Ecological security patterns of water conservation in the upper reaches of the Yellow River basin (Sichuan section) with ecological network approach

Based on the assessment of the water conservation service function and its restoration potential in the upper reaches of the Yellow River (Sichuan section), the Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis method (MSPA) was utilized to identify the ecological source areas in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Sichuan． The Minimal Cumulative Resistance model was applied to recognize ecological corridors． The results indicate that the water conservation capacity of the entire study area gradually decreased from south to north, the areas with high potential for water conservation restoration were mainly in the northern part of the study area． The core area identified by MSPA was mainly located in Ruoergai county and Shiqu county, accounting for 44.04% of the total study area． The ecological security pattern of the upper Yellow River in Sichuan consisted of three levels of ecological source area and three levels of ecological corridor． The entire ecological network was concentrated in the central and northern parts of the region, Ecological networks in the east, west and south were rather sparse． The ecological security patterns derived from ecological network provide important guide for the layout for water conservation ecological restoration in Sichuan section of the upper Yellow River．