Spatiotemporal evolution of ecological network resilience in a resource-based city under disturbance scenario simulation: a case study of Huainan, China

Quantifying ecological network resilience under long-term disturbance remains difficult in resource-based cities, where mining and urban expansion have reshaped habitat connectivity. Taking Huainan, a coal-resource-based city in China, as a case study, this research constructed ecological networks for 2000, 2010, and 2020 by integrating habitat quality assessment, morphological spatial pattern analysis, resistance surface modelling, and circuit theory. Network resilience was examined from structural and functional perspectives using complex network metrics and node attack simulations. Results show that ecological source areas decreased by 18.72 km² during the study period, accompanied by increasing fragmentation. Structural resilience declined, as indicated by a 10.2% decrease in clustering coefficient and a 6.8% increase in average path length. Functional robustness also weakened under both random and targeted attacks, with targeted attacks causing greater connectivity loss. The resilience threshold declined from 43% in 2000 to 39% in 2010, before recovering to 42% in 2020. Key resilience nodes, accounting for 15%–20% of all nodes, were mainly located around Wabu Lake and Bagongshan District. The findings support targeted ecological network optimization in resource-based cities.