Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints

Intense human activities have disintegrated continuous habitats to smaller patches and subsequently pose threats to ecological safety. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is a prestigious reserve for many high-plateau wild life species and its fragile ecological environment is under increased pressure o...

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Main Authors: Wenna Tu, Yunyan Du, Jiawei Yi, Fuyuan Liang, Nan Wang, Jiale Qian, Sheng Huang, Peixian Luo, Xiaoyue Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-03-01
Series:Ecological Indicators
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23000961
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author Wenna Tu
Yunyan Du
Jiawei Yi
Fuyuan Liang
Nan Wang
Jiale Qian
Sheng Huang
Peixian Luo
Xiaoyue Wang
author_facet Wenna Tu
Yunyan Du
Jiawei Yi
Fuyuan Liang
Nan Wang
Jiale Qian
Sheng Huang
Peixian Luo
Xiaoyue Wang
author_sort Wenna Tu
collection DOAJ
description Intense human activities have disintegrated continuous habitats to smaller patches and subsequently pose threats to ecological safety. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is a prestigious reserve for many high-plateau wild life species and its fragile ecological environment is under increased pressure of human activities. It is not clear how short-term dynamic human activities may impact the ecological networks on the QTP. In this study, we used Tencent’s high spatial- and temporal-resolution location request data to portray the human digital footprints over the QTP and examined their impacts on the dynamic changes of the ecological networks. We identified 123 ecological sources and 333 ecological corridors. The human digital footprints in summer poses significant pressure to the ecological networks on the QTP, as suggested by the increased cost distance in 89.79% of the key corridors and 46.19% of the potential corridors. As compared to that of the winter, the ecological networks in the protected areas located in the scenic areas in eastern QTP suffers more pressure, the summer cost distance of Wolong national reserve, Taohe national reserve and Yellow River Shouqu national reserve increased by 1.16%, 0.7% and 0.33% respectively. The area with increased cost distance in summer outside of the protected areas is 6.5 times more than that inside. In addition, adding stepping stones in the ecological network optimization process would better improve the ecological connectivity of the QTP. Our results show that Tencent’s location-request data could be used to evaluate the dynamic impacts of human activities on the ecological networks across a large geographical space. This study provides solid scientific support for stakeholders to make wise policies to boost economy development while ensure ecological security on the QTP.
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spelling doaj.art-20dd9ca797df497c8e324f741f773af82023-02-24T04:29:52ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2023-03-01147109954Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprintsWenna Tu0Yunyan Du1Jiawei Yi2Fuyuan Liang3Nan Wang4Jiale Qian5Sheng Huang6Peixian Luo7Xiaoyue Wang8State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Geography, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, USAState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaIntense human activities have disintegrated continuous habitats to smaller patches and subsequently pose threats to ecological safety. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is a prestigious reserve for many high-plateau wild life species and its fragile ecological environment is under increased pressure of human activities. It is not clear how short-term dynamic human activities may impact the ecological networks on the QTP. In this study, we used Tencent’s high spatial- and temporal-resolution location request data to portray the human digital footprints over the QTP and examined their impacts on the dynamic changes of the ecological networks. We identified 123 ecological sources and 333 ecological corridors. The human digital footprints in summer poses significant pressure to the ecological networks on the QTP, as suggested by the increased cost distance in 89.79% of the key corridors and 46.19% of the potential corridors. As compared to that of the winter, the ecological networks in the protected areas located in the scenic areas in eastern QTP suffers more pressure, the summer cost distance of Wolong national reserve, Taohe national reserve and Yellow River Shouqu national reserve increased by 1.16%, 0.7% and 0.33% respectively. The area with increased cost distance in summer outside of the protected areas is 6.5 times more than that inside. In addition, adding stepping stones in the ecological network optimization process would better improve the ecological connectivity of the QTP. Our results show that Tencent’s location-request data could be used to evaluate the dynamic impacts of human activities on the ecological networks across a large geographical space. This study provides solid scientific support for stakeholders to make wise policies to boost economy development while ensure ecological security on the QTP.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23000961Digital footprintsHuman impactCircuit theoryQinghai-Tibet PlateauEcological network
spellingShingle Wenna Tu
Yunyan Du
Jiawei Yi
Fuyuan Liang
Nan Wang
Jiale Qian
Sheng Huang
Peixian Luo
Xiaoyue Wang
Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints
Ecological Indicators
Digital footprints
Human impact
Circuit theory
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Ecological network
title Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints
title_full Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints
title_fullStr Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints
title_short Assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using human's digital footprints
title_sort assessment of the dynamic ecological networks on the qinghai tibet plateau using human s digital footprints
topic Digital footprints
Human impact
Circuit theory
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Ecological network
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23000961
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