Determination of priority conservation areas in the Yellow River source region based on ecosystem integrity evaluations

The conservation of the ecosystem in the Yellow River source region (YRSR) has become a crucial national strategy in China, emphasizing the need for evaluating ecosystem integrity to identify priority conservation areas (PCAs). Current research has primarily employed a limited number of indicators or a single dimension to assess ecosystem integrity, which may overlook comprehen-sive considerations required for effective conservation planning. To address this, a multidimen-sional approach was adopted in this study to evaluate ecosystem integrity, incorporating three dimensions: biological diversity, ecosystem function, and stress components. The MaxEnt and Fragstats models were employed to create an ecosystem integrity map and Marxan was used to identify priority conservation areas within the YRSR. Our results showed that (1) the index of ecosystem integrity gradually declined from east to west, consistent with the spatial distribution of biodiversity and ecosystem function, whereas the stress component exhibits a decreasing trend from northeast to southwest. (2) the priority protected areas were distributed in Maduo, Ruoergai, Maqu, Maqin, Henan, Gande, and Jiuzhi Counties. Furthermore, to address existing protection gaps and enhance connectivity, it was recommended to incorporate an additional 27,644 km2 of southwest and central YRSR into the PCAs. Overall, the study offered practical recommendations for the conservation of the ecosystem in the YRSR. In addition, the method of PCAs determination in this study could provide a reference for the government's growing nature conservation affairs, which will contribute to sustainable development.