Identification of Key Ecological Security Areas Based on Ecological Security Pattern: A Case Study of the Dawen River Basin

In recent years, intensified human activities have led to the continuous degradation of ecosystem services, with ecological security issues such as land degradation and biodiversity loss becoming increasingly prominent. Constructing ecological networks and establishing ecological security patterns (ESPs) have thus emerged as essential approaches to reconcile human development with natural processes. As a key tributary of the lower Yellow River, the Dawen River Basin plays a critical role in regional ecological barriers and water conservation. However, its ecosystem functions have shown significant decline in recent decades, highlighting the urgent need for constructing and optimizing an ESP. In this study, the Dawen River Basin was selected as the case area. The InVEST model and ArcGIS techniques were employed to identify ecological sources, while circuit theory was integrated to construct ecological corridors and detect ecological pinch points and barriers, thereby delineating the basin-wide ESP. The results revealed that ecological sources covered an area of 3,165.63 km², accounting for 35.04% of the basin, primarily distributed across Mount Tai, the Culai Mountains, and Dongping Lake. A total of 17 ecological corridors were identified with a cumulative length of 326.68 km, of which first-level corridors were concentrated in the Mount Tai-Culai Mountain region and Dongping Lake. Thirteen ecological pinch points and thirty-five ecological barriers were further identified, mainly located between Mount Tai and the Culai Mountains as well as in urban and agricultural concentration zones in the middle and lower reaches. Based on these findings, targeted strategies were proposed, including strict protection of ecological sources, hierarchical restoration of corridors, buffering and expansion of pinch points, and engineering management of barrier areas. These strategies provide valuable references for ecological protection and spatially sustainable development in the Dawen River Basin.