EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION PRIORITY IN THE JIAODONG PENINSULA, CHINA: AN INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND VULNERABILITY

Ecological conservation significance serves as an integrated measure evaluating the criticality of regional ecosystems in terms of their structural configuration and functional processes. On the basis of clarifying the characteristics of the natural environment and key ecological problems of Jiaodong Peninsula in China, we comprehensively analyzed the ecological vulnerability and the importance of ecological service function, constructed the assessment index of ecological protection importance of Jiaodong Peninsula, and used GIS technology to identify the areas of great importance for protection. Geospatial analysis identifies 3304.85 km², or 11% of the peninsula’s total area, as critical ecological conservation zones in the Jiaodong Peninsula, with the highest concentrations occurring along the northeastern coastal margins and central-southern littoral corridors. The patches with ecological protection importance level 7 and 9 were identified through multi-criteria screening as ecological priority conservation cores, and the patches with more than 10 km² were selected as the final ecological priority conservation cores, and 96 ecological sources were identified, collectively spanning 4609.23 km ² and constituting 15.22% of the study area’s total terrestrial surface. The findings offer actionable insights for optimizing ecological zoning and conservation policies in the Jiaodong Peninsula, while establishing an empirical foundation to advance targeted ecosystem restoration and sustainable management strategies.