Analysis of ecological network evolution in an ecological restoration area with the MSPA-MCR model: A case study from Ningwu County, China

• The study shows that the ecological source area in Ningwu County nearly doubled from 2000 to 2020, indicating the effectiveness of ecological restoration programs. • With the emergence of new ecological source patches, the number of ecological corridors increased from 8 to 20, significantly enhancing the connectivity of the ecological network. • Characterized ecological network evolution in a county where a series of ecological programs were implemented, demonstrating effective enhancement of ecosystem integrity and connectivity. Ecological network construction has been conducted in various areas worldwide at different spatial scales, to guide regional ecological conservation and restoration, or predict future ecological networks under different land use scenarios. However, it has been rarely applied to evaluate the ecological restoration achievements from the aspect of ecosystem integrity and connectivity. This study uses MSPA-MCR model to characterize ecological network changes before and after a series of ecological restoration programs were implemented in Ningwu County, China. The results showed that: (1) The ecological source area first grown slightly from 2000 (344.51 km 2 ) to 2010 (353.49 km 2 ). And then the number almost doubled in 2020 (614.39 km 2 ). With the expansion of the area, the original 6 ecological source patches merged into 4 in 2010 and then 3 in 2020, and 1 new patch emerged in 2010 and 5 more patches in 2020. (2) The area of high ecological resistance showed a minor increase from 2000 (576.90 km 2 ) to 2010 (592.31 km 2 ), but then declined sharply by 38.53 % in 2020 (364.07 km 2 ). (3) With the emergence of new ecological source patches, more corridors were needed to connect them. The ecological corridors increased from 8 in 2000 to 9 in 2010, and 20 in 2020; and the total length increased from 70.23 km in 2000 to 144.23 km in 2010, and 170.21 km in 2020. (4) The ecological network topological structure indices showed that the ecological network structure improved over the two decades. These results indicate that the series of ecological restoration programs effectively enhanced the ecosystem integrity and connectivity. Further analysis suggests that the substantial increase of ecological source area was due to the ecosystem service enhancement on existing ecological land and the emergence of new planted forest land. And implications for future ecological restoration were given based on the ecological network structure.