Impacts of climate change and land Use/Cover change on ecological security networks in Changbai Mountains, Northeast China

A robust Ecological Security Network (ESN) is essential for protecting ecological security and promoting sustainable development within mountainous regions. These regions were highly sensitive to climate change and Land Use/Cover Change (LUCC), which could result in a degradation or even loss of ecosystem services and affect the structure and connectivity of ESN. Previous studies have paid relatively little attention to the construction and change of ESNs in these regions, particularly in distinguishing the individual (climate change or LUCC) effects and their interactive effects on ESN. In this study, we investigated the changes in the structure and connectivity of ESN in observed and projected periods and explored the impacts of climate change and LUCC on these changes through factor control experiments within the Changbai Mountain region. Our results showed an increase of 19.11% in the area of ecological sources and a 29.44% decrease in the length of corridors, accompanied by a decline in the connectivity of ESN over the past 30 years. The area of ecological sources was projected to decrease by 43.18%, while the length of corridors was expected to increase by 88.5%, with an overall increase in ESN connectivity in the next 30 years. We further found that the climate change and LUCC exhibited negative impacts on the structure and connectivity of ESN. Moreover, the changes in ESN structure were primarily attributed to LUCC effects, followed by climate change effects and their interactive effects. While the changes in ESN connectivity were significantly affected by climate change effects, followed by LUCC effects and their interactive effects. Notably, the interactive effects showed positive impacts on the ESN structure and connectivity. Our study offers important references for land management and policy formulation, aiming to preserve ecological security and ensure sustainable human development. © 2024 The Author(s)