Regionalization of Water Conservation Function of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area Based on SOFM Neural Network
Water conservation function is one of the most important ecosystem services.Identification of functional areas as well as classification are significant for water management.A self-organizing feature map (SOFM) was built to identify the different functional areas of water conservation,considering five important factors in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area.The results showed that the best choice would be to divide Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area into six major functional areas of water conservation.Each area showed a comparatively clear and complete boundary.Taking characteristics of topography and vegetation cover of the whole area into account,the six functional regions were named as Northwest Hebei Plateau and mountain basin medium capacity area,Bashang Plateau and north Hebei mountain medium-low capacity area,Yan and Taihang medium-low mountains medium-high capacity area,central and southern Hebei Plain low capacity area,Yan and Taihang low mountains medium-high capacity area,and Eastern Hebei Plain high capacity area.The ANOVA test showed that significant differences existed among the six regions,proving good behavior of SOFM in regionalizing water conservation function.Based on the division,the present study summarized the main features of each sub-district and made recommendations for the conservation and utilization of water in this region,combined with ecological zoning proposals.Conspicuous spatial variation of water conservation function existed within Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area,which was seen as an unified ecological zone.Thus the strength of water conservation function in each sub region and its controlling factors need to be considered when making the water management plan specifically for local natural environment.
water conservationSOFM neural networkregionalizationBeijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area