Linking ecosystem services and circuit theory to identify priority conservation and restoration areas from an ecological network perspective

The Yellow River basin has been experiencing ecosystem fragmentation, conversion, and degradation. The ecological security pattern (ESP) can provide a systematic and holistic perspective for specific action planning to maintain ecosystem structural, functional stability, and its connectivity. Thus, this study focused on Sanmenxia, one of the most representative cities of the Yellow River basin, to construct an integrated ESP to provide evidence-based support for ecological conservation and restoration. We adopted four main steps, including measuring the importance of multiple ecosystem services, identifying ecological sources, constructing the ecological resistance surface, and linking the MCR model and circuit theory to identify the optimal path, optimal width, and key nodes of ecological corridors. Overall, we identified various ecological conservation and restoration priority areas in Sanmenxia, including 3593.08 km2 of ecosystem service hotspots, 28 corridors, 105 pinch points, and 73 barriers, and we highlighted multiple priority actions. This study provides an effective starting point for the future identification of ecological priorities at the regional or river basin scale.