Recognition and zoning of the reduced plot of village land from the perspective of ecological security pattern

Recognition and type classification can be performed on the reduced plots of village land for the decision-making on the village and land reduction. The village and construction land can represent the low use efficiency in the economically developed regions of China, particularly with the fast urbanization. It is a high demand for the amount reduction and quality improvement of construction land use. This study aims to explore the quantitative recognition and distinguish of the reduced plot of village land using ecological security patterns, in order to promote the regional ecological civilization construction, as well as regional green and sustainable development. Taking Miyun District of Beijing as an example, the evaluation index system was comprehensively constructed for the reduced plot of village land from three different dimensions of ecological security, spatial stability, and development suitability. A regional ecological security pattern was also established using multi-source data, such as land use, point of interest (POI) and socioeconomic statistics. The reduced plots were then determined after evaluation. Furthermore, 3D Rubik's cube graphical method was used to classify the reduced plots. The results showed that: 1) The classification of habitat quality was featured by the outstanding regional aggregation and distribution characteristics. Specifically, the high-value areas were mainly distributed in the north and middle parts of the study area. The land use types were dominated by woodland, grassland, and water area. The low-value areas were mainly in the towns and relatively dense areas in the southwest. The ecological source area was 781.65 km2 after screening using the habitat quality assessment, accounting for 35.06% of the total study area. A total of 15 ecological corridors with a total length of 479.11 km were recognized via the minimum cumulative resistance model. As such, the ecological security pattern was formed in the Miyun District. 2) There was a great different comprehensive evaluation score for reduced plot of village land. Among them, the high terrain was in the northeast, while the low was in the southwest. The area of reduced plots was 789.84 hm2 after a comprehensive evaluation. 3) The reduced plots of village land were divided into short-, mid- and long-term reduction areas. The short-term area consisted of three types, such as ecology-space, ecology-development, and spatial-development reduction. A total area of 565 plots covered an area of 213.34 hm2 and accounted for 27.01% of the total reduced plots. Three types of reduced plots were the fundamentals action for the amount reduction and quality improvement. The reduction target needed to be prioritized for the reduction. The mid-term reduction area was composed of three types: ecological security, spatial stability, and development suitable reduction, with a total of 565 plots, covering 337.18 hm2 and accounting for 42.69% of the total reduction plots. The reduced plots in the mid-term reduction areas occupied a large proportion for the core reduction areas. Some measures should be taken for the plot reduction of villages. The long-term reduction area included one type of comprehensive reduced area, with a total of 209 plots, covering a total area of 239.32 hm2 and accounting for 30.30% of the total reduced plots. Special attention should be paid to the economical and intensive use of this part of the reduced plot. A long-term reduction area was gradually recovered as the village land. Finally, some reduction measures were proposed, according to the different types of reduced plots. The findings can provide the scientific basis for the identification and classification of the reduced plots of village land in the ecological conservation areas, in order to serve the reduction of ecological conservation areas, ecological protection and regional sustainable development.