Ecological protection and restoration of forest, wetland, grassland and cropland based on the perspective of ecosystem assessment: a case study in Wuliangsuhai Watershed

The important goal of Ecological protection and restoration of forest, wetland, grassland and cropland is to maintain and enhance the regional ecosystem services. This paper analyzes the sensitivity of soil erosion and land desertification, and the importance of soil conservation, water conservation and biodiversity protection based on the ecological status and function of forest, wetland, grassland and cropland in Wuliangsuhai Watershed, gets the spatial distribution of the ecological sensitivity and ecological function importance. Based on the spatial distribution of the ecological sensitivity and ecological function importance of Wuliangsuhai Watershed and aiming at maintaining and improving the important ecosystem services needed for human well-being, we proposed the framework of ecological protection and restoration of forest, wetland, grassland and cropland based in Wuliangsuhai Watershed as "one core, two key points, six elements and seven projects", and divided the Wuliangsuhai Watershed to six main protection and restoration areas, which forms an ecological security pattern as "four districts, one belt and one network", and with the effective practices of the protection and restoration projects, ecosystem quality and ecosystem services capability obviously improved, windbreak and sand fixation capability enhanced, biodiversity continuous improved, water environmental quality up-to-standard, and the ecosystem should become more stable. This paper provides quantitative analysis methods for identifying the important areas of ecological protection and restoration of forest, wetland, grassland and cropland in watershed based on the case study in Wuliangsuhai i Watershed, and provides the thoughts and ways for constructing ecological security pattern at the watershed scale to realize the systematic protection and restoration of ecosystem of forest, wetland, grassland and cropland.