Landscape ecological security assessment in rapidly urbanizing bay-area: a case study of Xiamen City,China

Based on the Pressure-State-Response(PSR) model framework,an indicator system was developed to assess landscape ecological security.The indicators were divided into two groups.One group included indicators of the spatial interpolation index.The other included indicators of non-spatial interpolation index which value was suggested by experts in the field.In order to explore the spatial distribution of landscape ecological security,the landscape ecological security individual index and comprehensive index for Ximen City between 2003 and 2006 were analyzed through spatial overlay with the TM remote sensing images and GIS technique.The results indicated that:(1) the mean value of the landscape ecological security in 2003 was 0.586 which is within the fair level while in 2006 was 0.650 which is within a better level;(2) the landscape ecological security levels within each districts of Ximen City in 2006 were better than the levels in 2003.Among the districts of Xiamen City the landscape ecological security levels ranked in decreasing order in 2003 as Tong′an Xiang′an Siming Haicang Jimei sea area Huli,whereas the orders in 2006 wasTong′an Siming Haicang and Xiang′an Jimei Hul sea area;and(3) the landscape change pressure index in 2006 was higher than the index in 2003.However,between 2003 and 2006,the landscape ecological security control was strengthened and resulted in a rapid urbanization of the ecological system.