Abstract:

The Sichuan-Tibet railway extends across many geographical units, which is of great ecological protection significance. Effective protection of the ecological environment along the railway is a key issue during the process of railway planning, construction, and operation. In this study, the Changdu section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway is studied. The ecosystem service function and sensitivity are important in measuring the quality of ecosystem and establishing high-quality ecological conservation protocols. This study integrated data analysis and field investigation, and evaluated the ecosystem service and ecological vulnerability of the research area through ecological evaluation modelling, and evaluated the importance of the ecological protection along the railway line based on the research results. The results show that the percentage of the most important, important, and generally important ecological protection areas along the Changdu section is 42.19%, 52.69% and 5.12%, respectively. The evaluation results can assist engineering activity planning during the railway design, construction, and operation, and reduce the negative impact on the ecosystem in a targeted way, and achieve a win-win scenario for the social, economic, and ecological benefits.

Key words: Sichuan-Tibet railway, ecosystem service function, ecological vulnerability, importance of ecosystem protection