Abstract:

There are many patches of Ulmus pumila forests distributed in the Hunshandak Sandland, most of them located in the Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia, China. These forest patches are important for combating desertification and sandstorm, conserving biological diversity and landscape views. In order to protect Ulmus pumila forests, the establishment of a nature reserve has been planned for the Hunshandak Sandland. The core zone of the planned nature reserve was determined based on principles of island biogeography theory and landscape ecology theory. First, a map of the distribution region of Ulmus pumila forest patches, a map of communication, and a map of the administrative system of Zhenglan Banner were transferred into a computer. Using ArcGIS software, the patch size, patch distribution, patch density, patch distance, patch segmentation and fragmentation were analyzed. We found that the sparse forest patches were mainly distributed in 20 village regions, and each patch was an average of 0.96 km². For these 20 villages, the patch density ranged from 0.10 to 0.24 km^-2, the edge density ranged from 2.50 to 12.50 km^-1, and separating degree ranged from 0.4 to 1.20 km. These indices showed that fragmentation is a serious problem and these forests need to be protected. In order to select the proper sites to make up the core zone, ArcGIS buffer analysis was used to determine the minimum distance necessary to unite the patches into one zone. Most patches could be united using a distance of 3 km. By examining changes in the plant community, a 1 km buffer region around each patch had the greatest value for protection. Thus, a 10 km buffer around the patches could guarantee that most objects would be protected and occupy the least amount of area. According to guidelines for nature reserve planning based on principles of island biogeography, the rest of the zones within the buffer lines need to be included into the core zone. Therefore, the planned core zone will be 1 531 km² and occupy 13% of total Zhenglan Banner nature reserve. We also discuss how to determine the shape of the core zone with respect to edge effects.

Key words: Nature reserve, Core zone, Design, Hunshandak sandland, Landscape fragmentation