Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Ecological risk assessment of central urban area of Wuhan City based on landscape pattern and land use changes

Author(s):

Jing Qian ¹, Zonghua Li ², Pujiang Huang ¹, Yanfang Liu ^{1, 3}*

Recieved Date: 2013-07-11, Accepted Date: 2013-10-12

Abstract:

Ecological risk assessment has a great significance for making scientific environmental management strategies. In order to manage the ecosystem effectively, it is essential to predict the damage that chemical, physical and biological stressors may bring to ecosystem. According to the situation in China, urban ecological risk assessment should be given more attention. This study was conducted in central urban area of Wuhan city which is in the process of rapid urbanisation with an area of 956.85 km². Three landscape classification maps of the central urban area of Wuhan City were produced from remote sensing images of the area in 2000, 2005 and 2010. These maps were used as the main data sources to assess ecological risk levels. An ecological risk assessment index based on land use and landscape pattern analysis was constructed and further developed with ArcGIS and FRAGSTATS. A spatial distribution map of ecological risk levels was created through the spatial sample and ordinary Kriging interpolator methods. This map exhibits the spatial-temporal variation characteristics of urban ecological risks from 2000 to 2010. The results indicate the following: (1) the landscape structure of the study area significantly changed; construction land rapidly increased and became increasingly concentrated; arable land and water substantially reduced; thus, the landscape of arable land became increasingly fragmented but water fragmentation declined. (2) The ecological risk was high, ranging between 0.04 and 0.45; the spatial differences were significant but gradual. The high-risk regions were mainly distributed in environmentally sensitive areas, most of which were bodies of water. The low-risk regions were mainly distributed in construction and arable land and characterised by strong anti-interference and an integral landscape.

Keywords:

Landscape pattern, ecological risk assessment, land use, spatial analysis

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 2634-2638

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