Ecological security patterns of Chinese lakes based on ecosystem service values assessment and human threat factors evaluation

Sustainable provision of lake ecosystem services is essential for maintaining regional, national, and even global ecological security patterns. Scholars have been conducting in-depth research on the concept, assessment models, impact mechanisms, trade-offs, and optimization of ecosystem services. Integrating management decisions and policy design still presents significant challenges in various aspects. It is necessary to design a spatial security pattern and develop a hierarchical and classified control and protection system. This study establishes an assessment system of the ecosystem service values of Chinese lakes using meta-analysis and evaluates the spatial distribution of ecosystem services. We propose a method to build the protection security patterns of Chinese lakes based on the value of lake ecosystem services and the degree of human threats and establish a framework for evaluating the protection levels of lake ecosystems. Based on the dominant ecological functions, this study further determines the distribution of low, medium, and high-level security patterns in each lake region. Lakes within a low-level security pattern mean that higher protection levels are needed. In different ecological security patterns, this study proposes to determine the management indicators and monitoring intensity based on the ecological function types and human pressure threat levels of each lake region, to promote the improvement and healthy development of lake ecosystems. This study assesses the ecosystem service values of lakes as an entry point and establishes a framework for evaluating the protection level of lake ecosystems considering their human threat levels. The evaluation framework helps establish a hierarchical and classified control and protection system, which is of positive significance to the scientific, quantitative assessment, and standardization of territorial spatial planning processes.