Evolution and Optimization of an Ecological Network in an Arid Region Based on MSPA-MCR: A Case Study of the Hexi Corridor

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors,

 

My comments are as follow:

1.      You can address the hypothesis more clearly.

2.      You can improve the overall writing content by writing on your words to reduce the redundancy with other published papers.

3.      The starting point is the image in 2000? And the experimental groups are 2005, 2010, 2-15, and 2020?

4.      You can write more information about the changes or patters of ecological and environmental factors from 2000-2020. And then based on your hypothesis, to indicate the connection between the results and your hypothesis. You may want to write more about what the impact of your research are and how your research contribute to the future researchers or people on those issues.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments, and we have read comments carefully. The responses to your comments are marked in red and presented following.

Sincerely.

Comment 1: You can address the hypothesis more clearly.
Comment 2: You can improve the overall writing content by writing on your words to reduce the redundancy with other published papers.

Response 1 and 2: Based on your suggestions, we made modifications to the introduction, results, and discussion sections.

Comment 3: The starting point is the image in 2000? And the experimental groups are 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020?

Response 3: Yes, the starting point is from 2000. We first constructed ecological networks for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, and then optimized and analyzed them based on 2020 ecological network data using methods such as MSPA-MCR and network evaluation index.

Comment 4: You can write more information about the changes or patters of ecological and environmental factors from 2000-2020. And then based on your nypothesis, to indaicate the connection between the results and your hypothesis. You may want to write more about what the impact of your research are and how your research contribute to the future researchers or people on those issues.

Response 4: Based on the results, we proposed protection and restoration suggestions in the discussion section, in order to contribute our modest efforts to future research. Suggestions are as follows:

In summary, it can be seen that the terrain of the Hexi Corridor is undulating, the environment is complex, and the stability of the ecosystem is poor. As a key part of ensuring the stability of the ecological space, the ecological network needs to be protected and restored. Therefore, according to the principle of regional ecological space regulation network security, this article provides the following suggestions for ecological source areas, corridors, and nodes.

(1)Ecological source area

In the central south and southeast of the research area with more ecological source areas, the encroachment of cultivated land expansion on the ecological source areas should be prevented, the buffer zone should be established in the edge of the ecological source areas, and the construction of ecological protection forest should be insisted on returning farmland to forest and grassland. Strengthen the protection of the existing plant and animal resources in the region, maintain biodiversity, and build an intelligent ecological monitoring system. In the western and northern regions with fewer ecological source areas, the scale of coal mine development should be controlled, the negative impact of human activities on the environment should be reduced, drought-tolerant plants should be planted to prevent wind and fix sand, and geological and geomorphological engineering should be implemented to improve the quality of regional ecological environment.

(2)Ecological corridor and node

Protection measures such as shelter-forest construction should be implemented for key corridors and important corridors in the central and eastern part of the study area, and the current natural ecological patches should be utilized as much as possible to improve construction efficiency. The general corridor in the northwest, which is dominated by desert, Gobi and other unused land, is repaired by artificial means. According to different geological and geomorphic characteristics, the construction of nature reserves should be strengthened to ensure the integrity of the corridor system. In the central and eastern ecological node with low resistance value, it is necessary to strengthen management and control to prevent damage by human activities, while in the western ecological node with high resistance value, it is difficult to build, and drought-tolerant vegetation can be planted. At the same time, environmental monitoring stations can be set up near ecological nodes to pay timely attention to biological migration and information exchange, as well as the coordination between humans and the local environment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

As the authors state in this manuscript, comprehensively applies morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), a minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), a network evaluation index, and spatial analysis methods to construct and analyze the ecological network of the Hexi Corridor in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, and optimizes the ecological network in 2020. Such analyzes should be effectively utilized by linking them to the recovery and reinstatement of ecosystems, balanced use with local communities, and regional agreements. In other words, through effective utilization, the greatest public interest in society can be achieved. Unfortunately, however, this article gives the impression that it is a rough-hewn document that has been ``only analyzed''. Therefore, the following points need to be improved. 1. Figure 3: It is difficult to understand changes over time. If there are any changes, I would like them to be more clear. 2. Land use optimization is a concern for each country. I would like you to write more about the changes in 2020 (3.2.2) and the logic and policy for optimization (3.2.1).

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments, and we have read comments carefully. The responses to your comments are marked in red and presented following.

Sincerely.

Comment 1: Figure 3: It is difficult to understand changes over time. If there are any changes, I would like them to be more clear.

Response 1: The NDVI and land use change amplitude in the calculation of resistance surface parameters are relatively large, but their changes are both within the fixed classification range in Table 3, resulting in unchanged resistance values over time. We have explained this situation in the spatiotemporal distribution section of the resistance surface.

Comment 2: Land use optimization is a concern for each country . I would like you to write more about the changes in 2020 (3.2.2) and the logic and policy for optimization (3.2.1).

Response 2: We used gravity model to remove redundant data, then extracted important corridors, supplemented part 3.2, and then proposed corresponding protection and restoration suggestions in Part 4.2 according to the results of part 3.2.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript "evolution and optimization of an ecological network in an arid region based on MSPA-MCR: a case study of the Hexi Corridor" is a very local study that does not provide much insight into the bigger picture of how this research can be applied broadly. The abstract starts by focusing on the Hexi Corridor and does not go beyond. There is a need to add a significant amount of information in the introduction and methods, particularly withing MSPA and MCR. The literature is too focused in one region of the world and does not acknowledge properly the knowledge developed for MSPA. The writing is in general not very specific and often times methods and results seem to be redundant. Table 2 is nor properly referenced. Suggest a thorough revision of the manuscript with a wider set of references especially about MSPA. Results need to be streamlined and discussion needs to be expanded. Methodology needs to be written in more specific terms. Need to be more specific about connectivity. Connectivity is inherently species dependent. No species is mentioned in the manuscript. As a result there is no mention of the threshold used in the PC od dPC. This is very problematic when it comes to justify the significance of the study. 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments. We would be happy to further edit the text based on your helpful comments. We have read the comments carefully and divided them into the following points according to our understanding. The responses to your comments are marked in red and presented following.

Sincerely.

Comment 1: The manuscript "evolution and optimization of an ecological network in an arid region based on MSPA-MCR: a case study of the Hexi Corridor" is a very local study that does not provide much insight into the bigger picture of how this research can be applied broadly.

Response 1: We analyzed your opinions, and then based on the research results, we put forward protection and restoration suggestions in the discussion section, hoping to provide reference for future ecological protection and restoration.

Comment 2: The abstract starts by focusing on the Hexi Corridor and does not go beyond.

Response 2: Ecological problems in Hexi Corridor are common problems in arid areas, so the research is representative. Based on your valuable comments, the summary is revised as follows:

Under the background of climate change, the allocation of water resources and desertification in arid areas are becoming increasingly prominent, posing a serious threat to the sustainable development of society. Constructing an ecological network is an important measure to improve the ecological environment and maintain the ecological service function. This study takes the Hexi Corridor as an example and relies on land use data from 2000 to 2020, and comprehensively applies utilizing methods such as morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA),  minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), and network evaluation index to construct and optimize the ecological network of the Hexi Corridor. Our results show: (1) the spatial distribution of landscape elements in the Hexi Corridor is uneven, and that the ecological foundation in the north is found to be poor; (2) The resistance surface showed a distribution trend of “low in the south and high in the north”, with low-value areas mainly located to the south of Jiuquan City, Zhangye City, and Wuwei City, and high-value areas mainly located in the middle and to the north of Jiuquan City and Wuwei City; (3) The ecological source areas, corridors, and nodes showed a fluctuating upward trend, and they were mainly located to the southwest of Zhangye City, Jiuquan City, and Wuwei City; (4) the network closure (α), line point rate (β), and network connectivity (γ) showed a W-shaped change trend; (5) After ecological network optimization, 22 new source areas, 78 new corridors, and 61 new nodes were added, as a result, the α, β, and γ indices all increased. Our results provide a reference for ecological environment restoration research and serve as a regionally balanced means of sustainably developing the Hexi Corridor.

Comment 3: There is a need to add a significant amount of information in the introduction and methods, particularly withing MSPA and MCR. The literature is too focused in one region of the world and does not acknowledge properly the knowledge developed for MSPA.

Response 3: The introduction and methodology have been modified. In the introduction, the advantages and disadvantages of MCR and the advantages of MSPA have been added. Modified as follows:

Minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) can be coupled with many factors such as terrain and landform [9], and cleverly combined with landscape map theory [10] to construct resistance surface, and its operability and practicality have been widely applied. However, it has been viewed subjectively in previous studies, and more objective methods are needed to identify ecological sources[11]. In addition, the MCR model calculates the Least-cost path (LCP) between ecological source areas through the cost path tool of ArcGIS, and selects the minimum cumulative cost path as the reference basis of the ecological corridor. The operation process requires repeated calculation and there are redundant corridors[12]. Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA)[13, 14] can avoid the subjectivity of comprehensive analysis and subjective judgment methods, rely only on land use data, take natural element type as the foreground and other land types as the background [15], and process the foreground data into seven categories (namely core area, bridge area, marginal area, branch line, ring line, island and pore). Ecological source areas can be identified scientifically and objectively. Then, Linkage Mapper tool was used to combine ecological source and resistance surface to draw the lowest cost path between source and extract ecological corridor easily and quickly through threshold setting and other operations [16].

Relevant foreign literature has been added. Modified as follows:

Based on this, some scholars use the Linkage Mapper tool to carry out ecological network research using the MSPA-MCR model [17]. Foreign scholars mainly consider ecologically fragile areas [18], historical and cultural sites [19] or urban roads [20, 21]. However, many Chinese scholars have focused their research on different aspects. For example...

Comment 4: The writing is in general not very specific and often times methods and results seem to be redundant. Methodology needs to be written in more specific terms. Need to be more specific about connectivity. Connectivity is inherently species dependent. No species is mentioned in the manuscript. As a result there is no mention of the threshold used in the PC or dPC. This is very problematic when it comes to justify the significance of the study.

Response 4: The methods and results sections have been modified. Based on previous literature and the research area, the thresholds used for PC and dPC have been supplemented in the methods section. Modified as follows:

Using Conefor 2.6 software for connectivity analysis, based on previous research [53], the connectivity probability parameter for the study area mainly consisting of grasslands and bare land was set to a moderate connectivity probability of 0.5, and the critical diffusion distance threshold for network connectivity was set to 2.5 km [23, 25].

Comment 5: Table 2 is nor properly referenced. Suggest a thorough revision of the manuscript with a wider set of references especially about MSPA. 

Response 5: Table 2 has been briefly analyzed. Modified as follows:

With the help of Guidos Toolbox manual [41], this article divided foreground pixels into 7 non-overlapping categories (core area, bridge area, edge area, branch line, loop line, island, and perforation) [13], whose ecological functions are shown in Table 2. Among them, the core area has larger habitat patches and higher ecological quality, which is a good space for species to inhabit and can be used as an alternative source area.

The literature on MSPA was added as follows:

1. Rao, P. S.; Gavane, A.; Ankam, S.; Ansari, M.; Pandit, V.; Nema, P. Performance evaluation of a green belt in a petroleum refinery: a case study. Ecological engineering 2004, 232, 77-84.
2. Kihn, C. C.; Eugster, J. G.; Steiner, F.; Judd, M.; Diamant, R.; Gerdtz, N. Conservation options for the blackstone river valley. Landscape and urban planning 1986, 13, 81-99.
3. Conine, A.; Xiang, W. N.; Young, J.; Whitley, D. Planning for multi-purpose greenways in Concord, North Carolina. Landscape and urban planning 2004, 682, 271-287.
4. Flink, C.A.; Olka, K.; Searns, R.M. Trails for the Twenty-First Century: Planning, Design, and Management Manual for Multi-Use Trails, 2nd ed.; Island Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2001.
5. Vogt, P,; Riitters, K. GuidosToolbox: universal digital image object analysis. European Journal of Remote Sensing 2017, 501, 352-361.

Comment 6: Results need to be streamlined and discussion needs to be expanded.

Response 6: The result section has been reduced as follows:

3.1.1. Spatial and temporal changes of landscape element identification

...Among the landscape elements, the core area showed a decreasing trend with time, the largest area was present in 2000 (7.70%), and the area in 2020 (5.14%) was smaller. The area of the bridge and the island showed a trend of “down-up-down-up” and “up-down-up” with time, respectively. In 2020, the areas of the bridge and the island were larger (8.38%, 6.76%). In 2005, the area of the bridge was smaller (4.12%), and the area of the island was smaller (5.27%) in 2010. Then there was the edge area and the branch area, both of which showed a trend of “down-up-down”. Their respective areas were larger in 2000 (3.59%, 3.26%), and smaller in 2020 (1.58%, 1.55%). The area of the loop lines was larger than the perforation, showing a trend of “up-down-up”. In 2000, this area was smaller (1.17%), while in 2020, the area was larger (1.95%). The area of perforation was the smallest, showing a “down-up” trend, with a larger area in 2010 (0.29%) and a smaller area in 2020 (0.14%). With increasing time, the total area of landscape elements presented a W-shaped change trend of “down-up-down-up”, and the change in amplitude was the largest from 2000 to 2005, while the area of each landscape element had the largest change in amplitude from 2015 to 2020, in which the core area, edge area, branch area, and perforation became smaller, and the areas of the loop lines, bridge area and islands became larger. From a temporal perspective, the total area of landscape elements showed a W-shaped downward trend, with the largest proportion of area in 2000 (25.63%) and the smallest proportion in 2015 (25.41%). Among them, the core area is gradually shrinking, with the largest area in 2000 (7.70%) and the smallest area in 2020 (5.14%). The area change trend (fluctuating upward trend) of the bridging area, loop lines, and islands was similar, with the highest area of all three in 2020 (8.38%, 1.95%, 6.76%). However, the area was the smallest in 2000 (loop line 1.17%), 2005 (bridge area 4.12%), and 2010 (island 5.27%) . The trend of changes in edge area, branch area, and perforation (fluctuating downward trend) was similar. In 2010, the area of all three areas was the largest (3.62%, 3.26%, 0.29%), while in 2020, the area was the smallest (1.58%, 1.55%, 0.14%).

3.1.2. Spatial and temporal changes of resistance surface

According to the grade data of the resistance surfaces of each factor, the comprehensive resistance surface was obtained by weighted superposition analysis (Figure 3). Through this analysis, it can be seen that NDVI and land use have slight changes near the Qilian Mountains, Oasis, and Mazongshan, and the changes are all within the classification range of Table 3. This results in the value of the resistance surface from 2000 to 2020 was 1.00–4.56, and the spatial distribution trend was “low in the south and high in the north”. The low-value area was mainly located in southern Jiuquan City, Zhangye City, and Wuwei City, that is, near the Qilian Mountains area, indicating that the resistance to biological activities near the water source is relatively low.while t The high-value area was mainly located in the middle and to the north of Jiuquan City and Wuwei City. The Mazongshan area to the north of Jiuquan City is rich in coal resources and is home to numerous coal mining enterprises [15], which leads tolarge variations in the nearby green area (low-value area), and this area gradually shrinks in time, while other areas change slightly and its area only slightly fluctuates with time. the central and northern parts of Wuwei City and near the Mazongshan in the central and northern parts of Jiuquan City. It can be seen that unused land such as sand and bare rocks, as well as many industrial and mining land for coal mining [54], have high resistance to biological activities.

3.1.3. Temporal and spatial changes of ecological network

...The minimum cost path was extracted and the ecological corridor was identified by using the Linkage Mapper tool; .26–32 ecological source areas in the study area were obtained between 2000 and 2020. Their number showed an increasing trend with time and they were Among them, the number of ecological source areas increased with the increase of time, and the number in 2020 was the largest (32), mainly distributed in the southwest, of Wuwei City, and near Zhangye City, Jiuquan City, and Wuwei City. The spatial distribution of the source area in 2015 was larger than that in other years. There are 61–75 ecological corridors between the source areas, with a length of 212.39–533.13 km, and the number of them presents a “up-down-up” trend in time. Among them, the number was the largest in 2020, and the spatial range was the largest from 2010 to 2015, The length of the ecological corridor between the source areas ranges from 212.39 to 533.13 km, and the number of corridors and ecological nodes showed a fluctuating upward trend over time, mainly distributed in the southwest and to the north of Jiuquan City and Zhangye City. The number of ecological nodes ranged from 18 to 36, and the number showed a down-up trend with time. Among them, the number and spatial distribution of nodes changed little from 2000 to 2010, mainly to the southwest of Jiuquan City and Zhangye City. The spatial distribution of nodes from 2010 to 2015 was larger than that from 2000 to 2010, mainly distributed in the southwest and to the north of Jiuquan City and Zhangye City. Compared with 2000–2015, the number of nodes in 2015–2020 had a larger variation, mainly distributed in Jiuquan City, and to the southwest of Wuwei City and Zhangye City In terms of space, the two had the largest changes from 2010 to 2015. In terms of time, the largest change occurred from 2015 to 2020, and the maximum number (75, 36) was reached in 2020 (Figure 4 and Table 5). On the whole...

The discussion section adds suggestions for protecting and restoring ecological networks, as follows:

4.2 Suggestions

In summary, it can be seen that the terrain of the Hexi Corridor is undulating, the environment is complex, and the stability of the ecosystem is poor. As a key part of ensuring the stability of the ecological space, the ecological network needs to be protected and restored. Therefore, according to the principle of regional ecological space regulation network security, this article provides the following suggestions for ecological source areas, corridors, and nodes.

（1）Ecological source area

In the central south and southeast of the research area with more ecological source areas, the encroachment of cultivated land expansion on the ecological source areas should be prevented, the buffer zone should be established in the edge of the ecological source areas, and the construction of ecological protection forest should be insisted on returning farmland to forest and grassland. Strengthen the protection of the existing plant and animal resources in the region, maintain biodiversity, and build an intelligent ecological monitoring system. In the western and northern regions with fewer ecological source areas, the scale of coal mine development should be controlled, the negative impact of human activities on the environment should be reduced, drought-tolerant plants should be planted to prevent wind and fix sand, and geological and geomorphological engineering should be implemented to improve the quality of regional ecological environment.

（2）Ecological corridor and node

Protection measures such as shelter-forest construction should be implemented for key corridors and important corridors in the central and eastern part of the study area, and the current natural ecological patches should be utilized as much as possible to improve construction efficiency. The general corridor in the northwest, which is dominated by desert, Gobi and other unused land, is repaired by artificial means. According to different geological and geomorphic characteristics, the construction of nature reserves should be strengthened to ensure the integrity of the corridor system. In the central and eastern ecological node with low resistance value, it is necessary to strengthen management and control to prevent damage by human activities, while in the western ecological node with high resistance value, it is difficult to build, and drought-tolerant vegetation can be planted. At the same time, environmental monitoring stations can be set up near ecological nodes to pay timely attention to biological migration and information exchange, as well as the coordination between humans and the local environment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study uses MSPA-MCR to identify the transformation and optimization of the ecological corridor in the Hexi Corridor region, which is an interesting study. The article analyzes the changes in ecological corridors over the years and finally provides optimization. But some problems and errors need attention and modification.

1.Line57-59, please add the corresponding reference to this sentence.

2. In Line 121-122, Woodland, grassland, and water area do not correspond to the subsequent land use types. Please add an explanation here. What specific land types do these three land types include in all your data.

3.line248, what are ecological nodes? Please add in the text how you obtained ecological nodes.

4. Line 273-276, the article extracts a new ecological source. I don’t understand it. Can you introduce it in detail? Please add content to this section.

5. Line275, dPC > 2 is wrong. In fact, dPC should be less than 1, and PC may be greater than 1. Please ensure the accuracy of your article content.

5. "Ecological source" and "source area" are the same concept, please make sure the terminology in the article is correct.

6. It is recommended that the article add more content related to ecological corridors in the introduction, and it is recommended to add more references.

7. There is a problem with the legend in Figure 1, please modify it.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The Quality of English Language is ok

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments, and we have read comments carefully. The responses to your comments are marked in red and presented following.

 

 

Sincerely.

Comment 1: Line57-59, please add the corresponding reference to this sentence.

Response 1: The reference has been added, and the position is updated to line 65-68. The supplement is:

Then, Linkage Mapper tool was used to combine ecological source and resistance surface to draw the lowest cost path between source and extract ecological corridor easily and quickly through threshold setting and other operations [16].

[16]Tian, S. J.; Zhang, W. J.; He, L.; Miao, J. Y.; Zi, Y. K. Construction and optimization of Chengdu ecological network based on Linkage Mapper and complex network. Journal of Northwest Forestry University, 2023, 38, 176-184.

Comment 2: In Line 121-122, Woodland, grassland, and water area do not correspond to the subsequent land use types. Please add an explanation here. What specific land types do these three land types include in all your data.

Response 2: I am sorry that this part was not clear in the original manuscript. This part involves the selection of ecological sources, so this paper refers to previous studies and selects forest land, grassland and water area classified by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as prospective data. I should have explained that Forest land includes: forest land, shrubbery forest, loose forest land, other forest land;  Grassland includes: high cover grassland, medium cover grassland, low cover grassland;  Water areas include: canals, lakes, reservoirs, permanent glaciers and snow, beaches, beaches. The content of this part has been modified.

Comment 3: line248, what are ecological nodes? Please add in the text how you obtained ecological nodes.

Response 3: Ecological node is a landscape component connecting adjacent ecological sources in an ecosystem, which plays a controlling and key role in establishing the ecological connection between two or more ecological sources. Based on this, this paper takes the intersection of ecological corridor as ecological node. Add as follows:

Ecological nodes are landscape components that connect adjacent ecological sources in an ecosystem, and play a controlling and key role in establishing ecological linkages between two or more ecological sources [56]. Based on this, this paper takes the intersection points of ecological corridors as ecological nodes to obtain ...

Comment 4: Line 273-276, the article extracts a new ecological source. I don’t understand it. Can you introduce it in detail? Please add content to this section.

Response 4: Because the loop line and bridge area affect species migration and material and energy flow, the ecological management of Mazongshan mining area in recent years affects the ecological quality of the surrounding environment. Therefore, in this paper, the loop line and bridge area with large connectivity and area, and the island with large area in Mazongshan mining area are selected as new ecological sources. In order to make the article concise and clear, the following additions are made:

Patches with dPC > 2 and areas ≥70 km² (i.e. bridge area, loop line and island in Mazongshan mining area for species migration, material and energy flow channel and ecological treatment) were selected as new ecological source areas.

Comment 5: Line275, dPC > 2 is wrong. In fact, dPC should be less than 1, and PC may be greater than 1. Please ensure the accuracy of your article content.

Response 5: Thanks for your suggestion. Through reviewing the literature, we found that the higher the dPC value, the higher the importance of the patch in the landscape connection of the study area, and the stronger its core role. Some scholars chose core patches with dPC value greater than 1 ^[1,2] or 2 ^[3] as ecological source areas. Based on this, this paper refers to previous studies and selects the core area with dPC>2 as the ecological source area according to the situation of the research area.

[1]Cui, L.; Wang, J.; Sun, L.; et al. Construction and optimization of green space ecological networks in urban fringe areas: A case study with the urban fringe area of Tongzhou district in Beijing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020, 276, 124266.

[2]Xie, J.; Xie, B.; Zhou, K.; et al. Impacts of landscape pattern on ecological network evolution in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration, China. Ecological Indicators, 2022, 145, 109716.

[3]Wang, Z.; Shi, Z.; Huo, J.; et al. Construction and Optimization of an Ecological Network in Funiu Mountain Area Based on MSPA and MCR Models, China. Land, 2023, 12, 1529.

Comment 6: "Ecological source" and "source area" are the same concept, please make sure the terminology in the article is correct.

Response 6: The source areas have been unified into ecological source areas in the all text.

 Comment 7: It is recommended that the article add more content related to ecological corridors in the introduction, and it is recommended to add more references.

Response 7: References to ecological corridors have been added to the introduction. As follows:

...In addition, the MCR model calculates the Least-cost path (LCP) between ecological source areas through the cost path tool of ArcGIS, and selects the minimum cumulative cost path as the reference basis of the ecological corridor. The operation process requires repeated calculation and there are redundant corridors[12].Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA)... Then, Linkage Mapper tool was used to combine ecological source and resistance surface to draw the lowest cost path between source and extract ecological corridor easily and quickly through threshold setting and other operations [16].

References have been added as follows:

1. Wei, B. J.; Su, J.; Hu, X. J.; Xu, K. H.; Zhu, M. L.; Liu, L. Y. Comprehensive identification of eco-corridors and eco-nodes based on principle of hydrological analysis and Linkage Mapper. Acta Ecologica Sinica 2022, 42, 2995-3009.
2. An, Y.; Liu, S.; Sun, Y.; Shi, F.; Beazley, R. Construction and optimization of an ecological network based on morphological spatial pattern analysis and circuit theory. Landscape Ecology 2021, 36, 2059-2076.
3. Tian, S. J.; Zhang, W. J.; He, L.; Miao, J. Y.; Zi, Y. K. Construction and optimization of Chengdu ecological network based on Linkage Mapper and complex network. Journal of Northwest Forestry University, 2023, 38, 176-184.
4. Rao, P. S.; Gavane, A.; Ankam, S.; Ansari, M.; Pandit, V.; Nema, P. Performance evaluation of a green belt in a petroleum refinery: a case study. Ecological engineering 2004, 232, 77-84.
5. Kihn, C. C.; Eugster, J. G.; Steiner, F.; Judd, M.; Diamant, R.; Gerdtz, N. Conservation options for the blackstone river valley. Landscape and urban planning 1986, 13, 81-99.
6. Conine, A.; Xiang, W. N.; Young, J.; Whitley, D. Planning for multi-purpose greenways in Concord, North Carolina. Landscape and urban planning 2004, 682, 271-287.
7. Flink, C.A.; Olka, K.; Searns, R.M. Trails for the Twenty-First Century: Planning, Design, and Management Manual for Multi-Use Trails, 2nd ed.; Island Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2001.
8. Wang, Z.; Shi, Z.; Huo, J.; Zhu, W.; Yan, Y.; Ding, N. Construction and Optimization of an Ecological Network in Funiu Mountain Area Based on MSPA and MCR Models, China. Land 2023, 128, 1529.
9. Liu, G.; Yang, Z.; Chen, B.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, Y.; Su, M. An ecological network perspective in improving reserve design and connectivity: A case study of Wuyishan nature reserve in China. Ecological Modelling 2015, 306, 185-194.
10. Liu, Y.;Lu, Y.;Zhou, H.; Zhang, S.; Yu, X. Construction of an Ecological Security Pattern Based on Ecological Sensitivity and MSPA–MCR Model: A Case Study with the Urban Central District of Harbin. Preprints 2023, 2023100570.
11. Geng, J.; Yu, K.; Sun, M.; Xie, Z.; Huang, R.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, Q.; Liu, J. Construction and Optimisation of Ecological Networks in High-Density Central Urban Areas: The Case of Fuzhou City, China. Remote Sensing 2023, 1524, 5666.
12. Vogt, P,; Riitters, K. GuidosToolbox: universal digital image object analysis. European Journal of Remote Sensing 2017, 501, 352-361.
13. Liu, C. F.; Li, J. Z.; Li, X. M.; He, X. Y.; Chen, W. Selected urban forest landscape pattern indices based on simulated landscapes. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology 2009, 5, 1125-1131.
14. Yue, D. P.; Wang, J. P.; Liu, Y. B.; Li, H. L.; Xie, H. C.; Wang, D. M. Landscape pattern optimization based on GIS and RS in northwest of Beijing. ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA 2007,11,1223-1231.
15. Liu, S.; Deng, L.; Dong, S.; Zhao, Q.; Yang, J.; Wang, C. Landscape connectivity dynamics based on network analysis in the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, China. Acta Oecologica 2014, 55, 66-77.

Meng, J. J.; Wang, X. D.; Zhou, Z. Integrated Landscape Pattern Optimization in Arid Region: A Case Study of Middle Reaches of Heihe River. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis 2017, 53, 451-461.

Comment 8: There is a problem with the legend in Figure 1, please modify it.

Response 8: The S of Rivers in the legend has been deleted, as shown in the figure 1 in the attachment.

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf