Suitability Evaluation of Ecological Restoration Relying on Water Resources in an Agro-Pastoral Transition Zone: A Case Study of Zhangbei, Zhangjiakou, Northern China

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

(1) Background: Ecological restoration is crucial to improve ecological functions and optimize its security patterns. The Zhangbei of Zhangjiakou, a typical agro-pastoral transition zone, was studied as an example to conduct ecological restoration suitability evaluation in northern China. (2) Methods: suitability of ecological restoration in Zhangbei was assessed by both single factor analysis and comprehensive factor analysis, which were based on the data of regional water resources, ecosystem service function, and ecosystem sensitivity obtained from a high-precision environmental survey. (3) Results and conclusions: The results show that in Zhangbei County, areas classified as important and extremely important for ecosystem service functions account for 50.32%, ecologically sensitive and highly sensitive areas represent 5.95%, and regions designated as important and extremely important for ecological protection cover 52.70%. Furthermore, ecological restoration of Zhangbei was divided into four ecological restoration zones: agro-forest–wetland ecological restoration and soil erosion control zone, agro-forest–wetland ecological restoration and water conservation zone, forest–grassland soil erosion and soil–water conservation zone, and mountain forest conservation and biodiversity maintenance zone. The study can be a scientific case study for local ecosystem restoration and conservation. In the future, this study will further explore multi-source data fusion, the establishment of a multi-scale evaluation system, and the trade-off analysis between conservation and development.