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The ecological security (ES) of urban agglomeration and surrounding environmental system is related to the sustainable development of cities, which is a hot spot that we must pay attention to. In this study, four subsystems composed of natural base, landscape structure, ecosystem stability, and anthropogenic interference were used to evaluate the comprehensive ecological security (CES) of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GHMGBA) in 2000, 2010 and 2020. The results show that CES of the region was generally well. The central urban region of GHMGBA was unsafety with an area proportion of about 24.5%, the periphery was safety with an area proportion of about 43.5%, and the others are transitional zone. From 2000 to 2020, the CES change first slightly decreases and then relatively stable, and the transfer of different safety levels mainly occurs in the transitional zone. In 2010-2020 the transfer of different levels of CES is more frequent than in 2000-2010, indicating that the spatial-temporal pattern of CES fluctuated sharply during 2010-2020. The urban-rural gradient showed that with the increase of distance, CES fluctuations increase, but decreases at about 20-40km, 60-80km and 120-140km away from the city center, which may be sub-urban regions. The overall CES change range gradually decreases with increasing distance from urban centers. This study helps to understand the temporal and spatial distribution of ecological environment and urban-rural gradient in typical urban regions, and provides a reference for the collaborative planning of urban agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban development, especially in large cities, has transformed both the structure and function of natural ecosystems as well as the quality of urban lands. The disruption of the supply and demand for ecosystem services, which results in ecological insecurity, is highly related to these alterations. Isfahan City, one of the largest population concentrations in Iran, has experienced rapid growth, which has caused the eradication of various natural regions in the surrounding areas. A variety of conservation, restoration, and management initiatives are implemented to enhance urban ecological security; however, in this study, the supply and demand ratio for carbon storage service in the central part of Isfahan has been proposed as an indicator of ecological security. The supply and demand ratio of the carbon storage was determined by examining the supply status of the carbon storage as well as the demand for this service, which was considered as the amount of carbon dioxide gas emission. Accordingly, most areas of the case study have experienced an imbalance in the supply and demand ratio of the carbon storage service, with an increase in demand for carbon storage service as a result of increased carbon dioxide emissions. It is suggested to construct green corridors in this city, and due to the reduced area of agricultural lands, South Ghohab has also experienced the processes of desertification, which necessitate the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices. According to the findings, the increase in carbon emissions has had a greater impact on ecological security than the loss of green space. The quality of the urban ecosystem can only be improved by applying the knowledge of ecology, along with approaches such as maintaining ecosystem services and their supply, demand, and flow are crucial components of supporting sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central region of the Eurasian continent is widely affected by arid conditions, but the valleys in front of the mountains nurture ecosystems consisting of forests, shrubs, and grasslands. Preserving the ecological balance in these arid valley areas is an essential aspect of water resource planning and management. This study utilizes calculations of vegetation's ecological water consumption and water requirements to quantitatively simulate groundwater levels. These simulated levels are then compared with the threshold depth suitable for vegetation, ultimately leading to the development of an ecological security assessment method for valley areas. The results show the following: (1) During 30 years, the water demand of river valley vegetation increased slowly, and the overall stability is about 4.82 × 108 m3. Among them, the ecological water demand of grassland is the largest. The water demand from June to August is about 68% of the whole year. (2) The results indicate that over a period of 30 years, the groundwater levels in the valley area have shown a gradual decline. The rate of decline in groundwater levels is approximately twice as fast in areas farther away from the river compared to areas closer to the river. The decline in groundwater levels typically begins in May each year. During the period of valley flooding in June, there is a temporary rise in water levels, followed by a continued decline afterwards. (3) The study area has a significant proportion of groundwater suitable areas, accounting for approximately 65% on average annually. Over the course of 30 years, the area experiencing groundwater deficiency has increased from 31% to 37%. (4) Over the past 30 years, the ratio of annual vegetation water consumption to water demand in the river valley has been slowly decreasing, and the vegetation growth status has changed from good growth to normal growth. (5) In the past 30 years, the area of ecological quality areas has decreased significantly, and most of them have been transformed into general areas. The area of ecologically fragile areas is increasing, and the area of fencing protected areas is slowly declining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological security and sustainable utilization of water resources have become increasingly important focal areas in today's conversation about water resource management. Ecological footprint models of water resources are commonly used to analyze these factors; however, traditional models do not consider regional and interannual differences. Here, an improved model by calculating water resource equilibrium factors (γw) was used to simulate the water resources ecological footprint (EFw) and water resources ecological carrying capacity (ECw) of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. Ecological deficit and surplus (EDS), water load index (WRL), and ecological footprint of water resources per 104 Chinese yuan (WFG) were used to evaluate sustainable water usage. The findings reveal that γw is discrepant in across regions and years, as were EFw and ECw. Over the course of the study, EFw and ECw of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei increased by > 25 and 46%, respectively. The sustainable utilization of water resources in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region was found to be poor, but the utilization efficiency had improved through time. Finally, an uncertainty analysis was performed to determine how to improve sustainable development of water resources in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei. Results suggested that reducing the discharge of sewage could reduce EFw and reducing the water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP could reduce WRL. This study provides valuable support for the sustainable utilization of water resources and the protection of ecological security in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] This study aimed to examine the boundary of ecological security level of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin, and analyze the transfer rule and convergence characteristics of ecological security level reflected in different time and space, in order to provide a reference for the high-quality development of resource-based cities. [Methods] The ecological security evaluation system of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin was established based on the state-stress-immunity (SDI) model, and the ecological security class boundary of these cities was estimated by the fuzzy matter-element model. The spatial and temporal distribution characteristics were analyzed based on the kernel density curve and Moran’s I index, the spatiotemporal transfer rules were analyzed by the Markov chain and spatial Markov chain, and the convergence characteristics were studied by convergence and absolute test. [Results] This paper defines the boundary value of ecological security level of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin. The ecological security level of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin still has a large space for improvement, and it presented a V-shaped development trend temporally and a high-low-high distribution pattern spatially. The transfer of ecological security level of these cities were path-dependent and showed a lock-in effect, and the change of ecological security usually occurred between adjacent levels. The difference of ecological security of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin showed obvious catch-up effect, which was more prominent in the lower reaches and the medium-value areas. [Conclusion] Based on the current situation that the ecological security level of resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin is generally low, development policies should be formulated in different areas considering differences in development stage. Based on the transfer pattern of ecological security level of these cities, attention should be paid to the leading role of cities with higher ecological security level. Based on the catch-up effect of ecological security of these cities, complementary development of resource-based cities should be realized on the basis of strengthening regional coordinated development.

Groundwater, as a critical component of the hydrological cycle, is essential for sustainable ecosystem development. To clarify the current status of domestic and overseas research, and to identify hotspots, frontier and future trends of groundwater and ecology research, this study utilizes bibliometric methods and CiteSpace software to examine relevant published articles in the Web of Science (WOS) and CNKI databases from 1978 to 2022. Specifically, this study analyzes (1) the annual number of published papers; (2) research institutions; (3) keywords; and (4) evolution of research hotspots. The findings reveal that the United States, China, and Germany are the top three countries in groundwater and ecology research. International research hotspots mainly focus on microbial ecology, climate change, groundwater-surface water interactions in the hyporheic zone, biodiversity, and submarine groundwater discharge, while domestic research hotspots mainly focus on ecological water conveyance, ecological flow, groundwater development and utilization, groundwater pollution, and groundwater and ecological protection. Both domestic and international research hotspots exhibit interdisciplinary features with diverse research objects and assessment methods. Future research in this area is expected to focus on topics such as contamination, groundwater quality, framework, mechanism, spatial distribution, and dissolved organic matter. Additionally, the study of ecological recharge, ecological flow, ecological protection, water intake and use will continue to be the hot topics domestically.

This paper presents key reflections on compromised ecological and human security. Man's growing insecurity has been affected by global ecological issues in two ways, directly and indirectly. The former involves health implications of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, while the latter is linked to potential climate changes and malnutrition. Not all ecological hazards are global, but it is clear that they exacerbate local pollution-related concerns and that individual countries are not capable of addressing them on their own. How the perspective of human security can be incorporated into the analysis of environmental challenges and how the ecological dimension can be bolstered in the analysis of human security are some of the other issues examined in this paper. The paper aims to recognize the role and importance of international organizations based on conceptual, analytical and operational considerations of ecological and human security issues. Namely, through mutual cooperation and joint activities these organizations are making great efforts to produce results by analyzing the interaction between factors of global change and degradation of the environment and factors affecting human security. Among the more important organizations mentioned are the UN and several of its agencies and suborganizations that are part of the 'UN family' (UNDP, UNESCO, UNU, UNU-EHS, UNEP, FAO) as well as a number of regional organizations such as OSCE and EU.

For emerging tourism-dominated cities, there is a contradiction between ecological protection and tourism urbanization. This paper explores the causes and solutions of the potential risks that occur in the process of tourism urbanization by simulating the impact of government incentives on tourism urbanization and tourism related-ecological security (TRES). Tourism urbanization in Zhangjiajie has experienced four stages: start-development-stagnation-restoration. This paper analyzes the main obstacles and government incentives at different stages. In the initial stage, government incentives promoting tourism were an efficient method to improve TRES and tourism urbanization. However, with the increase in environmental pressure, ecological overload caused the stagnation of tourism urbanization. The increase in government incentives protected the environment and eventually restored tourism urbanization. Through surveys of tourists and residents, it was confirmed that Zhangjiajie's environmental and tourism problems have improved in recent years. The results indicated that the time mismatch between rapidly developed tourism and the environmental protection policies implemented later caused serious ecological capacity overload. This paper provides a basis for identifying and avoiding ecological risks in tourism-dominated cities to achieve sustainable tourism urbanization. Environmental protection incentives at the end of a rapid development stage are an effective means to avoid ecological traps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ecological security is defined as if humans' life quality can be guaranteed. • Both availability and affordability should be considered in ecological security. • A two concentric circles model was constructed to evaluate ecological security. • Ecological security coefficients can be calculated quickly by the geometric model. As human influences on natural ecosystems continue to expand, the utilization of natural resources is approaching a threshold where unsustainability threatens the security of human society. As the challenging tradeoffs between human resource demand, ecological sustainability and the security of human society have become more widely recognized, ecological security issues have received extensive attention. However, despite the emergence of substantial body of scientific research on these broader issues, there is still no broad consensus on the definition of ecological security and how it should be applied to mediate resource use and conservation dilemmas. Across the body of published research in this subject area, the criteria and evaluation methods are often so different that the results of different studies are difficult to compare. In this paper, we propose that ecological security refers to the degree to which the condition of ecosystem can support a certain level of socioeconomic development or quality of life. We propose a simple geometric model to quantify ecological security in two dimensions: the availability of ecosystem services and the affordability of humans. The availability dimension is determined by the supply and demand of ecosystem services and the affordability dimension is determined by the cost and the paying capacity balance to obtain ecosystem services. Then, we applied this model to two hypothetical cases to demonstrate its usefulness. The most important feature of the proposed model is that it enables the quick evaluation of important aspects of ecological security for a study area using eight key factors. Although the shape and geographic characteristics of a study area are usually more complex than the hypothetical case, our model can be applied if the conditions are properly simplified or adjusted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of wetland ecological security pattern has important guiding significance for balancing urban development and ecological restoration. In this paper, the PLUS model was used to simulate the land use change under the business as usual scenario (BAU), economic development scenario (ED) and expansionary conservation scenario (EC) in 2030. Coupled with the wetland ecological security pattern, four wetland ecological networks were constructed for vertical and horizontal comparative analysis. The optimal network was selected and ecological pinch points and obstacles were identified. The results showed that: (1) The land use change mainly occurred in the main urban area of Haikou. Under BAU and ED scenarios, the area of construction land increased greatly. Under EC scenarios, the overall ecological land in Haikou would expand, but the area of wetland showed a downward trend. (2) In 2030, the overall ecological wetland network will be improved, the number and length of corridors will increase significantly, and the network structure under EC scenario will be more stable. (3) The number and area of ecological pinch points and obstacle points under the EC scenario in 2020 and 2030 increased significantly, and this area should be regarded as a priority area for ecological protection. This study provides a new perspective for ecological protection and restoration, and provides a reference for clarifying the direction of wetland ecological restoration work and formulating urban construction and development policies.

The climate and ecological problems caused by excessive carbon dioxide emissions are attracting more and more attention, and the need for carbon reduction has reached a consensus. Carbon peak and carbon neutrality is a solemn commitment made by China to the world and a strategic arrangement to achieve economic and social transformation. This study focused on Shanxi Province, a base of power source and heavy chemical industry in China. Based on energy consumption data, carbon emission data set at the county level, land use data and socioeconomic data, we built a carbon ecological pressure index in order to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the carbon footprint, carbon carrying capacity and carbon ecological security status of each county in Shanxi Province from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) the total carbon footprint of Shanxi Province increased, and the number of high carbon emission counties showed an increasing trend. The largest part of carbon footprint was coal. (2) The vegetation carbon-carrying capacity showed an increasing trend in general, and forest land was the main contributor to the carbon-carrying capacity. (3) The carbon deficit of Shanxi Province was greater than 0 and behaved as a carbon source. The carbon ecological security decreased from a relatively safe level to a general safe level. (4) The carbon ecological pressure index gradually increased. It was predicted that the carbon ecological security level of each county will remain basically unchanged by 2025 and some will still be at a carbon ecological insecurity level. In general, the carbon ecological pressure index of some counties was still large. It is necessary to strengthen the use of clean energy, optimize the industrial structure and increase the carbon sink of forest land in order to reduce carbon emissions and increase the carbon sink, so as to ensure carbon ecological security and realize the goal of a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xinjiang is an important arid region in the northwest of China and plays an important role in the field of ecological security protection in China. Because of its aridity, the identification of critical areas for ecological protection and the optimization of ecological space structure in Xinjiang are of great significance for promoting the harmonious development of the oasis economy, enhancing the ecological environment, and improving human well-being. This study applied an ecological security evaluation from the three dimensions of habitat quality, ecosystem service value, and soil-water conservation to identify the basic situation of the ecological security pattern. The core "source" area of ecological protection was extracted using the morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) method, while the ecological corridor and important ecological nodes were identified using the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR). The "point-line-plane" three-dimensional ecological network structure was then constructed, providing a case for the development of the ecological security and construction in the oasis. The results showed that in the arid regions of Xinjiang, the ecological land is extremely fragmented and is mainly distributed in the mountains and waters distant from human activities. Overall, there is a substantial geographical disparity with a low level of ecological security, particularly in the ecological marginal areas. The ecological network framework of Xinjiang is characterized by an uneven distribution of "sources", broken corridor structure, and a low degree of networking. Therefore, this study proposed an ecological space layout system consisting of "7 ecological subsystems, 51 source areas, 87 ecological corridors, and 33 ecological nodes" by combining the regional physical and geographical characteristics with the overall development plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a main stream method of landscape pattern optimization, the ecological network plays an important role in maintaining ecosystem stability, improving landscape connectivity, and promoting landscape sustainable development. Based on landscape connectivity index and morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), a comprehensive evaluation system of ecological patches was constructed in the main river basin of Liao River, and ecological sources were extracted. According to the habitat characteristics of the study area, the ecological cumulative resistance surface was constructed, and the ecological corridors and nodes were extracted by the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. The ecological network of the study area was comprehensively evaluated by using the network analysis method, and the importance level of the ecological corridor was divided by the gravity model, so as to put forward the optimization suggestions of the landscape pattern based on the ecological network. The results showed that the ecological network in the main river basin of Liao River is composed of 20 ecological sources, 108 ecological corridors, and 72 ecological nodes, with the distribution characteristics of dense east and sparse west. The main landscape components are cropland and woodland. The closure degree, line point rate, and connectivity index of the ecological network are 0.27, 1.50, and 0.51, respectively, and the cost ratio is 0.23. In the optimization of landscape pattern, priority should be given to the restoration of primary ecological sources and ecological corridors, followed by the ecological construction of secondary and tertiary ecological sources and ecological corridors, the rational use of engineering technology for habitat remodeling, and the adoption of the "patch-corridor-substrate" model to improve the stability and landscape connectivity of the regional ecosystem. The construction of ecological network in the main river basin of Liao River is of great significance to regional ecological security and biodiversity conservation, and provides data support for optimizing the landscape pattern of the basin and promoting regional sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination between ecological security and economic development is crucial to sustainable development, with a development strategy that should be adjusted according to the type of region. Yunnan Province, China, is a treasure trove of biodiversity but is economically lagging. Clarifying the relationship between ecological security and economic development can provide a reference for the sustainable development of similar biodiversity hotspots in the world. The landscape index method and index evaluation method were used to calculate the ecological safety index (ESI) and the economic development index (EDI), respectively, and the median value of the indices was used for the comprehensive zoning. The coupled coordination degree model (CCDM) was used to assess the coordination status of ecological safety and economic development in each zone. The results show that (1) Yunnan's ecological security pattern is high in the west and low in the east, mainly influenced by topography, climate, and human activities; its economic development is resource-dependent and shows a multi-point dispersed pattern due to poor transportation; (2) Yunnan was partitioned into the Coordinated Development Zone (CDZ), the Ecological Risk Zone (ERZ), the Economic Poverty Zone (EPZ), and the Dual Pressure Zone (DPZ). Among them, CDZs (15%) are mostly areas with outstanding advantageous resources, mature characteristic industries, and relatively spatially dispersed. There are two types of ERZs (35%): one is an area where the intensity of human activities exceeds the ecological carrying capacity, mainly located in the eastern plateau; the other is an area with fragile ecological background conditions, located in high mountains and river valleys. EPZs (35%) are mainly lagging in socioeconomics of DPZ (15%) and the fragile ecological environment constrains each to form a negative cycle. (3) Of the regional coordination levels in Yunnan Province, 76% are moderately coordinated, and there is still space for development from the high-quality coordination level. The order of the average coordination degree of each partition is CDZ > ERZ > EPZ > DPZ. The poor basis for coordination and the single approach to coordination have led to ecological safety and economic development often being more difficult to achieve in areas with large mountainous areas similar to Yunnan. (4) Due to the necessity for biodiversity protection, Yunnan Province should choose the sustainable path of ecological priority and green development. Specifically, CDZ should play to industrial advantages and brand effects, and promote industrial integration and innovative industrial development paths. The keys to ERZ are industrial restructuring, industrial ecologization, and ecological environment restoration and protection. EPZ should improve transportation and other infrastructure and revitalize economic development under the premise of ecological priority. Finally, DPZ should emphasize human and load reduction, and moderate development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In semi-arid northwestern China, the groundwater level continues to decline with the development of the irrigated agriculture, resulting in grassland ecosystem degradation. Threshold water tables play an important role in sustaining both grassland ecology and irrigated agriculture. This paper proposes a new method to calculate the threshold water tables based on the quantification of the transport rate of wetting front, by which the optimal layout of well groups in an irrigation district will be discussed; furthermore, this paper will discuss the advantages of using the threshold water tables as the management target to regulate groundwater pumping and ensure an appropriate water table for the ecological system in the irrigation district. The proposed method is applied to an irrigation district in the West Liaohe River Plain, which is a typical area with mixed agricultural and rural lands in northwestern China. The threshold water table in the case study irrigation district is estimated as 10 m; the interference radii of the pumping wells are 340 m, 270 m and 150 m in three different sub-districts, where the well depth is greater than 100 m, 60–80 m and less than 60 m, and the interference radius values are 225–310 m, 165–225 m and 150 m, respectively. • This paper proposes a new method to calculate the threshold water tables. • Optimizing the layout of pumping wells plays a vital role in ensuring threshold water tables. • Based on the food and ecological security, this article gives the reasonable distances for pumping wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable production and consumption in the rural regions remains a barely tried yet important issue for contributing to rural sustainability these days. In particular, the sustainable livelihood of rural farmers has not been fully investigated for those in rural areas with high agricultural pollution emissions and a poor ecological quality of agricultural production in China. Also affected are farmers with a low living standard and output, or suffer from social inequity. The sustainable livelihood security (SLS) index therefore provides a useful means of identifying the existence of the conditions necessary for sustainable livelihood or sustainable development. Using the fuzzy comprehensive method, this paper aims to assess the level of sustainable livelihood security of China’s provincial farmers and its three components of ecological security, economic efficiency and social equity. A SLS index is established and the entropy weight method used to determine the weight of the indices and analyze spatial distribution. The results indicate that the sustainable livelihood security index and its components vary between provincial regions, with the western provinces being most adversely affected, sustainable livelihood, economic efficiency and social equity being the least secure (or relatively insecure) in the western provinces while economic efficiency is most secure (or relatively secure) in the eastern and middle provinces, and social equity most secure in the eastern provinces. Concluding remarks suggest policies designed to improve the sustainable livelihood security of farmers according to local regional circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological security is the state achieved once an ecosystem maintains its stability under external stress. The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is the largest river basin in northwest and north China and an important area for grain and energy production. The assessment and attribution of ecological security in the YRB are important for protecting the natural environment and ensuring sustainable development. Here, the ecological security of the YRB was assessed by the ecological security index (ESI), a comprehensive index based on the oxygen cycle, and its drivers were attributed to climate change, human activities, vegetation, and soil factors. The spatial pattern of ecological security in the YRB showed high heterogeneity. Ecological insecurity occurred mainly in the middle reaches and regions where the major stream of the Yellow River passes through. The ESI decreased at a rate of − 0.82/year since 2000, which indicated the natural environment continued to be improved in the YRB. Climate change dominated the evolution of ecological security in the upper reaches. The level of ecological security has been improved in the middle reaches after a series of ecological restoration projects conducted. With higher intensity of industrial activity, human activities played a more critical role in ecological security in the lower reaches. Our results suggested that government and local people need to adopt different strategies and actions based on the dominant drivers in the upper, middle, and lower reaches to ensure protection of the natural environment and achieve sustainable development targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests are associated with countrywide ecological security, and there are significant differences in the forests of different regions. Based on the DPSIR model, 25 indicators were selected from five dimensions to determine the index system, and the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method and gray correlation were applied to determine the index of western China's forests. The spatial distribution map was used to observe the spatial changes of forests. The results show that first, Inner Mongolia (0.466) has the best forest ecological security status and Ningxia (0.124) has the worst forest resource status. Second, the first and most frequent correlation is the area of planted forests (I1). The last and most frequent correlation is sulfur dioxide emission (P2). Thirdly, Inner Mongolia and Szechwan belong to the high ecological safety–high economic level, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Tibet belong to the high ecological safety–low economic level, and Gansu and Guizhou belong to the low ecological safety–low economic level. The rest of the regions are classified in the low ecological security–high economic level. Fourth, the forest ecological security in western China has gradually become better, with the security index increasing from 0.417 to 0.469, with an average annual increase of 12.47%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists have paid attention to the evaluation of the ecological security for maintaining sustainable ecological development, yet the performance of the existing frameworks could be improved for tackling the challenges in the evaluation. In this study, the grid cells were used as evaluation units to overcome the boundaries of previous administrative units. The classic pressure–state–response framework was employed to devise the ecological security index. The framework was applied to evaluate the ecological security of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (Chongqing Section). Results show that spatial differences in overall ecological security were significant, and they gradually decrease from east to west. The state factors have the greatest effect on ecological security in the study area, followed by pressure factors. The areas of various grades in descending order were marginally secure, relatively secure, relatively insecure, secure, and insecure, accounting for 49.82%, 33.17%, 9.45%, 6.14%, and 1.42%, respectively. The various ecological security grades showed significant spatial variation characteristics in land use, elevation, slope, and population density. The global Moran's I index for regional ecological security was 0.80. The regional ecological security shows a strong spatial correlation and exhibits continuity and an agglomeration effect. Ultimately, the outcome of the study provides a better understanding of ecological security in Three Gorges Reservoir Area that is helpful for policymakers in developing measures for eco-environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to develop an ecological carrying capacity index for the ecological environment under the principle of the pressure-state-response framework model and discusses the coupling coordination of ecological environment pressure, state, and response system of the urban region in china from 2011 to 2020. Furthermore, predicated the degree of security warning for each year while establishing the ecological carrying capacity index and the urban ecological coupling model. Results specify that the coordination degree of urban ecological development in Nanchang, Jiangxi has been improved year by year, the ecological carrying capacity security index shows an upward tendency from the overall view, and the security warning degree rises from comparative insecurity to comparative security. The analysis demonstrates that in the process of national ecological civilization construction demonstration zone construction, the ecological resources and environmental policies adopted by Nanchang city have played a great role in promoting ecological security. However, the ecological security index in Nanchang is still below 0.6, far from the high-security level (0.77), and the government and the public still need to do a lot to improve ecological security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The desert–oasis interaction zone plays a crucial role in safeguarding oasis ecological security and maintaining stability within oases. This paper proposed a framework of EN-DSS, based on long-term remote sensing data and fundamental data, adopted morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and Linkage Mapper among other methods, and it took Lingwu City in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which is located in the desert–oasis interaction zone in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, as a case study. The results indicate the following: since 1995, this desert–oasis system has exhibited the characteristics whereby the oasis is expanding eastward and the desert is significantly receding. The vegetation coverage has improved overall, forming an ecological security pattern characterized predominantly by shrub forests, which is referred to as the “one core, two corridors, three zones, and multiple clusters” pattern. This pattern has significantly reduced the risk of wind and sand erosion in the agricultural irrigation areas along the Yellow River. However, the construction of this ecological security pattern still faces challenges, including high construction and maintenance costs and the need to enhance the network’s quality. In the future, it will be necessary to strengthen the integrated ecological network construction of ecological areas, agricultural areas, and urban areas to enhance the stability of this regional ecological network system.

Exploring the potential of crop type adjustment to improve regional food security, ecological security and net economic benefits is significant for agricultural water management, green production and sustainable development in drylands. Previous studies on the optimization of crop type were mostly concentrated within the region, without considering the impact of interregional food trade on the adjustment of regional crop type. It is difficult to give full play to the advantages of crop type optimization in improving regional food security. This paper introduces the virtual water trade theory into the optimization model of crop type. By quantifying the water footprint, carbon footprint, crop calories and net economic benefits of food crops in Northwest China and Central Asia. On the basis of fully considering farmers' planting willingness in Northwest China and food trade with Central Asian, the relative and absolute comparative advantage index is used as the optimization coefficient of the model. The food security and ecological security of the region, the blue water use efficiency, the green water ratio and the net food efficiency of the provinces (districts) in the region were used as objective functions to construct an open-ended crop type optimization model to optimize the crop type in the region. The results showed that the use of the constructed open crop type optimization model to guide regional food crop type adjustment increased the calories and grey water footprint provided by regional crops by 7.5% and −6.6%, respectively. The provinces in the region have seen varying degrees of improvement in the benefits of blue water use and net economic benefits, particularly in Gansu Province, which have increased by 51.0% and 53.5%, respectively. Due to the effect of crop type adjustment on the regional green water footprint and carbon footprint targets is less than satisfactory. On this basis, effective suggested measures to improve the efficiency of crop green water use and reduce the carbon footprint were proposed. In this study, the combination of relevant measures and grain crop type adjustment can give full play to the role of grain crop type adjustment in alleviating regional water resources and ecological pressure, improving food security, ecological security and sustainable grain production. It is expected to ensure global food security and promote green production and sustainable development of crops. [Display omitted] • Construct optimization model of open planting structure under virtual water trade. • Relative, absolute comparative advantage of 12 units and 5 crops was taken as coefficient. • Crop calories, blue water use benefits and grey water increased by 7.5%, 23.4% and −6.6%. • The study promotes regional food security, water use efficiency and marketing power. • Structural adjustment combined with green water use measures, effect is more obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of ecological protection cannot be overlooked. Starting from the source area of the Yellow River, this study adopts a new "service-sensitive-security" assessment framework to assess the importance of ecological protection. The results showed that: (1) The areas with high ecological protection degree were distributed in the east, north and west, accounting for 73.41% of the source area. (2) Ecosystem services are mainly carbon sequestration and water conservation. (3) The main problem of ecological sensitivity is soil erosion. (4) The ecological safety zone is located in the middle of the study area, indicating that the ecological protection of the region is good, and it is necessary to continuously strengthen the protection measures to ensure the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem. The purpose of this study is to provide a reference for local and regional ecological protection and zoning improvement through the refinement of zoning through ecological protection. The ecological pattern of the source area is distributed along the east, north and west ends. As a key ecological function area in China, the ecological protection of the source area of the Yellow River is extremely important due to the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of the source area of the Yellow River. A new ecological protection evaluation framework was constructed, and ecological security evaluation indicators were added on the original basis to make it more in line with the ecological background of the source area. The new framework provides a theoretical basis for ecological planning and localized ecological protection measures in refined source areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting trends in land use/cover change (LUCC) and assessing future ecological security (ES) can help effectively balance regional ecological conservation and economic development. In this study, a land use simulation model was used to predict the spatial-temporal variation in land use in Kashgar in 2030 under three scenarios (inertial development, agricultural land protection, and forest and rangeland conservation). Subsequently, by combining the pressure–state–response model and predicted land use, the ES of the Kashgar region in 2000, 2010, and 2020 were evaluated. We found that (1) only agricultural land and built-up land in the Kashgar region increased from 2000–2020 by 4174.79 and 434.44 km2, respectively. (2) The area of the region belonging to a generally safe level or above decreased from 38.36% in 2000 to 36.89% in 2010 and then increased to 37.71% in 2020. (3) In 2030, the ES status under the three scenarios will be improved, among which the agricultural land protection scenario corresponds to the best ES status. This research is valuable for deeply understanding the interaction mechanism between LUCC and ES in typical artificial oases in arid areas of the Kashgar region and sustaining relatively stable internal structures and socioeconomic activities in the arid oasis of the Kashgar region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving land ecological carrying capacity (LECC) is important in accelerating the realization of national ecological civilization construction goals. Based on the panel data of the first batch of prefecture-level cities in the National Pilot Zones for Ecological Conservation initiative from 2005 to 2019, this study analyzes the spatial–temporal pattern of LECC using the improved ecological footprint model, Theil–Sen's slope estimator and Mann–Kendall test, and investigates the influencing factors of LECC using the geodetector. Results show that the overall land ecological carrying status of each province tends to improve but also shows remarkable interprovincial differences in development trend, with Guizhou outperforming Jiangxi and Fujian in general. The pattern of LECC security has apparent regional heterogeneity. Most prefecture-level cities have high ecological pressure and uneven spatial distribution but slowly improve overall. The influencing factor of forest land coverage and population density has strong explanatory power on the LECC, and the interactions among the factors are enhanced. The four aspects of land ecological construction should be carried out. A first step is to strengthen land ecological management and optimize the land use practices actively. Second, modern technology is used to establish real-time monitoring and early warning systems for LECC security. Third, the two key factors of forest land coverage and population density should be focused on, and enhancing their positive interaction with industrial structure and arable land utilization rate. Finally, the experience of model construction should be promoted in the Non-national Pilot Zones for Ecological Conservation in China. The aim is to enhance the effectiveness of land ecology measures further and promote the construction of national ecological civilization in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excessive speed of development for tourism seriously restricts the sustainable development of ecological conservation areas (ECAs). In this study, we take Beijing's ecological conservation area (BECA) as the study area, and construct the model of the green development level of tourism (GDLT) in ECAs to measure and analyze the spatial–temporal evolution and factors influencing of GDLT in BECA. Our results demonstrate that the GDLT in BECA continued to rise from 2011 to 2017, but the spatial distribution was unbalanced. The main factors influencing GDLT in BECA have been the endowment level of green tourism resources and the construction level of the regional ecological civilization. The new method to measure GDLT in ECAs presented here can provide reference for the green development of tourism in ECAs. The findings can construct the theory of the green development of tourism in ECAs, and enrich the theory of tourism geography and tourism ecology from the perspective of the green development concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern China is a country that witnesses complex interactions of economic development and sustainability. Based on fieldwork in China, this study applies the Copenhagen School framework to examine the actors, processes and outcomes in prioritizing the environmental sector in China. The study aims specifically to unravel the peculiarities of behavioural changes of the state and society in ecological concerns that lead to the securitization process. It also reappraises the emerging trends in state-society relations in the context of prioritizing ecological security in the country. The study finds that the government under Xi Jinping in China has adopted a number of extra-ordinary measures in terms of legal frameworks and enforcement initiatives, in order to address public concerns emerging from the environmental sector. Major policy shifts towards environmental security include; assigning new functions for conventional security apparatus, prioritizing and elevating environmental institutions, improving top-level design of the environment management system and most significantly, promoting public participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010, with the rapid development of tourism in Zhagana, Yiwa township, problems with the agroforestry–pastoral complex system and economic development in Zhagana have come to the fore. In order to investigate the sustainability of the agroforestry–pastoral complex system, the ecological footprint model was used to analyse the sustainable development of the ecosystem in Yiwa township from 2005 to 2020 and the ecological security changes in Zhagana from 2010 to 2020 through examining the ecological footprint intensity, the ecosystem diversity index and the ecosystem development capacity index. The results of the study show that the per capita ecological footprint of Yiwa township showed an overall decreasing trend between 2005 and 2020, and the per capita ecological deficit also showed a decreasing trend. Forest land was the most important component of the ecological footprint per capita, and grassland was the most important component of the ecological carrying capacity per capita. The footprint depth tended to increase and then decrease, and the footprint width tended to decrease, with a gentle increase from 2010. The ecological pressure index showed an overall decreasing trend, and the ecological sustainability index showed a sudden upward fluctuation after 2016. Overall, the ecological economy of Zhagana has some capacity for development, but there is a high level of ecological pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at studying the ecological security in Wenchuan, China, where the ecological system had been greatly damaged by the earthquake in 2008, an evaluation indicators system was established based on the pressure–state–response (PSR) model, and the indicators were derived from remote sensing images, meteorological data, and statistical data. Ecological security indexes in 2007, 2008, and 2013 were calculated through a comprehensive index method. Then the spatio-temporal analysis on ecological security was conducted. Particularly, the changes of ecological security were centrally analyzed concerning topography, land use types, vegetation coverage, as well as ecological PSR. It is found that the ecological security in Wenchuan presented a distinct vertical-belt distribution. It was damaged by the earthquake, however, it had been improved obviously by 2013, which still did not reach the level in 2007. Meanwhile, the epicentre, the Minjiang River and the southwestern mountains have typically regional characteristics, where the changes of ecological security were analyzed elaborately. The ecological security of these regions had been differently restored compared with 2007. However, there were still some regions with unsafe ecological security. Finally, the studied area was divided into four regions with different protection strategies and some recommendations were provided for further ecological protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological security of arable land is closely related to grain security and social stability. This paper took 12 typical indexes from the aspects of ecological pressure, state and response of arable land considering natural, social and economic conditions to construct the ecological index system of arable land in Panyu District, Guangzhou City, and adopted objective weighting method and comprehensive analysis method to analyze the dynamic change of ecological security and security level of arable land in the study area. The results showed that ecological security pressure value and response value of arable land in Panyu District from 2008 to 2013 increased and the overall ecological security level was low, manifesting the level of "sensitive--risky--sensitive". Specifically, ecological security of arable land in 2008 was sensitive, risky from 2009 to 2011, and the security level rose to the sensitive level again in 2012 and 2013. Ecological restoration and rebuilding of arable land should be enhanced, and ecological security early warning system should be established by protecting quantity and quality of arable land, so as to protect arable land resources effectively, and promote sustainable development of arable land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• DPSIRM model was used to evaluate the ecological security of Xilingol grassland. • Remote sensing, meteorology, socio-economic and survey data are used in this paper. • We use grid GIS method to obtain more accurate evaluation results. • We analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of ecological security. • Changes in the center of gravity in different security levels are also explored. The quantitative evaluation of the ecological security can reflect the changes in the quality of ecological environment and provide a scientific basis for the formulation of land-use policy and for the construction of the ecological environment. In this study, we selected Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia, China, as the research area, and established the driving force-pressure-state-impact-response-management (DPSIRM) model to evaluate grassland ecological security. The results were as follows: (1) During 2005–2015, the overall trend of ecological security level in the study area increased, with the western region being relatively ecologically insecure and the eastern region being more secure. (2) The spatial distribution trend of ecological security level from west to east was " very serious alerts " → " serious alerts " → " moderate alerts " → " light alerts "→ " no alert ". (3) The " very serious alerts " and " serious alerts " are mainly concentrated in Sonid Left Banner and Sonid Right Banner, but from the perspective of spatial migration of ecological security, unsafe and less safe tend to shift to the northeast. This study provides a new idea for grassland ecological security evaluation research, has important practical significance for understanding the ecological security level of Xilingol grassland area, and will guide the reasonable development and utilization of Xilingol grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with China's rapid urbanization development process, the severe ecological security problems which brought by the urbanization related activities has gradually caused academic and public discussion. To reach the high-quality development goals set by central government decisions in China, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between urbanization and ecological security, which can provide guidance to explore the path of coordination. On the basis of three major urban agglomerations in China, this paper constructs the comprehensive evaluation system of urbanization and ecological security through multi-source data. By using the Entropy-weight TOPSIS method, cities' urbanization and ecological security levels are calculated. Through the coupling coordination model, the coordination levels between urbanization and ecological security were also analyzed. At the end, Through Kernel estimation and the Markov chain method, the relative-absolute differentiation and the overall evolution trend of the coordination development were also estimated. The research results indicate the following: (1) The core cities' urbanization and ecological security level in the region are relatively high, while the peripheral cities are generally low; (2) The coordination development in the urban agglomerations revealed as a relatively steady progress; (3) The aggregation effect gradually emerged under the coordination development periods in the urban agglomerations; (4) The overall coupling coordination development in urban agglomerations has the possibility of club convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological security early warning, as an important content of ecological security research, is of indicating significance in maintaining regional ecological security. Based on driving force, pressure, state, impact and response (D-P-S-I-R) framework model, this paper took Zhou-shan Islands in Zhejiang Province as an example to construct the ecological security early warning index system, test degrees of ecological security early warning of Zhoushan Islands from 2000 to 2012 by using the method of variable weight model, and forecast ecological security state of 2013-2018 by Markov prediction method. The results showed that the variable weight model could meet the study needs of ecological security early warning of Zhoushan Islands. There was a fluctuant rising ecological security early warning index from 0.286 to 0.484 in Zhoushan Islands between year 2000 and 2012, in which the security grade turned from "serious alert" into "medium alert" and the indicator light turned from "orange" to "yellow". The degree of ecological security warning was "medium alert" with the light of "yellow" for Zhoushan Islands from 2013 to 2018. These findings could provide a reference for ecological security maintenance of Zhoushan Islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the landscape pattern data in year 2000, 2004 and 2009 respectively, this paper aims to assess the landscape ecological security of a rapid urbanizing area-Nanchang city proper. The index system of landscape ecological security is built on the landscape structure and landscape function. Then spatial autocorrelation methods are employed to analyze the characteristics of the spatial pattern. The results indicate that; (1) from 2000 to 2009, landscape structure security, ecosystem service value and ecological resilience have gradually decreased, and the degree of overall landscape ecological security has largely reduced. (2) Higher and high ecological security units continually transform into medium and low ecological security units, the state of landscape ecological security continues to deteriorate. (3) There is a significant correlation on the spatial pattern of landscape ecological security. Higher ecological security units aggregate in the northwestern Wanli district, and the areas of higher ecological security units have con-tinuously decreased. Medium ecological security units distribute in south-central Donghu, Xihu and Qingyunpu district. With the expansion of urban built-up areas, and the scopes of medium ecological security units have increased. Low ecological security units aggregate on central and southeastern urban fringe of Qingshanhu district, and the areas have gradually increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Important for promoting the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and sandy areas, ecological networks form the backbone of the regional ecological security pattern. An improved morphological spatial pattern analysis coupled with a minimum cumulative resistance model (MSPA–MCR) based on multi-source data was used to study, on a provincial scale, the ecological security pattern of Ningxia, an ecologically fragile region in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China. The results show the following: (1) A reasonable classification of ecological sources and ecological corridors is key to constructing hierarchical ecological networks. Classifying ecological sources by replacing patch areas with energy factors and identifying the importance of ecological corridors by modifying the gravity model with the energy factors proposed in this paper could improve the rationality of the hierarchical structure division of ecological networks. (2) Grassland as the substrate vegetation type is an important ecological source type in arid and semi-arid ecologically fragile areas, and forests and lake wetlands are the main ecological source types in mountainous areas and oasis areas, respectively. The study area was located in the arid–semi-arid transitional area, with a variety of ecological types, such as mountain, oasis, and desert. Therefore, the complex ecological source types of forest–grassland–wetland appear in some areas. (3) There are 45 ecological patch groups that can be classified as ecological sources in Ningxia, including 10 primary source groups. The number of primary source groups is small, and their spatial distribution is unbalanced. There are two categories of ecological corridors, the river corridor and the mountain corridor, and the network connectivity is poor. (4) The ecological network structure of Ningxia is presented as an ecological security structure consisting of one belt, three screens, three corridors, and five clusters, forming a hierarchical nested ecological network security structure system.

Since the modern industrial revolution, the speed of urbanization has accelerated, resulting in a series of ecological environment problems. Fujian province will begin to implement the policy of strengthening the provincial capital in October 2021. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze the ecological maintenance status of Fuzhou and provide a relevant reference for Fuzhou to be built into a national central city. This article takes Fuzhou city as the research area, collects land use data in 2000, 2010, and 2020 from Globeland30, combines remote sensing image data, statistical yearbook data, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, and based on Pressure-State-Responses (PSR) model. A total of 15 indicators were selected to construct the ecological security evaluation system of Fuzhou in 2000, 2010, and 2020, and the weight of each indicator was determined by analytic hierarchy process. Spatial autocorrelation was used to analyze the correlation degree of the land use ecological security index in Fuzhou. The concept of ecological maintenance was introduced to analyze the status of ecological maintenance in Fuzhou during the third period. Finally, the diagnostic model of obstacle factors was used to determine the main obstacle factors affecting ecological security in Fuzhou. The results showed that from 2000 to 2020, the area of cultivated land, grassland and bare land decreased year by year, and transferred 320.63 km2, 25.34 km2 and 9.85 km2 to the artificial surface respectively. The high-value ecological security indexes in 2000, 2010 and 2020 were 27.54%, 28.67% and 30.93% respectively. Therefore, the overall level of ecological security in Fuzhou has improved, but there is a large gap in local ecological security. The area with moderate ecological maintenance degree accounted for 60.15%. From the perspective of the whole city, the very poor ecological maintenance degree mainly concentrated in the downtown area and Pingtan Island, while the very good ecological maintenance degree accounted for very little, mainly distributed in the northwest of Fuzhou. The ecological security index showed the characteristics of high and low-value agglomeration, and the distribution of four clusters in three periods was similar. The main obstacle factors of ecological security in three periods are highway density, population density, surface temperature, intensity of human interference, landscape diversity, GDP per capita, and regional development degree. The ecological security evaluation and ecological maintenance of Fuzhou city is beneficial to provide an efficient decision support tool for the ecological environment protection of Fuzhou City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying and improving the existing ecological security patterns (ESPs) are of great importance to promoting ecological security and achieving sustainable development goals. The Three Gorges Reservoir Region (TGRR) is an area with a sensitive, fragile, and complex ecological environment in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River. The construction of ESPs for the TGRR is significant for maintaining regional ecosystem stability and promoting peaceful coexistence between humans and nature. The main objective of the study is to identify the ecological nodes, ecological corridors, and ecological sources that play essential roles in the ecosystem. Based on land use data and human interference factors, we have evaluated the current habitat quality using the InVEST model and identified vital ecological sources for the TGRR. The negative exponential transformation function was used to convert habitat suitability into a landscape resistance layer. Circuit theory modeling was utilized to identify ecological corridors, and the final ESPs of the TGRR were then constructed. Results showed that (a) the spatial distribution of habitat varied significantly in the TGRR. The optimal habitats were concentrated in the northeast, east, and southwest, accounting for 45.98% of the total suitable habitats; (b) habitat quality varied through space, with habitat quality being higher in the northeast and lower in the western regions. (c) Ecological sources were distributed primarily in the forests with high vegetation coverage in the east. The total area of ecological sources was about 15,412 km2, approximately accounting for 34% of the study area; (d) the ESPs were dominated by ecological sources composed of forests, which were radially connected by ecological corridors. In total, these included 14 significant ecological sources, 25 clusters of ecological corridors, and 23 ecological nodes. The results are of great significance to promote the ecological security of the TGRR and could provide theoretical support for biodiversity conservation and territorial space planning for the Three Gorges Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fewer studies on ecological security (ES) in border areas limit the synergistic development of border areas in the context of rapid globalization. The study of ES in border areas of southwest China can enrich the evaluation methods, summarize the knowledge related to ES in border areas, and provide references for similar areas in the world. Therefore, twenty-five international border counties in Yunnan Province were selected to establish a system to evaluate ES; an entropy weight TOPSIS model was used to evaluate the changes in ES from 2004 to 2019. Then, an obstacle degree model was used to diagnose the factors affecting ES. The state of ES was predicted by a gray prediction model (GM) (1,1) in 2025 and 2030. The results show that an improving ES situation presented a spatial distribution pattern of high to low from the southwest to the west and east. Various factors, including fixed assets investment, per-capita fiscal revenue, per-capita GDP, food production, and water regulation, created obstacles to a desirable ES in the study area. Although the ES of border areas will maintain an upward trend under the existing development model, the number of counties that will reach a secure state of ES in 2025 and 2030 is predicted to only be 1 and 2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main currents of research on ambidexterity in the context of organisational security with emphasis on the role of network links are indicated. The hypothesis that ambidexterity, using governance mechanisms, can support the functioning of an organisation in both strategic and operational perspectives in the face of unexpected extreme turbulence in the environment related to the environmental factor is substantiated. This implies, on the one hand, the need to prepare a strategy of resistance and resilience and, on the other hand, a readiness for ad hoc behaviour. Ambidexterity was considered in the context of cooperation with partners, with a view to accessing certain own and partners' resources in a crisis situation. In an ecological context, the influence of ambidexterity on the continuous improvement of the organisation's performance was discussed, paying attention to the simultaneous efforts for radical change based on innovative actions, starting from the assumption of sustainability, in cooperation with stakeholders. A review of the concept of ambidexterity in relation to the issue of organisational security was conducted based on a critical analysis of the literature on the subject. A research gap related to this area was identified. The aim of the study was to identify opportunities for the use of ambidexterity in organisations in emergency situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main driving force for the economic development of East China, the economic development of Anhui has been in good state in recent years. In 2019, the GDP of Anhui Province has reached 3711.4 billion yuan with an increase of 7.5% over the previous year. With the rapid economic development, many environmental problems such as resource depletion, vegetation degradation, and air quality decline have gradually increased. The ecological environment is an important foundation for social and economic development. To examine the status of regional ecological security, this study builds a comprehensive evaluation index system based on the "pressure-state-response" (PSR) framework and uses the entropy weight method to determine the index weight. Then the normal cloud model is introduced to dynamically calculate the ecological security status of Anhui Province from 2010 to 2019. The results show that (1) the ecological security status of Anhui has improved significantly and reached a safe status in 2019. (2) The ecological security status of 16 prefecture-level cities has also been improved, and the ecological security status of these cities is at level III and above except Huainan. There are significant differences in internal development, and the ecological security status of the southern region is ahead of the northern and central region. (3) From the perspective of the criterion level, the pressure and response subsystems develop faster, and the state subsystem develops more slowly. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the impact of the state subsystem on the overall development of ecological security in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the regular indicators of wastewater after treatment can meet the discharge requirements and reuse standards, it doesn't mean the effluent is harmless. From the sustainable point of view, to ensure the ecological and human security, comprehensive toxicity should be considered when discharge standards are set up. In order to improve the ecological security of wastewater treatment processes, toxicity reduction should be considered when selecting and optimizing the treatment processes. This paper reviewed the researches on the ecological security of wastewater treatment processes, with the focus on the purposes of various treatment processes, including the processes for special wastewater treatment, wastewater reuse, and for the safety of receiving waters. Conventional biological treatment combined with advanced oxidation technologies can enhance the toxicity reduction on the base of pollutants removal, which is worthy of further study. For the process aimed at wastewater reuse, the integration of different process units can complement the advantages of both conventional pollutants removal and toxicity reduction. For the process aimed at ecological security of receiving waters, the emphasis should be put on the toxicity reduction optimization of process parameters and process unit selection. Some suggestions for the problems in the current research and future research directions were put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]