promote ecological security and sustainable development on Hainan Island.Keywords: Hainan Island; RSEI; MCR; Linkage mapper; ecological security pattern.